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May 7, 2008

May 7, 2008

Disaster Planning for Online Ad Inventory

Talk about forethought -- or in this case, is it afterthought?

Nola.com, the online presence of New Orleans' Times-Picayune, has -- as the very first paragraph of its online media kit -- the following call-to-action:

ATTENTION Current NOLA.com Advertisers ONLY. Hurricane Advertising Information. Please fill out instructions for your campaign in case of emergency/evacuation. CLICK HERE.

The form on the landing page requests complete contact information, the name of the advertiser's sales rep, and the following menu button choices:

How would you like us to handle your campaign?
- take down
- leave up
- leave up with new creative

Clearly, New Orleans is a city that knows a thing or two about disaster, and Nola.com's on-the-ground coverage of Hurricane Katrina was nothing short of heroic. While Katrina was the worst, it was hardly the first, and sadly will probably not be the last hurricane to wreak havoc on the Crescent City.

New Orleans media isn't the first to face difficulties with advertising in the wake of catastrophe. The New York Times was compelled to publish a special, stand-alone, ad-free print section for a full year of post-9/11 coverage to cope with adjacency issues.

There's a lesson in this for any publisher, namely that disasters happen. And that disaster planning is best undertaken in advance of the actual disaster.

So here's the homework assignment: implement a plan for your ad inventory before a worst-case scenario occurs where you live, work, or publish.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Aegis Acquires Brazilian Agency Age

Aegis Group has acquired Brazilian communications agency Age, which offers trade and sports marketing, online planning and buying, and offline creative services.

Having already acquired Brazil's largest independent digital agency AgenciaClick in 2007, Aegis plans for the two to "work closely together, sharing resources and creating a fully integrated marketing offer in Brazil," according to a press release.

Aegis' internal numbers show the Brazilian market commands almost 40 percent of Latin America's total ad spend, and has grown at an average annual rate of 18 percent since 2002.

Founded in 2000, Age currently has clients including Adidas and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and assets of $2 million, according to the agency.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Google Dominates Europe, but Eastern EU Sites Gain Share

Today, ComScore released its March data on European search engine market share. Unsurprisingly Google sites came out on top, commanding 79 percent of searches across the continent. Yahoo and Microsoft came in fourth and fifth place, each with about 2 percent of search market share, respectively.

Worth noting however, is the increasing share for engines in the Eastern European markets, which are dominated by non-English language search technology.

Two Polish properties, Nasza-Klaska.pl and QCL Ricardo have shown considerable relative growth in comparison to ComScore's February figures. Nasza-Klaska.pl clocked up 1.3 percent of European searches in March, up from 1.1 percent in February. QCL Ricardo also increased to 1.2 percent in March.

In addition, Yandex, Russia's premier search facility trumped both Microsoft and Yahoo with its 2.2 percent share, slightly below the 2.3 percent it managed in February.

"With Russia's online population now the fastest growing in Europe, it is likely that some of these local search engines will continue to gain traction and market share," Jack Flanagan, EVP of comScore said in a statement.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Quote of the Day: Jeff Lanctot

"The most effective agencies must live squarely at the intersection of marketing and technology. They should be sprinting to that intersection. Not just digital agencies, but all agencies. As all media becomes digital, any agency that doesn’t view itself as a technology company should commence reflecting fondly on the good ol’ days. The road ahead is likely to be significantly less fulfilling."

-Jeff Lanctot, SVP of Avenue A | Razorfish Media, writing in his blog.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Google Joins Venture for High-Speed Mobile Net Access

Google has signed onto a venture, led by Sprint, to develop and deliver high-speed wireless Internet access for mobile devices, according to a published report.

Comcast, Time Warner, Intel, Clearwire, and others are set to announce they will invest $3.2 billion for the technology called WiMax, the WSJ.com reports.

The New York Times, quoting an unidentified source, said Google could provide the search engine for the wireless platform, enabling it to sell advertising there. Google is said to be contributing $500 million to the initiative.

Plans call for the wireless data-and-voice network to have the download speeds of cable broadband and the reach of a cellphone network.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 6:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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