"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
Showing posts with label NMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NMA. Show all posts
Friday, August 21, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
Gasta Travel: Online travel search to exceed to £56bn by 2014
Online UK retail and travel sales are expected to increase to £56bn by 2014, according to Forrester Research.
The research house expects online sales to grow by 6% a year from its current level of £37bn as consumer spending continues to shift online.
According to the research, which is due out later today, fashion was the fastest growing area of online retail during 2008. Books, DVDs and travel were the most frequently bought items over the period.
The Forrester research, which places the UK's online spend ahead of that in France and Germany, expects the number of UK online shoppers to grow from 30m this year to 37m by 2014.
In January the first new media age online shopping survey revealed 36% of people plan to do more shopping online and less on the high street this year.
The FT Group has reported a 13% rise in profits for 2008 to £195m, spurred on by its digital and subscription businesses.
In its end of year results parent company Pearson said 67% of the publisher's revenues now come from digital, up from 28% from 2000.
FT.com subscribers rose 9% to 109,609 in 2008, while registered users grew from 150,000 to 966,000.
The company posted revenues of £796m, up 7% from 2007.
A statement by Pearson said, "Looking ahead, we believe the FT Group's premium and global positions, combined with our digital and subscription businesses, put us in a good position to weather tougher economic conditions."
It also said FT.com benefited from the launch of the new access model involving registration for access to more than three articles per month.
In January the Financial Times announced plans to make 80 job cuts due to the global recession (nma.co.uk 12 January).
The research house expects online sales to grow by 6% a year from its current level of £37bn as consumer spending continues to shift online.
According to the research, which is due out later today, fashion was the fastest growing area of online retail during 2008. Books, DVDs and travel were the most frequently bought items over the period.
The Forrester research, which places the UK's online spend ahead of that in France and Germany, expects the number of UK online shoppers to grow from 30m this year to 37m by 2014.
In January the first new media age online shopping survey revealed 36% of people plan to do more shopping online and less on the high street this year.
The FT Group has reported a 13% rise in profits for 2008 to £195m, spurred on by its digital and subscription businesses.
In its end of year results parent company Pearson said 67% of the publisher's revenues now come from digital, up from 28% from 2000.
FT.com subscribers rose 9% to 109,609 in 2008, while registered users grew from 150,000 to 966,000.
The company posted revenues of £796m, up 7% from 2007.
A statement by Pearson said, "Looking ahead, we believe the FT Group's premium and global positions, combined with our digital and subscription businesses, put us in a good position to weather tougher economic conditions."
It also said FT.com benefited from the launch of the new access model involving registration for access to more than three articles per month.
In January the Financial Times announced plans to make 80 job cuts due to the global recession (nma.co.uk 12 January).
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Gasta News: Report from NMA Editor Justin Pearse
The Phorm saga rolled on this week, with the announcement of the departure of four members of the behavioural targeting company's board. It could be argued that the appointment of ex-Ofcom executive board member Kip Meek as one of the replacements was more significant than the departures for a company fighting regulatory and PR battles on all fronts, Meek's experience in the regulatory arena at Ofcom, on a European as much as domestic level, will be invaluable. Behavioural targeting itself got a welcome boost in support with BBC Worldwide's plan to launch it across its international website BBC.com. As large publishers board the behavioural targeting bandwagon, it should help to build a level of confidence to help address the reactionary hysteria it so often generates.
Targeted advertising has always been one of the promises of mobile, of course, although the operators' reluctance to release deep customer data has stymied this somewhat. Content providers, although happy with the traffic operator portals generate, are desperate for more control. So it was a heartening sign to see Sky start selling advertising around its content on the T-Mobile and Vodafone portals
Bauer is the only other content owner to do this. The resulting control should help encourage publishers to commit further to mobile advertising but few will have the market muscle to force such deals through to operators. Especially as mobile advertising is failing to meet the lofty heights its hype promised. One of the reasons behind O2 launching global media sales division O2 Media Group. The move is designed to let O2 sell integrated ad opportunities across its entire real estate, from mobile and online to in-store and DM. Rival Vodafone is also planning a similar offering. As all operators look to bolster their online operations, such holistic views of themselves could be powerful in convincing media agencies and advertisers to view them as media companies rather than telecoms suppliers.
Towards the end of the month came news of the government's tacit admission of its lack of understand of the new media industry. The IAB began a programme to educate civil servants in government departments from the DCMS to Berr. The move generated mixed emotions. On the one hand, anything to increase government understanding of the fast moving digital industry is to be applauded. On the other, it could be seen as worrying this education was needed following a year of increased regulatory attention to the internet by government, from Andy Burnham’s speech on the readiness of the internet for governance, to the Byron Report and the Council for Child Safety.
The evolution of online video and internet TV is clearly one area where regulatory confusion will see increasing government attention over the coming year. The sector is moving so fast that multi-platform commissions are becoming commonplace. However, the complexity of getting such projects to market was highlighted this month with Virgin Media's delay of launching Prom Queen due to the lack of a sponsor. Sony Pictures Television is the latest to be searching for distribution partners for its multi-platform series Gemini. The three minutes series was broadcast in the US by Amazon Unbox, NBC Online, NBC Mobile, Xbox Live and Zune. Just the type of fascinating broadcast model we'll be seeing more of in the UK in the coming year.
Targeted advertising has always been one of the promises of mobile, of course, although the operators' reluctance to release deep customer data has stymied this somewhat. Content providers, although happy with the traffic operator portals generate, are desperate for more control. So it was a heartening sign to see Sky start selling advertising around its content on the T-Mobile and Vodafone portals
Bauer is the only other content owner to do this. The resulting control should help encourage publishers to commit further to mobile advertising but few will have the market muscle to force such deals through to operators. Especially as mobile advertising is failing to meet the lofty heights its hype promised. One of the reasons behind O2 launching global media sales division O2 Media Group. The move is designed to let O2 sell integrated ad opportunities across its entire real estate, from mobile and online to in-store and DM. Rival Vodafone is also planning a similar offering. As all operators look to bolster their online operations, such holistic views of themselves could be powerful in convincing media agencies and advertisers to view them as media companies rather than telecoms suppliers.
Towards the end of the month came news of the government's tacit admission of its lack of understand of the new media industry. The IAB began a programme to educate civil servants in government departments from the DCMS to Berr. The move generated mixed emotions. On the one hand, anything to increase government understanding of the fast moving digital industry is to be applauded. On the other, it could be seen as worrying this education was needed following a year of increased regulatory attention to the internet by government, from Andy Burnham’s speech on the readiness of the internet for governance, to the Byron Report and the Council for Child Safety.
The evolution of online video and internet TV is clearly one area where regulatory confusion will see increasing government attention over the coming year. The sector is moving so fast that multi-platform commissions are becoming commonplace. However, the complexity of getting such projects to market was highlighted this month with Virgin Media's delay of launching Prom Queen due to the lack of a sponsor. Sony Pictures Television is the latest to be searching for distribution partners for its multi-platform series Gemini. The three minutes series was broadcast in the US by Amazon Unbox, NBC Online, NBC Mobile, Xbox Live and Zune. Just the type of fascinating broadcast model we'll be seeing more of in the UK in the coming year.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Gasta Search Branding and Direct Response
Gasta Search Branding and Direct Response,
We love it when a plan comes together1 The Gasta.com strategy of aquiring and hosting new domains to launch the gasta white label search is gathering momentum as more Brands recognise that Search is the key branding tool of the future web.
In this week's NMA Podcast, Microsoft's senior vice president of strategic partnerships, Yusuf Medhi, talks about the software giant's acquisition plans following the failure of its bid to buy Yahoo!. Plus Winston Binch of US hot-shop Crispon Porter + Bogusky explains how digital agencies are moving up the pecking order, and the NMA team discuss the role of search in brand-building.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Gasta News:Search Strategy is Critical
When the going gets tough, the tough get searching.
As the shadow of a recession looms large, the knock-on effect has seen ad budgets if not slashed then certainly tightened.
This week's NMA highlighted concerns raised by key figures within the online industry that brands are rethinking their online ad strategies in light of the current economic misery.
However, one area that looks like it will benefit is search - an accountable, proven marketing channel that shows no sign of slowing down.
Almost everyone from the numerous agencies NMA spoke to for this week's front-page story said that search, and indeed affiliate, will see more money pumped in to it as brands look to areas they can pretty much guarantee will work.
But as brands demand results, does that mean that creativity is sucked out of search?
We've seen plenty of moves this year that have given search specialists the chance to show how creative they can be with campaigns.
Reaction to Google's trademarking decision is probably the most high-profile example, with agencies saying that launching brand protection campaigns was now almost as high on the agenda as brand building and acquisition campaigns for some clients.
But will creativity now be put on hold in favour of results? Will clients solely demand ROI, rather than creative thinking?
Similarly, if search becomes the commodity that it's threatening to be and so simply Just Another Media Buy, will that take the excitement out of it?
I doubt it, but I'm sure that there'll be plenty of meetings between marketing directors and search agencies in months to come where the question of creativity versus results will be top of the agenda.
As the shadow of a recession looms large, the knock-on effect has seen ad budgets if not slashed then certainly tightened.
This week's NMA highlighted concerns raised by key figures within the online industry that brands are rethinking their online ad strategies in light of the current economic misery.
However, one area that looks like it will benefit is search - an accountable, proven marketing channel that shows no sign of slowing down.
Almost everyone from the numerous agencies NMA spoke to for this week's front-page story said that search, and indeed affiliate, will see more money pumped in to it as brands look to areas they can pretty much guarantee will work.
But as brands demand results, does that mean that creativity is sucked out of search?
We've seen plenty of moves this year that have given search specialists the chance to show how creative they can be with campaigns.
Reaction to Google's trademarking decision is probably the most high-profile example, with agencies saying that launching brand protection campaigns was now almost as high on the agenda as brand building and acquisition campaigns for some clients.
But will creativity now be put on hold in favour of results? Will clients solely demand ROI, rather than creative thinking?
Similarly, if search becomes the commodity that it's threatening to be and so simply Just Another Media Buy, will that take the excitement out of it?
I doubt it, but I'm sure that there'll be plenty of meetings between marketing directors and search agencies in months to come where the question of creativity versus results will be top of the agenda.
Gasta SEO: Oganic Search
If your company's organic search results aren't what you wish they were, check out these key tricks to know and implement. By Noah Elkin
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), there is no magic bullet. Effective SEO boils down to doing a lot of little things well. Imagine building a house -- each brick that goes into the foundation plays a vital role in creating a solid structure. A website is similarly comprised of a large number of building blocks, each of which needs to be given a proper level of attention to maximize your site's visibility. Following are 11 steps marketers can take to get more out of organic search.
1. Optimize your title tags: The title tag is the most important tag on a page. It's like the title of a book in that it should tell the search engine spiders exactly what the page is about. Also, bear in mind that the title tag forms the link in the search engine results page (SERP), so think about giving it a keyword-rich call to action to help it stand out from the crowd.
2. Add a robots.txt file: This is a simple file that sits in the root of the website. It's one of the first files a search spider will look for as it begins a site crawl, so make sure you have one -- it helps to control where the spider can and cannot go and hence what it can and cannot see.
3. Include sitemaps (HTML and XML): Google doesn't share much in the way of how to optimize for its algorithms, but the search giant does recommend that you add an HTML sitemap, and when Google talks, you should listen. Make sure you include the entire site, break it into multiple pages (no more than 100 links per page) and update it regularly so it accurately reflects the structure of the site. Add an XML sitemap designed specifically for search engines. This is particularly important for large sites that spiders are having trouble indexing. Verify the sitemap with the Google webmaster console and receive useful data back about your site.
4. Write high-quality, unique content: After all these years, content still rules. Good quality content will help attract links to your site as people refer to it and that same content will work to keep them on your site after they arrive. From a search engine perspective, spiders love content, so the more you can provide them, the better. And don't limit yourself to text -- images and video can help to showcase additional brand messages and attributes. But whatever content you do serve up, just make sure it is in an accessible format.
5. Insert meta-tags for top-level pages: While not nearly as important as they used to be, optimized meta-descriptions are still worth adding to your key landing and top-level pages. Well-wrought meta-tags will help entice users to your site from a SERP.
6. Conduct keyword research: There's no point in ranking for keywords that your target audience is not using, so make sure you know what your customers are searching for and the terms they're using to find you. To improve your chances of connecting with interested users, structure your site around keywords and themes that reflect their vernacular, not your internal marketing-speak. Remember that you want to help both visitors and search engines build a complete picture of your site.
7. Don't neglect your internal link structure: There's more to SEO and boosting your search rankings than getting links from other sites. Devote some attention to your internal link structure. Embed your target keywords into the internal links and help reinforce the key landing pages to the spiders; don't just use "click here," "next" and "more."
8. Think about pages you want to rank and those you don't: This is something that's closely tied to the internal link structure. For brand searches (typically the most significant source of traffic for any site), the home page often ranks first, followed by privacy policies, contact us and terms and conditions pages. The home page is a good destination to steer interested visitors, but the privacy policy and T&C pages generally are not the places you want your users to hit first, so try to sculpt the flow of page rank to the key site landing pages instead.
9. Get more from analytics: Make sure you set up your analytics package correctly so it separates the sources of your traffic. There's no point spending a lot of time and effort on search engine marketing only to find that your analytics software was not configured to separate the paid search traffic from the organic traffic.
10. Submit to the main directories: Make sure your site is listed in all of the main directories, such as Yahoo!, DMOZ, Business.com, JoeAnt, etc.
11. Emphasize internal education: Everyone within your company can make a difference, particularly when it comes to a natural search campaign. Make sure all departments, from marketing to IT to PR to product development, know why the company is undertaking an SEO program and how they can contribute. Run regular sessions to update staff and inform them about how the campaign is progressing.
Last, but certainly not least, remember that SEO is not a set-and-forget process, but rather, one of ongoing improvement. Anytime you make changes to the structure of or content on your site, review the relevant steps in the optimization process to make sure you get the maximum benefit from these changes. Search can help you connect with your customers, but you have to make sure you're supplying the search engines with the right connective tissue.
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), there is no magic bullet. Effective SEO boils down to doing a lot of little things well. Imagine building a house -- each brick that goes into the foundation plays a vital role in creating a solid structure. A website is similarly comprised of a large number of building blocks, each of which needs to be given a proper level of attention to maximize your site's visibility. Following are 11 steps marketers can take to get more out of organic search.
1. Optimize your title tags: The title tag is the most important tag on a page. It's like the title of a book in that it should tell the search engine spiders exactly what the page is about. Also, bear in mind that the title tag forms the link in the search engine results page (SERP), so think about giving it a keyword-rich call to action to help it stand out from the crowd.
2. Add a robots.txt file: This is a simple file that sits in the root of the website. It's one of the first files a search spider will look for as it begins a site crawl, so make sure you have one -- it helps to control where the spider can and cannot go and hence what it can and cannot see.
3. Include sitemaps (HTML and XML): Google doesn't share much in the way of how to optimize for its algorithms, but the search giant does recommend that you add an HTML sitemap, and when Google talks, you should listen. Make sure you include the entire site, break it into multiple pages (no more than 100 links per page) and update it regularly so it accurately reflects the structure of the site. Add an XML sitemap designed specifically for search engines. This is particularly important for large sites that spiders are having trouble indexing. Verify the sitemap with the Google webmaster console and receive useful data back about your site.
4. Write high-quality, unique content: After all these years, content still rules. Good quality content will help attract links to your site as people refer to it and that same content will work to keep them on your site after they arrive. From a search engine perspective, spiders love content, so the more you can provide them, the better. And don't limit yourself to text -- images and video can help to showcase additional brand messages and attributes. But whatever content you do serve up, just make sure it is in an accessible format.
5. Insert meta-tags for top-level pages: While not nearly as important as they used to be, optimized meta-descriptions are still worth adding to your key landing and top-level pages. Well-wrought meta-tags will help entice users to your site from a SERP.
6. Conduct keyword research: There's no point in ranking for keywords that your target audience is not using, so make sure you know what your customers are searching for and the terms they're using to find you. To improve your chances of connecting with interested users, structure your site around keywords and themes that reflect their vernacular, not your internal marketing-speak. Remember that you want to help both visitors and search engines build a complete picture of your site.
7. Don't neglect your internal link structure: There's more to SEO and boosting your search rankings than getting links from other sites. Devote some attention to your internal link structure. Embed your target keywords into the internal links and help reinforce the key landing pages to the spiders; don't just use "click here," "next" and "more."
8. Think about pages you want to rank and those you don't: This is something that's closely tied to the internal link structure. For brand searches (typically the most significant source of traffic for any site), the home page often ranks first, followed by privacy policies, contact us and terms and conditions pages. The home page is a good destination to steer interested visitors, but the privacy policy and T&C pages generally are not the places you want your users to hit first, so try to sculpt the flow of page rank to the key site landing pages instead.
9. Get more from analytics: Make sure you set up your analytics package correctly so it separates the sources of your traffic. There's no point spending a lot of time and effort on search engine marketing only to find that your analytics software was not configured to separate the paid search traffic from the organic traffic.
10. Submit to the main directories: Make sure your site is listed in all of the main directories, such as Yahoo!, DMOZ, Business.com, JoeAnt, etc.
11. Emphasize internal education: Everyone within your company can make a difference, particularly when it comes to a natural search campaign. Make sure all departments, from marketing to IT to PR to product development, know why the company is undertaking an SEO program and how they can contribute. Run regular sessions to update staff and inform them about how the campaign is progressing.
Last, but certainly not least, remember that SEO is not a set-and-forget process, but rather, one of ongoing improvement. Anytime you make changes to the structure of or content on your site, review the relevant steps in the optimization process to make sure you get the maximum benefit from these changes. Search can help you connect with your customers, but you have to make sure you're supplying the search engines with the right connective tissue.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Gasta Big Snap Campaign News
The ‘Big Snap’ campaign is a partnership with Virgin that offers prizes including Virgin Atlantic flights whenever people use Live Search.
Based on the card game Snap, search results will also display cards that, when turned over and matched with another, win a prize.
The campaign’s digital agency, Thin Martian, has also developed bigsnapsearch.com to support the promotion.
Paul Davies, MSN and Windows Live marketing director, said, “Searching is the second-most popular online activity after email and this campaign is designed to enliven people’s everyday search experiences. We wanted to create a compelling mechanic that would motivate and excite users while driving traffic and increasing query volume on Live Search.”
Live Search has 3.5% of the global search share, according to COM Score, behind Yahoo! (13.1%) and Google (66%).
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