Are brand advertisers dwelling on the wrong metric?
Most brand advertisers accept that the click-through rate is far from the perfect metric. But it's easy to understand and easy to measure, which offers some comfort. And that means that the low click-through rates (CTRs) associated with display ads aren't always so comforting.
Even though it's logical that there's more to display advertising efficacy than CTRs, the absence of widely-accepted alternative metrics is a problem.
10 really cool Flash websites
In its illustrious history, Flash has gone from super cool to overused to sophisticatedly stylish.
Here are 10 stunning websites that demonstrate how Flash is being used effectively today.
Coming to a television near you: Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash, the rich media technology that's pretty much ubiquitous on the internet, will soon have a second home: your television set.
Thanks to deals that will include the Flash software in the chips that go into televisions and set-top boxes, in the near future you may start coming across Flash while watching and using your TV.
Google introduces expandable AdSense ads
As the recession lingers on, Google has been forced to admit that it's not immune to the economy. That's a tough thing to do when your core business is still doing pretty well relatively speaking.
So what's Google to do? For starters, it's cutting back on projects that aren't producing. But what about its core business of online advertising? In what might possibly be seen as a way of combating the effects of recession, Google has introduced expandable ads on the AdSense content network.
Yahoo looks to differentiate with rich media in search ads
Is it differentiation or desperation? That's for you to decide but Yahoo definitely thinks the former when it comes to its introduction of rich media to search ads.
With its new Rich Ads in Search program, Yahoo is allowing advertisers to include images, video and even site search forms with their search ads.
The Web Week in Review
It was another crazy week for the global economy and there was plenty of news to follow. Here are the tech stories that caught my eye.
Q&A: Chris Hirst of Grey London
Chris Hirst is the managing director of Grey London, an advertising agency whose clients include Procter & Gamble, Toshiba and Channel 5.
We asked him about the extent to which so-called traditional advertisers are embracing digital.
Would a Cost-Per-Engagement model attract advertisers to spend more online?
Over the past few years, CPM has become the common currency for online advertising. But is the model still relevant?
Should we be buying online media based on engagement rather than just passive consumption?
In the current tough financial period, would advertisers be willing to commit more budgets online if customer engagement was guaranteed?
Doritos invites user-generated TV ad
Doritos, the tortilla corn crisp brand owned by PepsiCo, has launched a new online campaign to engage users with an interactive website, user generated content and strong links to social networking sites.
Historically, FMCG brands have been slow to embrace online marketing as they have struggled to deliver a compelling creative message and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Q&A: Nike's digital boss Chris Shimojima
Chris Shimojima was brought in to steer the online business of Nike in 2006 – a position in which he oversees the direct-to-consumer digital sales of Nike and its sister brands, such as Converse and Hurley.
He recently spoke at ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst event about how the company was generating business online through its Nike+ community and Nike iD, its system that allows shoppers to create customised trainers online and in store.
After his speech, we asked Chris a few questions about Nike’s e-commerce strategy, internal structure and future social media plans. And why its website is 100% Flash.
Holiday shopping forecast 2009: a lot like 2008, with more coupons
The NLA explains why it is going after the news aggregators
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
