Blogger banners - Uniqlo Lucky Switch

Been meaning to post this for a while... clever

UNIQLO LUCKY SWITCH from HN on Vimeo.

How Ad Position Affects Conversion Rates

Thanks Online Media Daily for this post on banner location.

For marketers wondering how conversion rates change depending on where ads appear on Web pages, Google Chief Economist Hal Varian appears to have an answer.

Varian calls the problem "tricky," because Google ranks ads by bid times and ad quality, so ads in higher positions tend to have higher quality. These higher-quality ads tend to have higher conversion rates. He writes in a post on the AdWords blog that this means marketers may see a correlation between auction position and conversion rates.

Another fact that influences conversions: marketers increasing bids might see their average position move lower on the page. That's because when bids increase, ads appear in new auctions, and tend to work their way up from the bottom. This can push down the campaign's overall position, he writes.

"We have used a statistical model to account for these effects and found that -- on average, there is very little variation in conversion rates by position for the same ad," Varian writes. "For example, for pages where 11 ads are shown the conversion rate varies by less than 5% across positions."

An ad that had a 1.0% conversion rate in the best position would have about a 0.95% conversion rate in the worst position, on average, Varian writes. He explains that ads above search results convert within ±2% of right-hand side positions.

Didit VP Mark Simon says the New York company sees similar conversion rates occurring with its clients. "Not all traffic is converting traffic," he says. "The trick is to offer the creative and post-click experience that draws in the right searchers and drives them to convert, while also targeting the right market segment to convert on a given term."

Cars, twitter and a new adserving model

Thansk Contagious and Adage for these posts on who some auto manufactueres are tapping into microblogging

First this overview from Contagious

Volvo's Multi-Purpose Banner Ad

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21/04/2009

Swedish Automaker Volvo, has taught the old banner ad a few new tricks thanks to a campaign masterminded by Euro RSCG Worldwide. The new multi-purpose ad not only measures a whopping 950 x 250 pixels but also contains photos, videos, an advergame and regular Twitter

www.thevolvotwitterad.com

The initiative is in promotion of the new automatic braking or 'city safety' feature on Volvo's latest XC60 sports utility vehicle - a system which is being debuted at the New York Auto Show, from which the brand is providing constant Twitter updates that get displayed in the banner.This Twitter feed has been enabled thanks to Google's DoubleClick technology, which relays the 'Tweets' via an RSS feed. The most recent update is displayed, although users can scroll down to catch up on previous news. The brand launched its Twitter profile 3 months ago and currently has over 1200 followers.

www.thecarthatstopsitself.com

As the very best 'must-see' viral adverts have shown (think Cadbury's Gorilla) when content is engaging enough, its consumption can become something of an event. By squeezing its campaign into one banner ad, Volvo has streamlined this process for the user. Furthermore, the inclusion of a Twitter feed not only keeps it up to date, but also gives the initiative a human voice that should set it apart from the more standard intrusive banner ad.

In other automotive Twitter news this week, Tata-owned brand Land Rover has also been documenting its presence at the New York Auto Show using a Twitter hashtag, #LRNY, which filters conversations, aggregating chat and information about the brand.

updates.

During the lead up to the auto show, these tags were seeded in trade press publications, through online media channels and outdoors on billboards, taxis etc. Also, the brand enlisted (via direct-marketing firm Wunderman) the help of Twittad - a US-based Twitter advertising specialist which payed a selection of 15 popular users (typically with an excess of 3000 followers each) to feature extensive branding on their profile pages. James Eliason, CEO of Twittad reported that in total the effort was Twittered to more than 300,000 followers.

www.twittad.com

Then, this more in-depth piece of the LandRover work from AdAge

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Land Rover Taps Twitter as Campaign Cornerstone

'Hashtags,' Fledgling Ad Network Help Get the Word out Across Microblogging Site

by Jeremy Mullman

Published: April 20, 2009

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Land Rover last week became the first national brand to execute a national Twitter campaign in a bid to promote its newest models' debuts at the New York Auto Show.

While brands as diverse as Southwest Airlines and Smirnoff vodka have been tweeting and accumulating followers for months, Land Rover attempted to use the burgeoning social-media platform in a more ambitious way, seeding so-called hashtags (words used in tweets that make it easier to follow an ongoing conversation via online searches) on billboards, taxi TVs and other out-of-home venues; spreading word of the Twitter effort through auto-obsessed blogs and online publications eager for a peek at its latest bells and whistles; and paying a fledgling Twitter ad network to spread the word among its army of compensated, heavily followed Twitter users, all of whom wallpapered their Twitter profiles with Land Rover branding.

While it's too early to know what sort of return Land Rover will receive for its efforts, "it cost us virtually nothing," said Keith Rhodes, VP and account director at WPP-owned direct-marketing firm Wunderman, which orchestrated the effort.

Mr. Rhodes said he was particularly encouraged by the Twitter-fueled traffic to a blog post he wrote about Land Rover's initiative. Posts on his site typically draw about 30 views; this one grabbed more than 200,000 views.

Land Rover is not likely to remain the only national marketer doing this for long, said James Eliason, CEO of Twittad, the Des Moines-based "social-media affinity network" Wunderman tapped to boost Land Rover's launch.

Mr. Eliason said the next national effort using Twittad's roster of 4,500 Tweeters, whom it pays to post on topics and brand their profile pages, with nearly 5 million followers, will be for Elations, a glucosamine-enhanced beverage from the makers of Sunny Delight targeted at women over 40.

Twitter machine
All told, the Land Rover effort was Twittered to more than 300,000 followers, Mr. Eliason said. Twittad used 15 different Tweeters with at least 5,000 followers, although the majority had between 2,000 and 4,000 followers.

Most won't get rich doing this anytime soon. One paid Tweeter, willconley777, wrote on his blog that he was paid $2.50 for letting Land Rover sponsor his profile page for seven days. Mr. Conley has 1,160 followers. Still, for those few Twitter users with huge reach, real money might one day be possible. The most-followed Land Rover campaign participant, queenoftheclick, boasts nearly 25,000 followers and was paid an amount "in the hundreds" for her participation, Mr. Eliason said.

Other larger-scale marketers are also eyeing Twittad, which is in talks with Sears.

The appeal to marketers is obvious: It's a cheap way to reach people through their trusted contacts. And Twittad's technology is able to sort its users by geography, demographics and interests, which can both lead to more targeted appeals and, perhaps, prevent Twitter users from feeling under siege by advertisers, a major concern.

"We were worried it would be considered spam, but we didn't get a single complaint [about Land Rover]," Mr. Eliason said. "What that tells me is that our connectors have influence."

Less clear is whether the model is sustainable. Mr. Eliason, who launched Twittad eight months ago, said he expects it to break even by the end of its first year. He said he has contacted Twitter about a revenue-sharing agreement but has yet to hear back.

Some sexy banner ads

That's right - even banner ads can be sexy (with the bonus of a product demonstration too). Thanks to AdRants for this post.

Zippo Banner Campaign Ingeniously Inventive
It's not often online banners excite. Gone are the days a banner would evoke anything other than "Will that friggin' thing stop flashing?!" But Pittsburgh agency Brunner has created an ingeniously inventive banner campaign for Zippo which makes humorous use of the product's primary function.
In three version, a skyscraper banner is cut in two. The top half is a fake ad. The bottom is the actual ad for Zippo. The top reacts to the bottom and then the two come together to deliver more information about the lighter. You can see the three versions here, here and here.

Unilever - mobile case study

Thanks MMA for this case study:

Unilever Increases Teen Awareness with Multi-Faceted Mobile Campaign (Nokia)

Client: Unilever – Seda Shampoo, Brazil

Sector: Consumer goods, Beauty & personal care

Challenge: Raise awareness of Seda Shampoo among teens in Brazil

Solution: Mobile campaign and customized Nokia 5200 Pink handset

Results: 5% CTR, more than 360,000 visits to mobile site

The client – Unilever, Seda Shampoo

Unilever is the multi-national parent company of many of the world’s leading consumer brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs nearly 180,000 people globally.

The challenge – Raise awareness of Seda Shampoo among teens in Brazil The Seda brand is part of the Beauty and Hygiene Division of Unilever Brazil. Seda is the leader in the Brazilian shampoo market, with 25% market share. Sold in 80 countries, it even holds the Guinness World Record for the most heads of hair washed and styled in one day. When Seda prepared to release a teen-friendly version of its shampoo, executives discovered that most teens preferred to be communicated with via their mobile handsets. Nokia and interactive agency F.biz created a mobile advertising campaign along with customized handsets for the brand.

The solution – Mobile campaign and customized Nokia 5200 Pink handset As part of the Seda Teens product launch, Nokia and F.biz developed a mobile campaign featuring banner advertising on the Nokia Media Network, and wallpaper and game downloads on a customized Nokia 5200 Pink handset. Banner ads led customers to the download page of the Seda Teens Java game and a Seda Teens branded social networking site. The site allowed users to browse beauty and health tips, horoscopes and an “Experts” area where they could submit questions.

The 5200 Pink came preloaded with Seda Teens advertisements in the opening and closing screens, four Seda Teens campaign themes and MP3s from a popular Brazilian band. The 5200 Pink was shipped with its bookmarks pointing to the Seda mobile community and a mobile game, Dancing Star, was placed as a free download.

The results – 5% CTR, more than 360,000 visits to mobile site

• 5% average click-through rate
• More than 360,000 visits to the mobile Internet site in two months, twice the number of visits to the Seda Teens website
• More than 11,000 game downloads

Paula Lopes, Marketing Manager, Unilever

“We are excited to be taking part in this new marketing initiative, allowing us to reach the consumers we want on the device they want. This campaign shows how innovative both Nokia and Unilever are when it comes to reaching consumers.”

About Nokia Interactive Advertising

Nokia Interactive Advertising provides brands with all that they need to connect with and engage the mobile consumer. It includes:

• The Nokia Media Network, which gives reach to millions of mobile consumers through advertising on more than 100 blue-chip mobile publishers, operator partners and Nokia services.
• Nokia Interactive Solutions that create end-to-end, high performance mobile campaigns for brands using banner ads, mobile Internet sites and location finders, mobile coupons, click-to-call and other advanced mobile mechanics.

To see mobile advertising in action, please visit nokia.mobi/advertising on any mobile device.

Stop Driving Traffic, Start Capturing Leads

By Chris Chariton, thanks to Online Media Daily by Media Post Publications.

It's time we re-framed the concept of "driving traffic" to Web sites. Just what is traffic anyway?
Once upon a time, it wasn't much more than a bunch of anonymous vehicles, people or things moving from one place to another. But since the dawn of the Web, it's what companies receive when visitors click from one place to another. And that's the dissatisfying result: If your Web strategy focuses on driving traffic, you end up with anonymous clicks and page after page of site traffic reports of limited value.

In short:
a) Think customers, not clicks
b) Try online directories, e-newsletters, banner ads
c) Convert from Visitors to leads

In full:
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=85636&Nid=44429&p=948634