The Death of Blogging

Everywhere I look bloggers are turning in there once beloved blogs for shiny new toys. Lifestreams using Posterous, FriendFeed and Tumblr are on the rise. Heck, even the Micro Persuader himself has given up on traditional blogging in favor of a Lifestreaming approach. I wish that I could attribute all of the slacking that is taking place on A Media Circ.us to such a noble cause, however it would a farce.

Some of you may be saying, "Adam, we miss your great insights and cannot properly do our jobs without your wisdom". Well, fear not--I have more articles on the way over at iMediaconnection and am also speaking at a number of events and giving a couple of webinars in the next few months. As always, you can reach me on Twitter as well @adambroitman

Why is A Media Circ.us so sparse these days?

The truth is, me and a business partner have a new venture entitled Circ.us. It will be another month or two before we announce what the big idea is, but we are busy cranking away right now, working with some pretty large brands (as well as some smaller, but totally cool brands--you know me, I do the cool).

Again, my apologies for the lack of information; rest assured I am getting some great things done over here.

Note: I will be at IAB Mobile tomorrow; stop by and say hello.
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Digiday: Networks Keynote Debate (raw notes)

Over the last few years we have witnessed juxtaposing ideas that have created an interesting paradox in the world of media strategy. On one hand, targeting has allowed media strategists to get very granular with their creative messaging, and on the other hand, the veritable glut of media inventory has commoditized certain segments of the media marketplace, resulting in the same type of one size fits all creative that has always existed.
As top tier creative media strategies roll out left and right, there remains a significant amount of untouched inventory that is on the market for pennies on the dollar. This pool of inventory is so large; without effective ways to access these impressions en masse, it is likely that many of them will go untouched or suffer the fact of being significantly undervalued.
What is the solution for publishers seeking to unload these impressions for more than a few pennies; and for advertisers to effectively scale their targeted media buys—without sacrificing creativity? Are ad networks doing an adequate job of helping advertisers sift through sea of ad impressions, or are they simply creating a commoditized marketplace? These were a few of the questions that faced Moderator of Digiday’s Keynote Debate, Masha Geller and her esteemed panel
•    Brian Quinn, VP/General Manager, Digital Ad Sales, The Wall Street Journal
•    Darren Herman, Group Director, Head of Digital Media, The Media Kitchen
•    Joe Apprendi, CEO, Collective Media

Are we dealing with an hour glass marketplace where there is a top tier of inventory and a secondary tier?

Brian Quinn—Reluctant to get on board with ad networks
60% of WSJ sold across their own network
“We don’t want to be dinosaurs and not realize what is happening in the marketplace”
…but brands still want to be in well light environments
Masha asked, “do you consider yourself and ad network?” He did not say yes, but did not say yes
Lack of integration is a problem (multiple agencies working on creative versus media)

Darren Herman—When was the last time you saw a full page print walk into a store and make a purchase?
We don’t, audiences buy things.
We believe network inventory can be premium; although we don’t use the term premium non-premium—we use reserve, non-reserve
Different audiences allows for more creativity in the art of persuasion
What does higher impact mean for sales?
Vertical Networks are important

Joe Apprendi—

Applauds the OPA for its newest ad standards. Last time they issued standards was 2002
Hopefully the OPA will influence the IAB
A lot of people lump behavioral targeting into one bucket, but there are multiple types of behavioral—Top Funnel/Low Funnel
We have the who and the where—the big question is what (referring to creative)
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Digiday: Networks

If you are in the area today, stop by Digiday: Networks (well, you cannot just stop by, but if you really want to come and do not have a ticket--I have not used my plus one :) )

I will be leading an all-star panel at 12:15 about the future of Ad Networks. More to come later today (as the future is so bright...)

12:15pm: The Next Generation Ad Network: What are the emerging digital network models for publishers and advertisers across platforms? How will the branded, performance, video, mobile, social networks evolve and offer more effective advertising for brands and return for publishers? What are the bleeding edge technologies behind them? And how has a tight economy given them life as the next big thing for content owners and brands? Will networks shift from selling impressions to purely selling data? Shift from site-specific to audience-centric media buying?
Moderator: Adam Broitman, Founder and Ringleader, circ.us

Speakers:

Bant Breen, President, Digital Communications, Initiative Worldwide
Paran Johar, CMO, JumpTap
Andy Monfried, CEO, Lotame
Rob Gorrie,  President, Adcentricity
Chris Riggs, CEO, Imirus
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Social Media: Whose Job Is It Anyway?

I recently wrote an article for iMedia on social media and the dilemma that the agency world has encountered in dealing with the question; what competencies are best suited to deal this new way of interacting with media; and what agency is best suited to handle these chores?

I had some help from industry leaders--who I would like to thank:

David Berkowitz, director of emerging media & client strategy at 360i
Shiv Singh, vice president, social media & global strategic initiatives at Razorfish
Rick Liebling, global director, account management at Taylor
Michael Lazerow, founder, chairman, and CEO at Buddy Media
Christine Perkett, founder and CEO at PerkettPR
Shel Holtz, principal at Holtz Communication + Technology

There was also a lot of chatter about this topic on Twitter and I would  like to thank all of you who retweeted, blogged or mentioned the piece:

Eric Tsai

Neal Wiser

Yaron Orenstein

Dianna Kersey

Kim Brater

Rick Morgan

Marnie Grona

Charles Yao

Hessie Jones

Anita Lai

Jay Baer

Bruce Hendrickson

I hope that this dialogue proves to be something of value to the industry.
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Google Eats Your Lunch and Tells You How It Tastes

We all love Google, right?

I love Google. I love most of their products; Gmail, Reader, Docs and who could forget good old search.

Over the years many have accused Google of things such as stealing revenue, diverting traffic to competitive brands and other such offenses. Sometimes I agree, and sometimes I don't, but the fact remains that Google displays information from other sites that, at times makes it so a user does not actually have to visit that site. Maps, weather, news, movie times are all served up by Google; and there are content owners out there that are not happy about it.

I , or one, believe believe in the adage, "information needs to be free" (not free as in unpaid, free as in unchained) but I always ask the question, "at what point will Google's business model begin to harm content creators to a point where consumers feel a negative effect?".

Today I offer you an interesting case.

Google has announced Rich Snippets; a new way they are looking at data on the web and presenting it to searchers.

Before we dive deeper into what this means, let's take a step back and talk about structured data. Some of you may know what structured data is, but I want to make sure that people reading this blog who do not know, get themselves caught up. At it's most basic, structured data (as it pertains to search) is the act of adding additional meaning to your content through the categorical tagging--thus creating a "structural" foundation for your content.

For example, take a look at the two lines below and the surrounding tags. The tags provide no additional meaning to the text. They just state the obvious or explicit meaning of the text, "this is a paragraph".

<p>This is the most important information on this page</p>

<p>This is the second most important piece of information on this page</p>

The above are examples of unstructured data. The enclosing tags add no meaning to the content and do not help search engines figure out the meaning of the text. A very basic example of structuring this data would be to do the following:

<h1>This is the most important information on this page</h1>

<h2>This is the second most important piece of information on this page</h2>

This is a very simple modification, but now search engines can use the enclosing tags to determine additional information about the text. Search engines know that people use <h1> tags for the most important information on a page (well, people should be doing this, but often fail to--this is not good). By adding a "meta-layer" of information, or structuring the data, search engines can better determine what a page is about and serve up better search results.

Rich Snippets take this concept to greater depth by using microformats and RDFa. Google has recently adopted the use of microformats (something that Yahoo has acknowledged for quite some time already). These formats allow content creators to use semantic markup, or structured data to add meaning to the their content, and have it be discoverable based on attributes other than the implied meaning.

The example that Google gives us, and the first instance of the use of this new way to deliver search results is in search reviews.



In this SERP you will notice that Google has not only delivered a result where you can get reviews about the Drooling Dog, they have actually included a verbatim from a review on Yelp. Some site owners may relish the fact that Google is highlighting content from their site and therefore building awareness and ultimately driving traffic. On the flip side, if the SERP gives a user all of the information that they need, the user may have no use for the site at all--rendering the content creator useless. While I imagine the latter will be less common, it is still a reality.

You Have No Choice, Give Into The Google

You can fight it all you want, but ultimately, if your reviews are not listed in Google, someone elses will be. My advice to you is strcuture your data. Here is the raw structured data that Google used to derive the SERP above:

This is the microformat version:



this is the RDFA version



Notice that the content creator has given the information additional attributes to allow Google to recognize the data as a review. Without this additional semantic markup, Google would not be able to create a search listing with the review in it.

Ultimately, the future of information on the web will be decreasingly siloed--i.e. less destinations, more relevant information. The social web is playing a role in the destruction of the destination web, but semantic search is playing an equal, if not greater role. Are you prepared for the future of the web? Is your data formatted to be spreadable?
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Andy Monfried Gives Bear Hugs; Spends Quality Time With Your Mom

Lotame uses social networks to connect people and brands.

The CEO of Lotame may not fit into Hasselhoff's Speedo but his passion for measuring time spent in a Cost per Mom world is unparalleled. John Swords catches up with Andy Monfried who talks about new advertising metrics and his preferred choice of cheese head in his best Al Pacino voice.

Swords: Andy, it’s great to meet you.

Monfried: Nice to you meet you, John

Swords: Your company is pronounced LOT-of-me?

Monfried: No, it’s LO-ta-me.

Swords: I sort of like LOT-of-me better. It could be the leading ad targeting system for large people.

Monfried: That’s an excellent idea. I’ll bring up the idea for a name change to the board.

Swords: Legend has it that you are a big dude, something like 10 feet tall?

Monfried: Well, not 10 feet tall, I’m 6’4”.Star of Bay Watch and Knight Rider

Swords: Did you know David Hasselhoff is also 6’4”? I’ve often wondered if people of the same height hang out together. Are you friends with him?

Monfried: No, I actually don’t know the Hoff.

Swords: Do you wear a Speedo?

[Alarm sounds]

Monfried: Uh.

[Alarm sounds]

Monfried: I need to call you back. We need to evacuate.

Swords: No problem.

...

Monfried: Sorry about that. Didn't the same thing happen with Joe in your last interview?

Swords: It’s becoming a common theme for the series. Let's pick up things with -- what does Lotame stand for?

Monfried: Locate, target and message. Locate who you want to target, target them, and then have the right messaging to that user inside of social media.

Swords: In your best Al Pacino impression, tell me exactly what Lotame does.

Monfried: Whoo ah! … I saw a tremendous oversupply of ad inventory that users were creating through page impressions on social media sites…

Swords: You know, you sound more like DeNiro than Pacino, but continue.

Monfried: Well Lotame is taking this oversupply of social media, applying kick-ass technology to the social sites and then allowing brand advertisers to really customize and target users instead of inventory.

Swords: How do you mean “target users instead of inventory”?

Monfried: We like to say advertisers are buying a profile and a person …instead of an impression.

Swords: Buying people? Do you operate offshore?

Monfried: No we’re headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland.

Swords: Did you know that Jonathan Ward from "Charles in Charge" was born there?

Monfried: I had no idea.

Swords: I may have to call you “buddy” during this interview.

Monfried: Feel free.

Swords: I recently read an article where you talked about new metrics for buying people. How is buying people a new thing?

Monfried: Yes, so the new metric is targeting people based on engagement.

Swords: Give me an example.

Monfried: Let’s say you want all women…

Swords: Yes!!

Monfried: …who have commented on mommy issues, or being a mother, or daycare. That is, you're targeting a woman who influenced or created content. We’re talking about buying that woman or that profile, based on time rather than based on an impression.

Swords: So Cost Per Mom is the new CPM. How is it time based?

Monfried: We will expose her to a brand for 30 seconds or one minute over the course of a month or so.

Patent Pending Lotame technology

Swords: I saw on your website that you have a technology called the “Time Spent Tracker” which looks fine except for the red marks all over the graphics. Very John Madden of you. Won’t that be distracting to users?

Monfried: That's exactly what we intended. We want advertising to be 110% distracting. So, that's the intention.

Swords: That’s really intrusive.

Monfried: John, you do know those lines are just for explaining how the system works, right?

Swords: Let’s change the subject. Are there dangers when you target influencers such as producing a negative response?

Monfried: Sure. When we target influencers, we look at the sentiment of each comment and we only serve ads to those with a positive attitude.

Swords: You know, I’ve never personally seen a campaign from your system.

Monfried: Well you would never get an ad from us because you are an obscene person. I can just tell by this interview.

Swords: Are Undertone and Audience Science your main competitors?

Monfried: Yeah, they're on our radar. I wouldn't say we directly compete with them, because they all have their own kind of spin on things.

Swords: So, when you were younger, did your parents think you would grow up to be a pirate?

Monfried: Uh, no.

Swords: Before Lotame, you were a founder of advertising.com.

Monfried: Not a founder, but just in an early core group of people. I leave that to two gentlemen named John and Scott Ferber who founded the company.

Swords: At your physical size, did you ever threaten to kick the shit out of anybody for sales?

Monfried: No, but I hug the crap out of everyone I meet. I squeeze them until the IOs come out of their pocket.

Swords: I bet your HR department loves you.

Monfried: I know it's a no-no in business, but I don't care. If you do business with me, you get a big hug.

Swords: Do you pick customers up off the ground?

Monfried: If it's a big order, yes. Seven figure IOs get a lift off the ground; six figure IOs just get a bear hug.

Swords: If I were to tell you I could get you any kind of cheese head, what type of cheese would it be?

Monfried: Muenster.

Swords: Good choice.

Social Media: The New New Testament

Hello New Testament Hello Social Media Bible. It is Sunday and I did not shave, forgive me.



When Lon Safko called me and told me that he was writing a bible I replied, "why don't you go build an ark while you are at it?". Alas, Lon has done something that not many people could do; issue a definitive text on all things social media, with top names from around the world. I have to admit, I was a little bit of a skeptic, but then this massive text showed up at my apartment; now I am a believer.


Woah, that is a big book! Whoa! That is a big book!





If you are interested on social media (or new media at large; there is a lot more than just social media in there) for business I suggest going out and picking up a copy of this book (The Social Media Bible)--if for no other reason, you get to read some knowledge from yours truly.




Adam in the social media bible Who is that sexy man?









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The End of Digital Marketing

Does the term "digital marketing" ultimately hurt the marketing industry at large?

Earlier today I watched a video in which BBDO CEO Andrew Robertson discussed the importance of digital marketing, and how he was attempting to ensure that everyone in the massive organization that he oversees is thinking about digital.

Robertson states:
Everything has a digital component to it...Everyone is having to learn about the ways in which digital can enhance the quality of the programs we create...it is not optional



If digital is a component of all efforts, and everyone is required to possess digital marketing skills; what then is a digital marketer?


Ultimately, aren't we all just marketers with a variety of tools at our disposal?



Unfortunately this is not a new conversation and there is no easy answer. That said, I am not sure that large ad agencies are working fast enough to help solve this conundrum.


Some agencies have begun to take a more integrated approach in organizing their workforce, but is it enough?

We still see campaigns that begin telling a story that leverages out of home tactics, with little, to no digital follow up. In my opinion, such campaigns are incomplete; and no matter however creative the "creative" is, the campaign will ultimately fail-as more and more consumers have come to expect that the next chapter of the story will occur online.

So what is the answer?

Let's look at the pro's and cons to moving toward a model where we are all simply play the role of marketer;

Pros

  • Easier to ensure that strategy is central to all marketing efforts, as the strategic vision would come from one "nerve center"

  • All marketers would be held accountable for attaining a base knowledge of all channels


Cons

  • Difficult to decide who is going to focus on what areas of execution, of a campaign

  • Many marketers are still not savvy when it comes to digital, and if they were forced to manage any piece of the digital portion of the campaign, things could get messy


There are obvious benefits to each way of thinking. Ultimately, I do not think we are ready to switch to a model where all marketers are responsible for all media types. That being said, what will happen in 5 years, when recent college graduates will have digital media in their DNA? Will we then be ready for the type of change that I am proposing?

I would love to hear some thought from you.
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Afraid of Mobile Marketing? Get Over it!

Mobile marketing is not new by any means, however in light of the current mobile application gold rush (iPhone, Android etc.), mobile marketing seems to have taken center stage. In celebration of the coming of age of mobile marketing, allow me to share the story of my first experience in mobile marketing;

It was about four years ago. I was an eager interactive agency guy testing various new platforms; some...well, let's say, not as successfully.  Okay, I will be honest (it is, after all, the best policy) the firs mobile campaign I ran was an abysmal failure. Like any good marketer, I noted why it failed, then vowed never to make that type of mistake again (I have since made other marketing mistakes; but all of them were unique :) )

What did I learn?

  • Tactics driving strategy usually does not work

    • The demographic I was trying to reach was simply not ready to behave in the manner needed to make this campaign a success.

      • A click to call mobile campaign did not serve our strategic objectives





  • Pre-planning can make successes out of failures

    • The adoption rate, and awareness of many mobile technologies that are popular today, were not as popular at that time.  What we failed to do was create a model whereby; the long term learnings were just as important as short term ROI. All we learned was not to run any other mobile campaigns for that brand for a while.

    • Had created a framework for failure, the fact that my target demo was not a savvy mobile crowd could have diminished the degree to which this campaign failed



  • Communications should be consistent across platforms

    • There are certainly exceptions to this rule, but when testing emerging platforms, the look and feel you present to consumers should remind them of other campaigns in the market. It makes activation in new media environments more palatable; and can diminish any skepticism someone may have




I have taken these lessons and applied them to everything I do. As someone who is both a marketer and a lover of shiny new tech toys, these were very important lessons.

fear-of-phones1Fast forward a few shorts years.

The world of mobile has changed (hell, the entire world of media has changed drastically in these few years, and so has my thinking about mobile marketing). I know some of you out there are still afraid of testing mobile marketing; it is time you get over your fears! I am not advocating you go out and start buying mobile media for it's own sake. I am saying that you should begin to seriously consider how to integrate mobile into your communications strategy.

I have been thinking about mobile marketing a lot lately, and began to construct a framework that reflects my thinking. It is still pretty rough, but I figured I would throw it out to the community and collect some thoughts. I don't plan on explaining the meaning of these diagrams for two reason;

  1. I want to see if they resonate with you, and if so, how

  2. I am just too darn busy (but I promise to revisit them; so stay tuned)


Let me know what you think. or better still; take these ideas and make your owns slides and send them over. I will be sure to post.

(note: since posting this,  I have already begun to see holes in this model re:Search. Help me out here; I constructed this model quickly; knowing that the wisdom of crowds is greater than the wisdom of one)
Mobility

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Unsponsor_042009: ChaCha

chacha-mobile-search-text-search-questions-and-answers_1240171165290

Company: ChaCha

Founded: 2008

Twitpitch: ChaCha provides advertisers the opportunity to target young, active mobile users with highly effective messaging and engaging them via text conversations.

Why ChaCha should "make the plan": ChaCha is available ANYTIME & ANYWHERE - all you need is a cell phone.

Media Kit can be found at: http://partners.chacha.com/

Sales contact info: Mark Tarnuzzer, 860-690-6371
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Tapping Into The Future of Targeting

What is the promise of the future of advertising?

If you ask many people currently working in the digital space, they will tell you--localization and personalization are the keys to the future of advertising (and in many ways, I would agree).

Along with hyper targeting, comes the ability to charge using an acquisition model. We have seen CPA models work, to some degree, with larger ad networks such as Advertising.com (i.e. Platform A).  CPA deals tend to only work for some advertisers.  At the current time, buys may not even be accepted if you cannot meet a minimum budget (try doing a 5k CPA buy, I dare you!)

jumptaplogo-2It is my belief that the future of advertising is also about the democratization of media buying. Google started the trend with Adwords, lowering the barriers to entry for small businesses; we certainly have seen how well that has gone. Then came the ad exchanges, which may not make it easy for anyone to place media buys (they are a little more complex) but the idea that ad inventory can sell for market value, in an open market, makes the price of entry more palatable for the little guys.

Today, as mobile platforms become more prevalent, and more people carry smarter devices with them in their pockets, the question becomes; how receptive will people be to advertising so close to home?

I feel that the more targeted the ad, the more consumers receptive a consumers will be when an advertiser attempts to divert their intended course of action. The problem is, mass market brands may not be able hit the type of scale that they need to hit their numbers, while targeting at such granular levels.

The solution is two-fold:

  • More niche brands will begin to dominate the mobile space, messaging consumers in a very personal way

  • Mass market brands will need better strategies to tell different stories to different people; stories that are incredibly relevant to that consumer


In order to achieve these two solutions, you need:

  • a platform that can target consumers by location, device and many other factors

  • a platform that can facilitate media buys with ease

  • lowered barriers to entry (from a cost perspective), or ways that advertisers can buy on a cost per action model; taking some of the risk out of their buy


These solutions are what Jumptap is promising with their new platform, TapMatch. Admittedly, I am friendly with the folks over at Jumptap, and want to see the platform succeed; but that is not why I am writing this post. I had no prior knowledge of this platform, and when I saw it I said, "now that really makes sense".

Have a look for yourself.


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Baking with Technology

I love when technology inspires creativity. Often times I feel that people look for creative ways to use technology, for the sake of the technology; but it is always interesting to see the outcome. I came across this video and thought, "is this useful?"

I am still not really sure, but it is pretty cool. I would love to hear your thoughts; is this technology for it's own sake, or will this actually help bakers (having never baked a thing in my life, I really cannot say)?


BakerTweet from POKE on Vimeo.

The Death of the Banner Unit is Greatly Exaggerated

banner-tombstoneA few weeks ago, I spoke at OMMA Global in LA, on an industry panel entitled “What is Content.” One of the panelist said that traditional banner ad units are dead…I couldn’t disagree more. Pronouncements like that remind me of statements made in past; Newspapers are dead (when Radio was invented,) like Radio is dead (when TV was invented,) Broadcast Television is Dead (when cable came along,) and so on, and so on. My thoughts can be can be summarized by one statement

"Traditional banner units are dead, long live traditional banner units."

In the social media space this thinking has manifested itself into the pursuit of new ad units that “interact with users” and are “socially desirable”…there are numerous smart companies that are hard charging at this, most refer to themselves as widget companies…and someday some of them will emerge as viable marketing platforms. The road for those companies will be hard, and the prizes may be elusive.

All these “new unit” types by and large require a “Passion Brand.” A passion brand is one that a consumer is in love with, wants to be associated with, and in essence will wrap their personal reputation around. By and large there are very few passion brands that people want to be friends with, and for those selective few brands...this approach may be icing on the cake...but the heavy lifting, the creation of the brand, and it's appeal...happens in a more banal format...the plain old often accessible, but mostly overlooked...standard media unit (:30 second spot on TV, Radio spot, Newspaper Ad, Billboard, and yes the Web Banner Ad)

When I was a younger person, a traditional :30 second ad (see below) totally convinced me that elves bake cookies in with magic fudge in a tree… – try doing that with a text link! (please don’t dispel the magic cookie elves myth for me, it is my own perverse "brand" reality, where elves make cookies, a green giant picks vegetables, and an old guy gets up early, muttering to himself "it's time to make the donuts")

These are the battleground formats, where brands can communicate with their prospective customers about new products, features, goods and services. Where the brands can use imagery and copy to create a look and feel for the product...all the while hopefully building themselves into a passion brand that someone would want to be friends with. That being said, I strongly question the sanity of a person who wants to be friends with a laundry detergent or a bar of soap.
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Unsponsor This Blog

If you are in media sales, or are selling a new technology that is potentially beneficial for media and marketing professionals, this post is for you!

Would you like a new outlet to talk about your media property or technology?

Of course you would!

Would you like this outlet to be outside of your own domain to reach new audiences?

Once again, of course

(I know I am answering for you; I am taking stabs in the dark)

Well, we have created a way to help out!

That is right, we will feature your media property or technology, and you don't even have to pay us (you certainly can, but it won't get you preferential treatment other than having us totally pimp you to the biggest media buyers on the planet :)).

Here at AMediaCirc.us HQ, we believe that agency/brand/publisher relationships ought to be partnerships. We feel that, in order to create successful initiatives, you need to have the right information about the entire media landscape; and all of the players that make it up. As such, we have decided to create a portion of the site where publishers/vendors and technology providers are highlighted--for free (we tend to favor new publishers with fresh ideas, but that does not mean we won't include your stodgy old media property. Just kidding--we love you all).

In order to take part, go to this section of the blog and follow the instructions:

All you need is click, click is all you need.

Yes, it is really that simple!

Negotiate This: Brand Versus Agency Deathmatch

There are a variety of bottlenecks in the marketing world that hold us back from achieving the type of creative initiatives we were born to create. The other day a friend of mine (who is not in marketing) said to me, "80% of the marketing campaigns out there are not nearly as creative as what I can come up with". This is probably true, but what is also true is that many of the campaigns out there are not as creative as they could be because of the bottlenecks and red tape we, in the industry, face on a daily basis.

I can probably go on for days about the various blockades that keep us from realizing our true potential; but I won't.

I would like to focus on one area that is at the root of unhealthy industry relationships and manifests over time into unsavory working environments-- contract negotiations.

My goal is to help brands and agencies do better in the negotiation phase, as I feel that this will lead to more creative executions in the long run.

The first step to a healthy agency/brand relationship is making sure that both parties are comfortable with the terms of service, and that neither party feels like they are being taken advantage of. In light of this fact, I have created a poll to get insights from you, the marketing community.

Please help push the industry forward by taking some time to fill out the poll.


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Joe Marchese Turns 28; His Pink Balls Catch Fire


Image representing SocialVibe as depicted in C...
Image via CrunchBase


Here at A Media Circ.us, we often hear the term “wunderkind” used to describe the
radiant social entrepreneur, Joe Marchese; but what makes this, “Zack Morris of social
media” tick?

Our own John Swords caught up with Marchese to talk cause marketing (and how
sometimes doing too much good can actually be bad), strange men climbing into your
window at night and calling you Doogie, and why pink balls beat blue balls (but take
longer to pack).

Swords: Iʼm here with Joe More-cheesy of SocialVibe.

Marchese: Itʼs Mar-chez-ee.

Swords: So SocialVibe - I get the social part. What's the vibe?

Marchese: We were supposed to have a different name and we couldn't get the URL.
So, I guess “vibe” is what we liked when the URL wasn't available.   I think we were very lucky we didn’t get the URL and ended up with the Vibe, because SocialVibe just fit’s what we are doing and nobody here would want it any other way.

Swords: What is SocialVibe?

Marchese: It's pretty simple. People help brands out by putting them onto their online
profiles and in exchange those brands help out the charity of the person's choice.  You
could think of it as a cause/marketing mash-up.

Swords: How long have you been around?

Marchese: Well, today's my birthday. So I've been around about 28 years as of today.

Swords: You're pretty young for the role you're in. Do you ever get called Doogie
Howser? Or maybe you have a friend named Vinnie who climbs into your bedroom
through a window at night?

Will The Real Doogie Please Stand UpMarchese: Oh yeah. Well, I think everybody does, right?  If that's weird, then I've been
watching too much television because Saved By the Bell is the same way

Swords: I assume you were in grade school before SocialVibe?

Marchese: Well, I had a stint in preschool but I didn't take to it. It was the paste eating
that got me kicked out.  Before that I did some consulting and worked for Monster.com.

Swords: How does one find a job at Monster.com?

Marchese: On CareerBuilder, of course.

Swords: How long has SocialVibe been around?

Marchese: We launched to the public in April of 2008. Before that we had it private for about seven months.  There was a time when it was just three guys, a PowerPoint, and a patent kicking around.

Swords: How much money has gone to charity so far?

Marchese: Over $400,000. It's pretty amazing because all the money coming from the brands. People want to help, but it isn't always in the checkbooks. So, especially with the bad economy, people are saying, "Well, how else can I help?"

Swords: So I could pick Cherry Coca-Cola and Butterfinger as my sponsor. I could then choose American Diabetes Association as my cause?  Do you ever get situations where the sponsors and the causes conflict?

Marchese: Oh, for sure. We're happy to block if there's a conflict between the two.  For example, Partnership for a Drug Free America for some reason does not want to be partnered with alcohol brands.

Swords: Do you think there's a point where you can do so much good that you're actually doing bad?

Marchese: Sure, but as much as my mother would like me considered for sainthood, we're not doing all the good.  We just set up a system to get other people to do good.

Swords: You're from San Francisco, right?

Marchese: No, actually, I'm from Boston. No, I'm not from Boston.

Swords: Get your “facts” straight if youʼre going to lie to me.

Marchese: Let me back up. I'm actually from New York.  Born there, raised there.

Swords: I pegged you as being from San Francisco because of the pink balls you ship to some members as an award.

marchese-for-president

Marchese: Well, I do live in West Hollywood now.

Swords: I noticed that members have to wait for up to two weeks before receiving a pink
ball. So, going without something for weeks at a time, maybe you should have made them blue balls?

Marchese: Yeah, that might have been more appropriate for the waiting.

Swords: What are the logistics that make it take so long?

Marchese: It usually involves alcoholic beverages.  See, we close down the office on
Friday afternoons and we have a pink-ball-packing party. We can only hope that all the
balls go the right places.

Swords: Nothing says serious like a pink-ball-packing party.  I noticed a lot of your users, they take pictures of themselves with your balls?

Marchese: Yep.

Swords: Some of them hold them in their hands. Some of them press your balls against their face.  A few users put your balls in their mouth.  Do you have a preference as to how they pose with your balls, or maybe a favorite position?

Marchese: No, I can't say that I do.  Keep in mind they're not our balls at that point.
Those are their balls.

Swords: So they're putting their own balls in their mouth.  Those would be interesting pictures to see.  Have you ever had to take down any of the photos?

Marchese: I don't know, my fiance doesn't let me review the pictures so I can't tell you for certain.

[alarm sounds]

Marchese: The fire alarm's going off in the building.

Swords: Maybe your balls are on fire.

[alarm sounds]

Marchese: Seems that way.

Swords: Do you need to go?

Marchese: Yeah.
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Digital Storytelling; Out of Home


Image representing Rob Gorrie as depicted in C...
Image via CrunchBase


As our lives become increasingly wired (and unwired) all of our media is becoming interactive; allowing for a greater degree of consumer engagement. Today we have the ability to create far more immersive campaigns than ever before, and companies like Adcentricity are helping lead the way.  After listening to him speak, I asked Rob Gorrie, president and founder of Adcentricity to send me a primer on DOOH (digital out of home). He was kind enough to send over the PPT below. I hope you find it interesting, I sure do.
Adcentricity DOOH Primer


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Real Proof: Social Media is Useful

Don't think that social media is useful?

I present to you a case where social media was indispensable!  We needed help revamping this blog,; social media did that and much more. The power of social media helped connect people from around the world, creating business partners and friends.

In our tireless search to find a new design for this blog, we decided to employ the help of...you guessed it, social media. I tweeted my way to a blog about WP Themes which led us to Obox Design. These charming and talented gentlemen from South Africa were able to get the job done (and then some). In the process of revamping this blog, I truly feel as though I made new friends, and found talent from the other side of the world.

These boys over at Obox have created a stunning newWordpress Theme. It is limited edition and they are giving away 40 of them.

Have a look at this video and enter to win.

Good Luck!


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The Rise of The Real Time Web

map of meebo users across the world

Those of us living in the new media/tech industry, have probably postulated about lifestreaming (or lifelogging) and presence sharing from time to time-and have probably been doing so for years.

We recently lived through the rise and fall of Second Life (I still love this platform for what it represents) and are witnessing the rise of platforms such as UStream.tv and Loopt. On a much larger scale, we are witnessing the incredible success of Twitter, and for better or worse were recently graced with the redesign of Facebook, which aims to bring you the social news, as it happens.

These platforms may be different in the way they present information, but they all share a few core elements that are becoming an increasing part of all of our lives; whether we are aware of it or not (and whether we like it or not),

  • Real Time Social Interaction

  • Real Time Multi Point Experience Sharing

  • Non-Stop Streams of Social Data


These attributes have had a profound effect on early  adopters seeking ways to bring new layers of interaction to existing media, and new ways to broadcast their lives. But these platforms are not just for the diggerati anymore. All of us are slowly being inducted into this way of life. The real time web is slowly being infused into all media (and not just media on your PC).

This morning at the iMedia Breakthrough summit, one of the conference sponsors, Meebo, gave a presentation on the integration of their IM platform across multiple sites. Their message was aimed at advertisers, but something much more profound was present in the presentation. The ability to bring your friends with you across the web in real time, sharing content, ideas and experiences brought the notion of the real time, or experience web front and center.

I strongly recommend that you look at what Meebo is doing outside of their core platform, Meebo.com. I urge you to think about what Meebo is doing as more than just instant messaging; as it is, in essence a virtual world, much like Second Life. The only difference is that there are no avatars and it is not in 3D. If you disagree with me, great; but think about it a little before you simply dismiss what I am saying.
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Mobile Boot Camp Photos/Thoughts

Overall I thougt Mobile Boot Camp was a huge success. Thanks to everyone at iMedia, and thanks to the sponsors; especially Paran Johar from Jumptap.

Some highlights from the day (taken from Twitter):
AdamBroitman: Utility, entertainment, integration #imediasummit


elliotbenn: RT @AdamBroitman: mobile is one giant onion @zawthet #imediasummit




CraigPladson: Confirmation from credible source at #imediasummit - there are 7 MM iPhone users in the US. Not 15 MM as previously stated.


AMediaCircus: the average american eats 550 pounds of meat per year--Zaw Thet #imediasummit


dberkowitz: blog post from #imediasummit: 10 myths of mobile marketing, via jumptap http://bit.ly/eHwv (expand)


rganguly: NHL mobile case study preso is fascinating: massive uptick in all-star voting and fan engagement #imediasummit




CraigPladson: When sending text alerts, make sure to ask subscribers if they still want to get them after 3 text messages. #imediasummit


CraigPladson: US limits inbound texts to short codes at 160 characters. Canada limits text messages to 136 characters. IVR very important. #imediasummit




dberkowitz: @adambroitman he stole my line. i always thought of mobile as a boysenberry because it goes great with yogurt #imediasummit


FuelforThought: Mobile ad networks seeing 2-8% CTR on avg. As high as 20% CTR & 17% click to call for best mobile campaigns. #imediasummit via @CraigPladson


ChrisWexler: :: Hispanics/African Americans over index for mobile usage #imediasummit (RT @AdamBroitman) #imedia


elliotbenn: RT @AdamBroitman: mobile is one giant onion @zawthet #imediasummit












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