Whatever Martha!

I've never been a fan of Martha Stewart. She's pretty much the Anti-Sarah Zielie. I see my role as a woman/wife to have fun with my husband and take pride in my kick-ass online advertising career! I have never once made any cute meals or decorated a basket.

It turns out we really don't see eye to eye about digital marketing, either. First of all, she called frequent tweeters (a group I definitely fall into) as a "bit misguided." I not only take this personally but wonder how can she talk smack about a proven medium in terms of explosive growth and unique applications!

Also, MSLO (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) is going to test charging for content. While I can't really talk smack about her or Rupert Murdoch as businesspeople overall, I'm not sure they have the best ideas about internet marketing. While this global survey poses that people WILL pay for online content, I'm just going with the idea that by way of music, etc, more and more people will avoid paying for content online.

I may be somewhat biased as a long-time Nine Inch Nails fan, but I agree with iMediaConnection that Trent Reznor knows his online marketing stuff.

Online Media Mix - Search PLUS Display!

I've witnessed it first hand. Sponsored search getting all the glory from our clients. All the love, all for getting that last click. Now, don't get me wrong, a well-managed sponsored search campaign is a must for most advertising campaigns. But, it should be part of a strategic media mix.

Now I could go a million different ways to talk about how traditional media influences search, how traditional media influences mobile (one of my growing favorites), how social media is influencing search (another favorite), and on and on. Those of you who know me know I'm never short of opinions or things to talk about.

Recently, a study was covered off in all of the best trades that yet reiterated what most of us in the digital media biz have seen first hand, read about, or at least suspected. Online display media has shown to DRIVE searches! Online display media sometimes gets a bad rap because because of bad units (pop-unders AHEM), bad creative (bellyfat ADS you know who you are) and some shady targeting attempts (Nebu-Ad).

Those of us that plan good campaigns with great creative know that even though these negatives exist, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Don't take it just from me, folks! Experts all over the industry recommend search AND display for optimum results.

Later this week I'll go into more depth on HOW to achieve these great results!

The state of online video. Today.

My past posts reveal some of my interest in the rapid change of media consumption, particularly as it pertains to the internet and television. These are my personal favorite mediums, and they are tying together more and more. In October of 2008, I did a bunch of research on pre-and mid-roll commercial offerings online within premium content. They inquired again in March, and I had to start from square one, as the landscape had completely changed!

Today I saw yet another hilarious television commercial promoting Hulu, which in it's short existence, has changed the game of premium online video. With the recent news of ABC finally joining NBC and Fox to buying a stake in Hulu, it really has a corner on much of the premium video available from major TV networks. The only missing piece is CBS, which is focusing on it's goal to transform TV.com as a TV Portal, sort of a Hulu competitor. As this article poses, their independence is good for media buyers as it keeps the space competitive.

All of this crazy growth in online video viewing will inevitably lead to people wanting to get the same great, on-demand video on their TVs. Things like Boxee, web-enabled gaming consoles, and set top boxes are paving the way. This article estimates that by 2013, web tv will be in 24 million US homes. This study shows that people will be willing to pay $100 extra for TVs that are easily hooked up to the internet.



In another post I'll attempt to look at the options from a planning and buying perspective. In another post I may tackle the issue of newspapers vs. the internet. But for tonite, after watching Grey's Anatomy on ABC.com, I'm a tad emotionally exhausted.

More to come!