How to Cross Promote: The Interactive Solution

Insider Profile: Stephen Strong, Global Director of Interactive, Alberto Culver

Stephen Strong, global director of Interactive, Alberto Culver, oversees interactive marketing strategies for brands such as TRESemme, Nexxus, VO5 and Noxzema. He has been with Alberto Culver for a year and a half.

Prior to that, Strong was the director of interactive for Draftfcb’s Chicago office for eight years. He has more than 15 years interactive marketing experience working with brands that include Kraft, Sears, SC Johnson and Motorola.

At the upcoming Digital Media Measurement & Pricing Summit, Strong will address developing a strategic approach for campaign success, identifying key performance indicators and delivering ROI.

DMB’s Barbara Gengler spoke to Strong about his interactive approach to ad campaigns.

How did you integrate Alberto Culver’s branded content from website to paid media and social media?
We talked about what to use as a spark to have an engaging experience with consumers to support our campaign. The struggle is what’s the big idea to do online? How to create original content to put online?

At Alberto Culver, there are similar challenges to do social media more than product banners on the Internet. There are also sweepstakes and sponsorships to put the message out there. We looked at the marketing pushes last year and started with them and where can we take that to the present marketing events to get that message out there.

We are a big sponsor of the Fall 2010 season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which took place from Feb. 11-18 in New York City, and for a little more money we had a video crew on stage capturing the video so we could put it in online.

Alongside the sponsorship, TRESemme launched TRESemme TRESpass, an exclusive group on Facebook that gives women instant, VIP access to the latest looks. The site features video on how to get the hair seen on the runway and tips on upcoming fall hair trends.

This year we are ramping up the media across distribution channels and testing out ways to push the content out and on to our Facebook page.

How did you expand its reach and effectiveness? What were the results?
For social media we aren’t so interested in the cost efficiency, since it is so low cost to maintain/upload our videos. But we are looking at consumer engagement (which videos get the most views, which gather the most fan comments/”likes”) to help determine what type of content they are most interested in. We would use this information to guide the type of video content we produce for the next program.

Paid media gets the best results and within paid media you get the most efficient views. We are testing out different ways to push it out there from a media standpoint.

On top of that, raising awareness and brand site/Facebook, people are coming there to look at that site on their own accord. We are providing content people are interested in and using the same content to re-establish with users how you serve it up.

Could you talk about identifying relevant Key Performance Indicators?
For online media/video distribution, we mainly look at cost efficiency, (cost per view), which will tell us which media channels are able to capture the most eyeballs at the lowest cost.

We would then pair that with message effectiveness (ComScore, Dynamic Logic, etc.) which tells us how consumers were affected after viewing the videos (association with TRESemme, increased purchase intent, etc.)

We would combine these learnings to identify the best sites/video networks to use for the next program. Also we did get a lot of comments about the content on the web pages and what brand advantages are connected.

How could they increase the effectiveness of digital ad spend?
From my point of view, I hate banner advertising, it’s a huge mistake with the focus on banner ads. I think I would challenge public relations agencies, media agencies to a no banner media campaign.

This should not be where the industry is going as banner advertising has always been terrible. Take that content elsewhere.

We want to put the content together and distribute it ourselves on Facebook, to the media sites, with some control over it. We’ve started looking at the media programs, most of them, and found this is what we want, and we ask them are you in or out?

We’re coming back with a better strategy and the media sites are open to this type of program. You have to get involved with the media content the agencies are creating.

Basically from my point of view, 80 percent of what I hear during a panel discussion is irrelevant. Most of the upcoming session will be from a strategic approach, a case study, examples of how to do it with no events. This is a type of approach you could use.

Developers Mixed on Yahoo!’s Open Strategy

By John Greaves

Yahoo! has unveiled its Open Strategy to mixed reviews. The strategy, which is designed to fit in with Yahoo!’s commitment to make its platform more social, is meant to make it easier for developers to build. According to the Y!OS introduction on the Yahoo! Developers Network Blog, “Through YOS, we’re rewiring Yahoo! so that developers can tap into benefits once only available within Yahoo! Namely, you can leverage the content, traffic and user base of Yahoo! to extend your presence on the Web.

According to Sandeep Mundra, whose company IndiaNIC has developed for Yahoo! since 2001, although IndiaNIC is not exclusive to Yahoo! they feel they get the best deal from Yahoo! and they are open to possibilities presented by Y!OS. “It’s very exciting and from this Open Strategy we probably link different kind of models available on the Yahoo! Developer Network to not only on the Yahoo! site but other sites as well. And they’re giving the easy interface so for a developer it’s very exciting,” Mundra says.

However, other developers say they are unimpressed with Yahoo!’s moves so far. Phil Michaelson a developer whose list building and sharing product KartMe builds on Amazon, Google and eBay says Yahoo! needs to do more loosening of restrictions.

“I’d looked at using some of their APIs (e.g., search monkey and Yahoo BOSS) about a year ago. At the time, they didn’t give the end user enough control over how to display data. Now as I review the terms, they’re too restrictive. Offering APIs does not make your service open,” Michaelson says.

A quick visit to the Yahoo! Developer Network blog reveals on the one hand a lot of exciting information from Yahoo! about various innovations such as The Yahoo! Applications Platform that “represents the first time that Yahoo! is opening up the “canvas” of Yahoo! to developers, allowing developers to easily author and publish apps across the Yahoo! network,” reading responses to comments on the potential shut down of MyBlogLog shows the anger and confusion some developers feel.

The potential shutdown of MyBlogLog is not an isolated event. According to blogger MG Siegler, “At a time when many tech companies are starting to launch new projects again and excitement is building, Yahoo keeps shutting things down.”

Mundra says he is concerned over one shutdown in particular. The Shopping API is scheduled to be discontinued as of March 11, in favor of Yahoo! partnership with PriceGrabber.

“That’s a question asked by my clients because my Yahoo! clients storefronts are using 100% Yahoo!-owned shopping engines and from the shopping engines most the clients are getting very good leads. Moving that shopping engine to Price Grabber I think is a very, very hard decision so we’ll need to work very hard on that.” Many developers like IndiaNIC will be hard hit by this because unlike Yahoo! Price Grabber doesn’t offer a free web services API. The YDN advises developers “If you wish to continue to display syndicated shopping results for products listed on Yahoo! Shopping, you must apply to Price Grabber for shopping syndication services. Although they do not offer a free web services API, you can find out more about how to apply to their program here.”

One thing that may allay developers’ fears is a promise by Neal Sample, vice president of Yahoo! Open Strategy: “How we are determining which APIs we support on the Yahoo! Developer Network.” Sample also promises to give more information on progress on the Yahoo! Query Language, Yahoo! Application Platform and Social APIs.

Despite these concerns, Mundra indicates his company will stick with Yahoo! both because he believes the company’s new social focus is good for business and because he likes how the platform compares to other available outlets.

“In the last couple of years social media marketing is buzzing the market and we’re getting a lot more clients who want to integrate it into their store, so with the Open Strategy it’s going to shorten our development time.”

Still Mundra says he would like to have better communication. “Yahoo!’s support is very good but we need more support and better communication from them regarding what development is going on so we can always ready ourselves with marketing and get support ready on that. We don’t want surprises,” Mundra says.

While Yahoo! may be able to rely on the loyalty of companies such as IndiaNIC to attract developers away from competitors, Michaelson says the company has to send a signal that it is willing to make moves to allow them freedom to profit.

“Yahoo’s restrictions on data display and service monetization lead me to conclude they’re not serious about being open. If they were serious, they’d just set a cap on traffic,” Michaelson says. “No need to prevent development from sites that are trying to innovate. They should let partners innovate, and once partners are succeeding, then look to profit.”

Sample says about the Y!OS, “One thing to note today: Yahoo!’s commitment to openness is reflected in the design of recent platform releases. That is right. The truth is in the architecture. Our Open platforms (YAP, YQL, YUI, etc.) will stay and will stay open. YQL technology offers all developers an open, scalable, plug-and-play platform with the same flexibility and security we require for our own production deployment. You have the ability to wire up alternative APIs using YQL’s Open Tables. Now that’s a commitment.”

Spinning Tweets of Gold: Twitter’s Revenue Model

By John Greaves

Twitter, the social networking giant that has revolutionized the way we interact with each other and search for information, seems to be planning to monetize using third-party applications. On the other hand, it might be planning to charge companies for access to its site’s products. Or maybe it will just sell ad space. It’s still not clear despite Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s promise that we would know how his company plans to start making money in early 2010.

The question of Twitter’s move toward monetization has been a topic of discussion for years, and of course, Twitter has a history of promoting third-party apps without being paid for them. So intense is interest in how Twitter will monetize that a hoax last year concerning paying for premium accounts led to a firestorm of outrage that increased when protesters learned they were the victims of a prank by BBspot.

This is partly because Twitter’s investors have long maintained that they were in no hurry to make money off the micro-blogging site. Stone told reporters in 2009 the company wasn’t fretting about the need to monetize. “There are no dates when we need to break even. We have plenty of money in the bank,” he says.

The question remains, what is Twitter planning and will it be successful? In 2007 Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter and the current CEO, let slip some of the ways he thought the site could generate income. “Two more-straightforward ideas: 1) Ads on the site. We have a little AdSense on there now, but we haven’t really tried. As the traffic grows, some tasteful sponsorships might be sellable. 2) Charging companies who are using it for marketing or other commercial purposes. If an organization finds Twitter to be a valuable communication tool with their customers/constituents/etc — especially if we’re sending lots of SMS’s for them, which cost us money — it seems viable to make an offering around that,” he said.

Steve Hofstetter, a comedian who has helped create apps for Facebook and the iPhone as part of promoting his brand, is enthusiastic about Twitter monetizing through ad revenue.  “Click on their website right now, you know they have that little useless twitter definition, who gets utility out of that? People in the office enjoy that, if you made that a tiny little ad; it doesn’t just give utility to Twitter, marketers put ads on sites because they’re good for the consumer, I’ve found good stuff through banner ads,” Hofstetter says.

Nevertheless, according to Radar Research founder Marissa Gluck there is a problem with simply relying on advertising to monetize social media. “In terms of advertising, click-through rates and engagement historically tend to be very low on social networks, consumers aren’t really there to search out products or to purchase, they’re not in that mode, they’re not in that mentality, so consumers are not really engaging with ads on social networks because they want to engage with their friends,” Gluck says.

On the other hand, Gluck points to the fact that Twitter wears many hats in the social media arena and can perhaps choose multiple revenue streams to be successful including the second option Williams mentioned. “Twitter is everything from a social network to an RSS feed to a broadcasting platform, so Twitter is a little bit different, which is why for Twitter it makes more sense to look towards paid subscriptions from commercial enterprises as well as advertising,” Gluck says.

Ian Swanson, the CEO of Sometrics, a company that helps developers and brands monetize the social Web, thinks Twitter is right to avoid the ad model for now. “If you look at the expertise of the company, you’ve got to say is this a media company, is this a company that belongs on Madison Avenue or is this a tech company? They really know their strengths. Hey we’re really good at building this platform, really good at the technology - so let’s allow the brands and third-party applications to build on top of our platform and if we go through and charge people for that access, almost like taxing the system, eventually they’re going to make money and that’s just a smart approach for them.”

This echoes comments made by Stone to the Reuters Global Technology Summit in May 2009. “”There are no people at Twitter who know anything about advertising or work in advertising. So we don’t have anyone there to make or take those calls,” Stone says.

It is obvious that third-party applications have figured out how to monetize using Twitter. A PR Newswire press release notes that TwitterJobSearch, the first real-time job search engine, has evolved its offering to include an In-Stream Ads service. Back in 2007, Steve Poland even blogged on easy ways to make money with Twitter using third-party applications. Ad.ly “enables Twitter publishers to make money from the content they produce on Twitter by sending one tweet every day from advertisers that they approve.”

The question is not whether it’s possible for Twitter to monetize itself. Rather everyone is wondering whether 2010 will be the year when Twitter begins to spin tweets into gold.

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.

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.

R2integrated

• Location: Baltimore, MD
• Number of Employees: 62
• Notable Clients: Black and Decker, Forbes, Time Warner
• website: www.r2integrated.com

R2integrated is a leading internet marketing firm that specializes in solutions that enables its clients to engage and effectively communicate with their customers online. The company helps brands and audiences connect through the implementation of rich media applications, social media and networking, and powerful, comprehensive analytics that allows businesses to better understand their market and fine-tune their marketing strategy accordingly. R2i’s diverse technology platforms and award-winning creative design have helped some of the largest corporations in the world enhance customer communications, cut costs, and maximize the return on their marketing investment.

DMB’s Contel Bradford recently spoke with Matt Goddard, R2integrated CEO, to get the inside scoop on this dynamic internet marketing agency.

What factors have attributed to R2integrated’s explosive growth over the last two years?
There are two main factors that attributed to R2i’s explosive growth: the exponential increase in peer-to-peer networks and changes in customer buying behavior, combined with the technology and complexities that have entered the marketing realm. For marketers, peer-to-peer communications are driving customer engagement and interaction and they need to find ways to reach and understand their audiences. At their disposal are all of these new and different technologies. Pulling all of this together is where R2i excels. We continue to grow the company by helping marketers reach their customers in ever-changing, ever-evolving networks; we help them understand the changes and nuances in their customers’ buying behavior; and, most importantly, we’re able to develop, integrate, and manage all of the technology requirements that marketers need to execute and measure their strategies.

Many new businesses struggle finding their customers online. How can your solutions connect them with their target audience?
We recognize that finding customers online is one of the most difficult and important tasks for businesses, and is getting harder because the Internet is such a fragmented landscape. People digest content via thousands of different places. There are new sites popping up every day. People are sitting inside of social networks and social spaces, and the way that they behave and the way they do things are changing. Plus, analytics and understanding of customer behavior are still maturing. What’s critical to finding customers online is recognizing that the Internet is a buying engine, or one big database of intentions. People go to the Web for a specific purpose and/or need. R2i has a number of solutions that help businesses identify their customers’ buying behavior. These solutions help businesses identify and connect analytics to how individuals are searching and looking for specific products. And our solutions help businesses locate the communities where their customers operate and spend their time-and money.

Can you tell us about your involvement with the DotNetNuke project?
R2i is one of the first DotNetNuke Gold Fusion Partners, and our firm has been involved with DNN since version 1.x - more than six years ago. Several members of the DNN core development team are sitting inside of our walls. We’ve contributed code to the DNN platform, and were a major contributor to the DNN Map Module Project Lead. We of course provide a slew of DotNetNuke services including Web site design, skin design, SEO marketing programs, module development and integration, DNN support, consulting, and development. Recently, we re-launched the R2i DotNetNuke microsite, which was created to educate, assist, and enrich the DNN community and its clients. We will continue to be very active in the DNN community.

How does this open-source CMS compare to proprietary solutions in terms of support for enterprise needs?
The open source platforms that are out there are building rapidly in terms of their support. DotNetNuke, for example, has a very low license cost that includes support. We’re seeing increases every month in the amount of support that open source projects are providing. The flexibility that enterprises get by using these platforms, the amount of people who know how to use these platforms, the ability to pick and choose, and the ability not to be stuck with any one vendor are all making open source CMS platforms the best choices. CTOs, CMOs, and others decision makers from some very large corporations - including R2i clients - are reaching out and seeking out these open source platforms - DNN, Joomla, Drupal - and the support is going to continue to grow.

Please give us your philosophy on integrating marketing with technology and why this combination has become a must in today’s digital space.
In the past, marketing departments often rented technology. If they wanted to do a television commercial, for example, they would have to rent the television platform and all of the technology that went with it. Same with radio, same with running direct mail pieces. Today, the diverse set of technologies available-CMS technologies, sales force automation, widgets, FaceBook applications, Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, and so on-are now owned by marketing departments so the integration is a must. Owning these technologies means managing them, too. Marketers have to deal with technology issues, challenges, updates, and upgrades, all while making sure it runs efficiently, all the time. This is the mission control that allows content distribution to take place every day. Without technology integration, marketers can drown in opportunity, cannot effectively leverage assets, and will constantly wait on IT to help them out.

Mobile Apps: A Long-Term Investment

By Rebecca Henely

With 4G/LTE technology looming and more than 140,000 mobile applications currently available in Apple.com’s App Store, mobile apps have become an attractive new venture for companies.

Yet as with any new technology for a new marketplace, the profitability of putting out a new app for a company can be uncertain.

According to a new Forrester study titled the ROI of Mobile by Julie A. Ask, start-up costs for an app encompass more than just the initial creation, and companies must consider a variety of factors when estimating consumer adoption.

“Calculating the ROI of emerging technologies and services that depend on consumer behavior is challenging,” Ask states in the study. “Some may argue that it is part art and part science.”

Ask’s study states apps can be beneficial to a company. They can increase sales and customers not only through purchases via mobile device, but also by guiding customers to brick-and-mortar locations and delivering promotions to increase the amount of purchases per visit. Some company infrastructure costs like facility leasing and maintenance, personnel, costs related to inventory, or material costs may also be cut down company-wide if the app is popular.

Many companies want to have a mobile presence, as well. In a recent survey by R2integrated, 22 percent of respondents named mobile marketing as “very important” to their overall marketing strategy, with 26 percent naming it ”important” and 28 naming it “somewhat important.”

However, Ask states, building and distributing an app can increase costs in other areas aside from the initial cost for building the app and the licensing. These can include service fees, costs of delivering messages to customers, distribution deals with carriers, marketing the app, time spent training or re-organizing personnel to handle support for the mobile app.

“The cost and time to build the apps is greater than anticipated,” Randy Paskal of Moviola, which recently created the

Pro Video Guide app for sale on Apple. “The more time we spend making sure that we are building a quality product the better the results. A fair amount of trial and error has occurred during this process.” Then there comes the question of whether the app will be used.

“With an emerging medium like mobile, it is difficult to forecast consumer adoption and usage,” Ask states. “Benefits such as sales are easily quantified because they go directly to the bottom line. Others - such as increasing customer satisfaction by 0.2 percent - may be more difficult to quantify.”

The article suggests companies must estimate consumer adoption over the next three to five years, but also how often consumers will use the device and how much profit will be earned through usage.

“For a mobile app to be a considerable additional revenue stream, you need to ensure what’s been offered is enticing,” states Marc Edwards, director and lead designer for mobile app development company Bjango Studios. “Also, make sure you do your homework on what’s available. The App Store contains almost 200,000 apps, so most ideas have been done at least once (often badly).”

Edwards, as well as other companies, seem to be following Ask’s advice already. Paskal stated Moviola expects its app to recover its cost within the first year.

The tax-assistance company TurboTax says it sees its SnapTax app, which is available to California residents who want to file a 1040EZ or 1040A form this year, as a test to see if the market for doing taxes on mobile is viable.

“The challenge is how to balance the scope of what you want (or could) cover with maintaining a simple, easy customer experience,” says Colleen Gatlin, manager of corporate communications for TurboTax. “For example, we could consider broadening the reach to audiences with more complicated tax situations but is that the right kind of experience for filing taxes from your phone? Also, is there enough of an audience for the app and in this case, we believe so. [There is] lots of room to expand (other states, other platforms), but important to learn first.”

Developing a partnership can also help, states Ben Kazez, founder of Mobiata, which has created a number of travel apps. ”With our travel partners, we’re able to offer much shorter times till profitability (for companies looking to make revenue through mobile), since the mobile travel platform we’ve built and field-tested enables us to develop apps at a fraction the cost of internal IT teams,” he states. Kazez says the most important thing when creating an app is quality.

An app can’t be poorly designed or badly engineered. “We’ve seen some general digital creative shops getting their feet wet with app development, sometimes for very large clients. Their work hasn’t been tested the way ours has - not just by quality assurance engineers but by real users actually traveling - and we’ve seen several of these apps fall flat during updates from one version to another, or even just during regular use,” he says.

Edwards also says apps can be done for niche audiences, so long as the rate of return isn’t expected to come quickly. “We are looking at the revenue as a long-term investment in the company and our clients, as we design apps for a specialized segment of the professional marketplace and we do not expect big nor quick returns on our investment,” he says.

“The time to invest in mobile is now,” Kazez says, “but the case for particular apps really depends on the financials of the companies in question.”

Next Page »