And now, a word ... Integrate relevant text ads into video with Adap.tv

Posted by tom klein July 16, 2007 at 2:30 am

Everyone knows that people are skipping TV ads by using TIVO or some other brand of DVR. Online videos, like the ones carried on the New York Times video page, try to get around this problem by making you watch an ad before rolling the content. That doesn’t work because so many people will just click away. What’s the answer?

A solution like Adap.tv lets you place ads on videos that are guaranteed to be seen and guaranteed to be relevant. The system analyzes an online video for meta-data (classification tags that have been embedded in the file that viewers can’t see), and also uses speech recognition to figure out what the video is all about. In this page of demos, you will see how the system will serve up a text ad related to what is happening or what is said on the video.

But wait. . . there’s more! Since this is the web, the system measures how viewers are responding to ads. If viewers respond favorably to certain product ads by clicking on them, for instance, it may serve up more of those ads. Imagine that – ads that are actually related to the content. Do you know where your online ads are?

While video advertising will be less than $1 billion in 2007, it’s anticipated to grow to $4 billion by 2011. In any case, it’s going to grow - a lot. Intelligent advertising placement (note we didn’t say intelligent ads), represent the future. Eventually consumer demand (who clicks on what ads and when) will replace the current model (and hopefully address the gauntlet of pharma ads that dominate the evening news).

If you’re a publisher, consider how you might integrate advertising throughout even very long video content. Many viewers would like to have an easy place to buy something that’s being reviewed or highlighted on the show (from movies to Emeril’s pots and pans to just about anything). Advertisers should consider where they might find relevant content to run along.

Adap.tv has Text Ads for Video Top 10 Guide for Online Video

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On the radio Promote your brand via a Live365 radio station

Posted by tom klein June 28, 2007 at 2:30 am

Whether you think it’s a scourge or a delight, talk radio has a huge audience. This begs the question, why shouldn’t you put your brand front and center with an internet radio station of your own?

Live365 gives you the chance to create and broadcast your own web-based radio station to a global audience. Professional packages with royalty included (if you are thinking about playing even one copyrighted song) start at $107 per month with a $199 setup fee, giving you 500 broadcasting hours. From there it is up to you to decide on content. Maybe a seasonal station would be a good fit. A brand like Butterball could host a special station in November to help consumers prepare for Thanksgiving. Or maybe it’s an opportunity to share with Ocean Spray who could also host reports from the bog during cranberry season.

Once up and running, Live365 provides an analysis tool that allows you to track the number of listeners, listening times, and geographic location. Oh, and don’t forget that anything you create for your radio station could be re-purposed and live forever on your web-site or on iTunes as a podcast.

Be careful when you choose a package, since sound quality on your station is dependent on the bit-rate (bandwidth) at which you're streaming. Too high and only people with high-speed internet can listen in, too low and it'll sound like an AM station off a radio from the 50's. If you can afford it, opt for two separate bit-rates, one for high-speed listeners and another for those with dial-up.

Create a unique look for your player window to enrich the listener's brand experience. With a custom HTML version or custom Flash version you can showcase your brand as people listen in, adding pictures, advertisements, and messages about promotions in the form of active links to the skin (facade) of the player.

Broadcasting equipment The silent treatment

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Blow it up Syndicate your content/ads to drive revenue

Posted by tom klein June 19, 2007 at 2:30 am

While you’re right to focus on your own content, don’t forget that there are many sites that might be willing to carry your content or ads. It can translate into big bucks. Google’s partner program (those little ads that are NOT on Google-owned sites) generated revenues of $1.35 billion in the first quarter of 2007.

Monster.com, the largest employment / want-ad site has just caught on. It now invites other web sites to advertise jobs or simply carry Monster-specific ads. Monster pays these sites a fee based on the number of clicks or leads generated. The company partnered with Commission Junction to manage the back end processes (paying people who carry their advertisements).

With their partnership, they’ve begun seeding little monsters all over the web in the hope that they will generate the revenue lift that Google’s partner program has. Is it time to let your brand break free from life on just one site?

Monster.com and other sites are able to track performance and compensate sites who carry advertising thanks to special coding embedded in the advertisement, whether it’s a link, image, or video.

Using other sites to deliver your ads or content is often referred to as affiliate marketing. Setting up such a program is just half of the battle. Remember that you will have to communicate with potential publisher partners and educate them about the merits of your program.

Communication Junction tutorial Guide to affiliate programs Google’s Shadow Payroll (NY Times) Google Q1 earnings release

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Walk on by Web enabled LCD’s change outdoor ads

Posted by tom klein June 18, 2007 at 2:30 am

A 32 inch LCD HDTV can be yours at Wal-mart for just $597. Did you realize that these low LCD prices are also changing the outdoor advertising game?

Clear Channel’s Taxi Media has created a network of 32 inch LCD screens (connected by satellite) that ride around on top of Boston and New Orleans taxis. These taxi-top LCD’s don’t feature static ads – they can carry 5 or 10 second animations (the feed growth! candidate). What’s different here is the level of control. You can change the graphics on the fly or even run different ads on different streets or at different times, opening up opportunities for optimization (we mentioned the web equivalent in The dating game).

With rates running at $450 / month for a 20% sign share, are you taking advantage of opportunities to rethink digitally enabled outdoor?

This geo-targeting ad system (developed by Vert) uses GPS to identify the taxi’s location and a rooftop wireless modem to transmit up to the minute adjustments to the ads served by the ad-server network.

Consider how you could use such a system to optimize what you know about the effectiveness of outdoor ads. Combine more dynamic ads, geo-targeting, and variations by day-part and you have a rich opportunity for learning.

See the system on CNBC Contact Clear Channel Effective design for outdoor Clear Channel goes private

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Look ma, no hands Digitally enable print to reach an online audience

Posted by tom klein June 15, 2007 at 2:30 am

Think print media will die because you can’t click it? Think again.

Olive Software’s Active Paper can recreate a publication so that it has the look and feel of the original, but is accessible online. Print publications like Red Herring and The Denver Post show that all of the investment in beautiful fonts and graphics hasn’t been wasted, but now the links are alive and functional – and pointing readers to advertisers. Move over PDF, the moment you web enable your publication this way, you’re in the online advertising business.

If you market a publication or even if you’re just looking to bring a print document to a web audience, don’t let your old notions fool you. Print’s being redefined and can offer a direct line of sight to an online business … and a global online audience.

To enable this transformation from print to online, Olive software takes print documents and translates them into XML (extensible markup language). Think of this language as a way of defining different parts and pieces of a print document so that a computer program can understand. Once a program knows the difference between a title and a byline, the magic can happen.

Even if you’re not a publisher, you may be printing documents that are good candidates for transformation and not even know it. Boeing decided that its Delta IV Payload Planners Guide (it’s a rocket) for the spacecraft user community needed to be electronically enabled. What used to be a printed doorstop now lives online. Your user guides could be candidates as well.

Demo webinars and materials Scotsman case study (PDF) Digital magazines and social networking

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