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January 2009

January 30, 2009

Hulu's Secret, and Super Bowl Ad Gallery

Hulu is staging its own Super Bowl coverage as a companion to broadcast partner NBC. It plans to post each commercial just moments after it airs on Sunday during the Super Bowl XLIII game, the same as last year. What's new is the ad gallery, and the ability for users to vote on their picks for the best ads during and after the game. Hulu also created a widget, found here, with ads from last year. As the game airs and ads are shown, the new ads will populate the widget as it's posted on users' blogs and Web sites.

That's just the teaser. Hulu says during the Super Bowl it will "reveal the secret behind our service," but there's been no advance look at what that secret may be. We'll find out with you what Hulu will look like on Monday.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 29, 2009

E*Trade Baby Has Nothing to Say on Twitter

Twitter has demonstrated value for companies with something to say and an eagerness to engage. Unfortunately not all who use it fit that description.

Zappos, Ford, JetBlue, Whole Foods and Dunkin' Donuts stand out as shining examples of brands using the platform to share information and listen to their customers and prospects. The E*Trade baby? Not so much.

Since setting up the account several days ago to drive buzz for the precocious infant's upcoming Super Bowl spot, the online trading company has posted a total of five tweets. Three of these are virtually identical, promoting an outtakes reel for the upcoming ad. In an unconvincing attempt to generate an aura of secrecy for something that's not secret at all, the most missive pleads with followers to "Keep this link on the DL." Sorry E*Trade, you're going to have to do better than that.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

January 28, 2009

On Newspaper Sites, Ad Spam, and Lack of User Experience Foresight

We all know the dire straits the newspaper industry is in. It's understandable, with online newspaper ad revenue growth dwindling, that these sites want to monetize with as many ads as they can. But some seem to forget user experience.

The fact is digital media is their future and if they can't get the user experience right, nobody's going to visit their sites. And if nobody visits their sites, well, they're screwed.

Here's what prompted this rant. I just read a really interesting Washington Times article about the new "Che" flick and how its star, Benicio Del Toro, walked out of an interview with the Times reporter (even though the guacamole at the restaurant was really good). The article even includes a supplementary video conversation with the reporter and lots of absorbing user comments.

Great! They get it -- they're taking advantage of multimedia and social media. These are two very important elements that could help newspaper sites succeed.

But, man, was the user experience bad.

First off, I'm served an ad I've seen around the Web a lot lately that I find pretty repulsive, and I'm probably not the only one. You know, the ad with a woman's flabby "before" gut beside a flat "after" one? It's for one of those acai berry diet products. I decided to include it here -- sorry.

Ad networks and publishers: why are you accepting this crap? Maybe if everybody rejected more terrible ad creative we wouldn't have to be confronted with so much of it. Maybe it could actually improve user experience.

Not only do I have that image in my peripheral vision as I read what is -- again -- good content that should be treated with more respect, I'm served an ad in the video. The ad, like the display ads on the page, has zero contextual relevance nor behavioral relevance for that matter (unless someone's been browsing diet sites on my computer when I'm away from my desk). It's in an obnoxious format, too: an overlay text ad for -- you guessed it -- the berry diet. But the overlay obscures the reporter in the video and won't disappear until I click the magic "X."

The article is what I'd call of short feature length, about 1,200 words. But I have to click through to two new pages to get through it. The Washington Times certainly isn't the only site that uses this approach, but it's apparent the only purpose for this is to generate more pageviews. It's of no value to the user and to me is a turnoff.

But that's not all! After I closed my browser window, guess what appeared? Yep, two or three pop-unders. The only other site I frequent that does this is Mets.com (and they shouldn't be doing it either).

Again, I realize it's tough for newspapers and their Web sites right now, but bombarding users with one annoying experience after another is no way to build a loyal readership.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

January 27, 2009

Catch ClickZ at Online Marketing Summit

If you're attending the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego next week, stop by the ClickZ panel I'm moderating, "Doing More With Less: Making Data-Driven Decisions."

The session, set for Feb. 6, should be informative with presentations planned by ZAAZ CEO Shane Atchison, Napster Online Marketing Director Jeff Ferguson, and Elixir Interactive CEO Fionn Downhill.

If you're in town and would like to meet up, drop me a line here or on Twitter: annamariavirzi

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 23, 2009

Digital TV Turnover Delays

The date for the broadcast turnover from analog to digital TV is still to be determined. The Associated Press is reporting the date may now be postponed until June 12, pending voting early next week. While there were PSAs and Web sites set up to educate consumers about the transition, some are concerned that too many Americans -- just like the woman in this video --are not prepared for the programming switchover from an analog broadcast format to a digital one.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Are You Speaking Android?

I've had a T-Mobile G1 handset using the Android operating system to test for the past few weeks and frankly I've been hard pressed to write about my experiences with the phone. I find the user experience impressive, the battery life way too short. A search through the marketplace returns plenty of applications, but none from the usual suspects with ad-supported or sponsored content. Is it too early to start marketing on the platform? If you have apps I should check out send me a message before T-Mobile calls back its G1.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vatican 2.0

All my fellow [lapsed] Catholics out there might get my little pun.

Yep, just like the church did back in the '60s, it's joining the modern era. This time, rather than shifting from a Latin to English mass, the pontiff is going social and viral with a new YouTube channel. It's available in Italian, English, German, and Spanish (surprisingly, no Asian languages). Whether or not you're Catholic, or religious at all, the videos can be fascinating as the papal accoutrements can be stunning.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Daily Beast Tries Sponsored Article Format with 'Benjamin Button'

The entertainment world is abuzz with talk of Oscar nominations and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" earned 13 nods including one for Best Supporting Actress Taraji P. Henson. Perhaps in a bid to generate early Oscar momentum for the film, Paramount has been running a sponsored interview with the star actress on The Daily Beast.

The feature has resided on the front page of The Daily Beast for some time. Caroline Marks, general manager at The Daily Beast, said the sponsored article format is part of the IAC-owned site's monetization efforts.

"We are committed to building new programs and advertising initiatives including integrated content opportunities," she said. "In this case, we agreed on the broad topic with Paramount (the movie), but the Daily Beast ran the editorial and wrote the piece, which is clearly identified as sponsored content. We are still defining the elements of our advertising and sponsorship programs."

Posted by Enid Burns at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 22, 2009

WPP's Sorrell and Agency Execs Question Future of Display

WPP founder and CEO, Martin Sorrell, has openly expressed his concerns about the future of the online display market.

When questioned about the continued effectiveness of online advertising in a recent interview with Bloomberg, Sorrell stated, "In display, I think there are questions. In search, I think there is a clear relationship. The jury’s still out on display. In times like these, people start to question its value."

Addressing the possible implications of the Obama administration on matters of online privacy and targeted advertising, Sorrell went on to suggest that Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made a mistake introducing the firm's controversial Beacon program in November '07.

"Transparency is important," he said. "Even the world’s leading expert in social networking made a mistake in terms of that introduction, and he had to reverse the position very quickly." Facebook effectively withdrew the program weeks after it was introduced, in reaction to widespread protest from users.

Speaking with ClickZ News this week, i-level MD, Mark Creighton expressed similar views on the display market, predicting a "flat year," and suggesting that networks would bear the brunt of advertiser cutbacks. "Growth areas for 2009 won't be about media," he predicts. "The focus will shift more towards eCRM, and engaging in conversation with consumers."

Despite a mixed reception from the agency community, the Institute Practitioners in Advertising's recent report on the future of advertising issued a stark warning to agencies regarding the potential downfall of traditional online ad formats. As the popularity of social networks, blogs, and viral media continues to grow, the consumer "will increasingly mediate messages between brands, themselves and other consumers, and could radically diminish the power and influence of the paid-for advertising industry," the report claimed.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Google Expands YouTube Affiliate Ads to Europe

After announcing the introduction of click-to-buy ads in the U.S. and U.K. in October, YouTube is now rolling the affiliate program out to other European territories. The Google-owned video site announced yesterday that links to songs from the iTunes store will now appear next to content for users in Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Additionally, the links themselves will no longer be limited to simple text ads, but may begin to appear as overlays on videos themselves – a move that will presumably maximize user reach through embedded video units on third party sites.

Partners will not be limited to placements against their own content, but will be offered the opportunity to add links against user videos using the site's Content ID tools.

Eventually, YouTube hopes to extend the program beyond music alone, potentially offering links to DVDs, video games, and other products, the firm said on its blog. Touting the effectiveness of the medium, it also claims the click-to-buy ads helped boost sales of Monty Python DVDs by 23,000 percent, sending it to No.2 on Amazon's Movies and TV bestsellers chart.

YouTube, as with many social media and Web 2.0 sites, has struggled to fully monetize its vast amounts of inventory and extensive user-base. Incidentally, the video sharing site isn't Google's only foray outside of the search world with which it has struggled to garner revenues; the firm announced this week that it will cull its print advertising program as part of a new policy to drop poorly performing products.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congrats to ClickZ's Kate Kaye

At ClickZ, we're proud of Senior Editor Kate Kaye and her work, including her groundbreaking coverage of online political campaigns in the "Campaign '08" section.

So we're thrilled to learn that Kate's a finalist in the American Business Media's prestigious Neal Awards for "Campaign '08" in the best online series category. Kate set up the section and provided thorough coverage of the online campaigns of Barack Obama, John McCain, and others.

Kate's coverage of the online political campaigns set ClickZ apart from its competitors. For instance, she tracked how much money the political candidates spent on digital advertising. She dug into Federal Election Commission reports to cull this information, reviewing hundreds of pages and thousands of entries in campaign finance records. Tedious work. The result: exclusive copy such as the Jan. 6 article, "Google Grabbed Most of Obama's $16 Million in 2008."

What's more, Kate was named "Journalist of the Year" by Incisive Media, ClickZ's parent company. Not only did Kate establish the "Campaign '08" section, she collaborated with NewsGator to develop the ClickZ Flashback widget, worked with ClickZ's Web site producer to set up a special section devoted to U.K. and Europe news, plus stayed on top of the relevant news and trends affecting digital marketers.

What's next for Kate? Look for her book, "Campaign ’08: A Turning Point for Digital Marketing," that includes insights from insiders who worked on the McCain and Obama campaigns. It's coming out soon.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 21, 2009

Job Cuts Expected at Microsoft

In advance of its earnings tomorrow, Reuters reports Microsoft is likely to cut thousands of jobs due to lower than anticipated revenues.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rumor: Yahoo-Owned Zimbra Exec Leaves

Rumor has it that the founder of open source e-mail firm Zimbra will leave Yahoo, which purchased the company in September 2007. According to AllThingsD (by way of PaidContent), Satish Dharmaraj "had previously stepped back from day-to-day leadership at the Yahoo communications and communities division, which is run by former Zimbra President and CTO Scott Dietzen."

I'd expect more, not less, departures now that a new sheriff (just-named CEO Carol Bartz) is in town. When a new boss steps in, it can spur departures.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 20, 2009

Search Spend Declines Slightly, But News Isn't All Bad

Search advertisers withdrew dollars in Q4, according to a report from search marketing agency Efficient Frontier released today. Across the board Q4 spending was down by 8 percent year-over-year, though the retail sector increased its spend by 9 percent in the same timeframe. Some of the findings in the report were reported by the Wall Street Journal, including search in the recession.

By contrast, a slight uptick in search spending was measured by competing firm Clickable. Max Kalehoff, VP of marketing at Clickable, posted Q4 numbers that showed increases in spending among search advertisers over the last four months of 2008.

A breakout of search engine marketing trends and trends by vertical market for Efficient Frontier's report is available over at Search Engine Watch. A few key points:

• A measured 63 percent year-over-year increase in spend on Google Content spending among spending an index of Efficient Frontier's customers was observed.
• Finance sector spending declined by 25 percent, with a 16 percent quarter-over-quarter drop in Q4. Impressions were up by 5 percent year-over-year due to customer demand, however fewer qualified conversion reduced CPC by 10 percent.
• Small advertisers in the U.S. accounted for a greater decrease in search advertising spend than larger, more established brands. Advertisers with budgets of $50,000 or less per month cut spending by 23 percent year-over-year, with many cuts occurring between Q3 and Q4. Larger companies with budgets over $200,000 reduced spending by about 9 percent in the same period.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A Director of New Media for the White House!

I love this. The White House has a Director of New Media. How cool is that?

Macon Phillips, formerly Director, Strategy and Communications for Blue State Digital (or still? not sure) is filling the role. Blue State handled many of the Obama camp's digital media efforts -- things like Web site development and other organization and communication tools (not really the ads though).

Phillips's first post to the WhiteHouse.gov site notes that the revamped-site "will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world."

He expounded on three priorities of the administration's new media efforts: Communication, Transparency ("executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review"), and Participation ("we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it").

This last priority is pretty interesting. We'll have to wait and see what is deemed non-emergency legislation as so much of the stuff we can expect to come out of congress will be in the emergency column in the near future, one would imagine.

Of course, any citizen has been able to access any legislation online in the past by accessing the House and Senate sites. However, having such documents easily linked to on the WhiteHouse site could result in more citizen engagement. Plus, a promise to wait five days to get the country's reaction is a novel one.

Check it out here, and while you're at it, don't forget to read about former First Pets!

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

History on the National Mall, Brought to you by Mall Cop

A screen grab from Fox News's live stream of the inauguration.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Inauguration, Branded: How Vapid Can We Get?

I hate to be cynical at this moment of national renewal, but I just have to call out the shallowness of Pepsi's "RefreshEverything" microsite and YouTube channel. The effort, which seeks to leverage the historical moment to build brand equity, may set a new standard for emptiness of thought in pseudo-political advertising.

Masquerading as a place for people to post video letters to Barack Obama, the effort is actually a feeble patchwork of clichés designed to sell soft drinks. Really, how many times have we been asked to feel inspired by tightly edited video montages where celebrities finish each other's sentences? Naturally any such project must feature Will.i.am, the Black Eyed Peas front man and producer of Busta Rhymes single "I Love My Bitch" who somehow has become a spokesperson for the Obama youth movement -- not to mention a CNN hologram.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 15, 2009

In First-Ever Layoffs, Google Dismisses 100 Recruiters

After dismissing a large number of contractors late in 2008, Google has taken the additional step of cutting 100 internal recruiting positions.The company's first official layoffs come as no surprise, but they're an important milestone nonetheless.

In a blog post on the move, VP People Operations Laszlo Bock wrote, "Given the state of the economy, we recognized that we needed fewer people focused on hiring."

He expressed regret that the the people who "helped build this company" are the first to get the axe. "We are enormously grateful for everything they have done," he said.

We're not aware of layoffs or hiring freezes in Google's sales or ad ops organizations, but if you hear of anything, please send us a tip. Meanwhile we've added Google to our continuously updated layoff tracker.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

January 14, 2009

The Customer's Always Right

Katie Fernands, Internet marketing manager at Colonial Candle, thought Web site visitors prefer shorter pages to lengthier ones.

So, Fernands was surprised when tests on the company's e-commerce site revealed that longer ones performed better than the shorter pages.

Fernands, whose team uses Google Website Optimizer, now weaves testing and tuning into the site's daily processes. (Colonial Candles was one of four businesses selected to participate in Google's Website Workout contest.)

Other changes made after testing included using larger images and a larger font size for text.

Another surprise? Small changes to the e-commerce site -- thanks to testing and optimizing -- could result in such a large revenue increase. The site realized an additional $20,000 in revenue for one month based on changes to the site, according to Fernands. "The Web is so subjective," she said.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Quote of the Day: Joe from Bradenton, FL

"AT&T just sent me a text message advertisement about American Idol. Evil. The economic downturn definitely means a spam upswing."

-Florida resident Joe Brockmeier, Twittering about an unsolicited SMS he received from AT&T. AT&T sent the mass text message to promote the latest season of the show, which it sponsors, according to a New York Times report.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BK's 'Whopper Sacrifice' Burned on the Altar of Privacy

Burger King has disabled its hit "Whopper Sacrifice" app after Facebook asked the company to alter it in the interest of user privacy.

The application offered a free Whopper to any Facebook user who removed 10 of his or her friends. (Tagline: "You like your friends. But you love the Whopper.") The problem, from Facebook's point of view, was that anyone rubbed out for a tenth of a Whopper was told about the act, violating the company's carefully cultivated relationship of trust with users.

"We have reached out to the developer with suggested solutions," Facebook said in a comment to the Inside Facebook Blog. "In the meantime, we are taking the necessary steps to assure the trust users have established on Facebook is maintained."

The problem with Whopper Sacrifice is not limited to preserving trust. As I expressed in a post last week, the application could also be abused in the hands of facebook users bully pulpit-sized networks. That's because the removal of any friend by Whopper Sacrifice was broadcast to the news feed of the person doing the removing, and hence be read by any of his or her friends. Many of these will also be familiar with the victim. So it could be a means of ostracization.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 13, 2009

Yahoo Extends Reach in Germany With Sales Deal

Yahoo has penned a deal with German newspaper Suddeutschen Zeitung to sell its online display and mobile inventory.

The exclusive multi-year agreement will, according to last week's press release, grant advertisers access to 2.4 million monthly unique users, generating 140 million monthly page views.

As a result of the agreement, Yahoo now claims its network reaches almost half of Germany's online population.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 9, 2009

BK's Whopper Sacrifice: Clever But Flawed

In the circle I run in, throwing one's associates through the front window of a public establishment would be considered uncouth. That's doubly true if the supposed gain from such an act is a sandwich. Triply so if said sandwich is "quick-serve," in the new parlance.

However I've gradually come to accept that my circle is rarified and a whole lot more couth than the general population, and so I'll agree with all the people saying Burger King's Whopper Sacrifice app on Facebook is very smart. The concept is simple. Creatives at Crispin Porter + Bogusky working on the BK account were remarking on the sheer number of distant acquaintances and in some cases complete strangers who had found their way onto their friend lists. They decided they could provide a service, and maybe a laugh or two, by giving Facebook users a way to cut the fat, so to speak. So they created an app that facilitated the removal of those fake friends, and then promised to pack the fat back on, in the form of a free Whopper offer for anyone who savages 10 of their so-called friends. The app's tagline: "You like your friends. But you love the Whopper."

As clever as I think this is, I see some problems with Whopper Sacrifice. First, when you off someone on your friend list, that person is told about it, as is your whole group of frineds. ("Jchn sacrificed John Whitmore for a free Whopper"). That's not true if you simply remove them the normal way. I know from many conversations that a lot of Facebook users live in fear that any fake friends removed from their friends list will somehow be told of the action. When I tell people that's not actually the case, they're always visibly relieved. If you tell the victim they've been deleted, as the BK app does, then you're creating a disincentive for decent-hearted people to delete them. However early use of the app suggests it'll be a hit. As of this writing, Whopper Sacrifice has been installed over 30,000 times, and 53,080 friends have been sacrificed. That's somewhere north of 5,000 free Whoppers.

Second, and this is the flip side of the "notice" coin, it strikes me there's potential for bullying here. The removal of any friend by Whopper Sacrifice will be broadcast to the news feed of the user doing the removing, and hence be read by any of his or her friends. Many of these will also be familiar with the victim. In other words, in the hands of mean-spirited social networkers (read: high schoolers) it could be a mechanism for cruetly and ostracization.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

January 8, 2009

Don't Believe Everything You Read

Source: Fidelity e-mail alert delivered Jan. 8

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is This Laptop Giveaway too Good to Be True?

Another day, another e-mail pitch, another free laptop.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Sizing up E-Mail Subject Line Length

Guess which e-mail subject line performed better?

By most accounts, it should have been subject line 2 -- it's shorter and follows a best practice of including a numeral. That wasn't the case, however.

The first subject line is credited with providing a 23 percent lift in sales for a florist. Why? Thane Stallings, an Epsilon senior analytic consultant and the author of the white paper, "Rethinking the Relationship between Subject Line Length and Email Performance,," suggested it may be due to the absolute deadline "last chance" versus "48 hours." Plus, the first subject line referred to the holiday earlier in the subject line.

His advice?
--Front load subject lines with the most important information.
--Keep the subject line as short as possible to convey the message.
--Use longer subject lines only when there is a compelling reason to do so.
--When in doubt, test.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

January 6, 2009

NewsGator Launches Ad Platform

NewsGator Technologies has launched a new ad platform for its publisher clients. Along with a host of partners, the AdBurner platform enables display ads, pre-roll video and overlays, widget ads, and iPhone ads. NewsGator contends that publishers need better ways to package and sell inventory. According to the release, "In addition to managing ad units inserted into products that NewsGator provides to publishers, the process integration extends to unrelated online ad inventory."

Newsgators partners are blog network Technorati, inventory optimization firm Admeld, widget outfit Gigya, iPhone ad network Medialets, and video ad network Tremor Media.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 5, 2009

It's 2009. Please Retire the Holiday Copy

A friendly reminder to AT&T and the rest of you yuletide slackers.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twitter Accounts Hacked: Obama, Britney and Fox News Affected

A number of big name Twitter accounts were hacked this morning, a day after Twitter users were targeted in a large-scale phishing attack.

In all, 33 accounts were briefly commandeered by a person or persons who got their hands on editing tools used by Twitter's support team. Among the victims were some of the best-known Twitterers, including Barack Obama, CNN's Rick Sanchez and Britney Spears. The Obama hijackers, who had control of the Prez-Elect's account for just a few minutes, took the opportunity to post an affiliate link to a page with a survey and promotion. With several others, the hackers' intent was merely malicious. I've borrowed the below screen grabs from Brent Csutoras.

According to Twitter the hacked accounts were unrelated to a phishing attack that happened over the weekend. That incident was a straightforward scam that used e-mails presenting themselves as Twitter direct messages to get users to divulge password information.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 2, 2009

Holiday Recap: Spending Declined in Recession and Short Shopping Season

Perhaps not surprisingly, traffic to retail sites and consumer spending on those sites were both down during the holiday season, according to ComScore.

The research firm estimates total U.S. e-commerce spending declined 3 percent, the first ever drop reported by ComScore since it began tracking online retail spending in 2001. Total spending was estimated at $25.5 billion, compared to $26.3 billion in 2007.

"The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has mad this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online," said a statement from ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Some online retailers appeared to benefit from the bad economy -- at least in terms of traffic. Consumers hunting for deals online helped drive a 5 percent lift in visits to sites like Amazon (7 percent) and Wal-Mart (4 percent). Apple (19 percent) also saw an increase. The list of traffic losers included eBay (-4 percent); Target (-1 percent); and JC Penney (-11 percent). Best Buy's e-commerce site had no measurable change in traffic from the corresponding period in 2007.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dunkin' Donuts to Launch $100M Ad Campaign

Dunkin' Donuts -- where a 10-ounce cup of joe goes for about $1.30 -- will be investing 77 million times that amount – in an ad campaign that launches Monday.

"You Kin' Do It," will be the theme of the $100 million campaign for online, TV, and outdoor ads, according to a report on usatoday.com. The theme apparently plays off of Barack Obama's campaign mantra, "Yes we can," and the "kin'" from Dunkin'.

The brand will continue its participation in social media, such as Dunkin' Dave on Twitter.

Studiocom is Dunkin' Donut's online agency of record.

A spokeswoman for Dunkin' Donuts said the company doesn't break out its media spend, so the portion devoted to online isn't available.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How Time Warner Cable and Viacom Took Their Contract War to Web Users

Viacom and Time Warner Cable have resolved a bitter dispute that threatened to strip TWC customers of Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and other MTV Networks channels. Such negotiations are usually handled behind closed doors, but in this case the companies went all out with ads, on-screen pleas and online rebuttals meant to alarm TV fans and rally them to one side or the other.

The LA Times described a newspaper ad featuring a crying Dora the Explorer, taken out by Viacom, as well as an on-screen alert, warning viewers they may lose their favorite shows. A :30 spot, available on YouTube, had a similar message.

Digital media were heavily leveraged by both parties. Over at TheRiver.net, Pamela Parker posted the above screen shot from MTV.com and described bombastic copy (since removed) on a Time Warner Web site at TWCFacts.com.

“MTV please don’t do it!” Viacom is asking “you” to pay “millions” more, the site says, adding, “Those demands would be unreasonable any time, but given the current economic conditions, they are outrageous now.”

It's not clear to what extent either party used search marketing or e-mail to get their message out. If you noticed either over the past few days, feel free to post them here or email me and I'll post them here.

Multiple reports have noted that the dispute points to how important affiliate fees have become as the recession takes an increasingly harsh toll on network operators' ad revenues.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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