Apple iAd demo
Demo videos for Interactive Ads in your Apps, on your iPhone. Be interesting to see how these are taken up. Feels like a brand rather than an acquisition tool but thats no bad thing IF their engaging and well thought out.
Media and Creative – a magical chemistry
So, I wont be the first or the last to say this, but I’m a strong believer that these two disciplines work best when they work together. Having operated on both sides of the fence I’ve seen what can be achieved when you put a creative brain with a media mind. Admittedly most creatives would rather poke out their own eyes than read spreadsheets on ROI/CPA/CTR etc but if the information is simplified to its basics I defy any creative to not question ‘why?’ when they hear that Ad 1 has out performed Ad 2 on the same placement. Now to refer back to Mr Seth Godin’s talk on shipping, many creative’s ship then move on. But what about optimisation, a/b tests and simple variations that can help improve conversion? Designers complain as they feel it can remove the purity of the idea (I know this feeling – I’ve done my fair share of online ads) but when I see that small changes to copy and imagery can make big differences to conversions then my eyes one up. CPA dropping from £400 to £80 anyone? I’ve seen it happen. I never lose sight of the fact that your only as good as your last campaign, so if your ads don’t help sell your clients product to the required level then that next creative job may not materialise. The no.s online are so large that what seems like a tiny change to achieve a tiny percentage uplift can be the difference between achieving ROI or clients saying bye bye.
For inspiration – I never tire of the oft cited Economists ads. Now thats working together…
10 easy steps to successful online campaigns
I was pawing my way through some old work and came across this little doc I co-authored with Craig Morgan. Its a year or so old but the principles still apply. All sounds pretty obvious but I’m amazed how often I hear about agencies taking short cuts then wondering at the end why things went wrong!
10 easy steps to successful online campaigns
First best practice guide published by IPA and ISBA
IPA Digital, in association with ISBA’s Online Action Group, has compiled a best practice guide ‘10 Easy Steps to Best Practice in Online Campaign Development,’ to help clients and agencies work better to promote the development of successful, on-brief, online campaigns.
The 10 points outlined in the guide address the key areas where both agencies and clients feel the current process, from brief to execution, falls down.
These points cover:
1. Briefing and strategy: all agencies briefed together and strategy agreed upfront
2. Budgets: discuss budget accurately, and allow for contingencies
3. Roles and responsibilities: a single point of approval works best
4. Timings and project planning: plan early
5. Design and development: stretch yourselves
6. Tracking and measurement: measure only what matters
7. Trafficking and campaign launch: plan for quality assurance testing
8. Produce back-up inventory: saves white space embarrassment – and money
9. Optimisation, reporting, updates: monitor and nurture your campaign in-flight
10.Learning from analysis of results: test and refine
To download a copy of the guide, please click here
Said Michael Smith, Chair of the ISBA Online Action Group and Deputy Director of Digital Media, COI Communications, “The best practice guidelines are hugely helpful for all parties to ensure that advertisers and agencies get the most out of online campaign development. At a time when increasing investment is being put into digital a common understanding of the best practice is vitally important.”
Said Craig Morgan, co-author of the guidelines, member of IPA Digital and Head of Client Services, Tribal DDB, “Hopefully a read of the guide will ensure you have covered most key elements of a campaign and will give you enough information to ask the right questions.”
Lance’s bike found – the power of Twitter
Wasnt expecting that! Whatever you think about the man and Twitter I cant think of better story to illustrate the power of mass media http://www.cyclelicio.us/2009/02/lance-armstrongs-bike-found.html
Lance’s TT bike stolen – post on Twitter
Some toe rag has nicked the mans bike! Be interesting if it goes far as its not going to sell on easy! http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/status/1212645744
TED talks
Friend just introduced me to these, been around for a while but hey – wack them on your laptop, iPhone etc and enjoy…
UNICEF – Ideas to Give campaign
Check out the new campaign we’ve created for UNICEF. You can share moneysaving tips, with the aim of transforming the savings into charitable donations. Users can vote on their favourite ideas – with the winning ideas then being used in a secondary advertising campaign.
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