DigiTales & Other Stories

Today, Microsoft announces the launch of a new brand - Microsoft Advertising

In response to customers needs, we’re in a position to bring all our solutions for both advertisers and publishers under one coherent banner.

The aim is to help advertisers and publishers build stronger consumer engagement in the digital space.

It’s all about bringing our online advertising assets together and providing customers with Insight, Performance & Expertise!

We’re super-pleased with this move. We’ve had some flak over the “MDAS mouthful” and even more about a perceived inability to provide brand-clarity in general.

I hope this sets the record straight and provides consumers and marketers with a no-nonsense message, that we mean business in the digital advertising space.

Check out the new UK advertising site here: http://advertising.microsoft.com/uk/home

New figures from the IAB show yet again that the online advertising model is no flash in the pan….

Banners, skyscrapers and rich media saw a staggering 45% growth last year, showing agencies and advertisers are obviously seeing the benefit from a branding and, in some cases, a direct response effect. 

The old stalwart “paid search” is apparently “maturing” but still growing, keeping its number-one-slot at 58% share or £1.6B - a colossal 39% growth.

Apologies for all the hyperbole, but as my US colleagues would say I’m super-invigorated by this news.

I don’t see mobile figures in the report, but that’s going to be big this year given the uptake of the iPhone, and the announcement last week that Microsoft will be updating its mobile browser so users can view fullscreen web pages and multi-media more easily.

The future’s bright……but is it mobile?

Had an email yesterday from a director of a large digital media agency here in the UK.

Apparently a recruitment firm had got past their telephone receptionist saying they were calling from New Media Age (top industry magazine) and wanted to interview a particular person.

In fact they wanted to interview that person for a job with us apparently.

Now we don’t use that recruitment firm, so why are they arsing about malpracticing and causing potential friction between us and an agency?

Are they so stupid to think that someone won’t cotton on and it might not get blogged about?

Don’t do it! Or next time you’ll be outed!!!!

Media Week here in the UK, have partnered with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions to bring interviews with media industry notables to the very small screen.

Media Week TV anchorman Steve Barrett is actually the publication’s editor. Using his clout to wrestle high-profile names in the media industry onto his couch for a chat, Steve’s managed to secure spots with Michael Heseltine, Michael Grade, and more recently Facebook commercial director, Blake Chandlee.

The latest luminaries, talking about how they’re handling the editorial and commercial tranistion to the online world, are Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of British Condé Nast, and Simon Waldman, group director of digital strategy and development at Guardian Media Group. Check out what they have to say here!

 Check out this article I contributed to on Search Engine Land - Shari Thurow asked me and Dixon Jones, among others, to fly the British flag and let US marketers know how they should market to us across the pond.

Got a lot of traction on Sphinn too

Having posted the Microsoft Context Matters Funeral, Dance and Art videos on my blog over the last few days, they’ve now been viewed through MSN Video by over 1500 marketers around the world so far.

Some people loved them, some people didn’t! Some people were confused as to the message they were giving out, and some people even thought they were a little inappropriate.

Most though, were willing to wait to see them put into context before making a judgement.

As any marketer knows an advert needs some context in order to draw an audience in, and none more so than online.

So our research guys here at Microsoft have collaborated with MEC Interaction in order to delve much deeper into how users connect with internet advertising.

What they found was that time, place, mood and motivation play a significant role in how impactful your advertising message can be.

Key objectives were:

•      To delve beyond the “time spent” measure
•      To identify and describe key online “occasions” and their contexts
•      To examine advertising fit across these occasions
•      To help our partners optimise their online media planning

Identifying the “online occasions” as being entertainment, creation, communication, transaction, information and general surfing, the research shows the different ways in which we are willing to accept “pull” mechanisms, or advertising where we may be asked to interact with it, or “push” messaging , where we’re too busy to connect but are susceptible to the branding effect.

There’s a load of info in the report about what percentage of time people are multi-tasking, home versus work, week versus weekend, and some specific quotes and case studies.

There are even stats on what mood people are more likely to be in at various times of the day, and how focused they are likely to be while performing certain actions during these occasions!

Now the concept of “context” in planning your marketing strategy is not a new one, however no one has done as an indepth study of how consumers behave online across the ever-expanding, multi-channel opportunity that we have through the internet.

So whether you’re a search marketer, a display planner/buyer, you’re into email marketing or are just plain curious, you can check out the Context Matters page on our advertising site and download the 11 page report from there as it’s well worth a peek:

Context  Matters – Microsoft Internet Marketing Research Report

And now let’s hear it for those videos now I’ve put them in context

So we’ve had the Funeral Video, the Dance Video and now this one!

I’ll put them all into Context on Tuesday

Unless you can guess what it is?!

Yesterday was the 1st installment of the Context Matters videos from Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions

Here’s the 2nd - Check out the 3rd on Monday, & I’ll tell you what it’s all about on Tuesday!

That’s if you don’t guess before hand

 Any idea what this may be about? Stay tuned………

OK maybe not “star” but at least get a walk on part!

MSN UK are running a Harry Potter Competition in conjunction with the launch of the “Order of The Phoenix” DVD.

Josh Berger, President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. UK, said:

“Digital plays an important role in our marketing mix.  We’ve been investing in digital for many years and are constantly pushing the bar to break new boundaries and create campaigns that truly engage with the consumer. Digital enables us to achieve cut through in a very competitive market and allows us to engage with consumers in innovative ways.”

That’s what we like to hear!

“Harry regrets putting his website up for scrutiny at a conference site clinic!”