How I (the consumer) Use Ad Tech to my Advantage

Quick story. I am "in market" for a new pair of gym shoes. This will be my first time buying a pair of shoes that I will use to do squats (heavy weight lifting) and burpees (push up into a jump). The shoe that I am looking to buy will have a flat heel and stability for the lifts as well as flexibility for active movements. I always buy cheap shoes and since this is the first time for me to buy this type of shoe, I am looking for a bargain.

I missed out on a pair from Asics. They were on sale from the manufacturer last week and this week, when I was ready to pull the trigger, they ran out of my size. I am now on the hunt for another bargain. Instead of me going to all of the sites and continually checking prices I decided that I would let manufacturers and retailers know that I am "in market" and let them find me. 

So, I made a list of all the shoe companies that made shoes for this purpose, visited their web site and clicked on the shoe that I was most interested in. Hopefully, I was cookied. I also went to amazon.com and searched for these types of shoes, again with the intent of being cookied and retargeted. 

Now, every web site that I go to and all of my facebook feeds are filled with ads for these shoes. They are constantly in my face. The good news is that I will buy a pair. Just let me know when you have a deal for me. 

This isn't rocket science. This is not game changing. This is the way that I let advertisers know that I am interested in buying and I am giving them the power to use their tools to continue messaging me. In the end, someone will get a sale and I will get the product that I want at a price that I am comfortable with. 

** To update this post, today, 1 day after I did my search, I was targeted with an ad from Amazon with one of the shoes I was interested in, with an offer to buy it $10 less than the price range I was looking for. Add to this a special offer for the Amazon card that took an additional $10 off and free shipping and I am a happy camper. My new shoes should arrive early next week.

See, advertising and ad tech isn't so bad afterall. 

5 Strategies to Put Marketing Tech Where It Belongs -- Connecting to Consumers

Cartoon courtesy of: http://www.adexchanger.com/comic-strip/adexchanger-a-technology-company/

How are Agencies Leading the Way through The Technology Chaos?
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/agencies-making-technology-chaos/290884/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1389715888

Read a good article by Judy Shapiro on Advertising Age and this blog post is to comment on the points she made. 

The overall message is that advertising technology is good but it's effectiveness is maximized when agencies and brands, the experts in relevancy, story telling and engagement, take control and leverage technology to better connect with an audience. 

Here are the 5 strategies she outlined (the headlines) along with my comments:

Transform routine "advertising moments" into consumer moments - Give the consumer something to do or interact with. Don't push, invite.

Adapt for agile marketing - Don't get locked into one platform or way of doing things. Always be ready to get your message out through the appropriate channel. There is a difference in how and why you talk to your customer via TV, Facebook, Twitter, text, etc. 

Know how to scale with relevancy - As a tech provider I may be guilty of suggesting that big, engaging rich media executions work all of the time for everyone everywhere. Wrong. Customize the messaging for the channel even if you sacrifice scale to do so. 

Reclaim trust as King of the Marketing Kingdom - I have worked with publishers for many years and have never found one to do things that are not in the best interest of their advertisers. That said, agencies and brand managers are in their roles for a purpose and that purpose is to best connect the brand with their consumers. Native, custom, organic advertising ideas need to come from the advertiser and not the channel to maximize the effectiveness of the messaging and ensuing results. 

Celebrate the human element - Don't 100% rely on technology and data. Go with your gut and trust that you, the agency or brand, know how, where and when to talk to your audience. This also means saying no to more and yes to the unproven.  

CheckM8 helps advertisers, agencies and media companies develop more effective digital ads with non standard rich media formats customized to the advertisers goals. 

Connect with us today to learn more.

Eric Low
CheckM8, Inc.
Business Development, Advertiser Solutions
Email: eric@checkm8.com
Phone: 212.268.2948
Twitter: @EricLow
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elow228

Interruption Marketing & The Barbell Strategy

Courtesy: http://tomfishburne.com/2013/11/interruption.html

In a 2013 earnings conference call, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong detailed to investors that "The barbell strategy of our advertsising business connects programmatic advertising on one side with deep marketing services on the other side and connects in the middle with data and analytics." (http://adage.com/article/digital/digital-publishers-latest-ad-strategy-working/243820/) 

This means that at the bottom of the barbell is the standard display units that will be moving (or have moved) to automated systems. At the top will be premium ad positions. I predict that you will quickly find that they will all be built to reach out and grab your attention. 

Why reach out and grab your attention? 

Because subtlety does not work. Even Ad Sponsored Content and "Native" ads will be ignored unless you reach out and grab the audience. A very successful game developer once told me that the key to making great games was the subtle details but those subtle details weren't effective unless they reached out and screamed, "Hey, look at me! I am being subtle!" 

But the audience will reject it and go away.

Wrong. Not if it is relevant to the audience and presented in the proper manner. This will vary from section to section within a publisher. For example, sponsored content or a paid opinion piece will be much more effective in the science section than it will in the fashion section. It is the fashion section where the audience will appreciate a splashy video HPTO like this one: 

Theater Unit - Calvin Klien - Elle from CheckM8 Inc. on Vimeo.

.

An audience goes to a digital property for content. Advertising is content. People buy fashion magazines to see the latest styles from designers. They read trade journals to learn about new innovations in their industry. Every news site, channel and newspaper has a political lean. Identifying why someone goes to a piece of content and then delivering them a message is not interrupting them. It is engaging them.    

Eric Low
CheckM8, Inc.
Business Development, Advertiser Solutions
Email: eric@checkm8.com
Phone: 212.268.2948
Twitter: @EricLow
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elow228