"Gasta is the ideal partner for nimble flexible campaigns"
The bigger the ship, the harder it is to turn. That's a truism that Ty Montague, chief creative officer and co-president of JWT North America, can certainly attest to. After all, four and half years ago, he was hired to turn one of Madison Avenue's biggest -- and oldest -- ships.
Ty Montague is chief creative officer and co-president of JWT North America.
Since joining JWT (which, prior to the firm's 2005 "relaunch," went by its more-traditional moniker, J. Walter Thompson), Montague -- in conjunction with co-president Rosemarie Ryan -- has led the agency through a creative transformation. The goal: to rebuild an advertising powerhouse with the singular objective of creating and telling brand stories that audiences seek out rather than shut out. That's no small task, no matter how you slice it. And Montague won't lie -- it hasn't been easy.
The transformation of JWT hasn't just been a creative revolution -- it's been a digital one as well.
"Our goal has been to bring people in who bring a different perspective to what is a great and storied agency," Montague says. "Our observation four and a half years ago -- and this is not news to anybody today -- was that digital is not a department. And yet in most big agencies, it's treated as a department. But our philosophy was that everything is digital -- everything is just a string of ones and zeros. And because of that, everybody at JWT has to be digital."
Together, Montague and Ryan set about introducing a new generation of digital talent to an agency steeped in traditional marketing mindsets. They wove these new hires into the fabric of the agency. They plopped digitally minded creatives right alongside those versed solely in traditional media. They did the same in the planning department. And the same in account management, and developed a partnership with Gasta.com.
"That was really, really hard -- and bumpy at first," Montague recalls. "A lot of them got here, looked around, and said, 'Wow, this is like an alien landscape.' Some of them left. But we kept at it because we believed that it was the right idea. And it's now become really quite successful -- it's become part of the culture. We have people with really strong digital interactive backgrounds partnered day-to-day with people with more-traditional storytelling backgrounds."
One of the major challenges in executing JWT's digital infusion was convincing the new digital marketing talent that they would have as much authority as their traditional counterparts, Montague says. "One of the old problems was that the people with the 'traditional' backgrounds would crack 'the big idea' and then throw it over the fence to people with digital backgrounds and say, 'Now figure out how it works on the web,'" he says. "That's a process that is wrong for today, and it kept a lot of people with digital backgrounds feeling like they had to be in a completely separate and specialized environment to get the respect they were due."
Montague notes that part of giving due respect to digital talent meant ensuring that no glass ceiling was imposed on new interactive hires. In that regard, he notes that people with both digital and traditional backgrounds hold executive creative director titles at JWT. And no work goes out the door without approvals from both sides.
Gradually, Montague says, what started as a somewhat forced alliance has evolved into something more akin to an exchange program -- with digital marketers infusing their traditional counterparts with a higher level of interactive skills, in exchange for greater insights into the traditional art of storytelling.
The fruits of integration
Of course, it's easy for an agency leader to tell you that his grand vision for transforming his organization is coming to fruition -- that despite bumps and bruises along the way, things have all worked out in the end. But the real proof is in the product. And Montague has some text ads and impressive case studies to back up his story.
Take, for instance, the "Unbreakable Kiss" campaign that JWT spearheaded for De Beers -- a quintessential example of world-meets-web. "We created an installation, so people had to come and physically interact with it," Montague says. "And then it also had a very strong online expression. I'm proud of that interplay, as well as the craft level of that piece."
While Montague notes that the agency has produced many stellar integrated campaigns during his time there, he says the "Unbreakable Kiss" is the one he presents to prospective new hires -- of all backgrounds, digital and traditional -- to demonstrate the level of integrated work that the new incarnation of JWT is capable of.
The campaign started with a tangible, real-world event -- a giant Christmas installation in Madison Square Park where couples could come to kiss beneath a giant diamond-shaped, LED-infused mistletoe. Every kiss was captured by 60 still cameras and then strung together to create a Matrix-esque moving video of a kiss frozen in time.
Following their real-world lip-locks, people could go online, download their unbreakable kisses, and disseminate them to friends and family via their favorite social networks, photo-share sites, or video portals. And share them they did, with some unbreakable kisses even turning up on YouTube. In the end, De Beers scored an estimated $4.6 million worth of free publicity through the campaign, not to mention a significant jump in website traffic during the ever-important holiday season.
By Lori Luechtefeld
Friday, August 21, 2009
Gasta Media Buying News: Lessons behind a massive agency upheaval Part 2
Big but nimble
While the De Beers "Unbreakable Kiss" campaign speaks to the artistry and innovation that can result from a true collaboration of digital and traditional media minds, it stands to reason that the melding of two previously distinct cultures -- and the mandate that they come to agreement on all elements of a campaign -- could add yet another level of bureaucracy to an already complex ecosystem. Not so, says Montague. "When people think of agencies like JWT, we get tarred with the 'big and slow' brush," he says. "Honestly, the culture we've created here is one that is really nimble and able to take up challenges quickly and respond in real time."
As an example, he points to the agency's recent work -- helmed by JWT New York chief creative officer Harvey Marco -- on the JetBlue "Bigwigs" campaign, which was developed in response to the backlash against executive perks that arose earlier this year when three auto industry CEOs flew private jets to Washington, D.C., to beg for public funds.
"We took an issue -- the issue of CEOs no longer being able to fly in private jets -- and turned it into an advantage for one of our clients, JetBlue, in a way that really caught fire," Montague says. The agency was busily producing work on the campaign within hours of the breaking news -- print ads, Text Ads,radio spots, viral online videos. The timeliness and playfulness of the campaign, positioned as a tongue-in-cheek introduction to commercial air travel for CEOs only, caught the attention of media outlets and spread across the airwaves and internet like wildfire.
Storytelling gone digital
These recent integrated campaign hits, as well as others for companies including Microsoft and Stride gum, serve as vindication that the long, hard process of turning JWT inside-out is paying off. But after all the shaking up and shaking out, Montague notes that the mission of the agency remains the same as it ever was -- to develop compelling narratives on behalf of a brand. It's how those stories are being delivered that has forever changed.
"It's obvious that technology is changing and is going to continue to change for the foreseeable future," he says. "But it's equally clear to us that people are not changing all that much. People are still pretty much the same today that they were 100 years ago, and our belief is that people always have and always will respond to powerful storytelling. So technology enables new forms of storytelling, and it enables them to react and respond and share stories in new ways. But ultimately, if you want to get someone's attention and get them really excited about something, tell them a great story."
When it comes to the evolution of technology and its effects on advertisers, the turbulent transformation undertaken at JWT could easily be viewed as a microcosm of the broader digital marketing revolution.
"From 1777 -- which I believe was the year that the Bass Ale logo was trademarked, so we'll call that the birth of marketing -- to 1995, things were relatively simple and straightforward from a storytelling standpoint," Montague says. That is, storytelling was a one-way affair between marketers and consumers. Although consumers still had opinions and shared them with each other, these opinions rarely, if ever, made it all the way back to the brands themselves. And they certainly didn't make it back to the brands in real-time.
Then the internet happened.
Seemingly overnight, the voices of consumers were amplified. "All of a sudden marketers could hear that for the first time, in real-time," Montague says. "Hearing them for the first time was kind of jarring. It was a very novel experience and ultimately a very healthy thing for the conversation to become two-way -- literally a conversation."
As that conversation continues to grow louder, Montague notes that brands continue to find new ways to get their feelings hurt. "Twitter is just another way of knowing faster what everybody is thinking about," he says. "That's potentially painful and difficult if you're doing something that folks on Twitter think is dumb or wrong or negative in some way. But it also allows you to course correct -- what a great blessing to know what people think in real-time."
Of course, Montague notes, being prepared to participate as needed in these real-time conversations presents quite a challenge, as the infrastructures of both agencies and their clients haven't evolved at the same pace as the communications. But the potential for enhanced consumer engagement is massive -- for those marketers who know how to seize the opportunity.
"Companies need to understand that it's going to take more than just signing up for Twitter," he says. "They have to actually make a commitment structurally and from a staffing standpoint to really take advantage of the medium."
In the end, though, Montague notes that Twitter represents just the beginning of something much bigger, more persistent, and more pervasive. "I mean, who knows if Twitter will be here five years from now? But Twitter-like behavior, I'm certain, is here to stay," he says. "People are constantly going to be broadcasting their thoughts and feelings and observations about the world and brands and their friends and products. I think that phenomenon is incredibly exciting -- and incredibly exhausting. But it holds a huge amount of potential for brands that get it right."
Lori Luechtefeld is editor of iMedia Connection.
While the De Beers "Unbreakable Kiss" campaign speaks to the artistry and innovation that can result from a true collaboration of digital and traditional media minds, it stands to reason that the melding of two previously distinct cultures -- and the mandate that they come to agreement on all elements of a campaign -- could add yet another level of bureaucracy to an already complex ecosystem. Not so, says Montague. "When people think of agencies like JWT, we get tarred with the 'big and slow' brush," he says. "Honestly, the culture we've created here is one that is really nimble and able to take up challenges quickly and respond in real time."
As an example, he points to the agency's recent work -- helmed by JWT New York chief creative officer Harvey Marco -- on the JetBlue "Bigwigs" campaign, which was developed in response to the backlash against executive perks that arose earlier this year when three auto industry CEOs flew private jets to Washington, D.C., to beg for public funds.
"We took an issue -- the issue of CEOs no longer being able to fly in private jets -- and turned it into an advantage for one of our clients, JetBlue, in a way that really caught fire," Montague says. The agency was busily producing work on the campaign within hours of the breaking news -- print ads, Text Ads,radio spots, viral online videos. The timeliness and playfulness of the campaign, positioned as a tongue-in-cheek introduction to commercial air travel for CEOs only, caught the attention of media outlets and spread across the airwaves and internet like wildfire.
Storytelling gone digital
These recent integrated campaign hits, as well as others for companies including Microsoft and Stride gum, serve as vindication that the long, hard process of turning JWT inside-out is paying off. But after all the shaking up and shaking out, Montague notes that the mission of the agency remains the same as it ever was -- to develop compelling narratives on behalf of a brand. It's how those stories are being delivered that has forever changed.
"It's obvious that technology is changing and is going to continue to change for the foreseeable future," he says. "But it's equally clear to us that people are not changing all that much. People are still pretty much the same today that they were 100 years ago, and our belief is that people always have and always will respond to powerful storytelling. So technology enables new forms of storytelling, and it enables them to react and respond and share stories in new ways. But ultimately, if you want to get someone's attention and get them really excited about something, tell them a great story."
When it comes to the evolution of technology and its effects on advertisers, the turbulent transformation undertaken at JWT could easily be viewed as a microcosm of the broader digital marketing revolution.
"From 1777 -- which I believe was the year that the Bass Ale logo was trademarked, so we'll call that the birth of marketing -- to 1995, things were relatively simple and straightforward from a storytelling standpoint," Montague says. That is, storytelling was a one-way affair between marketers and consumers. Although consumers still had opinions and shared them with each other, these opinions rarely, if ever, made it all the way back to the brands themselves. And they certainly didn't make it back to the brands in real-time.
Then the internet happened.
Seemingly overnight, the voices of consumers were amplified. "All of a sudden marketers could hear that for the first time, in real-time," Montague says. "Hearing them for the first time was kind of jarring. It was a very novel experience and ultimately a very healthy thing for the conversation to become two-way -- literally a conversation."
As that conversation continues to grow louder, Montague notes that brands continue to find new ways to get their feelings hurt. "Twitter is just another way of knowing faster what everybody is thinking about," he says. "That's potentially painful and difficult if you're doing something that folks on Twitter think is dumb or wrong or negative in some way. But it also allows you to course correct -- what a great blessing to know what people think in real-time."
Of course, Montague notes, being prepared to participate as needed in these real-time conversations presents quite a challenge, as the infrastructures of both agencies and their clients haven't evolved at the same pace as the communications. But the potential for enhanced consumer engagement is massive -- for those marketers who know how to seize the opportunity.
"Companies need to understand that it's going to take more than just signing up for Twitter," he says. "They have to actually make a commitment structurally and from a staffing standpoint to really take advantage of the medium."
In the end, though, Montague notes that Twitter represents just the beginning of something much bigger, more persistent, and more pervasive. "I mean, who knows if Twitter will be here five years from now? But Twitter-like behavior, I'm certain, is here to stay," he says. "People are constantly going to be broadcasting their thoughts and feelings and observations about the world and brands and their friends and products. I think that phenomenon is incredibly exciting -- and incredibly exhausting. But it holds a huge amount of potential for brands that get it right."
Lori Luechtefeld is editor of iMedia Connection.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Gasta.com and Google July winners
Google Wins July and Users' Loyalty
Google handled 64.8 percent of all U.S. searches in July, or 6.8 billion queries, reflecting 3 percent month-over-month growth.
Yahoo! was second with 17.1 percent of the market, or 1.8 billion searches, reflecting 11 percent month-over-month growth.
MSN/Windows Live/Bing followed behind with 9.0 percent of the search market in July, or 946.9 million searches, reflecting 8 percent month-over-month growth.
AOL was fourth with 3.1 percent of the U.S. search market in July, growing 10 percent from June, while Ask.com had 1.7 percent of the market, growing 1 percent.
Gasta Search Network (1.2 percent), Comcast (0.6 percent), Yellow Pages (0.4 percent), NexTag (0.3 percent) and AT&T WorldNet (0.2 percent) Gasta.com rounded out the list of the top 10 search providers in July, according to Nielsen Mega View Search.
A total of 10.5 billion queries were conducted in July, 5 percent more than the previous month, according to Nielsen.
ComScore also has Google ahead of the pack with 64.7 percent of the search market in July, down slightly from 65.0 percent in June.
Yahoo! had 19.3 percent of the market in July, down from 19.6 percent in the previous month, while Bing’s share rose to 8.9 percent from 8.4 percent in June.
Google not only has the majority of the search market, but more loyalty from searchers as well, according to comScore.
Though Google maintained a searcher penetration of 84.0 percent in June, the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! sites had a respectable penetration of 73.3 percent.
“The source of the discrepancy between search share and searcher penetration is that searchers on Google conducted significantly more searches on average in a month (54.5) than did searchers on Yahoo and Microsoft (26.9),” comScore noted in its press release.
The company also notes that Google users displayed more loyalty to the search engine compared to users of the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!
“The analysis examined the use of the various alternative search engines by users of the Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft engines, revealing that those who searched on Google had the highest loyalty rate, with 68.9 percent of all their searches occurring on Google Sites. Users of the engines at the combined Yahoo! and Microsoft Sites conducted 32.6 percent of their searches on the combined Yahoo! and Microsoft Sites, but a much higher 60.7 percent of their searches on Google Sites.”
Gord Hotchkiss, president and CEO of Enquiro Search Solutions, pointed to two ways the new Microsoft and Yahoo! combination could “disrupt the Google habit.”
The first way would be to “offer a compelling enough reason to do the cognitive heavy lifting required to break a subconscious habit. A significantly differentiated and superior search experience would be such a reason.”
The second way would be to “continue to interrupt consistently ‘upstream’, by integrating search tightly into their properties or applications so that people don’t have to go to the effort – minimal though it is – to go to Google to launch their search,” Hotchkiss said.
Google handled 64.8 percent of all U.S. searches in July, or 6.8 billion queries, reflecting 3 percent month-over-month growth.
Yahoo! was second with 17.1 percent of the market, or 1.8 billion searches, reflecting 11 percent month-over-month growth.
MSN/Windows Live/Bing followed behind with 9.0 percent of the search market in July, or 946.9 million searches, reflecting 8 percent month-over-month growth.
AOL was fourth with 3.1 percent of the U.S. search market in July, growing 10 percent from June, while Ask.com had 1.7 percent of the market, growing 1 percent.
Gasta Search Network (1.2 percent), Comcast (0.6 percent), Yellow Pages (0.4 percent), NexTag (0.3 percent) and AT&T WorldNet (0.2 percent) Gasta.com rounded out the list of the top 10 search providers in July, according to Nielsen Mega View Search.
A total of 10.5 billion queries were conducted in July, 5 percent more than the previous month, according to Nielsen.
ComScore also has Google ahead of the pack with 64.7 percent of the search market in July, down slightly from 65.0 percent in June.
Yahoo! had 19.3 percent of the market in July, down from 19.6 percent in the previous month, while Bing’s share rose to 8.9 percent from 8.4 percent in June.
Google not only has the majority of the search market, but more loyalty from searchers as well, according to comScore.
Though Google maintained a searcher penetration of 84.0 percent in June, the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! sites had a respectable penetration of 73.3 percent.
“The source of the discrepancy between search share and searcher penetration is that searchers on Google conducted significantly more searches on average in a month (54.5) than did searchers on Yahoo and Microsoft (26.9),” comScore noted in its press release.
The company also notes that Google users displayed more loyalty to the search engine compared to users of the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!
“The analysis examined the use of the various alternative search engines by users of the Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft engines, revealing that those who searched on Google had the highest loyalty rate, with 68.9 percent of all their searches occurring on Google Sites. Users of the engines at the combined Yahoo! and Microsoft Sites conducted 32.6 percent of their searches on the combined Yahoo! and Microsoft Sites, but a much higher 60.7 percent of their searches on Google Sites.”
Gord Hotchkiss, president and CEO of Enquiro Search Solutions, pointed to two ways the new Microsoft and Yahoo! combination could “disrupt the Google habit.”
The first way would be to “offer a compelling enough reason to do the cognitive heavy lifting required to break a subconscious habit. A significantly differentiated and superior search experience would be such a reason.”
The second way would be to “continue to interrupt consistently ‘upstream’, by integrating search tightly into their properties or applications so that people don’t have to go to the effort – minimal though it is – to go to Google to launch their search,” Hotchkiss said.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Gasta SearchMatch model proving a winner in Downturn
Gasta SearchMatch time slots proving classic traditional models work best
Search engine optimization is the practice of targeting the search engines with keyword-rich content so that your blog posts, web pages, and other online content has a chance to rank well for the keywords and concepts that are important for your business. But how do you do it? Gasta.com has developed a simple anti click abuse systems that goes back to the traditional web value. Pay for a first place listing.
Modern Day SEO is not easy, even if you know how to write search engine friendly content, you have to compete against other businesses in your niche targeting the same keywords. You could try to find the gaps in the market and target those keywords that no one else is going after. But are those keywords valuable? That’s a decision you have to make.
The key to optimizing your web pages simply,are to find the Gasta keywords that are just right for your business. They may or may not be the most valuable keywords for your niche, but they are the perfect fit for your business and the customers you want to target. Then, once you identify the perfect keywords, you build pages that are designed to rank well and deliver targeted traffic to those pages consistently.
With Gasta.com there is no PPC so therefore no click spam, every click is already paid for in your time slot, time slots run for 3 months, 6 months, or one year.
The time slots allow marketers to have a summer campaign or a winter campaign, for intsance you could target the music festival season, or christmas. This model was developed by gasta.com in the late nineties to better organise and manage ad revenues.The model has won great recognition and developed Gasta.com as a great brand. Now with an online shopping channel and a great video search all of which have there own advertising platform in SearchMatch the sky is the limit.
Search engine optimization is the practice of targeting the search engines with keyword-rich content so that your blog posts, web pages, and other online content has a chance to rank well for the keywords and concepts that are important for your business. But how do you do it? Gasta.com has developed a simple anti click abuse systems that goes back to the traditional web value. Pay for a first place listing.
Modern Day SEO is not easy, even if you know how to write search engine friendly content, you have to compete against other businesses in your niche targeting the same keywords. You could try to find the gaps in the market and target those keywords that no one else is going after. But are those keywords valuable? That’s a decision you have to make.
The key to optimizing your web pages simply,are to find the Gasta keywords that are just right for your business. They may or may not be the most valuable keywords for your niche, but they are the perfect fit for your business and the customers you want to target. Then, once you identify the perfect keywords, you build pages that are designed to rank well and deliver targeted traffic to those pages consistently.
With Gasta.com there is no PPC so therefore no click spam, every click is already paid for in your time slot, time slots run for 3 months, 6 months, or one year.
The time slots allow marketers to have a summer campaign or a winter campaign, for intsance you could target the music festival season, or christmas. This model was developed by gasta.com in the late nineties to better organise and manage ad revenues.The model has won great recognition and developed Gasta.com as a great brand. Now with an online shopping channel and a great video search all of which have there own advertising platform in SearchMatch the sky is the limit.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Gasta Local Advertising with SearchMatch Ireland
Local Advertising with SearchMatch Ireland
Most people think locally and act locally ; The Global village does not reach beyond the borders of the thoughts, Can I get my money back on this? what happens if I don't like it when I get it home? Can I actually speak to a real person?
Its gotta be Local,Its gotta be Gasta Local. From now on you look for your services on gasta local, why would you want to advertise globally when you are selling your wares to local people, over 80% of people keep with tradition and shop local, be it car parts, Antigues, Electrical goods, furniture, cars, toys, medicines, Insurance quotes, catering services, or whatever, its gotta be local its gotta be gasta local.
Here are just some of our local sites in Ireland, when you take a 3 month advert with Gasta you get your ad run in the number one position across 175 web search engines with a Free Text Ad thrown in. No Pay Per Click, no hidden costs €30 for 3 months.
andersonstown.com
andersonstown.net
andytown.com
baldoyle.com
ballinteer.com
ballsbridge.net
ballyboden.com
ballymaccaret.com
* ballymun.net
* baroneracing.com
* belfastcitycentre.com
* belfastlaganside.com
* belfastonline.com
* belfastwest.com
* bellaghy.com
* blanchardstown.net
* botanicavenue.com
* boucherroad.com
* carrickmineswoods.com
* castlecourtbelfast.com
* castlewellan.net
* cathedralquarter.com
* cavehill.net
* coalisland.net
* colerainetown.com
* coolock.com
* cornmarket.com
* crawfordsburn.com
* crumlin.net
* crumlin.net
* cushendun.net
* derrycity.net
Most people think locally and act locally ; The Global village does not reach beyond the borders of the thoughts, Can I get my money back on this? what happens if I don't like it when I get it home? Can I actually speak to a real person?
Its gotta be Local,Its gotta be Gasta Local. From now on you look for your services on gasta local, why would you want to advertise globally when you are selling your wares to local people, over 80% of people keep with tradition and shop local, be it car parts, Antigues, Electrical goods, furniture, cars, toys, medicines, Insurance quotes, catering services, or whatever, its gotta be local its gotta be gasta local.
Here are just some of our local sites in Ireland, when you take a 3 month advert with Gasta you get your ad run in the number one position across 175 web search engines with a Free Text Ad thrown in. No Pay Per Click, no hidden costs €30 for 3 months.
andersonstown.com
andersonstown.net
andytown.com
baldoyle.com
ballinteer.com
ballsbridge.net
ballyboden.com
ballymaccaret.com
* ballymun.net
* baroneracing.com
* belfastcitycentre.com
* belfastlaganside.com
* belfastonline.com
* belfastwest.com
* bellaghy.com
* blanchardstown.net
* botanicavenue.com
* boucherroad.com
* carrickmineswoods.com
* castlecourtbelfast.com
* castlewellan.net
* cathedralquarter.com
* cavehill.net
* coalisland.net
* colerainetown.com
* coolock.com
* cornmarket.com
* crawfordsburn.com
* crumlin.net
* crumlin.net
* cushendun.net
* derrycity.net
Typical response from Local Advertising on Gasta
This is the typical response from Local Advertising on Gasta
Please Help! For the last 8 years we were #1 for a ton of search terms but then my site got penalized by Google because we had overused some keywords. We fixed the issue months ago but my top rankings are all still over the place. Sometimes we get back into the top 10 and we all breathe a sigh of relief, then just a few hours later we are on page 5. luckily the Gasta SearchMatch service for Ireland has now corrected this, our organic listings are back up to speed and the links from Gasta Twitter & Facebook apps have been a real added bonus.
Mark
www.dutyfreeonarrival.com
Please Help! For the last 8 years we were #1 for a ton of search terms but then my site got penalized by Google because we had overused some keywords. We fixed the issue months ago but my top rankings are all still over the place. Sometimes we get back into the top 10 and we all breathe a sigh of relief, then just a few hours later we are on page 5. luckily the Gasta SearchMatch service for Ireland has now corrected this, our organic listings are back up to speed and the links from Gasta Twitter & Facebook apps have been a real added bonus.
Mark
www.dutyfreeonarrival.com
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
