It’s hard to believe that another OAAA STAR Showcase has come and gone. DOmedia made its industry debut at the same event last year and what a difference 12 little months made! While we followed the same itinerary as ‘07, everything was bigger, bolder and better in ‘08. (more…)

Sales of outdoor and alternative advertising are on the rise at a time when advertising sales overall haven’t been strong.

With some consumers fast-forwarding through TV commercials and switching to satellite radio, advertising agencies are looking for a new way to reach people, Lamb said.

“The idea is to grab attention,” said Lynn Dailey, professor of marketing at Capital University. “The whole idea of alternative media makes sense. You don’t avoid the building, (and) if there is a bus in front of you, you have to look at it.”

If you haven’t had a chance to read the full story, check it out here.

New DOmedia President - Jeff R. Lamb

Jeff joined the DOteam as head captain back in June. He has a comprehensive technical background combined with ad agency experience, most recently playing the Chief Technical Officer position for Cincinnati-based Northlich. In addition to being able to talk all of the geek-speak, he is also a strong leader. To be honest, keeping all of us on the same page when everyone is moving at 100 miles an hour isn’t always easy. Needless to say, we’re glad he’s here.

New Office Space > 274 Marconi Blvd. Suite 400

We also moved from our comfy garage/office location on Price Avenue to much larger digs in the Arena District. The extra space means we can continue adding much-needed associates without having to share desk space anymore! The new office area still has a very cool vibe, while giving everyone the tools we need to support the rapid growth DOmedia has been experiencing. Check out more pictures of the space, the folks here at DO and our company bicycles on our Flickr page.

New Space = New People

Now that we have more desks, computers, chairs and the like, we’ve been adding to our staff. Clint Lucas has come on board to manage business development with advertisers and agencies. Matt Warholic left the intern ranks following his graduation from Ohio State University; he is now heading up our account support efforts. Bud Budrejko joined our motley crew as lead web application developer…he pretty much does all the technical stuff the rest of us don’t understand. And most recently, Aaron Szabo jumped at the chance to do all of our interactive design work.

Official Media Launch

Last, but certainly not least, DOmedia officially launched to the media today, issuing this press release this morning. Following months of work to build our database of media listings and improving the user interface, we are finally ready to throw back the curtains and welcome the world to our doorstep. Our timing couldn’t have been better, posting our news just one day after VSS issued their Communications Industry Forecast 2008-2012 which predicts increased spending on alternative media:

Brands are expected to continue shifting budgets from traditional to alternative advertising and marketing vehicles in 2008 and 2009. Spending on alternative media will climb 21 percent to $81.67 billion in 2008, and account for 17.7 percent of total advertising and marketing spending, up from 6.9 percent in 2002.

Obviously we have always believed this industry is poised for substantial growth and all of the numbers to date have certainly supported this prediction, but further confirmation is always nice. Our goal is to make sure we support this growth and continue to ease the pain points for everyone sourcing, buying, selling, executing and measuring an increased number of alternative media campaigns.

Given that all of this has happened in just the past 8 weeks, imagine what the next 8 will bring. Here’s to the future…

Maybe it’s because I’m in my afternoon munchy phase, when any sugar consumed at lunch is starting to wear off, but this Adrants post really caught my attention (click here to see the dunking in action). Granted, it’s a few days old, but it’s still worth sharing as a really clever way to promote an iconic brand and capture consumers’ attention. Too bad Oreos didn’t include a place to purchase their product right there… I don’t know about you, but I would have gladly handed over a buck for some cookies after seeing this display.

Either I’ve become Google-fixated or the search juggernaut is becoming a mainstay in the press lately. Last week, I talked about Google Adword TV ads and now Google itself is going offline with an extensive outdoor campaign in Russia, hoping to cut into the 15-year-old Russian search engine of choice, Yandex.

The reported $250,000 investment includes more than 5,000 outdoor advertisements, including benches and stickers at bus stops and subways. With so much marketing attention being focused on the digital space, it’s great to see that one of the pioneers of online advertising - and a proponent of “the right ad to the right people at the right time” - understands the effectiveness of a well placed ad on a bench.

• impressions delivered
• number of ad plays
• cost
• CPM

Additionally, since all of this information is loaded into the familiar Google Analytics interface, you can view your TV campaign performance right next to your online campaign reports, and even view website traffic and television impressions on the same graph.

Unfortunately, Google’s TV distribution is pretty limited right now, given that their ads can only be fed through Dish Network boxes. However, I have no doubt that this glimpse of what measurement is possible will cause marketers to pressure their other media providers for better data faster. Heck, with an average CMO tenure lasting less than 2 years, they need all the ammunition they can get.

Of course, only time will tell what impact this latest offering has on both the success of Google’s TV Ads product and the industry as a whole, but I think the trend is pretty clear…in the age of ROI, data is king.