Dale Lovell says, “With millennial expectations of advertising increasing and the rise of ad-blocking, the value exchange between brand and consumer is now more important than ever. Depending on which definition you read as what constitutes a millennial, I am one. Apparently. To paraphrase the singer Estelle, ‘1980 was the year that God made me’ (well, I was born in March, 1980, so technically, I was ‘made’ in 1979). And as if to prove my millennial credentials: my undergraduate year was the first intake that had to pay university tuition fees in the UK. My 19-year-old student nephew... [...]

Dale Lovell says, “With millennial expectations of advertising increasing and the rise of ad-blocking, the value exchange between brand and consumer is now more important than ever. Depending on which definition you read as what constitutes a millennial, I am one. Apparently. To paraphrase the singer Estelle, ‘1980 was the year that God made me’ (well, I was born in March, 1980, so technically, I was ‘made’ in 1979). And as if to prove my millennial credentials: my undergraduate year was the first intake that had to pay university tuition fees in the UK. My 19-year-old student nephew... [...]

Laura Collins says, “Just as the numbers 4-4-2 will be immediately familiar to any soccer fan, 25-35-35 is a combination few people who’ve ever worked in PPC could easily forget. A 25-character headline and two 35-character description lines have been the building blocks of AdWords text ads since day one. We’ve all slaved away trying to fit compelling copy into these strict limits, desperately tried to knock one character off the first description line to add a full stop at the end, scoured the thesaurus for a shorter synonym… the struggle has been real. So it was with near-delirious... [...]

Ann Smarty says, “When you are running an online advertising campaign, you are facing an inherent challenge that has frustrated many. People don’t really like to click on ads. In fact there are many tools out there that banish ads completely, meaning advertisers have had to get a little more creative in how they present their advertisements. Banner advertising is the traditional form of digital advertising. But that doesn’t mean customers are any more willing to click on banner ads, which reduces your potential for exposure and much needed promotion. What is a business to do? The... [...]

Ben Davis says, “Out of home (OOH) advertising is changing as more and more digital inventory is unveiled. In this post, we look at the most important developments in digital OOH through the lens of six innovative brand examples. The OOH landscape – automation of dynamic and contextual advertising Before looking at some of the most innovative campaigns, it’s worth discussing what technology is offered by the big outdoor advertising companies. Both Clear Channel and JCDecaux have what are effectively digital content management systems. These platforms (titled play IQ and SmartCONTENT,... [...]

Barry Levine says, “Google has taken another step toward becoming a one-stop, cloud-based solution for major media companies. Late last week, the tech giant announced its acquisition of Mountain View, California-based video platform Anvato. Deal terms were not made public. Anvato’s Media Content Platform automates the encoding, editing, publishing and secure distribution of video across different platforms, and it will now become part of Google’s Cloud Platform. Previously, Google offered cloud-based rendering, media archiving, video transcoding, distribution and similar services. This... [...]

Kristina Volovich says, “Content creation is an essential part of a marketer’s day-to-day job. From drafting ebooks to promoting webinars, we have to be creative and concise with our writing in order to engage our audience. However, finding the right words can be tough — especially when there is limited space. I’m sure we’ve all struggled with having just one too many characters in a tweet (I know I have). Creating search ad copy is similarly tough. It’s crucial to craft just the right copy to draw your potential customers in and make them interested in your... [...]

Barry Levine says, “The conventional wisdom about ad blockers goes like this: Users would stop using ad blockers if they got more value, or less annoyance, or less privacy invasion, or less malware from online ads. But that’s missing a key statistic that ties feelings about ads to action about ad blockers. Two weeks ago, for instance, the Reuters Digital News report found two of the leading reasons in the US for ad blocking were “volume of ads” and “ads that follow people.” In December, Digital Content Next released its Consumer Ad Block Report, which found that: – more than... [...]

James Smith says, “Native ads present publishers and advertisers with an opportunity to create non-intrusive, thematic ads that consider consumers’ experience first, which is key to meeting their high expectations. This is especially true on mobile as smartphones take center stage in day-to-day life. It’s no shock that advertisers spent $7.9 billion on native ads in 2015 — a number that’s expected to soar to $21 billion in 2018. Mobile native ads revenue is also anticipated to grow market share over the next four years to hit 63 percent of mobile display ad revenue, up from 52 percent... [...]

Craig Simpson says, “One of the best, most succinct rules for writing ad copy that works is to “sell the sizzle, not the steak.” The heart of any successful direct mail campaign is the sales piece. That’s where it all starts. The whole point of mailing your literature to a large group of potential buyers is to put into their hands something that represents you. It’s as if you are personally telling them about your product and convincing them of its value. So, how do you create a sales piece that really sells? Step one is to avoid a mistake that many new copywriters make: focusing... [...]