Greater Than One
- Location: New York, NY
- Notable clients: Genentech, Texas Children’s Hospital, Estroven
- Number of Employees: 70
- URL: www.greaterthanone.com
Headquartered in New York City, Greater Than One is an agency that specializes in all aspects of digital marketing. While the company has clients in a number of industries, it has enjoyed the most success in the healthcare field. The agency has been awarded many prestigious honors since launching in 2000, including being named by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the top 500 franchises.
DMB’a Contel Bradford recently caught up with Elizabeth Apelles, Greater Than One’s CEO, to get the inside scoop on one of the industry’s major players.
Greater than One CEO Elizabeth Apelles
What qualities make Greater Than One stand out in the increasingly competitive digital marketing space?
Our partnership model, which has attracted a team of proven digital marketing professionals. Our structure, which teams up strategists and marketing experts with technology masterminds. Our digital experience, which is simply unsurpassed. And our ability to help businesses that have complex customer relationships to maximize their opportunities. These are the four differentiators that uniquely define us.
What is your most popular marketing solution and why?
Our solutions have evolved over the past 10 years, so there is no real one most popular. I would say that our most popular offering is clarity of thought, purpose and results. We are in the business of using all available digital tactics and strategies both those available today, and at the same time prepare for those that we know are on the horizon — to build our clients businesses and to enable them to make long lasting and mutually rewarding connections with all of their stakeholders.
That’s for our clients. If you ask the children who’ve we’ve worked with through Greater Good, they’ll tell you our most popular offering is giving them the ability to be self sufficient.
Please explain to our audience why today’s businesses should consider integrating analytics with their marketing strategy.
When it comes to strengthening relationships between brands and customers, the past can often help define the future. We know smart analytics — based upon a review of important data points-can provide real guidance in the development of smart marketing strategies. But not just run of the mill analytics. At Greater Than One we strive to understand how people think as well as how they behave. So, our Measurement and Analytics practice combines the art of consumer insight with the science of statistical analysis. The result is smarter solutions and better measurement that leads to more effective investment.
Our process integrates consumer and customer insights, media and site performance analytics, database behavioral analytics and ROI analysis and design. Through a deep understand of each of these disciplines, we offer our clients a truly integrated, fact-based strategies and initiatives.
The sky appears to be the limit for mobile marketing? What is your outlook on this fast growing segment of the industry?
Some have dubbed 2010 as ‘the year of mobile marketing.’ This is not the first year to be tagged with that moniker. Unlocking the potential of mobile marketing in the US has been more difficult than any industry analysts have predicted. There are two factors responsible for the slow growth (compared to other geographies around the world) of US mobile marketing.
The first is the overwhelming successes in the online digital space. Online search, display, and social media have become staples of Fortune 500 company marketing budgets, often at the expense of traditional media like TV and print. Many senior marketers are just now adjusting to the online digital sea change, and are wary of reducing traditional media budgets further to test a new ‘emerging’ platform. The same agency execs who grabbed off 10-30 percent of the company ad budget for online media are looking for more digital dollars for mobile, and never suggesting it could be funded from existing digital budgets.
The second limiting factor is penetration of 3G service. In recent years, despite significant hype around the mobile Web and 3G capabilities, as of the end of 2009 only 40 percent of mobile users had access to 3G mobile web services. The cost of service is the reason most often quoted for the limitation of 3G penetration.
There has been one recent development, though, that could accelerate the growth of 3G and 4G. That is the Apple vs. Google battle that is brewing as the Android operating system takes on the dominance of the iPhone in the 3G space. With the launch of the ‘Google phone,’ the Nexus One, Google made its boldest foray to date into the mobile marketplace. The real game changer is that the service providers are no longer supporting one or the other platform exclusively; Verizon will soon have a version of the iPhone (previously exclusive to AT&T) and AT&T is already selling Android phones.
There are other concerns, including the form factor (really small ads), privacy and security. However for direct response marketers, the nature of the device (it’s a phone, after all) means it’s made for interactivity, and therefore holds tremendous promise for one to one marketing.
In your opinion, what is the single most important thing Greater Than One has learned during its 10 years in the digital marketing business?
Over the past 10 years we have learned that our initial thinking — focusing on what is best for our clients — is the right thinking. It has never been about doing the easiest or most profitable or “coolest” thing, it has always been about doing the right thing.
By keeping our clients’ business needs at the forefront, we have the right focus and the right priority. And, ultimately, what is best for our clients is best for us. Over the past 10 years we have developed successful, long-term relationships and business successes of which both we and our clients are justifiably proud.
Blitz
- Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
- Number of Employees: 50
- Notable Clients: ESPN, Google, NBC
- URL: www.blitzagency.com
Founded in 1997, BLITZ is a privately owned digital marketing agency focused on interactive solutions that enable brands to connect with their target audience. The company helps its clients establish unique brand identities through rich Internet applications and user interfaces that engage their customers across all major platforms and devices. Dedicated to delivering personalized consumer experiences, BLITZ’s innovative approach to digital advertising allows brands to realize their true potential while enjoying the maximum return on their investment.
Contel Bradford of DMB recently spoke with Ivan Todorov, co-founder and CEO of BLITZ, to learn more about this award winning agency and get his thoughts on the fast moving digital marketing segment.
You guys stand out from other ad agencies on first glance. What makes BLITZ different?
A few years back we spent a ton of time talking about how BLITZ is different, only to find another agency using the same 5 keywords to describe themselves. Instead, we focused on being really, really good at what we do and showing our clients the value we create for them.
Today, we pride ourselves in having evolved beyond a “digital shop,” and into an integrated agency with digital DNA. We believe digital should be in the center - leading, connecting and measuring all other channels, be it print, TV, on-line or mobile. We invest in great creative, R&D and polished execution. I believe this is why our work stands out.
We are also very resourceful. Not only do we get more done within a budget, but because our staff is multi-disciplinary, we also have more effective and practical solutions to both business and creative problems.
Can you provide insight into some of the unique challenges your clients are facing today and how BLITZ is helping resolve them?
Some reoccurring questions from our clients center on how they can actively participate in social media and harness its full potential. We help our clients by guiding them through why they should be there and what they can accomplish, in the most appropriate or disruptive manner. There isn’t a magic bullet for all clients — every brand has its own voice and appropriate conversation threshold that needs to be part of the strategy when planning its participation to become “social.”
For example, we’ve seen evidence that consumers crave and rely on peer reviews, input, opinions, more than solely brand destinations. As a result, BLITZ has developed digital platforms that connect consumers to relevant social conversations - from Twitter, Digg, Facebook, YouTube — directly into the brand’s homepage and individual product pages. We have seen phenomenal results with this type of implementation with gamers on GuitarHero.com.
After all the awards and triumphs, what are some of the most important things you’ve taken from the business?
We learned how to hug our clients. Over the past 2 years, we really focused on providing our clients with the best possible service with a deeper view into the client’s strategic plans. What we’ve received in return has been invaluable. Healthy relationships that are true partnerships, loyalty during uncertain economic times and trust which allows for engagement to be completed smoother and on strategy. Thus our commitment and investment in quality and service has resulted in more long-term accounts. It has truly been a win-win.
2009 was an interesting year for the digital marketing industry. What do you think 2010 has in store?
We will see more digital agencies taking the lead with bigger brands. I believe this because social media is playing a larger role. We’ll also see mobile marketing pick up significant momentum, and augmented reality is still exciting for brands to adopt. These 3 big digital channels, along with the need for an integrated multi-channel campaigns, will push digital agencies to the front; not only because we have the creative and strategy, but also the much needed technology know-how.
Looking at your impressive portfolio, it’s clear to see that you guys stay pretty busy. Any interesting projects we should keep an eye on?
We are incredibly busy this first quarter of 2010, many of our new work will launch March/April. Our site and blog are constantly updated with our work, successes, events and news so stay-tuned to www.blitzagency.com for updates.
Google & Microsoft: Top Ad Networks See Double-Digit Increases
By Ron Callari
When audience measurement service, comScore, released its ranking of the top 15 advertising networks among U.S. Internet users, Microsoft Media Networks US and Google were the only two tech companies that posted double-digit growth in 2009 over the previous year.
With a 31-percent increase year over year, Microsoft was the fastest growing ad network according to this analysis. When approached for this article, several executives indicated they “never comment on comScore studies,” and “Microsoft does not have information to share regarding this.”
Neil Strother, practice director for ABI Research, indicates that large players like Microsoft are often reticent about validating or debating these types of stats. So Strother helped DMB by sharing his thoughts on comScore’s stats. He believes that the reason for Microsoft’s success this past year was due to the company “integrating their network across their four platforms: PC, Mobile, Gaming and Digital TV.” This combined synergy helped tit focus and allowed advertisers to dip into any of the company’s media properties such as MSN, XBox, Windows Live, Office Live and others,” without having to strike separate deals with each entity.
Strother also feels that during “economic downturns, advertisers and brands “will seek out the larger networks like Microsoft and Google because they are perceived as ’safe havens’ to conduct their business.” In so doing, while total ad networks increased 8 percent year over year, Microsoft most likely obtained a portion of its increase from “a market share shift from some of the smaller players like ValueClick, Tribal Fusion and AOL Advertising.”
Additionally Strother notes, since all networks showed increases year over year except for Traffic Marketplace and the Adconion Media Group, “Microsoft also benefitted in general by the increase in digital advertising over traditional media,” particularly with legacy newspaper ad revenues estimated to have fallen as much as 12 percent in 2009.
Google, on the other hand, did share some insights regarding the comScore report. And while Rachel Nearnberg, Google’s global communications spokesperson couldn’t “speak to the data point increase [13 percent] listed in the report,” she could report some of the reasons for the growth they have been experiencing. Attracting top line advertisers is a main reason, Nearnberg notes. For the “last 12 months, 94 of the top 100 Ad Age advertisers have advertised on the Google Content Network,” she says.
Google’s strategy is looking to help both brand and direct advertisers reach consumers through several innovative means. According to Nearnberg:
- Google has made recent improvements to its targeting tools on the Google Content Network to help advertisers match ad to content across the Web.
- Over the summer, Google launched contextual targeting that enables advertisers to focus on specific themes.
- Google launched view-through conversions in September 2009 to help advertisers better measure the impact of their display ad campaigns for those instances when an ad is seen, but not immediately clicked on.
- Google also launched a tool called Campaign Insights October 2009 to give advertisers reliable data about how a campaign has raised brand awareness, or active user interest, in a particular product or service. It looks beyond the traditional measures of clicks and conversions to calculate the incremental lift in both online search activity and website visits that result from a display ad campaign.
With the recent controversy in China whether or not Google will be pulling out of the country due to censorship issues and attacks on several of its users’ Gmail accounts, Nearnberg looks favorably on the future growth for Google and China. In another comScore study pertaining to the growth in the global search market, it showed China’s searches at 13.3 billion was second to the United States globally.
According to Nearnberg, “Asia [in general] has over 40 percent of the world’s Internet users and is an important region for Google.” Particularly in countries like China, “we’re excited about the opportunity for Chinese exporters to use Google’s ad tools to reach a global market.” She also adds that “the pace of mobile innovation in Asia is also extremely rapid, and mobile advertising is already a strong business for us, particularly in countries like Japan, which has a strong culture of mobile commerce.”
ABI’s Strother sees a “detente” eventually reached between the search engine giant and the superpower. With public critiques by Bill Gates and others who see this issue as overplayed in the media, Strother feels that both parties will acquiesce and over the long haul solve their differences behind “closed doors in quiet agreements.” According to Strother, “in the advertising space, there is too much at stake with wireless coming on very strong in China.”
While there are a lot of competing interests in play here and the world can applaud Google on taking the moral high ground, after the dust clears, this is “big business,” and Google will take all that into consideration in order to maintain its double-digit ad network increases in 2010.
Ron Callari is a freelance journalist and editorial cartoonist whose work has been published on AlterNet, CounterPunch and the Sacramento News & Review. He is currently a social media blogger for InventorSpot.com and the author of two graphic novels.
Are Twitter’s Trending Topics All Talk, No Substance?
Image courtesy of Twitter
By Rebecca Henely
As 2009 drew to a close, Twitter showcased one of its most recent site features – trending topics – by releasing the top 10 list of trending topics for the year on its blog.
Much buzz has circulated about the marketing and journalistic potential of trending topics, a service by the social networking website that began in April and tracks the most common phrases of its users’ tweets at any given time, but Pete Spande, SVP of sales and marketing at Federated Media, states he did not find the list, or trending topics themselves, very useful. “For me, the trending topic is a mixed bag. Often times, the trending topics don’t lead to much discovery,” says Spande, whose company connects marketers to online publishers.
The list, released by Abdur Chowhury, chief scientist at Twitter, gave the top 10 news events, people, movies, TV shows, sports teams, technology and hash tags (Internet memes circulating on Twitter that are marked by a “#” symbol before a word or a phrase mashed together). Overall, the most popular trending topic and news event was the June 2009 contested Iranian presidential election.
“In 2009, Twitter’s Trending Topics helped us understand what was happening around the world showing us that people everywhere can be united in concern around important events; excited about a new movie; or geek-out about a major new technology,” states Chowdhury in the posted blog on Twitter.
Yet Spande says most of the information about trending topics could be found from other sources. “Apple is the most talked about company. Michael Jackson was a popular celebrity topic this year…. All very straightforward,” he says.
Spande adds that while he believes Twitter is shaping the culture of the Internet, he is unsure of the role the trending topics themselves have in the conversation. “Much has been made about how Twitter influences the opening week for a movie and breaks news. In both of these cases, and many other cases, there are two distinct groups participating in a trending topic. There is the group of people adding to the conversation and the group that is sharing that conversation through retweets, @replies, etc. When Iran protests were dominating the Twitter trending topics, there were many more people sharing than influencing the conversation. In other cases, like Avatar’s release, there were hundreds of thousands 140-word movie reviews contributing to the conversation,” Spande says.
Rich Brooks, president of Flyte New Media, an Internet marketing and Web design company, also expressed skepticism of the idea of trending topics being useful, especially in marketing.
“I think it was a very cool thing that has mostly been overrun by spammers and irreverent and usually irrelevant memes,” Brooks says. “Occasionally I’ll find a breaking news story that way.”
When asked if he would recommend trying to get a business to use trending topics as a means of advertising, he says he would not. “There may have been a time that this was effective, but for most small businesses trying to ‘catch the wave’ of a trending topic [that] has very little import, and trying to start your own, can be insanely difficult,” Brooks says, adding that trending topics could be an indicator of customer satisfaction, but it should be treated as one of many.
“I wouldn’t bet my business on trending topics,” Brooks says. “Twitter, like the blogosphere before it, tends to be a bit of an echo chamber. It’s a very slim, technologically savvy audience, and not always representative of the nation, or the world, as a whole.”
Rebecca Henely is a freelance writer and journalist based in New Jersey.
Comscore’s Gift to Web Publishers: (Almost) Free Traffic
By: mediamemo.allthingsd.com
Hey Web publishers! Want to boost your traffic overnight? Talk to Comscore, which is handing out millions of unique visitors
Integration and Analytics: The Online Shopper’s Best Friends
By: ecommercetimes.com
Are your company’s technology investments paying off? If you’re not sure, now is the time to consider how well your applications are integrated and whether you’re taking full advantage of your analytics capabilities.
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