BuzzFeed’s Native Advertising is OMG WIN!

Posted by Jon Thomas, 13 Dec 2012

OMG. This may have been my hardest assignment yet. 

BuzzFeed is killing it on the interwebs lately (WIN), and not just because it creates some of the most shareable content around. It’s “killing it softly,” so to speak, monetizing its wildly successful site by partnering with brands to create branded content that people actually consume, enjoy and share with their audiences.

But why was this a difficult assignment? To write about BuzzFeed means one has to peruse BuzzFeed. And when one peruses BuzzFeed, time is sucked into a vortex while one reads journalistic masterpieces like “40 Reasons Honey Boo Boo Became a National Treasure in 2012” and “12 Days of Grumpy Cat Christmas.” Minutes quickly become hours, and deadlines come and go. But Grumpy Cat doesn’t care.

Share

What’s the Point of Paid Media in Post-Advertising?

Posted by Jon Thomas, 25 Jun 2012

Paid, earned and owned media are integral parts of any brand’s media strategy. While owned and earned media have flourished during the evolution of the marketing and advertising landscape in the past two decades, paid media has had a tumultuous ride. It has been the catalyst (broadly speaking) for obnoxious and interruptive advertising—pre-roll ads, billboards, banner ads; the kind of advertising we love to point out and lambaste—which makes it an easy target for ridicule by marketers trying to sell owned- and earned-media strategies into brands. But is it fair to ship paid media off to the Island of Misfit Toys? Is it a big mistake to ignore an effective paid-media strategy?

Share

How to Brand for Spotify, MOG and More

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 21 Nov 2011

This post originally appeared in our November issue of "Live Report from the Future of Marketing," our monthly Post-Advertising newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

Free music streaming services are here to stay. So when will brands really come out and play? Saviors like Spotify and MOG, plus the now-seasoned vets Pandora and Last.fm—which have dragged the music industry kicking and screaming into the 21st century—are now the best bets at monetizing and spreading music legally into the future. And now, via social platforms like Facebook and its Open Graph, they’re encouraging more sharing than ever before.

Top that off with the hundreds of ingenious apps and web sites taking shape through music’s newfound online freedom and you’ve got one hell of an opportunity—one that most brands have squandered. Turns out, there’s much brands can do, as both advertiser and Page admin, to utilize these valuable new tools.

Share

Bookmark Your Favorite…Banner Ads?

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 10 Nov 2010
When your eyes happen upon a web banner ad, do you ever think, "man, I wish I could save that for later!" No? Well, AdKeeper thinks you might...if you could. Because, you know, people love Super Bowl ads! And some time in the recent past people used to clip coupons! AdKeeper is hoping its system will revolutionize the way you view those pesky boxes altogether.
Share

Will Google Reinvent the Banner Ad?

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 28 Oct 2010
Google thinks display ads are "going to be huge." To drive home the point, they've bought ad space of their own, and erected a billboard of their own in — you guessed it — Times Square. By "huge," they mean smarter, more relevant, and "open." Is this all talk or is it a real push towards a better banner?
Share

You’re Not a Robot? Prove it by Duplicating this Corporate Slogan.

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 15 Oct 2010
You know those blurry and skewed little illegible phrases called CAPTCHAs you're forced to regurgitate in order to get through an online registration? They prove you aren't a robot, which is cool, but they're such a pain in the neck, right? There are few things more annoying than a CAPTCHA code. Luckily, one company has found a better way to prove you aren't a robot while at the same time squeezing in some extra ad space. And for once, internet banners are making a typically frustrating process remarkably less painful. In other news, we're living in a world where hamburgers eat people.
Share