Monthly Archives: June 2013

StarcomMediaVest: The Agency Customer View of GeoTargeting

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Derek Thompson is global managing director of mobile practice at ad agency StarcomMediaVest’s (SMG).  He was interviewed by Steven Jacob of Street Fight, and here are a few excerpts.  The full story is here.  In his words, somewhat condensed:

starcom

  • Broad appeal. Across Starcom MediaVest’s portfolio, I cannot think of one client that is not interested in this space. You have consumer-packaged-goods…auto manufacturers…travel companies.  Across the board, brands are curious about location.
  • KFS:  Integration with ad serving, real time optimization, scale vs objective.  The ability to integrate third party ad-serving is a critical component. And the ability to manage and optimize accounts in real time in real time in terms of delivery, execution and results is also extremely important…the minimum requirements to get going. The other one across this space is to have access to the right inventory…if you cannot get distribution of that great idea because your first-party publisher partners are not there or you’re only working with a certain segmentsof applications, then you’re going to be limited. 
  • Location trumps third-party reporting: To identify where a consumer is at a special time and message them based on that information. to help us understand audience based on where that device has been seen.  We can try to do it through third-party reporting, likes, and content but that’s often misleading.
  • Complexity.  The space is so fragmented, there are so many different offerings, or alleged offers, for brands, that they need help understanding it, they need reasons to get behind it…to test and learn.
  • In April, SMG announced a partnership with PlaceIQ to build out a new KPI.

 

Portland’s Oregonian Shifts to a Digital-First Newspaper Model

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oregonian-logo2 (1)Advance Newhouse will shift another of its daily newspapers to a new digital-first publishing model starting October 1, 2013.

According to company statements, two new companies will be formed:

The Oregonian Media Group will publish The Oregonian (and its related print products) will operate OregonLive.com.  This new, digitally-focused media company will expand news and information products in Oregon and Southwest Washington using about 90 reporters, the same number as today.

Home delivery will be Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, plus a “bonus” edition will be delivered Saturday with have news and a strong emphasis on sports content, along with classified advertising. [I wonder if this is a total market product with inserts, but the reports were not clear.]  Home delivery subscribers that choose the three-day subscription option will also have access to a digital edition seven days a week. The Oregonian still will be published and sold daily, and OregonLive.com will be updated throughout the day.

Advance Central Services Oregon will be a shared-services company providing production, circulation, IT, purchasing and human resources to the OMG as well as other companies.

With this new model, The Oregonian will be profitable again this year, the company said.

Why Google’s Acquisition of Waze is a Game Changer

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From a recent article in Forbes, here are several reasons why Google’s acquisition of Waze will be a game changer.waze

  • Waze’s community of users is key to helping Google achieve its next big goal: mapping how we move.  Waze simply collects GPS data from its 50 million users. Anyone who drives with the Waze app turned on is passively providing data that the company can use to better understand not only the world that user is driving through, but their intent.
  • Waze is one of only four major companies that built its own extensive maps of the world, the others being TomTom, Navteq and Google. “Just like search became the interface for monetization on the web, maps are going to be a big part of the monetization engine for mobile,” he said, “because that’s what you open when you’re going places.
  • Waze grows organically every day.  Wave’s Wikipedia-style structure of day-to-day contributors, who make up about 10% of users, and voluntary editors, who make up a tinier percent, allows it to chart new roads in new countries, and even include roadblocks and construction zones.
  • Waze understands the intent of its users. “Now that I know where you drive, I can begin offering you deals, I can begin enhancing the experience.”  When a Waze driver in the U.S. is stopped at a light or parked, they’ll often see a ad pop up for Taco Bell, Starbucks or AT&T.  Nearly all Waze’s ads are based on location, cross referencing where the Wazer and advertiser are in a given moment.  The Holy Grail here was cross referencing all of that GPS data with another component: the consumer’s destination, or intention. “If you’re driving to work it’s a different experience than if you’re driving to [the American department store] Macy’s,” said Bardin.