Phrase of the week:  Roadblock

What does it mean? An advertising roadblock occurs when an advertiser purchases all of the available ad space on a specific web page. Roadblocks are typically purchased as one unit, and advertisers are guaranteed to have 100% share of voice on the page – meaning they are the sole advertiser on the page.

A roadblock is often used for branding campaigns and for increasing brand awareness.

Tags: Media, online
Posted in Digital Media | No Comments »

Maytag Commercial Laundry has been running search advertising through Google AdWords since the beginning of January. The campaign is divided into three main targets or categories: Coin Operations, On-Premise Laundry, and the Maytag Commercial Laundry brand.

So far, the Coin Operations target has proven the most successful in generating sales leads for Maytag Commercial Laundry distributors. After clicking on the Maytag search ad, users are directed to MCLaundry.com, where they are able to submit their contact details and download informational brochures. Maytag distributors can then obtain the contact information and reach out to the prospective coin-operation owners.

For the first six months of the campaign, these search ads generated 607 sales leads for Maytag’s local distributors. The campaign continues to perform well for the brand and has the potential to reach even more users.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
Posted in Advertising, Digital Media | No Comments »

Think of this week’s vocab lesson as an exercise plan for your advertising.

Phrase of the week:  Advertising Wear-Out

What does it mean? When an advertisement runs repeatedly for a certain period of time, the user response tends to decrease and will eventually plateau. Adding new creative to the mix, or switching out older banners for new ones, prevents advertising wear-out.

Tags: Media, online
Posted in Digital Media | No Comments »

This week’s phrase is more of a snack than a meal – just one quick phrase for you to digest.

Phrase of the week:  Call to Action

What does it mean? A call to action is messaging that urges the target to take immediate action, such as “click here” or “roll over to expand.”

A call to action is very beneficial in generating user clicks on a banner, and it’s extremely important for rich media ads where the ad actually offers a chance for interaction.

Tags: Media, online
Posted in Digital Media | No Comments »

Millions of viewers are tuning in to the Discovery Channel’s popular series

The time is finally here: it’s the 23rd annual “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel.

Shark Week is one of my favorite series, though I’m not sure exactly what draws me to it. It might be that I’m a SCUBA diver and enjoy seeing what lives in our oceans. (I once chased a shark on a dive, a beautiful shark, about 3.5-4 feet long. It was great until it disappeared, and I was left looking high, looking low and wondering where it might turn up next.) Or it might be that I watched JAWS when I was young and it left a major impression on me.

Nielsen will release stats for this week’s viewership next week, and I expect this year’s Shark Week will be another record-breaker for the Discovery Channel. Viewership is measured with household (HH) ratings and millions of viewers. A HH rating is a percentage of the target audience who is watching the show based on the total population.

According to a press release from the Discovery Channel this week, this year’s kickoff show, “Ultimate Air Jaws,” averaged 2.15 HH rating and was the second-highest Shark Week telecast of all time. That means 2.15% of all households with TVs were watching Shark Week on Sunday night.

Social media is helping to increase viewership, as well. One of my colleagues here at MB logged into Facebook on Sunday and noticed several friends’ status updates mentioning excitement about Shark Week.

If you’re among the millions of viewers watching Shark Week (you can catch up on missed episodes here) and now want to meet some personally, here are some tips that can save your life in the event of an attack:

1. Don’t panic. (So simple, right?)
2. Be aware of your surroundings.
3. Have a flotation device. If you don’t have a Buoyancy Compensator or life preserver, look for a makeshift flotation device. This could be an empty cooler, boat cushion, etc.
4. If you’re injured, bind your wounds. Shark love the scent of blood. You need to stop any bleeding you have.
5. Get a weapon. This can be a fishing rod or even some driftwood, etc. You will want to fight for your life until a rescue boat comes. Aim to hit any approaching shark on its nose or gills.

And remember, of the more than 100 types of sharks in the world, only 20 have been known to attack people. Happy swimming!

Tags: current events, Media
Posted in Media | 1 Comment »

BioStorage Technologies is running its first-ever advertising campaign in 2010, including both print and online ads.

A 336×280 banner ad on Outsourcing-Pharma.com – one of the top publications for this industry — is proving to be very successful for the company. The banner generated a 0.36% click-through rate in June, up from the 0.24% click-through rate generated by the same ad in May. The banner is featured on news-article pages within the site, and it maintains the top positioning for the 336×280 banners on the page.

The banner ran from April through June, then it will go live again in September and run through November. This is the only website featuring the 336×280 ad for BioStorage Technologies; all other online media runs through enewsletters. The success of this banner offers a great benchmark and learning opportunity for the 2011 online media plan.

Tags: Media, online
Posted in Digital Media | No Comments »

It’s a situation many of us have been in before: You have an important dinner coming up, and you need to provide the appetizer, a side or maybe the dessert. A perfectly selected, expertly prepared recipe that you’ll be remembered for for years to come.

No pressure.

The planning and work that goes into that prize-winning dish is, in many ways, similar to the job of media relations. Instead of an important dinner, though, it’s the release of big client news. Here are five ways the media relations desk parallels with the kitchen stove.

1. Shopping around – A cook pores over recipes, debating methods and comparing choices. Then you spend time at the optimal grocery store, circling the aisles and choosing the perfect ingredients for the dish.

A successful PR pro or media relations specialist knows their client’s industry inside and out, or is at least able to speak that way with the media. They spend time researching and gathering all of the necessary information or ingredients they need to be able to conjure up the perfect mix of information that intelligently positions their client’s news.

2. Preparation – My dad always said, “All it takes to be a good cook is preparation.” A cook cleans their kitchen, sets out everything they will need, and plans the preparation so everything comes together at the right moment.

In media relations, a significant part of the process is preparing the perfect media list that reaches the right media for the target audience. Then they’ll supply hyperlinks that direct the media to the right information and attachments that will ensure they have everything they need.

3. Timing – In the kitchen, one of the most invaluable tools a cook uses is a timer. No one wants to serve a burned dish.

At the desk, a media relations specialist must be aware of media trends, so they can jump on timely opportunities and meet deadlines — giving their clients the chance to be seen and heard.

4. Presentation – For a cook, it’s all about visual appeal. Nobody wants to eat something that doesn’t look great. What will make mouths water?

In media relations, you want to position your client’s information the right way. As Peter Shankman says, be a helper. You are not just helping your client – you’re also helping the media by providing relevant and interesting content. It’s all in the presentation and how you deliver that information.

5. Share and provide council – Your dish was a hit! When you’re asked about your recipe, you can respond — explaining why you substituted olive oil instead of butter to make the meal healthier or taste better, for example.

When a client inquires about why you chose to bypass an opportunity, as council, you must be able to explain the strategy behind that decision, keeping that client’s best interest (and reputation) in mind.

Both media relations and cooking require a certain amount of preparation and positioning to provide the most appetizing and successful result. So PR and media folks: remember, take time for the right setup, perfect ingredients, and a tempting presentation… and then, bon appétit!

Tags: Media, Public Relations
Posted in Public Relations | 1 Comment »

Let’s focus on video this week.

Phrases of the week: Video Pre-Roll and Video Post-Roll

What do they mean? Pre-roll refers to a short section of video shown before the main video. Video pre-roll times vary, but they’re commonly 15 to 30 seconds long.

Post-roll is similar to pre-roll, but the post-roll appears at the end of the main video rather than before it.

Here’s a 15-second Diet Coke pre-roll ad to give you an example of what you might see. Now as you watch videos on YouTube, Hulu, etc., you’ll know what these little video clips are called!

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
Posted in Advertising, Digital Media | No Comments »

Ready for some more information about rich media?

Phrases of the week: Rich Media Interaction Rate and Rich Media Expandable Banner

What do they mean? A rich media interaction rate is the proportion of users who interact with an ad. Interaction rate is calculated by dividing the total rich media impressions by the number of rich media interactions. (An interaction is an ad impression where the user has interacted with the ad. An interaction can be a user-initiated roll-over, panel activity, or click-through on a banner.)

Rich media expandable banners are creative units that have two main states: collapsed and expanded. The collapsed portion – which you’ll see first – expands with user interaction.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
Posted in Advertising, Digital Media, Media | No Comments »

Whirlpool launched an expandable rich media banner on GreenBuilderMag.com in June that will run for three months. This high-impact unit is a 920×60 that expands downward to a 920×400 and contains various hot spots that the user can hover over for more information about that specific product.

This kind of rich media banner comes with many reporting metrics, in addition to the standard media metrics such as number of impressions, number of clicks, and click-through rate.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
Posted in Digital Media, Media | No Comments »