Online audience targeting has a very promising proposition. Rather than the spray and pray mentality, you handpick your target audience based on billions of data points and powerful predictive analytics and math. The value for advertisers and marketers that the vendors are promising is a razor sharp reach to the target audience and increased effectiveness.

While this may sound like the holy grail of online advertising, why is this revolution “just behind the corner” for so many years? While online search marketing is a $25 billion industry, targeting amounts to only $1 billion according to eMarketer estimates.

This is the question tackled by Rishad Tobaccowala, Member of Management Board at VivaKi, and the keynote speaker at the OMMA Behavioral conference that convened on Thursday in New York.
“We are so concerned about the plumbing that we forget about the poetry,” he argued. “If I have to spend two to three hours per week just to keep on top of what is going on in the targeting industry, it means that it is a very complex industry and that is not trivial. It also means that it is a share game, where too many people are competing for about 1 billion dollars.”

According to Mr. Tobaccowala, vendors are focusing too much on what data they are using and how they structure their database instead of on their clients. The industry has a myriad of acronyms, jargon and terms that are constantly changing and are hard to stay on top of. “The agency people are busy,” he said.
The targeting industry that uses data to understand and target clients is not implementing its own competency on itself. “While the targeting industry has the best tools in the world to understand and target customers, they should implement this talent on growing this industry,”he said. “Furthermore, the industry has positioning itself for private equity and venture capital rather than focusing on customers”.

Mr. Tobaccowala says that the industry should form partnerships with broad offering so that agencies will not have to deal with managing many specialized vendors. “Search, which has $25 billion in revenue, has only three competitors. The behavioral, which is a $1 billion industry, nobody even knows how many competitors there are.”

The industry should think broader about people. They need to think about many aspects of data. “Clients pay money for outcomes, and process.” In process, he said, clients like continuous improvement, and the targeting industry does improve. Clients would like service, which the industry does about 50%. Currently, the industry throws around terms and different approaches. His solution is to form partnerships, since nobody will work with 20 vendors in a $1 billion industry.

As far as outcomes, Mr. Tobaccowala argues, the industry has more challenges. You pay for insights, and this industry is best able to provide insights. Another outcome that you pay for is inspiration, but currently the targeting industry mostly provides desperation and frustration.

The targeting industry needs to think about how to better relate with their audiences. “If you speak only about which data you merge you are not selling your product. I want to have a great shower; I don’t care about the condition of the plumbing.”

Currently, the industry is still in a share of industry battle rather than thinking about how to grow the industry, he said. Share battles are for declining industries; growing industries should have room for everyone.



Ariel Geifman, Research Analyst

How much would you pay to target one of your prospective customers? While this question resonates immediately with search marketers, it is still vague for display advertisers. Nowadays, with audience buying platforms, this question becomes more and more relevant than before. This was one of the questions discussed at OMMA Measurement this week in New York.

“There is a disconnect with traditional marketers, where the value of data comes from its scarcity rather than the quality of it,” says Adam Gerber, the Chief Marketing Officer of Quantcast. “Online, every target has cost per lead, cost per impression, so they need to think whether it has the ROI to pay for the data. Marketers need to see if the cost of the data makes business sense in the value that it brings. There is a difference between a one dollar chocolate bar and a car.”


“We can all buy data, and pay a price, but the question is about the value,” said Darren Herman, President of Varick Media Management. “You need to know what you pay and what you get in return.”
While there is the question of the quality of data, it’s more dependent on price. If the data generates conversions or leads in a cost that makes business sense, low cost low quality data may be valuable. “There is no bad data, just bad price,” concluded Greg Skipper, Director of Networks Strategy at Advertising.com.


According to Mr. Gerber, the thinking around value creation is what makes big businesses. In Search, advertisers price the click and see if it fits into the business model, while in display advertising it doesn’t work this way yet. The members of the panel agreed that it is necessary to take steps in this direction, where marketers look at advertising ROI.


Nevertheless, there is another dimension that comes after you have reached your target audience—engagement. “Engagement is like obscenity,” said Josh Chasin, Chief Research Officer at comScore. “It’s hard to define it, but I know it when I see it.” Engagement is the third dimension beyond reach and frequency. The main issue is that in offline advertising there is no engagement, so it is still in its infancy.

Mr. Gerber thinks that while marketers and advertisers are focused on using data for targeting—getting the best audience to target—they can also use data to create relevant ads. He also believes that engagement is created when the creative is relevant and data can be used to serve more relevant ads.


Ariel Geifman, Research Analyst attending OMMA Measurement

Updated February 2nd. Please note that this contest is CLOSED. The winner of the contest was announced here: http://bit.ly/nexuswinner. Thank you to all those who participated.

The Creative Zone by Eyeblaster aims to bring the hottest and trendiest to our followers. Usually, we showcase hot and trendy online campaigns. For the next 3 weeks, we’re also offering our loyal twitter followers the chance to win a just released ‘superphone’– the Nexus One.

So what do I Need to Do to Win?
(please do BOTH steps)

1. Go to: http://www.twitter.com/Creative_Zone and click on the Follow button under the CreativeZone icon.

2. Copy and tweet the following sentence in your twitter account:
Win a Nexus One SmartPhone from @Creative_Zone by Eyeblaster. Pls RT. Details here: http://bit.ly/8rCuWl .

Please copy the tweet accurately; otherwise we will not be able to track it.

If you are already a Creative_Zone follower, you only need to do Step #2.

Do I increase my chances if I Tweet more than once?
Nope. The tracking is done per follower and not per number of tweets, so you should only Tweet it once. (more…)

As the world watched in eager anticipation of change-afoot following the recent US Presidential election, I personally was waiting with baited breath for the results of the Eyeblaster Awards 2008. With all eyes being on the US, New York has not failed to deliver another card up its sleeve and has truly celebrated the very best in digital advertising – and it looks like this year there was more than a couple of show stoppers. As U Talk Marketing highlighted, “breakthrough creative from mythical zoo animals and colourful apparel to touch screen innovation,” this is change happening in real-time, and here is why.

North America Nominees

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International Nominees

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2008 is the year when cross-channel advertising finally came to be, moving beyond mere banner adverts online into how to work with consumers to deliver brand communication as they look for information across all media. So it is great to see OMD Los Angeles and AKQA London walking away with the first award for the most effective use of cross-channel campaign integration for their respective US and International markets.

OMD used an effective integration of search vs. display advertising to drive awareness and increase viewership for both Beverly Hills 90210 and America’s Next Top Model. Now I personally have got to review the data and have seen the resulting high conversion rates, and the effectiveness of combining both search and display together. When analyzed across a single report, I can tell you to see it in black and white it is incredible how consumers become aware of something from a variety of media sources, and then need to seek further qualification before finally converting. It is the most natural process for human behaviour as little display media in the real world expects a consumer to respond immediately, but expects they need time to digest and research – to finally have a means of evidence on a campaign by campaign level is incredibly powerful for media justification. To see the types of adverts or search terms that are being utilised throughout the conversion life-cycle… this kind of approach is going to revolutionise strategic planning for that advertising community moving forward.

As for AKQA London and their multi-faceted global attempt to raise the profile for Nike surrounding the European football championship, AKQA managed to deliver one of the largest video widget campaigns ever attempted. It ran across more than ten countries and managed to strike chords with a challenging audience though a range of humorous videos that they kept seeding out through the banners and allowed users to pick up the content and add it to their own social networks, homepages, blogs, etc. Anyone who has ever sat at one of my presentations will know just how passionate I am about this campaign that has managed to circumvent all the assumed rules of social network advertising and bring a brand and their audience together to create a hard-core group of brand advocates in their exceptionally personal environment. For a brand to have earned real-time access to a consumer’s personal space by invitation is truly ground-breaking. Again, it is this kind of approach that is revolutionising the interplay with brand communication by allowing the users to get involved where they are and choose how they want to proceed, and once more give us a timely reminder of the change in today’s consumer behaviour.

As for the evidence of the very best in Rich Media;

HP TouchSmart by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco won the North America People’s choice for a superb creative that managed to dazzle and entertain the average consumer for two whole minutes – no mean feat in today’s fast-paced world – and help convey the future of touch screen computing with stunning 3D navigation, slick video, and product info leading to where to purchase. When you think of two minutes dwell time, that’s four times the average duration of a TV spot, and at the user’s own discretion and choice. Digital effectiveness indeed!

Springfield by OnTwice Interactive, Spain won the International People’s Choice for a page and eye-turning creative piece that shows how to take a traditional clothing catalogue and enhancing it with animation and video. This market never ceases to deliver creative inspiration. Utterly simple in execution, but is just stimulating for a consumer to get involved with a brand where they are, in a way they are historically familiar for this sector and ultimately drive a deeper desire for purchase intent.

San Diego Zoo by M&C Saatchi, Los Angeles won the North America People’s Choice and well it should. This is a beautiful execution that reminds me of Dr. Doolittle’s ‘Push-me-pull-you’ where users can design their own animal, send to their friends encourage a viral nature, but in essence it is all about a zoo is a learning experience of discovering new animals, and re-addresses the notion of mere animals in captivity. Armed with the creating of names for your newly designed animal, it again is ensuring consumer attention moves way beyond the mere paid advertising and becomes a talking point amongst friends. Laced with interaction and armed with viral and word-of-mouth marketing, I simply love the balance of strategy and technology here.

Non-stop Fernando by Lean Mean Fighting Machine, UK took the International Judge’s Choice. No surprise these veteran’s of digital advertising yet again push the limits of what can be done in a publisher’s space on behalf of a brand and managed to deliver 14 hours 40 minutes of video into a banner for Emirates. These guys simply do not believe in technical specifications and is a testament of how to collaborate with an ad serving vendor to achieve the impossible. Touching on the personal intrigue we have in a big-brother way observing other people’s lives, you can’t help but keep jumping around the time frame to find out what Fernando is up to next. Advertising that can truly hold attention, we all have so much to learn.

When we add in the fact that one last year’s winners Adidas ‘Impossible is Nothing’ took a Cannes Gold Lion award earlier this year, am sure you will agree, 2008 has laid on an amazing show of inspiration for the industry from across the globe.

Eyeblaster celebrated the best in 2008 digital advertising campaigns, recognizing six agencies with top honors at the Eyeblaster Awards bash in New York City on November 5th. OMD LA and AKQA London walked away with the first award for the most effective use of cross channel campaign integration, alongside other recognized campaigns featuring breakthrough creative from mythical zoo animals and colorful apparel to touch screen innovation.  300+ people rocked the night away as Eyeblaster recognized work from 6 agencies.    

North America People’s Choice: HP TouchSmart by Goodby Silverstein & Partners 

International People’s Choice: Springfield by OnTwice Interactive (Spain) 

North America Judge’s Choice: San Diego Zoo by M&C Saatchi LA 

International Judge’s Choice: Non-stop Fernando by Lean Mean Fighting Machine (UK)                                  

North America Cross Channel Effectiveness Award: The CW Network, by OMD LA 

Using search vs. display, CW’s online campaign used cross channel integration to drive awareness and increase viewership for both Beverly Hills 90210 and America’s Next Top Model. Results from both search and display were analyzed together, showing that the cross channel impact for CW’s campaigns achieved the highest amount of conversions.
International Cross Channel Effectiveness Award: Nike Football, by AKQA (London)    

As part of a multi-faceted and global campaign, AKQA delivered one of the largest video widget campaigns ever attempted, which ran across more than ten countries to raise the profile of the Nike Football web site. Leveraging the European Soccer Championship, AKQA designed the Nike widget to showcase video of well known sporting and media celebrities to deliver Nike branded content directly from a video banner ad to social networks, homepages, blogs, etc.

“We’re thrilled to have HP TouchSmart’s campaign recognized,” said Mike Geiger, Chief Digital Officer at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. “It’s an example of technology, creativity and strategy coming together in a campaign to leverage a brand online and positively effect conversion in multiple channels.”

Here’s what AdRants had to say.

Congratulations to all!