Digital Media News

Internet Broadcasting, the multipurpose firm that has provided a technological backbone for the Web sites affiliated with many local stations, looks to help Univision monetize inventory for digital outlets linked with its 62 owned-and-operated stations.

Among the services IB will offer Univision as part of a multiyear arrangement are ways to design ad units, ad trafficking and campaign management tools and sales training. It will align Univision’s current systems with its own.

IB has worked with the Hearst and Post-Newsweek station groups, as well as newspapers and Turner.

I recently sat down with Ryan Jetton, co-founder of Utility Digital, a company that balances technology, data utilization, and custom strategies to build successful and innovative advertising campaigns, both on- and offline. I asked Mr. Jetton a few questions about their business practices as well as his opinion on voter file-driven ad targeting and data-focused media buying.

I recently sat down with James Curran, co-founder of STAQ, a company that integrates ad platforms for end clients and technology providers alike. Having a top down view of the ad technology ecosystem, I asked him a few questions about how marketers are dealing with the sheer amount of available data and options there are in the ad technology marketplace.

Tim Nichols: You’ve said that you’ve found companies use on average of 5-7 tech products in their stack. Why do you think that is the case?

James Curran has spent the last decade working in and building ad platforms. As former product and business development lead for Lotame’s Data Management Platform and a product manager for Advertising.com, James has seen a historical trend in the use of multiple ad platforms by companies and believes it points to where they will be taken in the future. His new company, where he serves as CEO and Co-Founder is called STAQ, which he believes is the catalyst in making them working together.

Tim Nichols: Integration of ad technologies. How and when did you come to this as a solution to offer?

Click fraud is bad for advertisers and potential customers alike. It wastes a lot of money and time and can significantly increase the cost of a product or service. But click fraud is here to stay and doesn’t plan on going anywhere. It’s a permanent roommate for online advertising and it doesn’t plan on paying rent, doing housework, or picking up after itself.

The time has come to start speaking reality and stop spending so much time trying to blow beams of sunshine up each other’s behinds or pointing fingers [insert thoughts of recent articles about Facebook here]. The online advertising industry will not “win” the battle against click fraud if “winning” is defined as eradicating click fraud. When there’s a lot of money changing hands, fraudulent behavior will almost always stop by for a visit and will continue stopping by unannounced no matter how many times you’ve slammed the door in its face. This happens in every line of work, not just online advertising. Our job as an industry is to smoke click fraud out from its hiding place, minimize it as much as possible, and keep one step ahead in order to limit the damage caused and the money wasted.

I recently sat down with Matt Oczkowski, (now a growth and mobilization strategist in Madison, Wisocnsin), director of online campaigns for Advocacy Group, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm that builds dynamic online campaigns for trade associations, non-profits, corporations, and political organizations.

Tim Nichols: Advocacy Group, Inc. (AGI) works with a variety of clients that range from trade associations and non-profits to corporations and candidates. How do you go about drafting successful campaigns in such an issue-dense industry?

According to leading retargeting company FetchBack, “retargeting means putting messages in front of lost prospects who’ve left your website in order to attract them back and convert – finish the purchase, sign up for the newsletter, or whatever action you’re looking for.”

If you’ve spent anytime surfing the Internet, you’ve probably experienced being retargeted by websites you’ve previously visited. For instance, you visit leading comparison shopping site PriceGrabber.com or leading retail website Amazon.com and the next thing you know you’re not only seeing banner ads for PriceGrabber or Amazon, but the banner ads are dynamically displaying the actual products you browsed when you last visited.

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Kirby Winfield, the SVP of corporate development at comScore, Inc., (now the founder of vacation rental mobile app Dwellable) and ask him a few questions about consumer data and data in general.

Tim Nichols: What is the biggest mistake marketers make when purchasing and applying consumer data products?

Kirby Winfield: Not going in with a clear sense of what they’re trying to measure, and why. It’s easy to get lost in all the data when you don’t go into it with an understanding of what your marketing objective is. For example, are you trying to optimize your TRP, or are you trying to lower your cost per lead? The same data can be applied in very different fashion to achieve those distinct objectives. When you have a clear sense of purpose up front, it makes the data a lot more manageable.

Myles is head of marketing and business development at Canned Banners, a platform that automates and streamlines display ad design. I caught up with Myles on the state of display ad creative.

Tim Nichols (Exact Drive): Everyone keeps predicting the death of the banner ad, yet Canned Banners has staked its business model on making it easy to create banner ads. Why do you think there’s still opportunity there?

MY: That’s a multi-part answer. First: many display ad detractors are basing their arguments on very outdated assumptions. In 2012, they’re griping about poorly targeted, poorly conceived 90s-era banner ads. It’s like complaining about low gas mileage when all you’ve ever driven is a 1960s Cadillac. True, lots of display advertising is still stuck in the Dark Ages, but that doesn’t reflect poorly on display advertising as a channel, it reflects poorly on marketers, agencies, and ad salespeople.