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Reflections from OnMedia NYC 2013

DOmedia was honored as an OnMedia top 100 private tech company.
The seventh annual OnMedia conference was held in New York City March 17th and 18th and was a celebration of the innovative people, companies, and ideas that are connecting and empowering the world.

The field was full of household names ‘€“ Twitter, Pinterest, Square, Uber and Tumblr ‘€“ and was dominated by tech companies with coastal headquarters and superstar financiers.  All of the ‘€œbuzzy’€ industry segments were present and accounted for.  Digital media, cloud, big data, real time bidding, and community platforms… BINGO!

Tony Perkins, AlwaysOn

Tony Perkins, CEO AlwaysOn

This year’s overall ‘€œwinner’€ was AppNexus ‘€“ the world’s leading cloud-based real-time-bidding exchange for digital online.  AlwaysOn’s Tony Perkins conducted a fireside chat with AppNexus CEO Brian O’Kelley.  They discussed the genesis of the company, how Brian raised his first dollar from Marc Andreesson and Ben Horowitz (before they were ‘€œAndreesson Horowitz’€), their early pivots, and the challenge of scaling a business while raising a family.  The story was a remarkably familiar one.  Brian had a great idea, a supremely tailored skill-set to execute on that idea, and was able to plug into an ecosystem and ‘€œride the wave’€.

DOmedia was the exception to the rule in this year’s OnMedia 100.  We are headquartered in ‘€œSili-corn-Valley’€, operate a business in a decidedly non-sexy industry (Out-of-Home), and build technology tools that empower media planners, buyers, and sellers, rather than replace them with algorithms.  When it comes to buzzword BINGO, we are holding an empty card.

So how did we even make this year’s list?  The answer is simple.  The answer is YOU.

The answer is YOUOur growth, our dynamism, and our success is driven by you ‘€“ our partners and our customers.  Whether you work at a the worlds largest agency, or the worlds smallest media company, we believe at our core that you planners, buyers, and sellers in the Out-of-Home industry (and those in digital, mobile, social, et al) are the most valuable assets that your company has.  We are not discounting the value of big data.  We believe in analytics and we believe in the efficiencies that programmatic tools can bring to media buying.  But we also recognize the value of experience.  We recognize the value of the expert.  That is why we build the tools we do.  That is why we work every day to empower you ‘€“ make you faster, smarter, and more efficient.

We are honored to be recognized by AlwaysOn, but more importantly, we are honored to work with all of you.


Summer Creativity Provided by VW and Volvo

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Who says the mundane tasks of our lives can’t be spiced up a little bit? The people at Volkswagen clearly have the creativity to do just that. After the wildly popular Fun Theory experiment, Volkswagen has now rolled out its sister campaign, the Fast Lane Theory. Life is always a little more fun in the fast lane, doesn’t it seem? Even better when you’re cruising in a Volkswagen on the Autobahn in Germany.

In the Alexanderplatz subway station in Berlin, Volkswagen constructed a slide to run the length of the stairway so that when walkers approached at the top of the stairs they had 2 options: a) take the stairs allll the way down or b) zip down the slide in 2 seconds. What would you pick? Check out the excitement that ensues.

In another unexpected place, the grocery store, the genius VW people assembled a grocery cart with a skateboard attached to the bottom, just under the handlebar. Think back to what you did as a kid (which most likely drove your mom crazy): run with the cart, jump on the bottom shelf and coast down the aisles, narrowly missing the four foot high display of paper towels at the end or the elderly lady reaching for the sugar on the top shelf. The reactions are the greatest part of the experiment, in my opinion. There were some people who were a tad confused by all the fun during such a boring chore as grocery shopping and others totally embraced the fast lane. Either way, we applaud Volkswagen for bringing out the kid in everyone again.

Across the pond, a VW competitor has also created a promotion gimmick this summer. Volvo is working to bring back the essence of movie drive-ins, only this time with all Volvo cars provided. You don’t even need a driver’s license! Dubbed the ‘€œVolvo Starlite Urban Drive-In‘€, Volvo has picked the cultural Truman Brewery in London to host the event. Once you’ve booked your tickets, pick out one of the 25 Volvos on location to pack in with a friend – 2 per car – and enjoy the movie on screen, whether it is Dirty Dancing or Grease. You can’t go wrong with Johnny Castle’s twisting hips or Danny Zuko’s retro leather jacket. Feeling hungry? Order some popcorn from one of the waitresses zipping through the lot on her roller skates. The Starlite’s success was so overwhelming (tickets sold out in less than a minute!) the creators are considering packing up and taking the event nationwide.


Corona Brings the Beach to Times Square

New Yorkers got a real surprise when walking through Times Square this past week. Instead of the usual overcrowded and dirty sidewalks, there was a transplanted beach right in the middle of the city’s busiest intersection! Not only was there over 30 tons of real sand, there were palm trees (not the real ones, sadly), beach chairs, volleyball nets, corn hole boards, loud music and other themed items. And of course, what Margaritaville would be complete without an ice cold Corona in your hand?

In fact, a Corona bottle was placed right in the middle of the party, towering at 30 feet tall! Too bad it is only an inflatable promo item… There were also Corona brand ambassadors – some even (semi) famous – including Real Housewife of New York City, Kelly Bensimon, mingling all over the scene. The Corona sponsored event lasts through July 31st.  

The ‘€œpop-up beach’€ is the biggest summer launch for Corona Extra and Corona Light. Parent company, Crown Imports, reported that media coverage has been provided by ESPN2’s ‘€œSportsNation’€, local news, and online outlets in the States, Mexico and Japan. Other promotional giveaways at the party include sunscreen, bead necklaces, and key chains. But to win one of the 100 trips to Cancun, you better start looking for one of the 2,000 Corona bottles donning a promotional wrap that includes an entry code for chances to win online. Looks like summer is here early, and what better way to celebrate than with a Corona and lime? Better start drinking!


Captain Morgan Goes for a Touchdown

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Well, you can’t blame the Captain for trying.

According to Media Life, Captain Morgan came up with a plan to get NFL players to pose in the iconic Captain’s stance (knee up, hand on knee, other hand on hip… assuming you’re short a sword) after scoring a touchdown. In return? The rum company would donate $10,000 to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund for each player who struck a pose during regular season, $25,000 during playoffs and $100,000 during the Super Bowl. Not a bad deal considering 30-second TV spots can cost millions and still don’t generate buzz like many guerrilla advertising stunts do.

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Unfortunately, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek got a little too eager and decided to pull out the move in a game against Dallas nearly a week before the campaign was supposed to kick off. Although the cameras caught it all and Captain Morgan still got its moment in the end zone, the NFL jumped on it almost immediately in an attempt to safeguard existing agreements and sponsorships. So even though there will be no more celebrating with the Captain during game time, it was still a great plan and even succeeded in creating the buzz it set out to.


Pelotonia Bike Tour: Fundraising Meets Out-of-Home

Pelotonia Logo

This summer marks the beginning of an exciting & life-changing annual fundraiser here in Columbus, Ohio. Pelotonia, founded and funded by NetJets, is the grass roots bike tour raising money for cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. In fact, 100% of funds raised go directly to cancer research at The James!

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So what does this have to do with out-of-home advertising? In a (successful) attempt to get its message out to the community, Pelotonia literally dominated the out-of-home industry here in Columbus using media ranging from empty storefront ads and floor graphics to street furniture and digital signage. Ads were placed along busy highways, around the Ohio State University campus area (home to thousands of students & businesses), and the Arena District (home to many young — and young-at-heart — professionals and businesses, not to mention our Columbus Clippers baseball team & Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team).

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The most impressive of all, perhaps, is the domination of the Columbus airport by Pelotonia & The James. The images below explain the campaign’s effectiveness better than words. Quality, quantity and, most of all, creativity made this effort impossible to miss.

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The bike tour takes place this weekend, consisting of four routes spanning 25, 50, 100 and 180 miles. Over 2,100 people have committed to riding–including Lance Armstrong!

Donate

If you’re interested in contributing, please check out our DOmedia peloton where you can donate to our ride up until October 31st. Every donation helps!

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