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Tuesday, April 03, 2007



Google Gets in the TV Game with New Online TV Ad Purchasing System

Google is making a lot of people very happy...and some people very sad. In a move that could begin a momentous swing for the way TV ad space is purchased, Google has announced a partnership with EchoStar Communications to launch a new system for purchasing ad space on TV channels on the EchoStar network.

In the new system, TV ad space will be auctioned on a CPM basis using an online interface much like the current AdWords system. Within 24 hours, the advertiser will know if he won the auction, where the ads ran, how many ads ran, how many households saw the ad, and EVEN IF THE HOUSEHOLD WATCHED THE ENTIRE AD OR ONLY PART OF IT. Using this information, advertisers can make adjustments to their campaign until they find the optimum combination of TV channels, times, and ad creative. In the world of TV advertising, that kind of quick feedback is unheard of. It combines the power of on-the-fly pay-per-click campaign tweaking with the massive reach of broadcast TV.

Google claims that there will also be a happy result for the consumer in the form of more relevant advertising, as advertisers adjust their campaigns based on the feedback they receive. To us, the argument from the consumer side is weak because consumers are already flooded with 10 thousand commercials a day - we don't think it matters to consumers if they view more relevant commercials. In addition, TV commercials are often filtered out or bypassed anyway. Which brings us to another point: is TV advertising dead anyway? Is Google beating a dead horse?

The answer is "no". Even if Google is entering an industry that is declining, TV advertising in some form or another will always exist. By giving advertisers a strong platform to place ads, and much better, quicker data about the performance of their ads, Google is bringing new fire to an industry that badly needed it. And eventually the world of TV will figure out a way to force-feed ads to consumers who zip through commercials...and Google will be there with its technology, making it easy and efficient to use whatever the next phase of TV advertising looks like.

In addition to the ad purchasing platform, Google will run a marketplace to hook up TV advertisers with TV commercial producers. Similar to Spot Runner (discussed yesterday), it gives any small business the ability to purchase an already-created commercial and personally brand it - drastically cutting ad production costs.

We are excited about the new TV ad platform because it moves the world of advertising closer to one universal system in which advertisers bid on ads to run on-line and off-line, with almost instant feedback to improve their ad campaigns. And you better know Work Media will be on the front-lines, helping advertisers figure this stuff out.

For help creating your own state-of-the-art marketing campaign, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

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posted by Jerry Work / Chris Work @ 6:11 AM   0 comments

Monday, April 02, 2007



Low Cost Ways to Integrate TV Advertising into Your Marketing Mix

We're diverging slightly today from our normal course. We're all about Internet marketing here at Work Media world headquarters. But we're not just Internet geeks...we're marketers. We have spent a lot of time studying all forms of marketing, and not just the on-line variety. With that in mind, we thought today we would talk about a couple of cheap ways to do TV advertising.

In general, we are opposed to mass market "image" advertising. You can spend a whole lot of money for very little results. It is also far less measurable than online advertising. However, if you are careful about how and where you buy your air time and use TV advertising in conjunction with Internet or direct marketing, it can be a powerful addition to your marketing mix.

The two low-cost ways to advertise on TV that we are going to talk about today are: 1. Making your own commercial and purchasing discounted air time; and 2. use the services of a one-stop TV ad aggregator.

To do things on your own, you will first need to find a way to create your own commercial. Given today's cheap cameras and video editing software, this is much more feasible that it once was. But you will probably get a better result if you seek the assistance of someone who knows what he is doing.

Assuming you are able to create the commercial, the next step is buying airtime. First you should decide in advance where you would like your commercial to run. You need to target prospects who are strong candidates for your product or service. If you run a financial-related business, for instance, your best bet may be something like MSNBC - a channel that focuses on financial news.

You should try to establish a relationship with a salesperson at the TV station. If you can find one who is young and still trying to build his client portfolio, then you have a better chance at getting some deals. Once you have a relationship established, make it known that you need discount airtime and are flexible with regards to when your ads run, as long as it is on the appropriate channels. You may be able to pick up discounted airtime near the end of the month. TV stations fill unsold airtime with commercials of existing advertisers - for free. They would rather sell it to you at a discount than give it away for free.

The other option is to use the services of a company like Spot Runner. Spot Runner lets you customize a pre-created commercial with your own logo and voice over, and then lets you pick specific airtimes on specific channels. The interesting thing is that they can help you target your ads down to the neighborhood. The company already has everything in place - all you have to do is fill in the details.

One strong budget-minded use of TV advertising is to direct the viewer to your web site. Your web site can explain way more about your business than you have time to explain in a 30 or 60 second commercial. However, don't just direct viewers to your front page. Create some kind of special offer, create a landing page devoted to it, and promote the URL to the landing page in your ads.

For help creating an aggressive, multi-pronged marketing plan, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

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posted by Jerry Work / Chris Work @ 1:50 PM   0 comments