MTV Networks Measures with Quantcast

In a step away from panel-based measurement to one that measures based on site activity, MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, selected Quantcast to measure traffic on its online properties. Metrics will aid marketers, advertisers, and agency media buyers to make more informed decisions on ad inventory and site visitors.

With a pixel and a cookie, Quantcast is able to provide publishers, and therefore advertisers, with the number of unique visitors, cookied visitors, and page views on a particular site. In addition, the service provides aggregate user data so advertisers can see what site visitors look like.

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3631558

Unilever VP Takes an Axe to Old Broadcasting Theories

Mr. George has been instrumental in identifying interactive, customized opportunities for brands such as Axe, Degree, Suave, Dove and Sunsilk over the last three years. Interactive TV has become an increasingly larger part of Unilever's corporate strategy, too, with more than 30 brands currently testing the technology. Now that the footprint is larger -- more than 70 million cable households have interactive capabilities -- marketers like Mr. George are finding the engagement metrics behind a clickable TV ad are far more compelling than rerunning the same 30-second spot.

Unilever's "Advanced" TV ads, as they're occasionally called, have appeared in a variety of forms, from interactive overlays during on-demand programming to text-message opt-in requests to clickable pre-roll ads. And sometimes don't appear in the form of ads at all. Earlier this year, the company created a full-length music video for Axe that aired on on-demand network Music Choice, featuring the fictional band the Bom Chicka Wah Wah's. The music video became one of the top 10 most requested for Music Choice and has already garnered more than 1 million hits on YouTube.

http://adage.com/madisonandvine/article?article_id=132306

Local Interactive Ad Growth to Slow Next Year

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3i7f30abddb493befbb9c1f4713bfcb921

After growing at break-neck speed for the last few years, local interactive advertising, up 47 percent this year to $12.9 billion, is poised to grow only 8 percent in 2009 to $13.9 billion, according to a Borrell Associates report released Thursday (Nov. 6). Factoring in national interactive, total interactive segment is forecast to moderate from 10.4 percent growth this year to 7.2 percent growth in 2009 for a total of $40.4 billion.

Kraft Tests Recipe for Selling in a Recession

Ms. West was named CMO last October, and the company has continually vowed to increase marketing spending during her tenure. In the past year, Kraft has also reinvigorated its salad-dressing and Maxwell House brands following repackaging efforts. Analysts were clamoring for divestiture of both businesses back in August 2007.

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=132302

AUTOS' PLIGHT MAY DRIVE NEW AD FORMULA

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11102008/business/autos_plight_may_drive_new_ad_formula_138004.htm

Though automakers were some of their most profitable and prized accounts, ad execs nevertheless complained for years about the pernicious influence of "bean counters" who pressure agencies to accept lower fees while demanding more for their money.

At the same time, despite automakers' focus on the bottom line, agencies didn't overhaul their organizations or push for a different compensation system. Most agencies still bill their clients by the hour.

Detroit's decline could serve as a challenge to the ad industry to figure out a better way to build a partnership - one with clear objectives, performance standards and commensurate pay - rather than settling for a quick buck.

"It could cause a rethinking of the agency-client relationship to one that is more modern," said Ron Berger, chief executive of ad agency Euro RSCG's New York office, who labels the ad industry's past efforts to adjust its business model as "Band-Aids."

Digital Not Layoff-Proof, But Coping

March added that since the economic downturn hit, his agency has actually been able to hire a greater degree of quality talent, as experienced buyers have shown an increased willingness to change jobs.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/esearch/e3i8a864b21b4f19fc563c5183287606d36

Cheerful Gloom From Mary Meeker

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/cheerful-gloom-from-mary-meeker/

Over time, she said, advertising revenue grows and shrinks three times as fast as the gross domestic product. If G.D.P. is unchanged next year, which is Morgan Stanley’s current forecast, ad spending for all media will fall by 4 percent. And it gets worse fast. A 2 percent drop in G.D.P., for example, would bring a 10 percent reduction in ad spending.

For Internet advertising in particular, there isn’t enough data to have such a precise correlation. Ms. Meeker said that in the slowdown from 2000 to 2002, online advertising fell by 27 percent, although the Internet economy had been inflated by a bubble of venture-backed ad spending. This year, Internet ad spending trends are much closer to other forms of advertising.

Ms. Meeker didn’t specifically forecast what will happen to online ads. “Display advertising will continue to be challenged, but search will do better.”