Advertising

ADOTAS – Today we’ve solicited comments from industry leaders to the following Burning Question: “What will be the implications of Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr?” Here’s how they’ve responded: “Yahoo! is no stranger to large acquisitions, and its purchase of Tumblr is one that’s actually one of the smaller purchases the company has made over the years (Broadcast.com and Geocities being two giant busts and Overture eventually becoming their search platform). Needless to say, Yahoo!’s acquisition strategy hasn’t exactly worked out in the past. But now Marissa Mayer in in charge and things are supposed to be different. In this morning’s investor conference call, Mayer reiterated that her vision for the platform around ads is that Yahoo! will focus on “serving up native ads where every ad is as good as the content.” I found this to be an extremely ambitious statement and am going to watch closely as to how Mayer plans to pull this off. Yahoo! also expressed a lot of interest in Tumblr’s content management tools and the way Tumblr has gotten users to consume and share content. Mayer made it seem like this was a huge opportunity for Yahoo! to seize and infuse that kind of native virility into its culture. As a media company, I can only imagine that Yahoo! is interested in Tumblr as a kind of ‘virility engine’ that would amplify its content – however it is still foggy as to how the two brands will coexist. A big draw to the Tumblr platform is the regurgitation of culture and the proliferation of animated .gifs as a means to muse over cultural shifts and absurdities. The format that these musings take shape on Tumblr is typically copyrighted material that will be challenged by this purchase akin to how YouTube and Google had to overcome a similar issue with content. I am unsure how Tumblr will be able to grow as a cultural entity without the use of the material it has become famous for hosting. – Craig Elimeliah, VP Director of Creative Technology, RAPP. “Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr says several things. First it says that Yahoo is back in the game after having missed the bus on so many social media opportunities. Yahoo is trying to target a more hip and younger audience with Tumblr. Next it sees a revenue stream as Tumblr pages will offer advertisers prime areas to advertise and after having seen Google and Facebook make strides with online ads, Yahoo sees advertising on Tumblr as a way to reinvigorate its online advertising programs for advertisers.” – David E. Johnson, CEO, Strategic Vision, LLC. “Tumblr is high affinity audience that gives Yahoo access to the active fan community for sports and music, [and] significant opportunity to monetize that audience through contextual advertising, such as TiqIQ.” — Jesse Lawrence, CEO/Founder of TiqIQ.com. “The purchase of Tumblr by Yahoo is an aggressive step forward for Marissa Mayer and Yahoo. She has made it very clear that change is paramount. After 10 start-up purchases under her, this is clearly the most significant and valuable. Tumblr presents a unique and inviting opportunity for Yahoo. With over 100 million blogs already, they provide a built-in customer based with an even larger viewer-base. Both these categories tend to skew on the younger demographic, which is an overall goal of Yahoo’s overhaul. The rumors are that Tumblr will retain its employees and continue to run itself which means that Yahoo has increased its talent pool as well. Tumblr offers Yahoo a variety of opportunities to further monetize the investment. At a minimum, the increased advertising opportunities through the blogs should provide a boost, but I assume that there will also be some level of integration of the blogs into Yahoo’s home pages. This should provide easier access for readers and better exposure for bloggers. Overall, I think the purchase is a great move by Yahoo. The p

An innocent kid asks his parents awkward questions and appears to walk in on his parents having sex before being given a child-friendly Windows Phone.

The Cloud-based Video Platform Enables Companies to Easily Leverage the Power of UGC to Co-Create High-Value Content LOS ANGELES - With consumers holding ever increasing control of an organization’s message, how do organizations bring together what consumers are saying about them to tell a focused, controlled and consistent story? SendUs unveiled its cloud-based video submission and management platform that enables businesses to interact and engage with audiences who share their ideas and values via user-generated video content. With its new 2.0 release, SendUs empowers this conversational storytelling with an easy-to-use platform through which organizations can invite their audiences to co-create with video and automatically own the content use rights. “Understanding the importance of co-creating with members of the Tata Harper community, we believe that video is more powerful and authentic than any other advertising medium. SendUs is the only platform that enables us to engage in such personal and authentic communication” For a video snapshot of the SendUs platform at work, visit: http://bit.ly/10DhVJt. “Today, the consumer is controlling the message through social media. For businesses, this message, though loud and exciting, is unfocused, uncontrolled and often inconsistent with commercial goals,” says George Crowley, Executive Chairman, SendUs. “Our platform cracks the code on this audience engagement problem by bringing brands and consumers together to create customer-focused video content. In turn, this interactive dialogue helps drive sustainable long term relationships and increased sales.” In fact, according to the Content Marketing Institute: 80 percent of consumers would love to be involved in co-creation projects of brands they like. However, currently, less than 1 out of 5 companies are actually involving their consumers in their marketing planning. “Organizations know they have to widen the channel that connects them to their audience or customers, but too often the result is noise or information overload,” says author and Web pioneer Steven Johnson, who is an advisor to the company. “SendUs is a platform that uniquely opens the floodgates to much wider participation, and at the same time allows organizations to curate the best material that emerges.” In this era of relationship marketing, recent studies show that video drives consumer engagement in a more credible and personal way than any other medium. From enterprise brands and small businesses to creative agencies and non-profits, organizations can use SendUs as either a turn-key platform or a customizable solution via the SendUs widget and API. Additionally, as part of its launch, SendUs has partnered with natural skincare company, Tata Harper Skincare, on a national contest asking their customers what natural beauty means to them. Powered by the SendUs platform, Tata Harper is featuring the contest through May 24, on their Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/tataharperskincare. “Understanding the importance of co-creating with members of the Tata Harper community, we believe that video is more powerful and authentic than any other advertising medium. SendUs is the only platform that enables us to engage in such personal and authentic communication,” said Tata Harper, founder of Tata Harper Skincare. “We are leveraging SendUs for video testimonials featured in our marketing and in our upcoming commercials. We are excited to be hosting this nationwide contest powered by the SendUs platform.” SendUs has successfully deployed its first generation platform with brands such as FremantleMedia (producers of American Idol), Singapore Airlines, Peugeot, Nextel International, Sierra Club, and Susan G. Komen for The Cure. To see how the SendUs platform works in 3 easy steps, visit: http://corp.sendus.com/how-it-works. ABOUT SENDUS SendUs is a revolutionary video submission and management platform enabling a variety of organizati

ADOTAS – This year’s Internet Week New York (#IWNY) will explore how technology has disrupted and revolutionized every section of business from food to fashion to healthcare to education. The central hub of the festival is the IWNY HQ at the Metropolitan Pavilion (125 W. 18th St.) in the heart of Silicon Alley. The HQ will bring together 10,000 attendees for four days of celebrity keynotes and lively panel discussions on two live-streamed stages, workshops and tutorials in the official IWNY classroom, dozens of interactive displays, a screening room (new for this year), media center, a café and a lounge. There will be deeper dive, co-located conferences — literally upstairs and next door — on areas such as healthcare & technology. The IWNY HQ is open from Monday, May 20-Thursday, May 23. Here’s what people are reporting on #IWNY from the Twitterverse: Tweets about “#IWNY” Subscribe to the free Adotas.com Newsletter

Virgin Atlantic marketing director Simon Lloyd has left the airline after less than a year, with marketing responsibilities to be taken on by the brand's global sales director Maria Sebastian.

ADOTAS — Digital advertising and technology collide this week as Internet Week New York (IWNY) kicks off its 6th year exploring how new media has touched virtually every aspect of business, from food to fashion to healthcare and education. Even if you’re not a techie, there are plenty of reasons to attend this year’s festivities. The New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment launched Internet Week back in 2008 as a celebration of the city’s reputation as the hub for the nation’s advertising, fashion and technology industries. In particular, Internet Week aims to shine a spotlight on NY-based startups to showcase their technologies and provide a venue for networking and to get a sense of the markets and competition. “Tech is playing an increasingly stronger role at everyone’s job, even if you don’t work in technology. Everyone has to be comfortable with it at a baseline,” said Caroline Waxler, Internet Week New York festival director. “Start-ups don’t really have a lot of opportunities to get exposure to agencies and brands.” At Internet Week, she said, “you can network in a no-pressure environment.” The core event at Metropolitan Pavilion will also have “Start-Up City,” which will highlight new companies. Waxler said Start-Up City will be more than just the standard rows of exhibit booths typically found at conferences. This area will be more like a “co-working space and digital playground” with free coffee and popcorn, free Wi-Fi, and a furnished workplace designed by Vault49. Taking place on May 20-27, the festival is aiming to attract more than 45,000 attendees across its 250+ events and 150+ independent event partners across the city. Don’t forget to bring your shorts as Internet Week’s footprint and duration has grown a little wider this year, extending the festivities to the Hamptons over Memorial Day weekend. Here is a quick and dirty guide to some recommended keynotes, sessions and events this week: Monday, May 20 IWNY Welcome Address @ Stage A (9:25 a.m.–9:30 a.m.): Caroline Waxler, Internet Week NY Festival Director, welcomes attendees to Internet Week NY 2013, sharing highlights of the week and an exciting preview to the days ahead. OMMA Social @ Internet Week Theater (8 a.m.–5:30 p.m.): Designed to guide marketers and agency execs through the terrain of social media and how it relates to their brand. Twitter, Macy’s, Expedia, Bravo Digital and other industry innovators will share secrets for connecting with and activating consumers via social media. Keynote: Lauren Zalanick, NBC Universal Keynote @ Stage B (9:40 a.m.-10:10 a.m.): In Conversation With Jason Hirschhorn (The REDEF Group) Lauren Zalaznick is media and entertainment’s “triple threat,” having created and monetized film, television, and now digital content. Media REDefined’s Jason Hirschhorn will talk to Lauren about her plans and vision leading the “Department of Transformation” known as NBCUniversal’s newly formed Media Innovation and Cross Company Initiatives division. Keynote: Pete Cashmore, Mashable @ Stage A (1:30 p.m.-1:50 p.m.): Pete Cashmore, Mashable’s founder and CEO, in conversation with Robyn Peterson, Mashable’s chief technology officer, about the importance of technology to a modern media company. Official IWNY HQ Opening Party @ Metropolitan Pavilion (7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.): This year’s Opening Party is being curated in collaboration with Refinery 29 and Grandlife and features performances fromThe Juan Maclean (DFA Records), Benji B (BBC Radio 1 / Deviation UK) , Brendan Fallis, and HITS. The only way into this networking extravaganza of VIP’s and industry luminaries is with an Insider or VIP Pass. Tuesday, May 21 Social Advertising: Sharing and Powering Relevant Conversations @ Stage B (10:15 a.m.-11 a.m.): The rise of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have made it even easier for us to connect, discover and share news that matters most to us. It has also provided brands an

Integrated search across all content types – video, audio, text and image – drives enhanced navigation and user engagement across 96 Univision online properties BOSTON - RAMP, the industry’s leading provider of next-generation video and search experiences for major online media publishers, announced that Univision Communications Inc. has selected RAMP to deliver search across 96 Univision web and mobile properties. Univision began its rollout last week. “The ability to present the right content to the right user is a critical component of maximizing the value of premium content across a network of sites.” RAMP’s award-winning universal search solution enables users to easily and quickly find all relevant content on the site across all formats – video, audio, text and image. RAMP’s topic page publishing solution identifies and publishes thousands of user-friendly and SEO-friendly topic pages for easy navigation across Univision’s content collection. “Given the footprint of Univision’s digital properties, we needed to identify a solution that could scale to our requirements while being easy to build, launch, and maintain,” said Kevin Conroy, president, Digital & Enterprise Development, Univision Communications Inc. “RAMP allows our Univision content to be easy to find and discover while helping us deliver on our ROI.” RAMP’s MediaCloud platform continuously ingests all of Univision’s content and creates rich metadata, including time-coded transcripts and tags for video content, and automated tagging and indexing of text and image content. This indexed content is then deployed across all of Univision’s online properties using RAMP’s template search results pages, which also include searches for specialty Univision content types such as recipes and featured keywords. “RAMP’s Universal Search solution is unmatched in the market in terms of delivering a comprehensive search experience for major media companies like Univision,” said Tom Wilde, CEO, RAMP. “The ability to present the right content to the right user is a critical component of maximizing the value of premium content across a network of sites.” About RAMP RAMP has developed the next generation of search & video experiences to make video more valuable. Using RAMP, clients are able to fully leverage the value of all of their video content by driving increased discovery across search and social sites, enhancing user engagement through dynamic search and publishing solutions, and maximizing revenue through sophisticated advertising capabilities. Leading media companies and enterprises using RAMP include Thomson Reuters, FOXNews, ABCNews, NBC, Dow Jones, Meredith, Citibank, and others. For more information visit RAMP.com, or contact us at info@RAMP.com. Related articles: Golf Channel Selects RAMP for Content Optimization Solution RAMP, the industry’s leading Content Optimization platform for major online... RAMP CEO Tom Wilde to Present at Digital Content Monetization East Conference “Play it Forward” presentation to provide a view of the... RAMP Announces MediaCloud for SharePoint, the Next Generation Enterprise Video Content Platform RAMP, the leader in next generation search and video experiences,...

ADOTAS (via New York’s Daily News) — Who wants to be a billionaire? Tech wonder David Karp, evidently. The plucky, 26-year-old Tumblr founder has sold his popular blogging platform to tech behemoth Yahoo for an amazing $1.1 billion, news site AllThingsD reported Sunday. Read More ... Subscribe to the free Adotas.com Newsletter

Santander, the UK retail and corporate bank, has called a review of its £27 million media planning and buying account, currently held by Carat.

We sort of wonder if after viewing this Charmin billboard which is shaped like a pair of tighty-whities, a portion of Nascar fans are going to wonder if the brand has begun selling underwear. That or they're just going to chuckle at the brand's witty display of boys elementary school bathroom humor. The giant underwear-shaped billboard was placed at the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Sprint All-Star Race. Via.