Some of you may be saying, “Adam, we miss your great insights and cannot properly do our jobs without your wisdom”. Well, fear not–I have more articles on the way over at iMediaconnection and am also speaking at a number of events and giving a couple of webinars in the next few months. As always, you can reach me on Twitter as well @adambroitman

Why is A Media Circ.us so sparse these days?

The truth is, me and a business partner have a new venture entitled Circ.us. It will be another month or two before we announce what the big idea is, but we are busy cranking away right now, working with some pretty large brands (as well as some smaller, but totally cool brands–you know me, I do the cool).

Again, my apologies for the lack of information; rest assured I am getting some great things done over here.

Note: I will be at IAB Mobile tomorrow; stop by and say hello.

Are we dealing with an hour glass marketplace where there is a top tier of inventory and a secondary tier?

Brian Quinn—Reluctant to get on board with ad networks
60% of WSJ sold across their own network
“We don’t want to be dinosaurs and not realize what is happening in the marketplace”
…but brands still want to be in well light environments
Masha asked, “do you consider yourself and ad network?” He did not say yes, but did not say yes
Lack of integration is a problem (multiple agencies working on creative versus media)

Darren Herman—When was the last time you saw a full page print walk into a store and make a purchase?
We don’t, audiences buy things.
We believe network inventory can be premium; although we don’t use the term premium non-premium—we use reserve, non-reserve
Different audiences allows for more creativity in the art of persuasion
What does higher impact mean for sales?
Vertical Networks are important

Joe Apprendi—

Applauds the OPA for its newest ad standards. Last time they issued standards was 2002
Hopefully the OPA will influence the IAB
A lot of people lump behavioral targeting into one bucket, but there are multiple types of behavioral—Top Funnel/Low Funnel
We have the who and the where—the big question is what (referring to creative)

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I will be leading an all-star panel at 12:15 about the future of Ad Networks. More to come later today (as the future is so bright…)

12:15pm: The Next Generation Ad Network: What are the emerging digital network models for publishers and advertisers across platforms? How will the branded, performance, video, mobile, social networks evolve and offer more effective advertising for brands and return for publishers? What are the bleeding edge technologies behind them? And how has a tight economy given them life as the next big thing for content owners and brands? Will networks shift from selling impressions to purely selling data? Shift from site-specific to audience-centric media buying?
Moderator: Adam Broitman, Founder and Ringleader, circ.us

Speakers:

Bant Breen, President, Digital Communications, Initiative Worldwide
Paran Johar, CMO, JumpTap
Andy Monfried, CEO, Lotame
Rob Gorrie,  President, Adcentricity
Chris Riggs, CEO, Imirus

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I had some help from industry leaders–who I would like to thank:

David Berkowitz, director of emerging media & client strategy at 360i
Shiv Singh, vice president, social media & global strategic initiatives at Razorfish
Rick Liebling, global director, account management at Taylor
Michael Lazerow, founder, chairman, and CEO at Buddy Media
Christine Perkett, founder and CEO at PerkettPR
Shel Holtz, principal at Holtz Communication + Technology

There was also a lot of chatter about this topic on Twitter and I would  like to thank all of you who retweeted, blogged or mentioned the piece:

Eric Tsai

Neal Wiser

Yaron Orenstein

Dianna Kersey

Kim Brater

Rick Morgan

Marnie Grona

Charles Yao

Hessie Jones

Anita Lai

Jay Baer

Bruce Hendrickson

I hope that this dialogue proves to be something of value to the industry.

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I love Google. I love most of their products; Gmail, Reader, Docs and who could forget good old search.

Over the years many have accused Google of things such as stealing revenue, diverting traffic to competitive brands and other such offenses. Sometimes I agree, and sometimes I don’t, but the fact remains that Google displays information from other sites that, at times makes it so a user does not actually have to visit that site. Maps, weather, news, movie times are all served up by Google; and there are content owners out there that are not happy about it.

I , or one, believe believe in the adage, “information needs to be free” (not free as in unpaid, free as in unchained) but I always ask the question, “at what point will Google’s business model begin to harm content creators to a point where consumers feel a negative effect?”.

Today I offer you an interesting case.

Google has announced Rich Snippets; a new way they are looking at data on the web and presenting it to searchers.

Before we dive deeper into what this means, let’s take a step back and talk about structured data. Some of you may know what structured data is, but I want to make sure that people reading this blog who do not know, get themselves caught up. At it’s most basic, structured data (as it pertains to search) is the act of adding additional meaning to your content through the categorical tagging–thus creating a “structural” foundation for your content.

For example, take a look at the two lines below and the surrounding tags. The tags provide no additional meaning to the text. They just state the obvious or explicit meaning of the text, “this is a paragraph”.

<p>This is the most important information on this page</p>

<p>This is the second most important piece of information on this page</p>

The above are examples of unstructured data. The enclosing tags add no meaning to the content and do not help search engines figure out the meaning of the text. A very basic example of structuring this data would be to do the following:

<h1>This is the most important information on this page</h1>

<h2>This is the second most important piece of information on this page</h2>

This is a very simple modification, but now search engines can use the enclosing tags to determine additional information about the text. Search engines know that people use <h1> tags for the most important information on a page (well, people should be doing this, but often fail to–this is not good). By adding a “meta-layer” of information, or structuring the data, search engines can better determine what a page is about and serve up better search results.

Rich Snippets take this concept to greater depth by using microformats and RDFa. Google has recently adopted the use of microformats (something that Yahoo has acknowledged for quite some time already). These formats allow content creators to use semantic markup, or structured data to add meaning to the their content, and have it be discoverable based on attributes other than the implied meaning.

The example that Google gives us, and the first instance of the use of this new way to deliver search results is in search reviews.

In this SERP you will notice that Google has not only delivered a result where you can get reviews about the Drooling Dog, they have actually included a verbatim from a review on Yelp. Some site owners may relish the fact that Google is highlighting content from their site and therefore building awareness and ultimately driving traffic. On the flip side, if the SERP gives a user all of the information that they need, the user may have no use for the site at all–rendering the content creator useless. While I imagine the latter will be less common, it is still a reality.

You Have No Choice, Give Into The Google

You can fight it all you want, but ultimately, if your reviews are not listed in Google, someone elses will be. My advice to you is strcuture your data. Here is the raw structured data that Google used to derive the SERP above:

This is the microformat version:

this is the RDFA version

Notice that the content creator has given the information additional attributes to allow Google to recognize the data as a review. Without this additional semantic markup, Google would not be able to create a search listing with the review in it.

Ultimately, the future of information on the web will be decreasingly siloed–i.e. less destinations, more relevant information. The social web is playing a role in the destruction of the destination web, but semantic search is playing an equal, if not greater role. Are you prepared for the future of the web? Is your data formatted to be spreadable?

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The CEO of Lotame may not fit into Hasselhoff’s Speedo but his passion for measuring time spent in a Cost per Mom world is unparalleled. John Swords catches up with Andy Monfried who talks about new advertising metrics and his preferred choice of cheese head in his best Al Pacino voice.

Swords: Andy, it’s great to meet you.

Monfried: Nice to you meet you, John

Swords: Your company is pronounced LOT-of-me?

Monfried: No, it’s LO-ta-me.

Swords: I sort of like LOT-of-me better. It could be the leading ad targeting system for large people.

Monfried: That’s an excellent idea. I’ll bring up the idea for a name change to the board.

Swords: Legend has it that you are a big dude, something like 10 feet tall?

Monfried: Well, not 10 feet tall, I’m 6’4”.

Swords: Did you know David Hasselhoff is also 6’4”? I’ve often wondered if people of the same height hang out together. Are you friends with him?

Monfried: No, I actually don’t know the Hoff.

Swords: Do you wear a Speedo?

[Alarm sounds]

Monfried: Uh.

[Alarm sounds]

Monfried: I need to call you back. We need to evacuate.

Swords: No problem.

…

Monfried: Sorry about that. Didn’t the same thing happen with Joe in your last interview?

Swords: It’s becoming a common theme for the series. Let’s pick up things with — what does Lotame stand for?

Monfried: Locate, target and message. Locate who you want to target, target them, and then have the right messaging to that user inside of social media.

Swords: In your best Al Pacino impression, tell me exactly what Lotame does.

Monfried: Whoo ah! … I saw a tremendous oversupply of ad inventory that users were creating through page impressions on social media sites…

Swords: You know, you sound more like DeNiro than Pacino, but continue.

Monfried: Well Lotame is taking this oversupply of social media, applying kick-ass technology to the social sites and then allowing brand advertisers to really customize and target users instead of inventory.

Swords: How do you mean “target users instead of inventory”?

Monfried: We like to say advertisers are buying a profile and a person …instead of an impression.

Swords: Buying people? Do you operate offshore?

Monfried: No we’re headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland.

Swords: Did you know that Jonathan Ward from “Charles in Charge” was born there?

Monfried: I had no idea.

Swords: I may have to call you “buddy” during this interview.

Monfried: Feel free.

Swords: I recently read an article where you talked about new metrics for buying people. How is buying people a new thing?

Monfried: Yes, so the new metric is targeting people based on engagement.

Swords: Give me an example.

Monfried: Let’s say you want all women…

Swords: Yes!!

Monfried: …who have commented on mommy issues, or being a mother, or daycare. That is, you’re targeting a woman who influenced or created content. We’re talking about buying that woman or that profile, based on time rather than based on an impression.

Swords: So Cost Per Mom is the new CPM. How is it time based?

Monfried: We will expose her to a brand for 30 seconds or one minute over the course of a month or so.

Swords: I saw on your website that you have a technology called the “Time Spent Tracker” which looks fine except for the red marks all over the graphics. Very John Madden of you. Won’t that be distracting to users?

Monfried: That’s exactly what we intended. We want advertising to be 110% distracting. So, that’s the intention.

Swords: That’s really intrusive.

Monfried: John, you do know those lines are just for explaining how the system works, right?

Swords: Let’s change the subject. Are there dangers when you target influencers such as producing a negative response?

Monfried: Sure. When we target influencers, we look at the sentiment of each comment and we only serve ads to those with a positive attitude.

Swords: You know, I’ve never personally seen a campaign from your system.

Monfried: Well you would never get an ad from us because you are an obscene person. I can just tell by this interview.

Swords: Are Undertone and Audience Science your main competitors?

Monfried: Yeah, they’re on our radar. I wouldn’t say we directly compete with them, because they all have their own kind of spin on things.

Swords: So, when you were younger, did your parents think you would grow up to be a pirate?

Monfried: Uh, no.

Swords: Before Lotame, you were a founder of advertising.com.

Monfried: Not a founder, but just in an early core group of people. I leave that to two gentlemen named John and Scott Ferber who founded the company.

Swords: At your physical size, did you ever threaten to kick the shit out of anybody for sales?

Monfried: No, but I hug the crap out of everyone I meet. I squeeze them until the IOs come out of their pocket.

Swords: I bet your HR department loves you.

Monfried: I know it’s a no-no in business, but I don’t care. If you do business with me, you get a big hug.

Swords: Do you pick customers up off the ground?

Monfried: If it’s a big order, yes. Seven figure IOs get a lift off the ground; six figure IOs just get a bear hug.

Swords: If I were to tell you I could get you any kind of cheese head, what type of cheese would it be?

Monfried: Muenster.

Swords: Good choice.

Hello Social Media Bible. It is Sunday and I did not shave, forgive me.

When Lon Safko called me and told me that he was writing a bible I replied, “why don’t you go build an ark while you are at it?”. Alas, Lon has done something that not many people could do; issue a definitive text on all things social media, with top names from around the world. I have to admit, I was a little bit of a skeptic, but then this massive text showed up at my apartment; now I am a believer.

Whoa! That is a big book!

If you are interested on social media (or new media at large; there is a lot more than just social media in there) for business I suggest going out and picking up a copy of this book (The Social Media Bible)–if for no other reason, you get to read some knowledge from yours truly.

Who is that sexy man?

Earlier today I watched a video in which BBDO CEO Andrew Robertson discussed the importance of digital marketing, and how he was attempting to ensure that everyone in the massive organization that he oversees is thinking about digital.

Robertson states:

Everything has a digital component to it…Everyone is having to learn about the ways in which digital can enhance the quality of the programs we create…it is not optional

If digital is a component of all efforts, and everyone is required to possess digital marketing skills; what then is a digital marketer?

Ultimately, aren’t we all just marketers with a variety of tools at our disposal?

Unfortunately this is not a new conversation and there is no easy answer. That said, I am not sure that large ad agencies are working fast enough to help solve this conundrum.

Some agencies have begun to take a more integrated approach in organizing their workforce, but is it enough?

We still see campaigns that begin telling a story that leverages out of home tactics, with little, to no digital follow up. In my opinion, such campaigns are incomplete; and no matter however creative the “creative” is, the campaign will ultimately fail-as more and more consumers have come to expect that the next chapter of the story will occur online.

So what is the answer?

Let’s look at the pro’s and cons to moving toward a model where we are all simply play the role of marketer;

Pros

• Easier to ensure that strategy is central to all marketing efforts, as the strategic vision would come from one “nerve center”
• All marketers would be held accountable for attaining a base knowledge of all channels

Cons

• Difficult to decide who is going to focus on what areas of execution, of a campaign
• Many marketers are still not savvy when it comes to digital, and if they were forced to manage any piece of the digital portion of the campaign, things could get messy

There are obvious benefits to each way of thinking. Ultimately, I do not think we are ready to switch to a model where all marketers are responsible for all media types. That being said, what will happen in 5 years, when recent college graduates will have digital media in their DNA? Will we then be ready for the type of change that I am proposing?

I would love to hear some thought from you.

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It was about four years ago. I was an eager interactive agency guy testing various new platforms; some…well, let’s say, not as successfully.  Okay, I will be honest (it is, after all, the best policy) the firs mobile campaign I ran was an abysmal failure. Like any good marketer, I noted why it failed, then vowed never to make that type of mistake again (I have since made other marketing mistakes; but all of them were unique )

What did I learn?

• Tactics driving strategy usually does not work
  • The demographic I was trying to reach was simply not ready to behave in the manner needed to make this campaign a success.
    • A click to call mobile campaign did not serve our strategic objectives
• Pre-planning can make successes out of failures
  • The adoption rate, and awareness of many mobile technologies that are popular today, were not as popular at that time.  What we failed to do was create a model whereby; the long term learnings were just as important as short term ROI. All we learned was not to run any other mobile campaigns for that brand for a while.
  • Had created a framework for failure, the fact that my target demo was not a savvy mobile crowd could have diminished the degree to which this campaign failed
• Communications should be consistent across platforms
  • There are certainly exceptions to this rule, but when testing emerging platforms, the look and feel you present to consumers should remind them of other campaigns in the market. It makes activation in new media environments more palatable; and can diminish any skepticism someone may have

I have taken these lessons and applied them to everything I do. As someone who is both a marketer and a lover of shiny new tech toys, these were very important lessons.

Fast forward a few shorts years.

The world of mobile has changed (hell, the entire world of media has changed drastically in these few years, and so has my thinking about mobile marketing). I know some of you out there are still afraid of testing mobile marketing; it is time you get over your fears! I am not advocating you go out and start buying mobile media for it’s own sake. I am saying that you should begin to seriously consider how to integrate mobile into your communications strategy.

I have been thinking about mobile marketing a lot lately, and began to construct a framework that reflects my thinking. It is still pretty rough, but I figured I would throw it out to the community and collect some thoughts. I don’t plan on explaining the meaning of these diagrams for two reason;

1. I want to see if they resonate with you, and if so, how
2. I am just too darn busy (but I promise to revisit them; so stay tuned)

Let me know what you think. or better still; take these ideas and make your owns slides and send them over. I will be sure to post.

(note: since posting this,  I have already begun to see holes in this model re:Search. Help me out here; I constructed this model quickly; knowing that the wisdom of crowds is greater than the wisdom of one)

Mobility

View more presentations from Adam Broitman.

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Company: ChaCha

Founded: 2008

Twitpitch: ChaCha provides advertisers the opportunity to target young, active mobile users with highly effective messaging and engaging them via text conversations.

Why ChaCha should “make the plan”: ChaCha is available ANYTIME & ANYWHERE – all you need is a cell phone.

Media Kit can be found at: http://partners.chacha.com/

Sales contact info: Mark Tarnuzzer, 860-690-6371

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