October
16, 2006
Copyright Mediaware Infotech Pvt. Ltd. |
Anheuser-Busch
has just appointed well-known rapper & today's role model (?) Jay-Z as "Co-Brand
Director" for its Budweiser Select beer brand.
Budweiser
Select is a premium U.S. brand which was launched with a lot of fanfare, more
than a year ago. And it is obviously not performing as well as its owner (Anheuser-Busch)
had hoped. So they planned for some celebrity endorsement - with a difference.
They appointed Jay-Z as a brand director.
The role of Jay-Z (a one-time
brand ambassador for competitor Heineken!) includes "providing direction
for TV ads, radio spots, print campaigns & events for Budweiser Select".
This is in line with targeting the current generation of beer drinkers.
But what will be really interesting to watch is how much of the Budwieser Select
brand is incorporated in Jay-Z lyrics & music videos !
Online Ad Exchanges
Yahoo has just bought 20% stake in online media auction site Right
Media. And although Yahoo has declared that it has no plans to host its premium
ad space on the exchange, it will use the exchange to improve advertising in its
low-traffic pages. Or in other words, boost monetization of ad space that is under-sold,
unsold or used for in-house advertising.
In any case, the fact is that
the relatively "slow-moving" Internet giant Yahoo has made a significant
investment (estimated to be over $ 20 million) in this ex DoubleClick veteran
promoted online media exchange. And that is surely a sign that online auctioning
of Web ads is here to stay.
But of course, indications of this were available
almost a year ago - with the success of Google AdWords, a pioneer in online ad
auctioning & monitoring (albeit through a “closed” system). Along
with online ad exchanges like AdECN, FUHU (China) & Right Media Exchange,
which have been in operation for sometime now. Interestingly, Microsoft has also
declared its plans of becoming an online ad exchange.
In reality, online
auctioning, ad serving & monitoring go together. And are ideally suited for
online ads. Here's why. The online advertising business operations start with
publishers putting up their Internet properties. Then, advertisers sign up with
web-sites & make their ads available to the publishers. But it is the next
step which involves a lot of effort : the need to monitor the transient impressions.
This is one of the chief requirements of online advertising process as well as
a prelude to making payments.
Online ads are virtual & extremely
transient in nature. This is in direct contrast with traditional mass media which
has a "physical" aspect, i.e. printing in a specific issue or broadcasting
on a particular date/time. And that is why monitoring the quality of online ads
is a key issue. Quality monitoring is fundamentally concerned with whether publishers
place ads as promised. (This involves constant checking of whether ads posted
are on the pages approved by client, i.e. pages with the desired/specified content.)
Today's online ad exchange not only helps publishers to display their
inventory (which are bid for by advertisers/agencies) but also plays an important
role in tracking & monitoring quality of the virtual impressions.
Like Yahoo, most experts feel that an ad exchange can help monetize the lowest
layer of media that largely goes unsold. But there is a group of major U.S. advertisers
led by Wal-Mart who feel that television advertising can also be auctioned online
and that too the "prime-time" layer.
TV networks needless to
mention, do not agree!
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