Posts Tagged ebizine
Q&A: Roger Williams of Right Media
by Graham Charlton
The Right Media Exchange was launched in 2005 and acts a a stock exchange for advertisers and publishers. It was acquired by Yahoo in 2007 for $680m. It now claims to have over 240 Exchange members, with 8bn transactions a day going through the Exchange.
I’ve been talking to Roger Williams, the company’s director of international marketing, about the workings of the Exchange, the impact of the Yahoo acquisition, and how online ad exchanges may develop in future.
Can you provide a brief summary of how The Exchange works?
The Exchange is a technology platform that is designed to bring buyers and seller of online advertising inventory together (publishers, advertisers, networks and agencies) in order to trade inventory more efficiently via a real time auction.
Sellers place their non-guaranteed inventory on the exchange while buyers establish their targeting criteria and then bid to purchase relevant inventory, impression by impression, through a single platform interface.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Interviews on May 6th, 2009
The importance of building trust online with strong, consistent branding and customer-centric practices
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
I’m surprised by the number of companies that lack an understanding of how to improve stickiness on their site. Every end-user approaches a site for the first time with a degree of anxiety. We’re all a little apprehensive about whether the site will be secure, easy to navigate and, ultimately, whether we will actually get what we order.
Over the years we’ve looked at perhaps a hundred thousand sites and we’ve found that the best sites (and best converting sites) have security symbols above the fold, crisp images and convey a feeling of orderliness. Additionally a shopper is made to feel comfortable in other ways too; most importantly, no surprises! The “best practices” site will give the shopper a window view on availability and shipping costs well before they arrive at the check out page.
A real concern for end-users, too, is privacy…the collection and use of personal information. Studies show that 30% of the online population is still wary of giving out their personal information and an astounding 51% don’t trust search engines to keep their search data secret. Additionally, 30 percent of consumers report reducing their overall use of the Web, while 25 percent say they no longer make online purchases, according to WebWatch. The report, “Leap of Faith: Using the Internet Despite the Dangers,” was based on a survey of 1,501 online adults.
Even those who continued to shop online reported taking precautions. Fifty-four percent of online shoppers said they now are more likely to read a site’s privacy policy or user agreement than in the past–while 29 percent say they shop online less frequently than before.
It’s a hot button issue for end-users and marketers too.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising, Customer Centric, Marketing on August 21st, 2008
3 Simple Steps for creating a successful viral e-mail campaign to your house lists.
By Tom Polanski, Mojo Marketing Maestro, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
The case study that I’ve included to below got me to thinking that any advertiser could use the success principles InterContinental Hotels Group discovered to market to their house lists. They would just have to tailor the incentive to their offer. If it’s too capital and labor intensive to create a rewards program or a frequent buyer program, perhaps gift cards of varying amounts could be used to create the same virality. I hope that the case study sparks your thinking in new directions.
Viral remarketing case study, InterContinental Hotels Group:
Summary: Making your best customers really feel appreciated can solidify their loyalty. But is it worth the investment in customers who are already your brand champions?
Find out how marketers for an international hotel chain crafted a simple email that got a 100% response rate from their most active loyalty club members. Ultimately, 1,766% more people than were initially sent the email responded.
Challenge:
Cassandra Jeyaram, Social Marketing Manager, InterContinental Hotels Group, and her team wanted to thank the 150 most active members of their Priority Club rewards program while boosting stays at the same time.
They intended to boost the already strong loyalty of their club members and get more people into rooms at hotels such as the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Hotel Indigo while keeping costs at a minimum. Such a campaign required a balancing act.
What type of campaign would make their biggest fans feel rewarded and leverage their passion for the hotels without making them feel like pawns? And still provide a solid ROI?
Posted by Tom Polanski in Marketing on August 15th, 2008
Dennis Consorte, Director of eCommerce, David’s Cookies, discusses marketing and selling cookies online
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
Folks, we’re really tickled to be able to spend some time with Dennis Consorte, Director of e-Commerce at David’s Cookies. When you get a chance, check out the site. A lot of really scrumptious cookies and deserts. I know the eBrand Group will be using David’s over the holidays. They offer much, much more than the usual “cookie tin” suspects. (smile)
Tom Polanski: Hi, Dennis. How are you doing today?
Dennis Consorte: Hey Tom, I’m doing great, thanks. I’m very excited to speak with you! How are you?
Tom Polanski: I couldn’t be doing better. Dennis, would you mind giving us a little bit of background as to how you ended up at David’s?
Dennis Consorte: Sure. Long story short, I was a computer geek as a kid, heavy on the software side. I fell out of it around senior year of high school, got my Bachelor’s Degree in psychology and eventually ended up working on the management team at an architectural firm. Four years later, I decided that administration wasn’t the path I wanted to take, and rejuvenated my love for computers, but more on the online marketing side. I got into a bunch of things including some large consulting gigs and 5 years later I found myself in a fulltime position at David’s Cookies. Here I manage much of the site development, online strategy, the affiliate program, SEO, PPC advertising and of course just growing our Internet presence and online business.
Tom Polanski: It’s always interesting to me the journey people take to find their passion, their niche. Do you apply any of the principles you learned earning a degree in psychology towards your marketing?
Posted by Tom Polanski in Interviews on August 11th, 2008
Tom Polanski introduces Carol Fitzgerald, President of BuzzBack Market Research
Hi Everybody,
On Monday, August the 4th, we’re finally publishing our long awaited, exclusive interview with Fitzgerald regarding BuzzBack and the services her company offers. We’re almost fanatical in our belief in research. We’ve worked with hundreds of companies over the years and only a few understand what makes their customers tick, click and stick (Neiman-Marcus comes to mind). Rather than invest in the type of intelligence that BuzzBack provides, these decision makers continue to burn through their budgets testing new and unproven media.
That’s not to say new advertising media opportunities and testing are not important. They are. But it seems clear to us, after eight years of launching and managing campaigns, that once one is able to identify the friction points that are inhibiting conversions, every site could provide a better, more positive shopping experience. Let the customer teach you how to sell them. And they will, if you ask the right questions in the right way.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising, Tom Polanski on August 1st, 2008