Posts Tagged ‘alcancemg’

While reading the latest article in Advertising Age that highlights the negative aspects of a network relationship for publishers, I continue to wonder who these ad networks are.  YES, I have experience in various ad networks and YES I have ownership in one such network, so I am somewhat biased.  However, an introductory line such as: “In typical scenario, a $5 CPM can end up netting a publisher $1” is misleading.

In all fairness, as the article goes on, it refers to the ad dollar from the client level, citing expenses for the agency, data provider , ad exchange and ad network.  Of course, they also like to cite the well-known publishers such as CBS, ESPN, Time Inc.,  and Turner that have publicly announced that they have discontinued their network relationships.

For publishers such as CBS, they have the sales teams and resources to sit on inventory, enter into a contract with DoubleClick for DART for Publishers and have someone dedicated to running the system, whereas for most publishers there are limited resources at their disposal, and one key question is, where can you generate the necessary revenue while keeping expenses down?

Publishers should absolutely value their traffic and also choose their network partners wisely. As a standard practice, website publishers usually receive 50% of the revenue generated by their ad network partner.  While the article speaks to cutting the ad dollar from the point of origination, it should be noted that the actual ad network is only one step, and in general some parties (such as the agency) are probably going to be a part of any advertising deal, and are therefore unavoidable. All networks are not alike, and it is important for publishers to ask difficult questions and monitor their partners. However, if you are a publisher contemplating doing everything yourself, have a close look at the costs and effort required to sell 100% of your inventory.

In an article from dotGlobal founder Joe Kutchera and published in MediaPost, Kutchera examines the expansion of advertising networks focused on reaching the Hispanic market.

With 64% of U.S. Hispanics using the internet and foreign-born Latinos exceeding 52%, there continues to be new interest on the part of users as well as marketers in the expansion of media options.  Have a look at the full article from MediaPost; Alcance Media Group’s advertising network is examined along with others.  Joe Kutchera knows of what he speaks, since he consults companies on the convergence of online marketing and the U.S. Hispanic market, whether Spanish dominant, English-speaking, or bilingual.  Thus, we believe he provides a knowledgeable and objective perspective on the emerging market for Hispanic digital networks: what they offer, the advantages and drawbacks of working with one, and who the main players are.  Go ahead and take a look and tell us what you think.

Right before attending a meeting in Chicago on “How Social Media makes Financial Cents” I was forwarded an article about how online media may be affecting acculturation.  The full article is available in Media Post’s Engage Hispanic post by Joe Kutchera of dotGlobal.

He raises the interesting question of how social media may delay the acculturation of Hispanics in the U.S.  As someone who has lived abroad with limited knowledge of the language I definitely understand that there is a lot of effort required to learn a new language and culture.  However, while it may be easier to communicate and get along with a group from the same cultural background, it was important for me to make the extra effort to build  links with the country in which I lived.

Social Media has a great benefit of allowing people to keep in touch, however I also feel that  ultimately acculturation is at least partly if not mostly is in part a choice.  It is not easy, but with the effort one can manage to make the most of their community without losing their cultural identity.

Regardless of their size,  all agencies are looking at ways to improve their service offerings  and even expand their service offerings.  This is most evident in areas such as digital, mobile, as well as multicultural.  For larger companies, there is a tendency to think that it will be easy for them to transition, as they have resources that may not be available to smaller agencies; however, in many cases they have significant challenges in reorganizing a larger company structure.  For smaller agencies, the challenge of resources is of constant concern, and hiring and paying the experts necessary can be financially burdensome.

In the article from Advertising Age “A Small Agency’s Guide to Going Digital”, Mr. Gould does an exellent job of sharing his experience with an agency that transformed itself over a period of 10 years to a 100% digital agency.  There are many others who, either based on a client interest or of their own acceptance, decided that they needed to keep up with the emerging media world.

At Alcance Media Group, we are in contact with agencies of all sizes who face similar challenges.  In some cases they are agencies who are looking to improve their knowledge of digital solutions, and in others they are looking to add Hispanic marketing initiatives to their roster of services.  And of course there are many who have some mix of all of the above.

As a digital marketing company focusing on reaching the Hispanic market,  Alcance Media Group is continually working on improving not only our expertise, but also looking for ways to share that expertise with our agency and advertiser partners.   One key way that agencies have used us to help for projects is areas such as reaching the Hispanic market, when more of a one-off client request is the use of contractors and consultants.  With the right combination of in-house expertise and that of a consultant, agencies have been able to quickly ramp up their offerings.  In working with Hispanic agencies, we started to realize that many had a need to incorporate digital services, and we created the Agency Solutions.  In this solution, we have been working behind the scenes to give agencies customized solutions to expand their expertise in the multicultural marketing or digital advertising space.

If you have the budget and the business to support a full scale transition to digital, it is absolutely the best option.  However, in the real world the ability to add experts as needed, quickly, and without the long-term commitment of equipment, training, etc., is very useful for smaller agencies.  This not only gives immediate access to knowledge and trained staff, but when the time comes for an agency to build up its internal staff, the consultants are available to assist and pass on their knowledge.

This week’s Advertising Age offers just one of the many top ten (or more) lists that tend to come out from all media outlets near the end of every year or decade. This particular list is of obvious interest to us at Alcance Media Group as it is focused on specific advertising and marketing tools that are now of common use.

Here are the top ten, of which you can order however you wish.

- Broadband Penetration:  This is undeniable the impact that this has had on the digital marketing world.  At the end of 1999 less than 1% of U.S. households had broadband internet access compared to 75% by the end of Q2 2009.

- Search Marketing: What is now a $25 billion global market started in about 2000 (Google debuted in 1999) Google’s system of matching advertisers with searchers known as ad words.  This is a complex system in which many agencies utilize and many websites continue to try to understand how to best generate a return.

- Social Networks: Love em or hate em, the advent and proliferation of social networks has impacted the online community and helped bring the focus on viral marketing.  While the overall impact is still to be determined, the advent of MySpace, Facebook and others have increased the time that people spend on the internet and how they share information.

- DVR’s: According to Nielsen, 30% of American TV households are now DVR-equipped and while by no means has this killed traditional television advertising, it has forced TV networks as well as measurement companies such as Nielsen to take notice.

- Ad Networks & Exchanges: This is in fact our business and we can attest to its importance.  Many advertisers utilize a combination of multiple ad networks to extend their reach at a competitive price.  Along with adsense (search), networks have not only assisted advertisers, but also a simple way for website owners and webmasters to generate revenue from their website or blog. Feel free to contact Alcance Media Group with questions in this area.

- IPhone: A relatively new platform that led to the proliferation of smart phones with web access and advertising platforms, advertising has only scratched the surface of what will be possible.  From location based marketing, mobile coupons, barcodes and many other opportunities that are bringing both entrepreneurs and investors to the table.

- Twitter: Definitely a trendy application that has recently garnered much attention.  A micro-blogging service that has many followers and detractors alike, this is one that also generates much debate and time will only tell if it is something that will withstand the test of time.   However at the moment it is definitely not something to be ignored.

- GPS: Location data is not anything new, however now it is in the hands of the many through the Iphone and other like technologies.  Of the 30 million U.S. iPhone users, about 70 percent use GPS and the marketers are definitely paying attention.

- FLASH: A technology that developed in the 90′s a a tool for web-based animation, it has become the standard for allowing video and interactive ads to flourish.

- Open API’s: There is this little thing that has happened with the iPhone in that there happen to be new applications (apps) appearing daily.  There are over 10,000 of them and this happened once Apple opened up an API platmform allowing developers to create “apps” for the iphone.  API’s have been around for years allowing integration and communication between different platforms such as customer relationship management systems (CRM) etc. and will continue to grow.

With the advent of these and other new technologies, there are many more changes to come.  Some involving these technologies and reaching their full potential as well as the advent of new technologies yet unknown.

Creating and maintaining a website while continually becoming an easier process, still has many pitfalls. Have you purchased a domain with great intentions, but never even created the site? Maybe you created a blog or a site but have not been consistently updating the content. Let’s just assume for a moment that you have your site created and content delivery schedule set and now are considering ways to monetize you site (i.e. get paid).

When we created the company Alcance Media Group we needed to have a site up quickly. While the initial plan was something quick and temporary, we ended up maintaining the site until our second year. Along with finalizing the design we are working on the content for the site but as any website owner knows, time flies.

Additionally, the company is in the process of developing proprietary sites to add into their proprietary media network. The base sites focused on the cultural activities of key cities in the U.S. and internationally that have significant Hispanic populations. While there is limited content as we continue to test, content sectors, as well as multiple advertising platforms these sites are an excellent showcase and testing platform in the short term, but will continue to be a focus.

CIUDAD is the term for City in spanish and as anyone knows who has searched for a domain name, adjustments are sometimes necessary. CIU SF focusing on San Francisco events, CIU Havana focusing on Cuba, and CIU Santiago are the three pilot sites. Each one is also testing everything from rich media, to skins, to co-registration to make sure that each of our solutions are scalable for our network partners.

For those of you who are developing your sites, one key requirement is the use of IAB standard banner sizes if you have any intention of working with major agencies and advertisers. The top three sizes are 160×600, 300×250, and 728×90 are in many cases the only ones used by major agencies. Yes this means that that small space due to the design is not going to be easy to sell on its own.

As you decide on advertising rates and sales, it is important to note that sales is difficult. Regardless of how great your site is, how much traffic you have or how great it looks, it takes time. One solution that you should look into are of course paid search options (Google , Yahoo), and also ad networks. As you will read, ad networks have many detractors, however they are also used by most major publications as a way to supplement their ad sales.

I have worked in 3 different ad networks and to be honest they all varied in their benefits and costs, however as a site owner there is very little downside as long as you monitor the networks. Yes, a 50/50 revenue share is pretty standard, and the more you try to sell the more you realize that it is costly to drive in ad sales. Many networks demand exclusivity and this is something that in many cases is negotiable. I recommend testing a few ad networks for a few months to see not only who is generating the most revenue, but who is working with advertisers that are appropriate to your site. If you have a bi-lingual or spanish site a quick application at Alcance Media Group will have you up and running within days.