Programmatic, native and other social media DOHs
by Stan Faryna
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Pharrel Williams, Happy
Below, Johnny Cash, Five Feet High and Rising
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Romanian Online Advertising Industry is FUBAR
Recently, the Romanian courts decided to suspend the activities of certain online holdings under Netbridge Investments SRL and New Century. According to reports, the online media and advertising giant owes one million Euros to unpaid web property clients.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. And it has nothing to do with the global economic downturn- even if journalists would like you to believe such a convenient lie. Ultimately, it’s about bad business, the failure to provide value and service, and a whole lot of hustle.
Through the Interactive Advertising Bureau Romania (IAB Romania), I have received several queries about how to evaluate the value of an online business in Romania. The answer is an interesting problematic. However, I shall endeavor to provide my honest opinion of the current situation. But I’m not quite sure how my colleagues in Bucharest will feel about my candor.
Below, something relevant from Bob Dylan to set the tone of my honest opinion.
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Keeping it honest
Millions are spent sending out messages, but almost nothing is spent on reviewing the results. It happens as often in traditional media as in new media – if not more so in the latter. It’s a problem in online advertising that allows kids to make great money, charlatans to succeed and confidence games to abound.
Below, a little Johnny Cash to set the tone of this blog post
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Although most online advertising agencies do hope this problem will continue for many more years to come, I do not believe this ongoing failure to be in the best interest of the industry. Credibility, not blind faith and enthusiasm, will drive what I believe to be the most exciting communication channel ever to key to communication and marketing strategy.
Advertisers are not completely to blame for the lack of campaign measurement. Of course, they don’t want to spend money that they don’t have to spend. On the other hand, it’s easier for young upstarts in online advertising to talk about millions of impressions or clicks. Impressions and clicks, however, don’t really describe the impact of a campaign.
More importantly, it’s almost impossible for young upstarts or advertising heavyweights to provide deep business analysis of the sales and marketshare performance as it is related to their online campaigns.
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In Bablion, we trust… no one.
Weening Romanian web publishers from the deep muck of intellectual property theft is not likely. Wild aspirations for online advertising revenues and future sell outs drive the need to draw and keep online traffic. Desperate for content, Romanian publishers depend heavily on the editorial content they lift from foreign websites and portals. Is it for lack of writers and thinkers in Bablion? Or, more likely, lack of business sense and too much World of Warcraft?
The future of advertising is here (see below), but it’s not as easy as 1-2-3 as some naive entrepreneurs would like to believe.
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Dear Colleagues:
I enjoyed seeing you again in London. Let’s do it again, soon. Hopefully, somewhere else.
IAB European Council
I write to you with great excitement as I reflect on what I experienced at the IAB European Council meeting in London.
I thank you for your kind and enthusiastic reception of the IAB Romania team. Ana-Maria Ilie, Iulia Prioteasa and myself return from London to face our challenges and tasks with new excitement, new ideas and new aspirations. We will move mountains.
And we shall do so with the confidence of renewed friendship, inspiration and support. Your commitment to us strengthens our resolve to do amazing things. Reflecting on this new friendship and the inspiration of upir national successes, it is important for me to acknowledge your experience, ideas and accomplishments over the last year.
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