As a user, I must admit it, I found them annoying. Not as bad as pop-under, but disturbing most of the times. I'm reading and getting quite a lot of opinions on pop-ups in these days since I'm writing a column for an Italian portal on the topic. Someone predicts that pop-ups will disappear in one year time (exactly like e-mail marketing, see this post) and I agree with this opinion if I refer it to big portals, while I believe pop-ups will still be used by many small and medium size Web sites.
Anyway thanks to a link on Marketing Profs I've also found an academic paper on pop-ups that investigates timing of pop-up promotions that customers encounter while browsing informational websites. They might not be as bad as they appear to be. Timing as well as context are important issues when talking about advertising and online advertising in particular, and might offer interesting points in order to reconsider the future of pop-ups.
The study is by Wendy Moe of the University of Texas and can be downloaded for free here (.pdf). Eventually a free academic paper! Thank you Wendy for sharing!

Spam is a menace to marketers' credibility and efficiency. On Boston.com
Bob Liodice, president of the US Association of National Advertisers (ANA), says:

Horizon.net reports that Land Rover has run a successful video-email campaign in Germany using the technology provided by Activestream. E-mails with video content have been opened by 70% of the people who received them, with a 19,8% click-through for further information.

As reported today on Revolution Magazine, Levi's Europe has upgraded its website with games, new products and even an 'image-mangling' engine to promote the brand's Teenage Kicks line and its new autumn product range. In Levi's mind the goal of the Web site is to appeal and to retain the brand's core target audience, 15- to 24-year-old girls and guys.
The Web site is available in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. I like the graphics, but I've found navigation rather confusing.

141XM has launched a new Web site promoting Visa International's sponsorship of Paralympic Summer Games next year in Athens. The Web site is highly accessible and, for example, contents can be synthesized and read aloud by special Web browsers for the blind. Read more on AdWeek.

I loved Susan Solomon approach to Web site development today on ClickZ. The "ghost" of Web site conformity is closer than you think...
Actually I'm facing the opposite problem right now, trying to write down a concept for the new Web site of the Company I work for. Here they don't want to conform, they want to stand out of the crowd, but... they have an out of fashion marketing approach, too much product oriented! So I believe doesn't make a big difference if you have an innovative approach to your web site communication but you lack of the right marketing basis :-(

Consumer packaged foods have found the recipe for a successful life on the Web. Bob Tedeschi reports on New York Tiems (free reg.) about the online branding efforts of Unilever, Kraft and Procter & Gamble.

In the UK Profero has recently produced a series of viral clips for the Home Office and COI Communications (Don't give them an easy ride. Crime, let's bring it down� campaign).
he three clips were written by Profero and revolve around an opportunistic robber in a underground car park who spots a �target� vehicle and is confronted with various scenarios when he attempts to perpetrate a crime.
Have a look at them online, they're really nice and funny: www.secretcctv.co.uk.

How much money should you invest in online advertising? Mark Redetzke provides an answer today on ClickZ. Well, he doesn't give you any exact number, but he provides you with important inputs to evaluate our strategy and come up with a budget decision and information, you know means money.

Increase the awareness of Visa's sponsorship of Nascar. This the main goal of Visa's online promotion to build a relationship with a loyal and high affinity audience. On iMediaConnection you can find campaign insights from the latest Visa's year-long branding program.

Content-based advertising is still in its infancy but everybody is already talking about it as the future of search engine advertising. On E-CommerceTimes yesterday, Robyn Weisman reports on contextual advertising, quoting analysts from IDC and GartnerG2.

Jose Cuervo, the tequila maker, wants to drive grassroots awareness of its brand, therefore has decided to run an online campaign in the US to switch Labor Day from the first Monday in September to whatever is the official last day of summer.
The news is reported on DMNews today by Mickey Alam Khan who explains that the campaign includes banners, e-mail and the Web site at www.cuervonation.com. Jose Cuervo basically wants people to sign up for an online petition to delay summer's end, later they will send the petition to the US Congress.
Sam Chadha, global integrated marketing manager at Jose Cuervo International in New York. says:

McDonald�s �Cool Train� developed by Tribal DDB Sidney has won two awards at Mobile Marketing Association Awards held last month in Sydney. Tribal DDB won the major award for �Best Use with Radio� and won the Highly Commended award in the overall �Best Integrated� category.
As explained on the agency Press release, McDonald�s �Cool Train� campaign objectives were to communicate the summer New Tastes Menu range in such a way that was visually engaging and encouraged viewers to actively interact with the brand.

Pop-ups are annoying and even non-effective but... they are still there, alive and somehow healthy. However, according to the opinion expressed today on IAR, pop-ups are their way to extinction. I particularly liked the way Paul Iaffaldano, Weather.com's chief revenue officer expressed his opinion about pop-ups :

Digital Media Communications has just released a new online buzz campaign called "Red Academy" for Virgin Mobile. The campaign features a digital film clip called 'Friends' that pokes fun at the Orange campaign by introducing viewers to the Virgin Mobile 'Red Academy' and its childlike Machiavellian character Damien who compels naive trainees to "forget phone functions and simply phone friends".

You can have a look at the Friends film on DMC's Web site.

As reported today in Mobile Youth newsletter, recently Virgin Mobile has announced that it has reached 3,000,000 customers, confirming its position as the fastest growing network ever seen in Britain.

As reported today on Le Journal du Net online advertising is growing in France. "E-pub", as defined in French, has reached a value of 119 millions of Euros in the second term of this year, with a growth of 64% compared to the same period last year. The data come from a recent study by TNS Media Intelligence-IAB France and highlights the fact that online advertising has surpassed by three times movie advertising.
Cars, travels, telecommunication providers and banks are the most active sectors in online advertising.

On 21 Communications web site you can download the case study of a recent KFC wireless campaign in China (.pdf). The sms campaign focused on sales increase by giving away m-coupons.

Create fake headlines on magazines like Maxim or Sporting News and then send them to friends. This is the idea of Heinken's recent viral campaign lauched in the US. Have a look at it on its web site. Nice!

News from Australia... Online travel service provider Zuji has just launched a new campaign, developed by M&C; Saatchi to position as "your online travel guru" throughout Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. The news is reported today on B&T; Marketing.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today announced that several IAB member companies will participate in an Acceleration Program designed to hasten the growth of the industry. This will enable the association to immediately initiate programs and projects that will further improve the value of the interactive advertising medium for advertisers and agencies. Participating companies will fund the Acceleration Program by providing pre-paid membership fees worth $5.8 million. Read on the press release on Yahoo! Biz.

Mercedes-Benz has just launched two microsites in 18 countries and 20 languages to promote two cars: Viano and Vito. Syzygy is the agency that has developed the German auto-maker new online presence and features on its Web site a press release commenting the branding campaign on the Internet. Sorry the press release is in German, I'll do my best to translate the key points...
The project has been divided in two phases. In the introduction the visitors of the Vito microsite receive a first impression from the new car and an overview of the variety of the new transporter series. Starting from September 6th, the second phase will begin with further information and interactive features.
The sites offer background informations, interactive offers, animations and interviews. Furthermore users can download brochures, agree upon a test run or get in touch with a local dealer. In particular I like the idea of presenting inteviews with the people that have actually projected the car, I feel like it adds a human touch to the online experience.
The Viano microsite features an emotional approach as well, in order to target different prospect groups, appealing both to individualists and families.

It seems like automakers believe in the Internet potentials to increase brand awareness and indirectly to generate more sales.
In these days I've found two articles talking about Ford and General Motors efforts to take advantage of the Web to regain market share.
On iMediaConnection Sara Wilson talks about "All new 2003 Ford Expedition" a new campaign created to draw attention and make people interact with the brand. The campaign has been run with different ads and features on the three world's main portals: Yahoo! Msn.com and Aol.com because, as Kristen Bergmann, Digital Media Director and Senior Partner at J. Walter Thompson explains:

Sanalarana is the new Pfizer Web site created to refine and extend its offline brand strategy online through the development of a space devoted to the health care needs of the Hispanic community. The press release on Yahoo! explains that the Spanish language site provides educational content regarding health topics and diseases that informs and empowers members of the Hispanic community to take charge of their health.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau is seeking feedback from the interactive ad industry on its Rich Media Guidelines Version 2.0 Phase 1. There's an online survey on IAB's Web site. More on Adweek.

I always read with great interest articles talking about interactivity and user engagement but, this time, I've been rather disappointed by Jeremy Lockhorn article on ClickZ The Rules of Engagement. No new ideas, no new tips, no new opinion, just a bunch of obvious stuffs.
Sorry for this "extreme" judgement, but I'm used to expect high quality content from ClickZ and this way it's easier to get disappointed, even though I understand it's August, it's hot, and the climate influences our performances :-)

A curious article today on the Independent: according to the movie industry recent flops of The Hulk, Charlie's Angels and Gigli are due to... "sms".
"The problem, they say, is teenagers who instant message their friends with their verdict on new films - sometimes while they are still in the cinema watching - and so scuppering carefully crafted marketing campaigns designed to lure audiences out to a big movie on its opening weekend."
Well, my dear movie industry managers, if you really believe their flops are due to sms instead that to lack of quality and originality, then I have only a suggestion... Sequestrate the cell phones to people before entering the theatre!

A new campaign by Heinz has been launched in the UK. Through the microsite Heinzbiteme.com teenagers can play an advergame or download ringtones. The news is reported on Revolution Web Site.

Net imperative reports that Internet search firm Ask Jeeves has decided to drop "Jeeves" the butler from its latest US advertising campaign, prompting speculation that the company's image is to be revamped without him.
The cartoon butler will not completely disappear, but it will be somehow kept hidden in order to increase people curiosity to find out what happend to it. A strange idea, I'm not sure how much people will care of a cartoon...
The new Ask.com web site has also a fresher "look & feel", and it's designed to compete against Google... Good luck :-)

... by Steve Outing on Editor & Publisher.
It seems like everyone is talking about contextual advertising. It's definitely an hot trend, and it's good to read interesting articles like the one I'm linking.

Movie marketers are taking a great advantage of the Internet. As reported today on MediaPost there's a growing amount of traffic to movie web sites. Watching trailers is the main goal, but fans are "available" to be targeted with merchandising as well...

AdSonar is a technology presented by Quigo that will allow online publishers to deliver contextually targeted advertising that achieves greater relevancy, reach and revenue for publishers, licensees and advertisers alike.
Online contextual advertising is part of the fast growing search engine marketing industry, which experienced growth of 275% in 2001 and 325% in 2002 to $927.4 million in the US, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Read on the press release on Yahoo! Biz.

This is the key statement by Tom Hespos today on MediaPost. Contextual advertising offers new opportunities to media buyers. There are still a lot of questions to answers concerning their relialibity, however, before expressing a final judgement, let's give them a chance.

According to Gartner G2, U.S. interactive advertising revenue will exceed $8.6 billion by 2005. Quoted in a press release is available today on Yahoo!, Denise Garcia, principal analyst, Media and Advertising for GartnerG2 says:

At the beginning of July, Telecom Mobile has revelead the results of a recent text-based marketing campaign to target New Zealand rugby fans (Super 12 Text Match Fever). The game involved sending trivia questions on rugby � past and present � directly to Telecom Mobile�s 025 and G027 networks. The campaign attracted 7500 registered users, 5500 daily players and generated 500,000 responses.
More on Scoop.

Team BBDO Interactive Germany has developed the new Golf V microsite which offers several possibilities to the user of shortening the time up to the car market debut.
On the microsite there's also a curious game with a guy waiting in line and the user able to join the virtual queue. Telling the truth, I've looked at it, but my German is not good enough to understand what is going on :-)

ON the French online publication Journal du Net a selection of fine banners, the most creative and efficient appeared online in the last week of July. I especially like the Absolut Vodka rich media banners.

Google expands AdSense program and adds ways to customise the ad-sharing service. Paul Festa and Stefanie Olsen report about the new features and customisation possibilities on ZdNet UK.

Buzz marketing agency Interference, Inc. is helping Discover Channel promoting the upcoming 16th edition of the SHARK WEEK. The campaign runs multi-channel and is presented on national print, television, online and billboards.
You can find Discovery Channel press release and some "scary" images on PR News Wire.

Britvic has launched a new media-enabled on-pack promotion. Customers can win by sendind in unique codes from packaging via text message and afterwards going to a microsite (tango.tv/gameon) developed by Grand Union. Grand Union has already worked in the past for Britvic, creating the advertainment web site Freekee Soda Factory.
You can read more about Britvic promotion on New Media Age.

Vauxhall Motors, a European division of General Motors will stream TV spots within online ads and Web site content, to promote the launches of the new Meriva and Signum models. As written on ChannelSeven.com technology from EyeWonder will be used.

MSN network celebrated yesterday the best creative advertising content to appear on its network of Web sites over the past year. As explained on Yahoo! News, AtmosphereBBDO won the first prize in "branding" category for "Pen" developed for General Electrics; Lowe New York received the first prize in "Direct Response" for a Dell ad that promoted a free-shipping offer; and Euro RSCG Circle gained the gold medal in "Rich Media" for an interactive ad developed for New Balance Athletic Shoe.

Chrysler Group has launched an integrated marketing campaign that includes an online game, to promote a special limited edition Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Tomb Raider. On Jeep.com and Yahoo! Games users can play and experience driving the same car as Lara Croft does in the movie ?Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.?
"Everything the Rubicon can do in the game, it can do in reality," says Jeff Bell, vice president, Jeep, Chrysler Group quoted on iMediaConnection.

I've read with great interest today's article on ClickZ, The Art of Discipline, by Kathleen Goodwin. A newsletter could be a strong tool to promote a brand and establish a direct contact with clients and prospects. Publishing a newsletter is easy, but publishing a precise and effective newsletter takes time and a lot of effort. Kathleen points out seven rules to be followed to keep a newsletter on time, fresh and... successful.
Nothing really new, but a lot of useful tips to always keep in mind.

Eyeblaster today announced the launch of Eyeblaster 5.3, the latest upgrade to its industry-leading rich media platform. Eyeblaster 5.3 includes a number of significant enhancements that make it easier for online advertisers to create, manage, and track rich media campaigns directly, and produce more effective online campaigns. One such enhancement is the ability to serve larger file-sizes of up to one megabyte (1 MB). There will also be the possibility of a closer integration with Flash MX.
Read on the press release on Yahoo! News, it features also some numbers on rich media.

Sorry, I've missed an interesting link last week: Game Used to Promote Panasonic Products on iMediaconnection. It's about the advergames used by Panasonic to promote its new Nitrix mini-system stereos. They will be featured as one of the primary highlights within the community Club Panasonic on Panasonic.com. Panasonic's objective is to attract younger and hipper consumers.
As Gene Kelsey, vice president, general manager, Brand Strategy Group, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Co. explains on iMediaConnection:

It's not exactly about online advertising, but it's worth reading for anyone interested in marketing strategies and issues. Jerry Flint writes on Forbes about four big issues that are mining Chrysler's marketing strategies and future. It's not only about hiring Celine Dion. According to Jerry "Chrysler's marketing mistakes are far more serious".

Will be revealed by a new service by Hitwise: Search Terms. The tool will help businesses better understand how their competitors are using search marketing programmes to attract customers.
The news is reported today on Brand Republic Digital Bulletin.

Mobile messaging will drive data revenue and provide operators with the tools to bring multimedia into the hands of users, according to a new study by IDC.
Quoted in a Press Release, Paolo Pescatore, senior analyst for IDC�s European Wireless and Mobile Communications Service, says:

A Mars bar online promotion which encouraged consumers to collect wrappers to get a computer games console was "misleading" according to the advertising watchdog. More details today on
Ananova.

Location based services look very attractive to mobile advertisers. However advertising is only a part of the location based possibilities provided by mobile phones. M-spatial has an interesting example of pedestrian navigation service, and Vodafone has decided to pick up the new MapWay for its customers all through Europe. As Bob Bamforth writes on IT-Director.com:

By 2003, mobile advertising will surpass online advertising revenues. The fact emerges from a recent press release by OneTele on eMediaWire. However it isn't exactly quoted the research firm that came up with this data.

"Because" is the nickname of Boeing's new campaign designed to answer the questions "Why a new airplane?," "Why now?" and "Why the 7E7?" to promote the new 7E7.
Advertising is targeted at potential customers, suppliers and partners in the program, the Company said. But Boeing also wants to reach the banks that might help finance the program.
I've collected some of the ads I've been presented with on Aviation Now.
Here is an example.

For two more banners click here and here.
I can't really say that I like it. It's a very simple and not very attractive. Maybe I just don't completely understand b2b advertising approach.
The 7E7 has also a special Web site that features the "7E7 Experience Zone"
To read more on the campaign have a look at today's article on The Wichita Eagle.

The Internet enables marketers to translate offline sponsorship activities online, as well as to insert unique aspects. This is the introductory statement by Joseph Jaffe in his latest column on iMediaConnection. It offers a very good overview on how online sponsorship work and on how they can be used as a very powerful tool for branding on the Internet. There's also an explanation of the GM Chevrolet case study.

Monster Inc. said it will not renew online advertising agreements with America Online Inc. and MSN Internet Service. It will instead redirect about $50 million per year on targeted, national and local marketing initiatives to raise its overall advertising mix, including broadcast. You can read more about it on Yahoo! News.

China's spending on online advertising grew to 360 million yuan ($1=CNY8.28) in the first half of 2003, putting it on track to beat forecasts for the full year, Shanghai iResearch Co. said. Advertisers are now allocating more money to Internet-based advertising. The news is reported on Yahoo! News.

Selling ads that appear alongside Web search results is becoming a serious business, even for small Web sites owners. A good review of Google AdSense and Content Match by Overture is online today on the New York Times (free reg.). It explains the strategies and points of view of the two search engines offering a good overview of the "contextual advertising" market and industry.

As you might have noticed, my blogging activity last week as been rather... weak :-)
Sorry guys, I'm back in Italy, and I'm back to work, and last but not least, there are about 35 degrees outside. It's too hot to blog! Anyway I don't quit, no way, I just post less giving more space in my life to more refreshing activities, like reading, swimming and my new passion... kayaking!

Paid search, a form of online advertising, will increase almost 50 percent this year to $1.6 billion, powering a modest recovery in web advertising. Jupiter Research expects online display ad sales to turn around next year, growing by 15 percent. In 2005 and 2006, the growth rate is projected to be 20 percent. More on TechWeb.

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