Archive for March, 2008

I Was Bored

Published by brian on March 29, 2008 in misc.. 2 Comments

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Last night, I decided I was not going to wake up until, at the very least, noon today. That was shot when I couldn’t fall back asleep and it was 8:30 am. Horrible. Since then, I’ve accomplished the following…

  • Freshly grounded and brewed a cup of coffee
  • Drank it - Trader Joe’s Volcano; recommended although it’s not in my top 10
  • Exchanged a few texts with Pfluger, confirming that skipping an alumni golf outing was wise (temperature at 7:30 am tee time was below freezing) - no chalepa ta kala today
  • Flipped my iPod on shuffle
  • Received an entirely too positive-sounding text from Hammer, who went
  • Adjusted the size of my new RSS button
  • Ate the last of the taco pizza
  • Discovered the fancy AJAX thinger that enabled in-page navigation and live search for this site did weird things in Firefox. And by weird things I mean no page resolved and it looped endlessly.
    • 79% of my traffic uses Firefox (thank you, Google Analytics), but view fully 1.5 and 2 pages less per visit than Internet Explorer and Safari users respectively.
    • IE users spend a minute and a half longer on this site than Firefox users.
    • I’ve removed this functionality, replaced it with the standard archivery (yes, I just made up a word) and am now curious to see if Firefox users begin to view more pages per visit and spend more time.

Makes sense to try and improve the experience for my largest audience, wouldn’t you say? Big ups to my usability, analytics, development, & QA teams.

Opportunities for improvement are everywhere. Identify, act/change, measure, record, repeat…agility is the key. But first, you must do something.

It’s now 12:34 pm and time for me to do something else…


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The Worldwide Leader in Pissing Off Ad Networks

Published by brian on March 24, 2008 in interactive marketing. 0 Comments

ESPN Turns Off Ad Nets to Protect Brand, Content

I’d bet there are some nervous ad sales managers & reps within ESPN’s interactive division.  Assuming ESPN is going to beef up their sales staff & efforts, as well as commit the resources necessary to determine the true value of their content, this could be successful.  Or, it could be something temporary like eBay’s hiatus from Google Adwords.  Anyway you look at it, there is considerable investment required to pull off something like this. 

  • Premium brands with popular online destinations with plenty of unsold advertising inventory. 
  • The desire to possess absolute control over the brand & price of inventory vs. the potential to make money off otherwise unsold space. 

Personally, I can’t imagine this working within the current interactive space’s economic climate.  The need to generate revenue now is vital. 

Not everyone interacts with all online content for extended periods of time.  Checking scores, power rankings, & injury updates do not take a whole lot of time.  And, similar to how they add analysts to pre-game & post-game shows, I notice more & more content going up on ESPN.  As their site grows, so does their available inventory.  In dealing with many different clients, I have come to learn that online media can be a hard sell.  Existing advertisers are not going to buy that much more space.  Even if they can sell all available inventory, can they target as well as the networks?  It doesn’t add up.

On the flip side, if ESPN & other top publishers succeed, it would certainly add a few more jobs across the board.  Agencies, publishers, & clients alike would all have to staff up to maintain such a focus on the digital world.  That would be good for the economy, wouldn’t it?


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Having It My Way?

Published by brian on March 22, 2008 in consumerism. 2 Comments

I am not sure when Burger King decided to go with, “Have It Your Way,” but from the looks of this commercial it’s been at least 32 years.

As a customer, I can appreciate being given the options to customize what I am about to purchase.  Ninety percent of the time, I am going to order my food as-is, but it’s nice to know if I am keen on extra bacon & extra salty fries, the choice is mine.

What I cannot appreciate is yellow lettuce.  Understanding how quality assurance goes out the door during extremely busy times doesn’t mean I, the customer, should be affected by it.

Think of the yellow lettuce as a metaphor; what we see with it, we can translate to any other company or individual.  In a fast-paced world, when we become too focused on what’s ahead & beyond, we may lose site of the basics.  Or, those charged with carrying out the basics have no vision.

burger-king-yellow-lettuce.jpg

Starbucks recently closed all stores for 3 hours on a weeknight to invest in barista re-training, among other things.  Since then, I’ve noticed the little things each location has been doing as a part of re-focusing on their customers’ experience.  It seems they understand there is more to communicating a message than just words.  Vision & execution are equally as important.  This isn’t rocket science; don’t treat your customers like jerks.


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Interactive Agency Competition

Published by brian on March 18, 2008 in interactive agency. 0 Comments

Competition is good; it drives us to provide better services & spurs creativity & profitable innovation. The importance of differentiating & establishing a competitive edge has never been more important in the interactive world. Agencies, large & small, are creating new revenue streams by eliminating weaknesses, identifying opportunities, & delivering competitive & holistic interactive services.

At the end of the day, we are simply trying to help our clients succeed. What is good for the client will be good for the agency, most of the time. Client needs have never been more obvious & voiced.

  • My customers are evolving. How do I communicate with them most effectively?
  • How do my customers’ interactions flow from online to offline?
  • What are my customers doing when not directly engaged with my brand, products, or services?
  • What’s the most effective way to attract & retain customers through the online channel?
  • How do I effectively measure return on marketing investment across not only online, but offline channels?
  • So what’s mobile & social networking all about? A hint on this one…no one knows, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Fortunately these questions are forcing positive change within interactive advertising realm. Traditional online strategy & planning has become passé. In order for agencies to prosper we must help client & customer connect & remain engaged. The interactive medium will continue to grow in the face of current economic conditions. Perhaps not at the rates of growth we have seen over the past 10 years, but more people, young & old (Hi, Pop-pop), are going online & learning new ways to find things, interact with each other, your brand, & your products/ services. Showing clients how to make themselves accessible to the right people at the right time will give you an edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Who’s ready to play?


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Google: Our Beloved Frenemy

Published by brian on March 12, 2008 in interactive marketing. 0 Comments

Google Goes on Charm Offensive at AAAA

If the goal is to quell suspicions regarding the desire to cut agencies out of the picture, put the theory to practice. Call me a skeptic, but wouldn’t it make sense for Google to publicly announce it does not wish to disintermediate agencies? In terms of online innovation, Google is a leader & needs only to add a strategic component to its account management to become a direct competitor to interactive agencies.

While I agree that their acquisition of DoubleClick will lead to much-needed innovation in the interactive advertising industry, & should be good for everyone, I can’t help but wonder what else is behind Mr. Armstrong’s presentation. It seems part damage control, part pre-emptive.

Without agencies involved, Google has an opportunity to exert more influence. There is a lot more to gain, monetarily, without an agency as the intermediary.

I have seen, first-hand, instances of Google attempting to deal directly with clients. Generally, I do not have a problem with this; as long as the agency is brought into the contact loop at the beginning, clients & vendors can talk as often as they like…as long as goals are clear. What piques my curiosity is why they do not initially contact the agency. I would assume they have client & agency databases with specific info linking an agency’s billing, contact info, & client list. Account managers & reps who are in contact with a client or agency at least somewhat regularly…I know these guys & gals exist. Yes, clients play a roll in this, too, but I understand their position which most of the time is them, in water, with their head just above it.

At the end of the day, this is nothing new; vendors have always been trying to deal directly with clients. Yet it seems a bit more sensitive when a big, successful company like Google is the aggressor. Are we over-sensitive or appropriately acknowledging a rising competitor?


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