DOmedia

Common Themes from the TAB and ad:tech Shows

by DOmedia on April 18, 2008 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Events with No comments

It’s been a busy week for us here at DO. Nick, Kim and I headed south to the 2008 Traffic Audit Bureau Eyes On Out-of-Home Media Conference and Marketing EXPO (try saying that 3x fast!). Meanwhile, Dave headed west to the ad:tech conference in San Francisco. Coming out of both conferences is a renewed enthusiasm for the alternative and out-of-home media segments. There’s so much innovation going on right now. And the creative applications of the opportunities presented by the medium are truly inspiring.

After spending several days in seminars and meeting industry professionals in the various segments (buying, selling, supporting, measuring, etc.) there seem to be a few key themes hitting the OOH media channel right now. Continue reading →

Rosey Returns for “Legally Blond” Alternative Media Campaign

by DOmedia on April 3, 2008 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns with No comments

I was skimming through today’s MediaDailyNews when this headline caught my attention: “Legally Blond Delivers 20% Redemption Rate for AdPack.” Now, before I go any further, I have to admit that I am an Elle Woods fan (anyone who can dissect fashion and criminal justice equally well has my respect), but that’s not the (only) reason I jumped straight to the article to learn more. What really caught my attention was the “20% Redemption Rate” part. One of the challenges consistently faced by alternative media companies is being able to provide measurable results. As more and more marketers seek to defend their strategies and tactics with positive (and often instantaneous) ROI metrics, “total impressions” isn’t enough to convince a client to make an investment.

Which brings me to the article itself… Continue reading →

Google Goes to Mars?

by DOmedia on April 1, 2008 in Miscellaneous, News with No comments

Advertising on the moon is soooo 12 hours ago! I just ran across the latest Virgin/Google antics on Adrants (a must-read if you’re in the advertising biz) and needed to look into this one further. According to the post, Sir Richard Branson (Virgin) and Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google) have joined forces, forming a new entity, Virgle, whose mission is to colonize Mars.

Apply to become a Virgle pioneer and you could win a coveted slot on a ship to Mars. It will be dangerous. It will be uncomfortable. It will be unnecessarily expensive. “But your enriched descendants will appreciate your sacrifice, which should render worthwhile your choice to spend the rest of your (perhaps radically foreshortened) life in deprivation and uncertainty,” Virgle assures you.

After watching the YouTube video and then checking out the site, I was seriously beginning to think these guys have way too much money and time on their hands…until I read this: it’s all an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke. You have to love mega-billionaires who are still having fun and love a good laugh as much as the rest of us. Of course, if this is the joke, I wonder what that means for moon-side advertising. After all, Gmail was released on April Fool’s Day too…

Google Goes Lunar

by DOmedia on April 1, 2008 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Technology with No comments

Having already taken over the Earth, it appears Google may be looking to the heavens for its next conquest. According to this Dean Whitney post that hit the cyberwaves yesterday, Google is working on a deal with Virgin Galactic that will allow it to sell (waaaayyyy) out-of-home advertising on the Moon by 2010….yes, you read that right, on the Moon. Apparently the two innovative companies plan to build a giant projection system using a number of tethered satellites that can be programmed to project an image right on the moon’s surface. The post goes on to state that,

The display area will be visible to anyone, most viewers will be able to see large objects displayed but additional information like text, URL’s and smaller graphics will be visible with the use of binoculars or telescopes. The moon inventory will be available based on regions; splitting North America into zones plus global regions including several Asia Pacific regions, Europe and the Middle East.

Looks like Google has really thought about this one. Now, I’m not sure if this is one heck of an April Fool’s Day gag or not. But then again, both Google and Virgin have a history of going beyond what anyone else thinks is possible…and then monetizing it. Maybe the brand managers at Ambien CR should keep an eye on this one…

Good News for Out-of-Home and Alternative Media

by DOmedia on March 26, 2008 in Alternative advertising, Press with No comments

It seems TV and radio’s loss is out-of-home and alternative media’s gain. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America released 2007 year-end spending numbers last week for the outdoor industry. Total sector spending was up 7% last year, hitting $7.3 billion, with 7 of the industry’s top 10 ad categories posting year-over-year spending gains.

On the heels of that announcement was today’s article in the Online Media Daily projecting alternative media spending to increase 20% this year to $88 billion. This forecast, courtesy of PQ Media Research in their first report focusing solely on the alternative media industry, is just the tip of the iceberg. By 2012, those spend numbers are expected to top the $116 billion mark, making this “alternative channel” more than 25% of the marketing mix.

While the PQ Media group’s definition of “alternative media” is admittedly pretty broad, the numbers highlight a trend we’ve been keyed into for quite some time…marketers are increasingly willing to use new forms of media to reach their ever-more-elusive target audience. As new technologies and our busy, away-from-home lives continue to erode traditional media’s reach, brands need to evolve their marketing mix or face extinction.