Archive for the ‘Research and industry data’ Category

Synergy: TV + online more than sum of parts

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Double an ad campaign’s brand and message recall without spending any additional money? Sounds like a snake oil sales pitch.

As the recent Yahoo Advertising Blog post called A Smarter Mix of TV and Online demonstrates, however, it’s anything but.

From 2004 to 2009, TV viewership remained flat. During that same time period, Internet usage among North American households increased 117 percent. By taking advantage of these trends, advertisers can increase a campaign’s reach while lowering the cost of reaching target audiences.

Based on its analysis of Nielsen IAG data, Yahoo uses an auto maker promoting a new hybrid vehicle as an example. By devoting its entire $10 million advertising budget to a TV campaign, the auto maker could reach 68 percent of its target market. By shifting just 10 percent of the $10 million from TV to online, the same advertiser could reach 70 percent of potential buyers at a $3K+ lower cost per point (CPP).

No snake oil there. Just a strategic allocation that builds on the synergy between TV and online.

Read more or learn how easy it can be to extend your TV campaigns to the internet.

Conversion tracking for Xspots

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Publishers charge more to run online video ads than display ads. But, in many cases, video ad click-through rates (CTRs) are not substantially higher than display ad CTRs. Is the higher CPM cost worth it?

A June, 2009 DoubleClick research report, called The Brand Value of Rich Media and Video Ads, suggests a resounding Yes. Viewers exposed to rich media ads with video showed a 1.16% increase in purchase intent compared with only a .50% increase for viewers exposed to rich media ads without video.

But for many advertisers, recommendations based on cumulative research data simply aren’t compelling enough. They want to see concrete results based on their own ads for themselves.

That’s why, at Mixpo, we now offer advertisers an easy way to compare the number of conversions that result from a display ad versus an Xspot.

Advertisers can use the Mixpo platform to run a display ad and an Xspot simultaneously and track the number of people who visit a landing page after:

  • Opening the page where the online ad is embedded.
  • Viewing the online ad.

In addition, advertisers can compare what Aaron Reinitz, in Clicks, Cookies, Conversions, and Cough Drops, calls “intention metrics.”

Conversion tracking intention metrics

Conversion tracking intention metrics

For each type of online ad, advertisers can track visitors’ progress through the purchase funnel, from the landing page, through the purchase intent page, to the page where the final sale occurs.

This not only answers the question about which type of online ad drove more sales. It also generates valuable consumer insights and helps advertisers optimize their purchase processes.

Resolve the display ad versus Xspot controversy for yourself. Contact a customer service representative about running your own display-ad-versus-Xspot campaign.

More information

Mixpo subscribers can learn more about conversion tracking by visiting the Advanced page, and then clicking Track conversions resulting from an Xspot.

Didn’t know you could run display ads using the Mixpo platform? Visit the Create page, and then click Can I run a display ad using the Mixpo platform?.

BIA Kelsey on Extending Local TV to the Web

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

According to a BIA/Kelsey Local Commerce Study, “The trend toward integrated campaigns running cross-platform is driving a lot of change both on the media planning/buying side and the media sales/marketing side.”

A lot of what’s driving this trend is the shift toward creating greater efficiency (leveraging existing TV creative) but also by solutions that make it easy to export TV spots to the web, as well as manage and monitor performance of those campaigns.

The opportunity to extend TV campaigns to the web bodes well for media companies and agencies alike that undoubtedly work together to deliver effective advertising for their clients. Now they can do it in a multi-platform way.

The synergy between TV and the Web

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

According to a recent Brightroll Report Q1 2009, when polling agency executives on their online advertising budgets, “the majority (71%) of survey participants also view online video advertising as a complementary medium to TV.”

Will all the emotive and brand building power TV advertising has, it’s not going away. The opportunity is to leverage that power and add to it by making it highly measurable, on the web.

This study is packed with interesting facts and insights, from how many respondents said they plan to spend more on online video advertising (87%) to where they are likely to purchase video ad inventory (51% said via publishers).

A local sale still rules

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

A lot is written about the promise of e-commerce, its hyper-growth rates, and ability enable any “garage-based” e-site to take advantage of the worldwide marketplace.

The reality comes from a 2008 US Department of Commerce study that cites “96%+ of all retain transactions occur in the local market rather than online.”

Total US Retails sales for fourth quarter, 2008 were estimated at $938.1 billion of which $31.9 billion was for US e-commerce retail.

Taking advantage of TV ads

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Controlling costs is on everyone’s minds including advertisers big and small. In an American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) study on production costs Andy Perry heads of broadcast production at Saatchi & Saatchi said:

“Everybody involved in television is aware that runaway costs would be just another reason to walk away from TV as an advertising medium,” he related. “So as a result, I think all of us who believe in television are trying hard to keep it viable on a cost basis. For some clients, cost determines which medium to go into and our industry has a stake in keeping television alive since it is a foundational medium for so many of the other ones.”

Note is last point: one way to ‘control’ costs is to get more out of what you created. Extending TV ads online makes perfect sense rather than creating a wholly separate campaign online.

Growth in video and rich media display ads

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Interesting forecast showing the growth in overall online ad spend, based on Jupiter Research, that predicts online spend will grow from $19.9 billion to $35.4 billion, from 2007 to 2012, respectively.

Growth will be fueled by search and display. Within display, spending on rich media and video will double between those same years.

Further evidence that the display ad unit is not dead but being overhauled to richer and more interactive ads.

Moving TV Ads to the Web

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Today, we announced a few stats and figures that relate to the trends we’re seeing in online video advertising.  The most notable trend is definitely the opportunity for local TV advertisers to efficiently extend their broadcast strategy to the Web – that’s where Mixpo comes into the picture.

Year-over-year, monthly campaigns run by advertisers and agencies through the Mixpo platform and our local media partners, including Comcast Spotlight, NBC Local Media and Tribune, among others, have grown by more than 300 percent.

Those campaigns have resulted in more than 1.2 million minutes of video displays ads watched – keep in mind these are user-initiated, not forced-to-be-watched pre-roll video ads.  The total translates to more than two years of around-the-clock continuous TV viewing.  But people aren't just watching video ads.  Over one-third of these user initiated views have resulted in additional clicks and interactions!

We're only at the beginning of tapping into the opportunity to extend TV ads to the web to drive local response. $66 billion dollars is spent annually on TV advertising by companies (large and small) and we're seeing that the ability to easily localize those assets to drive response is more than a promise but happening every day. Very exciting times ahead – stay tuned.

NCC Partnership

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Ncc_logo
This week, we announced a partnership with National Cable Communications (NCC). NCC is the leader in cable television sales and marketing and is jointly owned by three of the biggest cable operators – Comcast Cable, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable – and represents virtually every other cable company in the U.S. It’s great to work with NCC because 1) they have the largest locally targeted online network; 2) they are TV guys and clearly get the opportunity to extend local TV ads to the Web; and 3) they are true innovators and understand the convergence and opportunity of TV and Web audiences.

Over $25 billion dollars is spent on Local TV advertising today, according to the Kelsey Group. A huge opportunity is right there to marry the benefits of TV advertising with the Web. NCC gets it and we’re excited to partner with them. More to come…

Brian McAndrews Joins Madrona Venture Group

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Madrona Venture Group, our lead investor, announced that former aQuantive CEO Brian McAndrews is joining the firm as a new managing director.  It goes without saying Brian has a wealth of experience navigating and excelling in the advertising ecosystem.  He is sure to see some familiar faces here at Mixpo where two of our board members: Bill Shaughnessey (former Microsoft executive) and Jeff Lanctot (Chief Strategy Offer at Razorfish) know him well.