The banner world is not at all immune to this trend either. A firm called AdReady offers prefab Flash and Gif banners you can customize and run -- at a fraction of the cost of developing from scratch. Banners are sorted into categories to make it easy to find the right one. Each is also rated on a performance, popularity, and newness.
Some are a little schlocky -- though I want to emphasize that I am NOT attacking AdReady with that statement. One of the funniest and truest of depressing refrains at creative agencies is that schlocky -- by which I mean abrupt, blindingly bright, and profoundly distracting -- usually out performs lovely tastefulness. It is a long term human truth, proven incorrect only by the Apple brand. And even then not consistently. How long term? If you were a greengrocer selling lemons in an Irish high street in 1811, you did better with loud and constant calls than a tasteful sign that blended into the environment. The corollary to this is that nothing ever beats a red button that blinks and says, seemingly redundantly, "click here". But I digress.
So these ads look hardworking.
And the AdReady people know this.
But don't for an instant think these lads and lasses only do ugly. They also have some genuinely pretty interactive units -- that let you, for example, change the color of an SUV or provide a lead right from the banner.
Something very yummy about AdReady is that every ad concept automatically comes in 7 different sizes you can customize. Making ads is free, it's the running where they make their dough. But even here rates are reasonable.
Designed for small to medium sized advertisers (at least primarily) the program offers convenient ways to buy and run media in quantities far below those $25K minimums some networks and sites charge.
A complete reporting system provides everything small and medium fry need to evaluate and optimize campaigns. And probably all the measures that ginormous brands usually look at. All the key measures are there for a DR advertiser.
AdReady is a great alkternative for advertisers in the DR bucket, and for small brands that need a quick and easy way to get a display ad program online.
It's a big idea that comes in convenient bite sized morsels, at bite sixed prices.
Spot Mixer's approach is a bit less prefab than Spot Runner's. The templates they offer seek more of your own assets -- or advertisers can choose stock footage instead. The system allows for a greater range of creativity, which is of course a double edged sword. It gives an advertiser the ability to really make an ad their own -- though they need to have the creative instinct to make "their own" pleasing and compelling.
But the thing is, many can with these tools. They are truly as easy as pie.
Once you make your ad, however, what you do with it on this platform is different than for Spot Runner and other full service offerings. Here the goal is online distribution through key video venues like YouTube and Google TV. At a pricepoint as low as $59 per month, this approach is a lot more affordable than a SpotRunner, though the potential distribution is probably lower than with TV centric solutions.
Before you pooh pooh the distribution mechanism, remember that you could also embed such vids into a web site, virtual white pages listing, or the like. That could DRAMATICALLY expand your distribution
One thing I don't know is what kind of distribution such videos manage. And I am sure regular TV distribution must be on their product plan. In the meantime, they offer an eminently easy to use and affordable approach to creating video content.
SpotRunner is offering a more tutored approach to this space that deserves recognition. By defining its ad making and planning solutions in the context of local advertisers, national advertisers, political campaigns, and agencies, they get to make their case on the features and benefits that impact their decisions the most.
The other key difference is that SpotRunner is about customizing readymade video ads – ads that are more than moves on your photos. The way it works is that you choose from hundreds of ads in dozens of categories, and then customize it with a few assets. The result is a more professional offering than possible from some of the other platforms.
News of their approach is getting great acclaim. Check out this CNBC profile of the company:
And as you can see, the offering is about more than creative. By inputting info about your business you can get a prefab media plan – a pretty good one based upon the plans I dug through.
In essence, then, Spot Runner is more of a modular ad agency than an automated ad builder. I went through the system and found video ad prices of $500 or so in lots of cases. Combine that with, say, $3500 in media and you have a nice ad program that can be locally targeted through an MSO buying group.
I am really impressed by that twist – the idea of a real innovation in the agency model. Now, some of us won’t like the new model, but you cannot argue that it is ingenious. And compelling to a host of advertisers in loads of categories.
At Balihoo, the focus appears to be localization of national creative -- where a dealer or franchisee can create localized creative and buy media across TV, radio, print, outdoor, and online from a central control panel.
In addition, the local organizations can also manage lead gen, DM, and email efforts from the same platform. Here's how they present their benefits on their website:
Built upon Balihoo’s AnyMedia™ Database containing a vast collection of media properties spanning all mediums, the Balihoo Marketer Edition provides franchisors and co-op marketers and their agencies multiple tools to take their local marketing efforts to the next level:
Centralized Creative Asset Management – Store logos, POP in-store material, photography, package designs, ad layouts, collateral material, audio, video or any other digital file. Balihoo Marketer Edition makes digital assets easy to access and download - ensuring brand consistency, reducing costs, and increasing productivity.
Full Creative Customization – Dealers can quickly and easily on-the-fly customize all stored creative assets for usage in their local market. Add custom photos, logos, copy, pricing, video/audio and other variables to corporate-approved creative to create market-ready materials on the fly.
Media and Marketing Planning – Plan local media and marketing activities within an eighteen month window with a simple, calendar-based utility giving single-view visibility into the complete plan. Planning can be done within the tool by the dealer or by an authorized third-party service provider.
Media and Marketing Buying – Full implementation, media buying and creative trafficking of all approved plans is handled seamlessly by your chosen authorized service provider.
Direct Marketing Engine –Complete direct marketing engine for planning and implementation of direct mail and email campaigns that leverage national pricing rates at the local level.
Mailing List Services – Upload or purchase mailing lists and manage all existing customer lists. Plan and implement targeted direct mail and email marketing campaigns targeting customers at unique stages in their buying cycles.
Reporting – Complete visibility into marketing activities at the local, regional or national level including total spend, media selection and results reporting.
Importantly, you don't need to be a local outlet of a national retailer to realize benefits from this option. This can work for localization of almost any brand where such regional versioning can be of benefit in getting leads and sales.
Here's an excerpt of a podcast about Balihoo from ScribeWire:
Interestingly, Balihoo makes an effort to present itself as a good solution for local agencies as well -- so this is definitely not a solution hell bent on taking us out of the equation.
I have to say that I think that these guys have a great take on the appropriate positioning of an offering like this: easy but with total creative control at HQ. I think we are going to see a lot of these guys and gals over the next months and years.
So this one isn't video. It's Outdoor. Yes, Outdoor. You remember Outdoor, the medium that people were predicting the death of not many years ago when ciggies stopped using it extensively. O'course, that was before digital outdoor started blowing people's minds with creative possibilities, and before illumobile began implementing its small but growing network of poster sized ads in heavy foot traffic areas in the Bay Area.
Now, naturally, the primary target for a poster system in retail districts is retail customers, but its pretty easy to see how this system could also grow awareness for events and other ad categories as well.
The boards are dynamic, so they will naturally attract additional attention.
Ad rates are rather low in terms of cash outlay. Check this out:
illumobile’s outdoor digital display network (called StoreFrontScreens™) reaches millions of pedestrians at natural inflection points in neighborhood commercial districts. We provide a cost-effective and targeted way for clients to advertise on a dynamic outdoor media platform.
Outdoor Digital Media for Everyone
At illumobile, we believe that everyone should have access to outdoor advertising. That’s why we’ve built the best outdoor digital network available. Whether you advertise on our large Metro Spot or our more economical Community Spot, our versatile platform will fit your needs. Each display within our StoreFrontScreens™ network reaches 200,000+ pedestrians every month. Advertising across ten displays yields reaches 2 million+ people per month and advertising across our entire network reaches over 5 million+ Bay Area residents every month. Call us to launch your ad campaign and influence your target audience today!
Broad Reach at Incredibly Low Rates
We deploy our displays in densely trafficked, urban areas, and situate them at eye-level, achieving optimal reach to pedestrian traffic. According to an Arbitron study, pedestrian media achieves a 79% reach, far more than print and TV media. At $200 per month for our largest format Metro Spot, you’ll reach thousands of people at a price point that is much more cost-effective than print or traditional outdoor billboards.
It'll be interesting to see how this solution works for advertisers -- what kind of impact it can drive. In the meantime, I expect that this format can attract some ad dollars that are falling loose from the newspaper sector.
Naturally, there are also opportunities to integrate Illumobile with mobile marketing efforts that may actually take off next year. An iPhone/Android app tied to a board? SOunds like an intriguing concept to me!
Another offering in the automated ad making space is Liquidus Media, an offering focused on helping users make and place video ads in broadcast, VOD, cable TV, and online. Liquidus offers both an ad making platform and an automated solution to PLACE ads in markets across the country instantly. Without contacting a sales rep.
Here’s some text from their web site:
The revolutionary Liquidus SpotSense video advertising platform allows advertisers to create and distribute high volumes of video classified ads quickly, easily and cost-effectively on digital cable Video on Demand, broadcast TV and the Internet. The result is engaging ads that put consumers in control – and a solution that allows advertisers to reach qualified buyers who are actively searching for products through their TV or computer.
Since pioneering this advertising niche in 2005, the Liquidus platform has been deployed by most of the major cable operators (MSOs) in the U.S. including Comcast, Charter, and Time Warner. Liquidus allows its customers to maintain an advertising presence on TV and the Internet 24/7, place localized ads or national ads on a mass scale, and modify ads quickly so the content is always fresh.
Our video advertising products are completely scalable and meet the marketing needs of many product categories including automotive, real estate, employment, travel & entertainment and more. From creation to production, we’ll guide your ad program every step of the way.
It’s actually pretty darned easy. You include text, graphics, and up to 12 pictures and use the dead simple SpotSense platform. The final result is a nice looking piece of creative that can offer a visual and factual showcase for a product or indeed a service.
I’m guessing most of us have seen Liquidus ads, on those Sunday morning real estate shows or on the hotel TV channel. They do their job and can be pretty engaging. “1984” they are not, but then “1984” is probably not the best way to sell a 3 bedroom split level.
But with Liquidus, it’s not all ads. They work with major MSOs to offer on demand services guides – for auto, dining, real estate, luxury living, and more. These channels enable users to browse video ads much as they might web pages, but with the advantage of the video format.
Check out this promo video to see the breadth and depth of their solutions:
The final offering they have is a program length solution that helps you turn a set of video ads into a full length program. It’s not the Tonight Show, of course -- rather a sort of vendomatic of similar ads – as for real estate, for example. See 45 homes in an hour, right on your boob toob.
The focus of this company appears to be more local and regional than outfits like Live Technology, but as Google has shown, there is enormous money in such media. At margins that often exceed those of national campaigns. They certainly offer production cost advantages.
I always thought that advertising would be relatively immune from automation, but I was wrong. And part of it is a reflection of how little value agencies add to small budget advertisers. One local car dealer ad is pretty similar to another. Ditto an ad for a regional grocery chain.
Etcetera.
Live Technology offers a powerful platform called Live Ad Maker that gives you the tools to quickly and easily make pretty good looking ads in just a few minutes.
It’s plain that their ambition is not just to meet local advertiser needs but rather to offer an opportunity for national advertiser to make more effective localized versions of messages rapidly and cost effectively. Here’s a blurb from their site:
LiveAdMaker is an end-to-end technology that builds entire marketing campaigns across all forms of media in a series of simple selections and then delivers the ads to market in record time. Everyday, leading brands such as Intel, Sprint, AARP, GM and Century 21 all rely on LiveAdMaker to create and deliver thousands of ads to market.
For the first time, advertising is being completely localized, with Madison Avenue standards, for newspaper, TV, radio, mailers, in-store, menus, and online-without the time, effort or cost that is traditionally associated with high quality effective marketing. LiveAdMaker gives absolute control and complete insight into marketing and advertising campaigns, giving brands and local businesses the ability to react to market influences quickly and create relevant and focused advertising where and when they know it will be most effective.
The site claims that an entire ad campaign can be executed in less than 10 minutes. While that sounds a scosh ambitious, I have little doubt that you can make some pretty decent ads with this platform at speeds that plainly no one could anticipate just a few years ago. ANd you can do it across a vast array of media:
LiveAdmaker has attracted a number of truly blue chip advertisers to its LiveAdMaker platform. These include:
The benefits aren’t solely in the form of time and money, according to the site:
For the central brand, LiveAdMaker provides:
Greater Control - increased Brand and message control. Measurement, Insights & Optimization - insight into activity to identify best and worst practices. Speed to Market - deliver ads for any form of media in record time to respond quickly to local marketing conditions. High Standards - the quality of local marketing materials dramatically improves. Saves time and money - reducing the production of entire campaigns from man-days to minutes (with parallel cost reductions).
At the local level, LiveAdMaker provides:
Relevant Marketing - offers and messages with local customization to drive increased sales. Higher Quality - Madison Avenue marketing materials improve the impact of ads. Reduced Costs - 40-80% cost savings on local marketing. Reduced Time - lead times are reduced from days to minutes. Reduced Effort - interaction required to create an ad is significantly reduced.
Our world is changing, people. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. But somehow we need to move from charging money for activity to charging for ideas.
Our business is automating, like every other business. A host of companies have developed platforms and applications that make it easy to produce (at least)decent looking ads in very little time and at even less commitment in terms of dollars.
So who are these companies, and how do they differ? And what are the implications of this movement on the future of our industry? That's what this series of posts is about.
But I don't want this to be a broadcast. Tell me what you think about these solutions, or the larger category, by making comments on these posts. And if you work for one of these companies, tell me what YOU see as the implications. This is a fascinating phenom. Fascinating. Let's get some dialogue going about it here.
Traffic has been dreadful this week, and next week will be worse, so I am going on hiatus until the new year. But when we return, you can expect an explosion of old-style (pun intended) goodness from day one.
Thank you all for visiting throughout the year, and I hope Santa brings you all the joy you can possibly stand.
Many thanks to iMediaConnection for running this piece earlier this week.
Santa LLP P.O. Box 1 Barrow, Alaska 99723
From the Desk of : Kris Kringle, CEO and Founder
Dear Advertising Professionals,
As 2008 draws to a close, I have decided to break my silence and communicate with you – the people that use my brand, likeness, and trademarks without permission every year.
You people chap my kiester with your incessant trademark infringement on the Kringle brand.
Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Don’t think I don’t notice, for example, that for 40+ years a certain electric razor company has been showing a faux Claus riding a razor like a sled through a winter wonderland. Noelco from Norelco? My lawyers are preparing the injunction request even as I type.
Plus, don’t think I haven’t seen that a certain office supply retailer created an application where people could make themselves elves – completely flouting the certification process and apprenticeship system.
And do not even get me started on this travesty of the “season of giving.”
Mrs. Claus has been furtively playing that clip all year long. Thanks ever so for THAT, P&G. How is a 500 year old man supposed to compete with them?
Frankly, it’s enough to take the Ho Ho Ho right out of me.
I SHOULD give you all lumps of coal for Christmas for exploiting my trademarks, but I am a forgiving sort of fella. And since you all seem so darned obsessed by me, I’ve decided instead to get a few things off my chest. Which, BTW, is toning up rather nicely since I took up the Pilates.
Anyway, here’s some sage advice from the guy who makes the cash registers ring so much in Q4. Listen and learn, people. Here’s my advice on how to make 2009 a better year than 2008.
For Client CFOs:
As someone who has moved countless sleigh loads of toys over the past 500 or so years, I know a thing or two about what moves off the shelves And what don’t.
Here’s rule number 1.
The rug rats and their parents like brands. And advertising is essential to making products into brands. That little 7 year old in Keokuk Iowa ain’t screaming for a Carby Dream House, or a Darby Dream House, she wants Barbie’s crib. And she wants it because of the hot website and online video ads and interactive game and virtual world your marketing folks need all that money for.
Release the dollars, Scrooge.
Even if the economy is down, you need to invest in advertising your brands. Just like Barbie won’t date some knockoff named Ben, those kids won’t want your company’s stuff if it doesn’t seem magical to them.
For Brand Managers
As the leader of a large multinational manufacturing concern, I know what it is like to deal with customers that don’t pay their bills on time. Every year it’s a nail biter to make sure that the cash comes in fast enough to pay MY suppliers.
You have NO idea what happens to people who don’t pay the red wagon cartel on time. Ask one of them for an extra week to pay and you’ll end up with tiny tread marks over 90% of your body.
Little known fact we try to keep hidden from kids: there used to be 10 tiny reindeer. Sprinter (may she rest in peace) was Comet and Vixen's foal, a lovely lass, all spirit and energy. Until we went 31 days late on paying an invoice.
Those RedWagCor people took little Sprinter for a one way ride on the li’l red wagon to H-E-double hockey sticks. A few days later, we found her lifeless body hooves-up in a bin of Webkinz.
Suffice it to say that we at Santa LLC know from drop dead dates.
It’s the same with your agencies. Like Santa LLC, agencies are dollar-in dollar-out sorts of concerns, and when you guys take 75, or 100, or 137 days and counting to pay your bills, it really compromises our ability to deliver the goods on time.
And I am tired of you clowns playing poor – companies with billions in sales can come up with a few hundred thousand to get current on the media bills.
I am a toymaker, not a banker. Similarly, your agencies trade in ideas, not mortgage backed derivatives.
Heck, if I am one day late on my delivery date, billions of parents call the 800 number and demand my head on an EZ-Bake brownie pan. But ask those same Moms and Dads for cash up-front and they look at you like you’re a choking hazard.
So Brand People, ensure your company pays on time. If you can’t afford to, then don’t order the work or the space.
For Media Planners
Sometimes you guys really remind me of Blitzen, given your obsession with shiny objects.
Get that reindeer in the air, and instead of sticking to the carefully planned delivery route, he tries flying at the first bright light he sees. Every year the rest of the team is pulling hard to get the sled to our first stop (Inuvik, Alaska if you’re curious) but ole Blitzen is yanking Santa’ hoopty toward the blinking lights of Broadway.
You guys sometimes behave in the same way. Somebody creates a new digital platform and you’re all “OMG OMG, this platform is BBFF (brand’s best friend forever.)” And you spend 80% of your time on it instead of doing the blocking and tackling that gets the whole job done.
Hey, I try to reason with Blitzen. I like bright lights as much as the next saint, but you gotta get the basic job done first, buddy. Then you can go see In The Heights on Broadway 25 times for all I care. It’s the same for you. Walk away from the light, if you know what’s good for you.
For Media Buyers
I didn’t know what to say to buyers until I got a letter from a buyer in Dallas. See, she thought she was sticking her wish list into the envelope, but she put in an RFP by mistake.
I learned a lot about you people from that RFP. And the most important lesson of all?
Holy Tannenbaum you people are cheap! Pretty soon you folks are going to want the networks and pubs to pay you to run the ads.
What part of “you get what you pay for” don’t you understand? I mean, really. Let me give you a toy analogy. Way back when parents understood quality, we used to make trucks out of steel. Good long-lasting American steel. Kids could jump up and down on them. Throw them in the air in pretend explosions. Leave them out for months in the rain. And they’d be none the worse for wear. Oh wait, lemme say that in your lingo. They “maintained their play value.”
But parents nowadays want 27 trucks for about 6 bucks. So I have to tell the munchkins in product design that they need to do what it takes to get the price down. And as a result, the toys are about as durable as plastic grocery bags.
So when you demand CPMs under a buck, or insist on 20% bonus inventory, how do you think pubs are responding? Here, let me give you the answer. You’ll get your 11 cent CPMs -- of 468s running at the bottom of the page below the link to the privacy policy.
To the cheap goes the crap.
For Publications
Mrs. Kringle is a fine Mother. And one of the key ideas she tries to inculcate into our kids is the idea that if you…how shall I put this…put all your cookies out there for anyone to enjoy, then folks don’t value you like they should. Be selective in what you offer -- how often you put out the cookie plate and what you offer up -- and people will want your Snickerdoodles even more.
It’s the same with display ads. When you add inventory faster than your team can sell it, you’ll end up devaluing your brand because people can get it for less than it’s worth. You’ll have to sell some of those cookies to networks. And over time brands will wonder why they pay you $35 for something they can get for $8 down the street.
Oh, and keep thinking of ways to add value. If you are charging 8x or 10x or even 20x what a network charges, you need to be providing something special to justify the cost.
For Ad Networks
Every year on the 26th, I call an all-hands meeting up here at Santa HQ. And I tell everyone on the team to write down on a piece of paper why s/he is essential to the Santa team.
I have found the exercise helpful in reminding everyone from the Finance team to the Bratz dress makers that we all need to excel for the company to survive and grow -- for Santa LLC to stay ahead of the teams at the other holidays.
So here’s my advice to you. Find a comfy chair, get yourself a fresh baked gingerbread man and a virgin egg nog, and take a few minutes to write down why your network is essential to the industry. Why do marketers need you? What unique value do you add? What makes you special?
Your buyers – they may do business with you today, but what reasons are you giving to them to continue to work with you? And are those reasons communicated clearly to them? There are 300+ networks out there – you need to ensure you stand out in a good way.
People know what they are getting from me. We’ve worked for centuries to make the Kringle brand one of a kind. It’s time you worked on YOUR distinctiveness.
For Everyone
As you can probably tell from these bits of advice, I believe in tough love. But “jolly” is also part of my brand character.
Therefore, while I wish you all would stick more closely to Santa LLC brand guidelines when you represent me, I do understand that all your holiday messages and references keep me ahead of the pack as far as holiday branded character Q Scores go.
I thank you for that.
And hey, it’s the holiday season. There’s a lot to celebrate as we reflect on the year gone by and set our goals for 2009.
Next year can be even better. Just make sure you don’t stop believing in yourselves and your industry.
