Advertiser Platforms
Article | August 2, 2022
Verizon quietly introduced a new email marketing feature yesterday that it calls “View Time Optimization,” which the company says automatically times emails from companies to arrive the moment you’re looking at your email inbox, so it sits at the very top as a new message. The service is part of Verizon’s suite of email and web advertising properties, which includes AOL and Yahoo, and well-known programmer David Heinemeier Hansson (the inventor of the Ruby on Rails web application framework) called out Verizon on Twitter on Friday for what he calls an “Orwellian” ad placement tool.
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Ad Networks
Article | September 1, 2023
Netflix Takes an Unexpected Route
Popular streaming giant Netflix’s subscriber count plummeted for the first time in a decade. After it announced the loss of 200K subscribers in Q1 of 2022, its stocks dipped more than 35%. In addition, a shareholder recently sued the platform for violating securities law after its subscriber growth reached an all-time low and the stock value crashed, making the picture bleaker.
It’s not surprising that the platform had a change of heart about bringing advertising to its platform. The decision puts the platform in the same category as its competitors, HBO Max, Amazon’s Freevee, and Disney+, who want to offer cheaper, ad-enabled content to consumers. It also addresses the company’s issue of slow revenue growth.
“Those who have followed Netflix know that I’ve been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription, But as much as I’m a fan of that, I’m a bigger fan of consumer choice.”
co-CEO Reed Hastings
What Do Advertisers Think?
The advertising community had mixed reactions to the announcement. Long commercials are not an option on streaming platforms like Netflix. The ads run only for a few minutes every hour to retain the viewer experience. Despite this, advertisers are excited to target Netflix’s rich audience of over 200 million.
There is no clarity on who will sell the ads and how the campaigns will be managed. Only time will tell how Netflix’s move will affect its subscribers and the advertising market.
The company will keep ad-free tiers for subscribers who wish to enjoy high-quality ad-free content. It may change its subscription plans to offer low-cost plans with ads and minimize password sharing. There is no set timeline or regions decided for implementing these plans.
The company hopes that this “consumer choice” to choose a cheaper plan will revive its subscriber growth graph.
What Comes Next?
Though Netflix has done the unexpected, it is giving well-established ad-funded broadcasters and streaming platforms a reason to worry. As of now, the potential for a low-cost VOD service equipped with ads is huge for advertisers. Once the plans are introduced, new audience profiles will emerge. Advertisers will want to understand and target them. As an ad platform, Netflix’s performance will only be understood through testing and learning.
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Ad Networks
Article | October 20, 2022
Creating ad campaigns is a gamble. As advertisers, you are never sure if it was optimized enough, have no idea which micro-targets it resonates with the most, and it could take up to a year to determine the campaign’s sales impact. Market trends change by then. However, AI-powered ad creative can turn things around for you. You will know exactly what aspects of the ad resonate with your target demographic.
“It’s a welcome change for creatives, who find it empowering because they can think more broadly, experiment more, and learn faster,” says David Olesnevich, Head of Product at IBM Watson Advertising
“It’s a welcome change for creatives, who find it empowering because they can think more broadly, experiment more, and learn faster,” says David Olesnevich, Head of Product at IBM Watson Advertising
Let us take a look at what an AI-powered creative can do for your ad campaign:
Instant Optimization
AI-powered creative can be optimized instantly, not just for display ads but also for OTT video ads. You don’t need to spend extra time or resources to scale your optimization efforts.
Multiple Variations
Elements in AI creative can be varied and combined with music tracks, sound effects, voice-overs, scripts, video clips and sequences, hero shots, text overlays, end cards, and calls-to-action.
Easy Scaling
AI-powered creative ad campaigns are easy to scale across sectors for micro-targets defined by demographics, psychographics, life stage, customer journey stage, purchase behavior, and other KPIs like video completion, app installs, site visits, form-filling, purchases/conversions.
Enhanced Targeting
This technology can target your desired demographic based on message resonance. Consumer characteristics that respond to different message element combinations can help create persona profiles.
Brand advertisers like you need to prepare themselves for a cookie-less future with Google phasing out third-party cookies by 2023. Additionally, you need to also take into account Apple ending the IDFA (ID for Advertising). Figuring out micro-targets will get tougher because of these factors. You will have to harness solutions that respect consumer privacy without depending on the traditional advertising identifiers that will no longer remain.
Creative Professionals Can Better Maximize Client ROI
AI-powered creative is a modular and smarter way to develop ads. It takes the guesswork out of advertising with more actionable information to enhance brand campaigns and how they deliver a higher ROI.
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Display Advertising
Article | July 8, 2022
Mobile media usage in the US will reach 4 hours 29 minutes per day in 2022, according to Statista. In a mobile-first world, advertisers are understanding and adapting to the changing habits of your target demographic. They are switching to using 6-second video ads to address the decreasing individual ad session times.
Let us look at how 6-second ads are changing the game:
6-second ads increased ad recall by 11%, ROI by 12%, and video completion rate by 271% (Adaptly Campaign)
There was an incremental lift across several key metrics, such as conversion rate, average purchase value, and click-through rate (Adaptly Campaign)
6-second ads quickly communicate the message and grab people’s attention
They allow break-through with meaningful placements and influence buying decisions
Netmarble’s Lineage2 Revolution Video Ad Campaign Broke Records
Netmarble enlisted the assistance of Wisebirds, a Facebook Marketing Partner, to promote and drive downloads for its new mobile game. Wisebirds ran a test with 6-second, 15-second, and 30-second ads for a mobile ad campaign. The 6-second ad performed the best. Netmarble’s video ad campaign for the Lineage2 Revolution game broke records as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game with the most downloads in the App Store and Google Play in five Southeast Asian countries. The campaign highlighted the importance of delivering short, impactful messages to drive results efficiently and at a lower cost.
“In terms of branding, 6 second videos showed the best performance in all branding effectiveness measurements. We found that exposing short videos repeatedly and leaving a strong impression on the audience produced an unforgettable branding message.” – Dong Gyeong Kim, Senior Campaign Manager, Wisebirds
“In terms of branding, 6 second videos showed the best performance in all branding effectiveness measurements. We found that exposing short videos repeatedly and leaving a strong impression on the audience produced an unforgettable branding message.” – Dong Gyeong Kim, Senior Campaign Manager, Wisebirds
Tips to Create an Impressive 6-second Video Ad
Keep your ad narrative short. Create a solid punch line and figure out how to express it with the tools at hand.
Don’t treat the time constraint as a hindrance but as a creative challenge to deliver a great customer experience.
Ensure that your ad transformations are effective.
Keep your ad simple, relatable, and visually appealing and make all the elements work together.
Put 6-second Video Ads to the Test and Learn
Advertisers like you must experiment and learn how to capture viewers' attention quickly and deliver memorable key messages using 6-second video ads. Shorter video ads could be a great solution to address the dip in individual ad view session times and the viewers’ lowered attention spans.
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