We did it to ourselves. Yes we did. With help from our much-loved DVRs. We started a war. A war between those who want to skip commercial and those who want people to see them no matter what technology exists to skip them. The latest in an increasing list of tactics comes from TBS which is running promotions during programming which involves pausing the show while an ad runs on the lower third of the screen. Right now, it's just station promos but, seriously, how long before we see paid advertising in this space? We did it to ourselves.
Some have pointed out the intrusive promotions are simply mirroring what's being promoted; the Bill Engvall show in a TV remote is a prominent plot element. Still. There's no doubt, after seeing this, every marketer will scream, "I want one!"
Each ad:tech Miami session I've seen follows the same painful format: a moderator introduces himself, then steps aside as each panelist gives a mini-presentation.
It's like watching antsy children read book reports out loud. But unlike their grade school counterparts, each presenter stretches his time allotment as long as possible.
This afternoon I livetweeted ad:tech Miami's Social Media and Consumer Generated Content in Latin America: Exploring the Value Proposition.
Here is a synopsis of what each panelist had to say, taking into account the following three generalities:
- Latin Americans (LatAm) are social people. Possibly more social than the rest of the world. (This struck me as more of a cultural conceit than a verifiable fact, but nobody in the audience contested the stance. Possibly because they were all either of Latin origin, or very eager to cozy up to those of Latin origin.)
- User-centricity is the new fetish. Each panelist cited his company's user focus at outset. (Anton Chalbaud, pictured at left, emphasized Sonico's user-centricity by attesting to his company's "INSANE" focus on real people.) Gone are the days when a quick buck, whatever the means, was a virtue.
- Mastering the elusive art of interactive media, especially digital, is considered crucial to taming the LatAm audience. (Especially now.) As Lucas Morea put it, "The audience is receptive." Marketers should teach users how to create and publish content.
Now. On to the meat of the matter.
more »
Open power outlets are rare, and rarer still in the press room. Never, ever monopolize an outlet to charge your computer and cell phone at the same time -- while you, Considerate Guy, attend sessions.
It's evil.
After you've walked through the exhibit of just about any conference you begin to think you've seen everything. Thankfully, the intellect and sense are never let down. While the Miami ad:tech conference is a smaller conference compared to its Big Brother New York, Big Sister San Francisco and cousin Chicago, if you're not actually from somewhere in Latin America or Mexico, you feel a bit like you are in another world.
OK, so it's not that extreme but it's far different than being at a New York, San Francisco or Chicago conference and in a very good way. Anyway, enough blather. On to the pictures.
OK, so why write about it when you can just look at the pictures? So...go here and you'll get to wallow in the social activities of ad:tech Miami's first night. But if you're more the type of person who just wants to read about it, here's the rundown...
There was food. There was alcohol. There were lots of beautiful people. There was a pool. There were people in the pool. Drinks were dropped. Drunk-speak was the only language spoken. And then there were the...[redacted].
OK so there's nothing new about a horny dog humping a person's leg. Happens all the time. In fact, embarrassingly, it happened in the middle of a Cub Scout den meeting years ago. I never lived that one down. Anyway, this humping dog comes courtesy of Erwin-Penland for the Greenville Humane Society in South Carolina. It's goal is to urge pet owners to spay and neuter their furry one under the heading, Sips for Snips.Snips??? That's just painful!
In the ad:tech session entitled "The Internet Economy: Start-ups, Bubbles, and Buyouts," moderated by Milbank Roy Co. LLC Managing Director Pierre-Georges Roy with panelists Global Mind CEO Marcello Montefiore, Internet Media Services Founder and CEO Gaston Taratuta, Fox Networks VP of Global Business Development Damiam Voltes and Publicitas VP of Digital Media Paul Meyer, the key takeaways were specialization and Brazil.
more »
From ad:tech Miami's "Latin American Consumer Habits and Online Behavior" panel. Information was provided by CEO Fabia Juliasz of ibope/NetRatings.
Percentage of internet penetration:
- Brazil, 22 percent (42 million internet users)
- Mexico, 22 percent (22.7 million users)
- Argentina, 26 percent (10.3 million users)
- Chile, 41 percent (6.7 million users)
Use varies by age, location, cost of resources and economic status. According to Juliasz, the trick is to target them locally.
Latin America consists mostly of verdant land and small communities. Cities are heavily concentrated and burdened by technology demand. This means most people in those cities can get online, but how they do it depends on what they can afford.
Where users are too poor to use a computer at home, most will use public access spaces. Free wifi and internet cafes proliferate Brazilian and Peruvian cities.
more »
Delivering the opening keynote ay the Miami ad:tech Conference, SMG Multicultural CEO Monica Gadsby shared some findings regarding the Hispanic audience online. According to Gadsby, 19.5 million U.S. Hispanics are online, fifty percent view video (an index of 241 compared to the general market) , 70 percent of Hispanic women are online and Hispanics make up ten percent of all online users.
Gadsby addressed the full house audience and focused on three areas as they relate to Hispanic marketing: Content, Targeting and Research. Beginning with content, Gadsby cited the need for more content options for Hispanics. While Hispanic content has certainly increased, more is needed and it must be easier for Hispanics to access.
more »
So it's been what, over two years since those cute little bubbles and that martini glass graced the pages of Adrants? Have you had enough? Are you ready to physically stick a pin through your screen hoping those damn bubbles will pop and disappear forever? Down a case of Hendricks gin so there's none left to fill the glass?
Yes, friends, we are going into re-design and, in a stunningly brilliant realization, we figured we'd ask our readers what they think of the current design and content since, you know, you guys do this sort of thing for a living. It's not often every website can ask it's audience for input and have that input come with a bit of expertise as opposed to some other people we're familiar with who can't seem to come up with any other than, "can you make the logo bigger?"
more »
|
