Infected online advertising a growing threat to online publishers

Online security is a big concern, and a growing business around the world. While hard for me to understand, there are people out there in the world who get a kick out of screwing up my computer; and yours too. Some will place a virus on your computer with hopes of gaining secure information for financial gain. Others out there do it for 'fun'.

The attacks come at us from every direction. The latest getting national attention is from online advertising. The Wall Street Journal recently reported the trend, noting that hackers had already caused Yahoo! to serve up infected advertising to European users.

I had some limited experience with this happening in the past as well where I work. As a online publisher, this is one of the worst emails / phone calls you have to handle. In the case I was involved in, it was an inconvenience with no damage done; except for the site's reputation of course.

Infected ads are on a sharp growth pattern. Google announced that they disabled over 400,000 sites which hid malware last year, up from only 123,000 in 2012. Online publishers reap benefit from online networks, selling their unsold inventory and providing untold dollars to the bottom line.

I'm not a fan of the ad networks online. While they do help online publishers with much needed revenue through remnant advertising programs, they are also driving down the value of online advertising and marketing. Ad networks provide lower priced alternatives for local advertisers, which is always very frustrating to an advertising sales rep. Nothing worse than seeing your local account on your website on the same day they said no to you, and knowing they paid pennies on the dollar for that advertising impression.

To learn more about the malware threat, check out the article written by Danny Yadron in The Wall Street Journal at:  http://on.wsj.com/1iWHsvR

Is the cost of Super Bowl advertising worth it, as prices top $4 million per spot

I'm a sports fan, and because of that I'll be watching the Super Bowl this Sunday. Living in Indianapolis, I can't help but root for Peyton Manning to win a second Super Bowl ring. That's reason enough to be excited about the big game this weekend.

But as a marketing professional, the most creative advertising messages of the year will be unleashed on the general public starting about about noon on Sunday. Technically, you can see many of this year's commercials on YouTube and other sites that are previewing the message.

Previewing your TV commercial seems odd on so many levels. First, isn't it amazing that people actually WANT to preview a TV commercial? But for the advertisers, usually the goal is to keep things under wraps until the big unveiling during the game. As prices and expectations continue to grow for Super Bowl advertising, there is a need for as much pregame hype as possible.

Pricing for a typical :30 spot in the TV broadcast has reportedly topped $4 million. That seems insane; or does it?

The excitement of a potential Manning victory will have a lot of people watching, beyond the typical Denver or Indianapolis crowd. Manning is by far the biggest name in the NFL, and his presence could help spike viewership.

Check out these six graphics focused on the Super Bowl advertising bonaza:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-20/super-bowl-ad-insanity-explained-in-six-charts#r=read

Businessweek does a good job of showing the rising cost of advertising for the Super Bowl, compared with the rise of viewership.

Enjoy the display of the advertising world's most creatively crafted messages, and enjoy the game! -- Go Broncos!

How big data can steal information from your smartphone to provides marketing and advertising insight

Perhaps I should be afraid of big data for the intrusions that it brings into my life. For all of my concerns, I'm still overwhelmed with curiosity with all the positives that can come from big data used for good. For me, I think the difference is that I've made the decision to offer up data willingly, knowing that there are benefits.

I just finished dinner, and checked in on Foursquare. Tonight's restaurant did not offer a discount, but I've found more than my share of discounts and coupons through the use of this social media outlet. I check in, allow retailers to see who I am and what my shopping habits are. The trade off to allowing that peek into my life is often times a free appetizer, dessert or 10% off the bill. They gain data, I save money creating a win-win situation.

The Wall Street Journal had a very interesting article today, detailing another way big data is being collected. This time, the individuals are not giving up the data voluntarily. Turnstyle Solutions Inc. is a Toronto business that is monitoring the smartphones of individuals, gleaning information about lifestyles, shopping patterns and more. All of this is gained through electronic monitors placed in businesses who subscribe to the service, and all of this done without the permission of the smartphone owners.

Turnstyle is currently collecting data from about 200 businesses in a small portion of downtown Toronto. The results are remarkable, and offer a glimpse into how marketing will likely change in the coming years. As the article points out, a restaurant owner no longer needs to guess what promotion might work with his clientele. He can merely look at the data and develop a tailor made promotion based on real data. The prospects are limitless.

Recently, I touched on how I could see Comcast using viewership data from their cable subscribers to provide better programming and better targeted advertising on their network NBC. No doubt cellphone companies can do the similar things, based on tracking the signal of subscribers and through monitoring web traffic.

The legal issues are still a concern. The libertarian mindset I often operate from does not like the idea of anyone spying on me, be it a government or my cellphone provider. When the information is voluntary, I don't have an issue with it, and in fact like to reap the benefits. While I am fascinated by the technology presented in the Wall Street Journal article, it is a troubling to think the information is being taken without authorization.

Check out the article for yourself:  http://on.wsj.com/19rP71U

Pete Van Baalen is a dynamic marketing professional specializing in traditional and digital marketing platforms with over 25 years in media and marketing experience. From Central Indiana (Indianapolis), you can reach Pete at pete.vanbaalen@gmail.com.

Are Super Bowl TV commercials worth the money advertisers are paying for them?

The NFL is down to its final four, and the teams for Super Bowl 48 will be set within the week. For marketing, the showcase of creativity will be here before you know and the broadcast is again sold out with record setting rates.

Forget the game, the hype will be the half time show and the commercials. We'll leave the choice of Bruno Mars as the entertainment for another blog, and focus on the commercials. But are the commercials worth it?

Fox Business hosted a panel to discuss whether the commercials are worth it; for the price and for the recognition they can bring to a brand. The answer to whether the ads are worth it is probably yes, realizing that the goals for each of the commercials that will run during the game from New York are different for each.

Water cooler talk and brand buzz are hard to measure regarding the price paid for the spot. In research done by Communicus, one 1 in 5 Super Bowl ads sells products. http://www.communicus.com/topic13.php
Other ads actually produce a negative product image for the advertiser. http://admeter.usatoday.com/story/sports/ad-meter/super-bowl/2014/01/09/ad-meter-story-super-bowl-ads-not-effective/4384197/

Marketers have to keep an eye on the brand that they are suppose to be promoting. Sometimes I think they lose track of the product and the end goal producing Super Bowl commercials, placing all too much emphasis on the need to be funny and creative. 

In the 2013 Super Bowl, I still believe the Dodge Truck commercial, a tribute to the American Farmer voiced by the late Paul Harvey was a powerful commercial. It was recently judged by some as one of the best ads of 2013. It was not witty or funny, but still generated great emotion.

The bigger concern for me on Super Bowl ads is the memorability of the ads. Every year, I review the commercials with my sales staff to discuss the good content and the bad. It is always amazing to me how many don't register with the staff 12 hours later.

Let's hope that 2014 offers a good crop of creative, funny and memorable marketing messages.

Pete Van Baalen is a dynamic marketing professional specializing in traditional and digital marketing platforms with over 25 years in media and marketing experience. From Central Indiana (Indianapolis), you can reach Pete at pete.vanbaalen@gmail.com.

71% of adults are on Facebook, with 60% visiting at least once per day according to latest survey

There have been some mentions about the slowly (very slowly) eroding audience for Facebook. I've mentioned it before as well, as more of the younger audience leaves Facebook for other social media options.

Facebook's initial appeal was to attract the younger audience. Expose those 18 to 24 year olds to your brand and try to develop lifelong brand loyalty. Younger audiences are less loyal to brands than ever before, but there is still great value of going after that group.

Younger Facebook users are spending less time on the site, and there have even been some recent studies showing audience declines in Facebook usage in the younger demographics. But the latest Pew Research information is still very positive for Facebook, as well as for businesses looking to market through the social media outlet.

The Facebook audience continues to grow, and they are very much engaged in use of the social media site. A staggering 71% of adults use Facebook, up from 67% last year. Another staggering number, 60% of users visit Facebook at least once per day.

With that kind of market penetration and active engagement, Facebook stands to attract more and more advertising dollars.

The full story can be found at:  http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/marketing-sales/2014/01/06/facebook-still-ripe-for-small-business-marketers/

How TV manufacturers and cable operators can harvest data to provide better content and advertising solutions

It was announced a few weeks back that LG Smart TVs were caught sending data on viewer habits of those using LG sets. There was a mini outrage, including a segment on Fox Business discussing how this was a violation of personal information.

LG says that they had the consent of these people, who have to accept this data collection as a part of the set up when you get the set. I'm not about to offer an opinion on the legalities, but I do find it laughable that LG would stand by this claim, since if you don't accept the collection of data then the TV does not work.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131119/06503625288/lg-smart-tv-caught-collecting-data-files-stored-connected-usb-drives.shtml

Aside from the legalities of the gather, I find possible results for marketing from such data to be very interesting. As the story above points out, LG was using the information to target ads on the TV's home page. That is just the tip of the iceberg, as LG was also siphoning off data and sending it over the internet on all interactions between the owner and the TV.

Fox Business News reported that LG was not using the downloaded information. While I find that hard to imagine, the possibilities from a marketing standpoint are intriguing. By mining the data and determining the viewing habits of their core audience, LG can determine the best networks to buy for promotions. It offers LG, and other smart TV manufacturers a unique snapshot of their current and potential audience.

As profitable as this could be for LG, how about NBC / Comcast? In Comcast's quarterly report from September of this year, they serve nearly 23 million cable customers, nearly 20 million high-speed internet customers and just under 10 million voice customers.

I've searched for information online about how NBC / Comcast might use the data they can collect from cable subscribers to help target advertisers and programming in the future. In the emerging world of data mining to create more targeted marketing messages, I would think the combination of a major TV network with one of the largest cable companies is a mother load of data waiting to be mined and analyzed. This could be a competitive advantage for NBC as they make advertising sales and programming decisions going forward.

Interestingly, about two weeks ago Comcast announced a new partnership with Rhiza For Media on software designed to provide better, more refined analytics on data for advertisers. From the Comcast press release Matt DeAngelis, the senior director of research said, "Rhiza For Media helps us take a wide range of data and present it in an easy-to-understand way, demonstrating the geographic and demographic segmentation capabilities that only spot cable advertising offers."

http://www.comcastspotlight.com/news/Press-Release/Comcast-Spotlight-and-Rhiza-Working-Together-Help-Advertisers-Make-Smarter

The most memorable advertising of 2013

Christmas is over, and now it is time to start looking back on the year 2013. The good, the bad, the accomplishments and the things still left undone. I hope for you it has been a good, productive year with even better things on the horizon for 2014.

In terms of sales, marketing and advertising for me, 2013 has been a mixed bag. Some very good things, several not so good things and plenty of things still to work on and improve for the new year. So basically, it was a normal year, since I think we can always look back and say those things.

Forbes has come out with a list of the most memorable ads of 2013. This is not to imply that they are the best, just memorable. There are a couple of commercials that are noticeable missing from this list, but also a couple that I would have ranked high on my own list.

http://money.msn.com/investing/the-most-memorable-ads-of-2013-1

Geico is not on this list, and they should be. I admire the creativity that the agency that handles the account (The Martin Agency, www.martinagency.com). They have continued to make memorable ads that consistently go viral. Heck, even yesterday on Christmas Day, I saw posts referencing the camel and hump day commercials. Geico has a winner with the paid advertising they do with these spots, but then they take on a whole new life on their own through viral marketing. The hump day spot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBhP0EQ1lA), and to a lesser extent the Eddie Money travel agency spot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWTgwvh4v1w are two big time winners this past year for being memorable.  

Chrysler Corporation --- They had a great year in developing memorable advertising. To me, the number one spot of last year's Super Bowl was the Dodge Ram truck commercial narrated by the late Paul Harvey. That tribute to the American farmer was heart warming, and a commercial that was perfectly executed.

Dodge scored another big hit in October with their Dodge Durango series of commercials. Possible the complete opposite of Paul Harvey would be Will Ferrell's character Ron Burgundy. Throughout the World Series, Burgundy was doing his straight forward sales pitch for the Dodge Durango truck and making the audience laugh. Evidently, talking about the 0.1 cubic feet of storage in the glove box is a selling point for trucks that no one ever discovered before this year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyX8cCvJ1kk). It certainly worked though, as Durango truck sales jumped for the month of November by 59%. That is a staggering ROI for the money invested.