Despite numerous advancements in transportation technology, rail is still a massive industry. On the passenger side, ridership is increasing significantly in intercity corridors. On the freight side, it remains a very effective way to move goods across long stretches.
And yet, safety remains a critical issue for the rail industry. In mid-May, a train derailment along Amtrak’s Northeast corridor put the issue in the spotlight. On the freight side, the issue of individuals crossing train tracks at areas not secured by intersections remains a significant challenge.
On the surface, it may seem surprising that accidents have increased in recent years. Unfortunately, there seems to be a misconception that trains move slow enough or are easily visible enough that it’d be very difficult to get struck by one. This ignores how difficult it is for a train to stop on short notice.
Recently, our client Union Pacific Railroad launched a campaign to raise awareness about the rise of high school photos being taken on or near railroad crossings. While emblematic of one’s next step in life, it ignores the inherent dangers of being so close to a dangerous area. Here’s one of the videos from their campaign:
The campaign is in line with other safety initiatives that Union Pacific and other transportation companies and authorities have launched in recent years. Being proactive with new technology partnerships, advocacy campaigns and streamlined regulations are part of the key to improving rail safety across the country.
Is your brand in need of advocacy solutions that make an impact? We’re always happy to chat.
It’s tough for me to admit, but I’m very susceptible to falling into the cliché trap on a regular basis. I used to do a bunch of sports writing, so when you’re around athletes for a decent amount of time, you’re bound to want to give 110% percent every week. It just comes with the territory, and it’s hard to beat around the bush any other way.
The marketing world isn’t all that different. Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves.
So, when Joe Lazauskas at Contently put together this quiz of marketing buzzwords, I figured I had it in the bag. Nevertheless, I’m afraid I overlooked the competition and ended up in the 60-69% bracket. Dang it. Guess I’m going to have to put in a strong week of training so I can be ready for next week.
Owned Media/Owned Audience – this is one that I used a lot when I was working extensively on social media platforms. The premise is simple: with TV, radio, billboards, and other traditional advertising mediums, you have to pay to get in front of that audience; whereas, with social media, your brand “owns” those Likes/Follows for the rest of time.
Problem is, social networks (*cough*Facebook*cough*) are making it harder to reach those connected to the brand…unless you have an advertising budget, of course.
Actionable insights – I’m kind of surprised this one hasn’t become more popular in the business world. Basically, you’re trying to say that you should do something based on research. Which might be slightly redundant because most research is probably conducted with an end result in mind. But it sure sounds cool!
Brand journalist – We’re big believers in helping brands tell their story in a compelling manner. We definitely believe in creating good content that makes the target audience want to learn more. But I know quite a few journalists who HATE this term. Like, want to put the word on a bullseye and throw darts at it kind of hate. Pro Tip: never call yourself this when pitching a press release.
Branded emojification – I literally can’t even.
If you’re ever looking to cut through the clutter (dang it, I did it again), contact us and we’ll help you create a message that doesn’t sound like a millennial version of Mad Libs.
There’s a buzzword flying around the advertising industry these days, one that has a value of nearly $15 billion in 2015. No, I’m not talking about #Kimye (not even close). I’m talking about #programmatic.
Heard of it? Yes.
Know what it means? Yes…I think…maybe…kind of? No…not really.
…Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Programmatic media buying is the hot new gossip in advertising. It’s new, it’s shiny, it’s mysterious and naturally, like with most gossip, everybody wants a piece of it. But does everybody understand what it is or why they want it? Not exactly.
Well fear not, my friends, for I am about to bring you into the inner circle, define what programmatic buying is, and explain why it is projected to account for over 25% of digital advertising revenue in 2015.
“That’s right, Dorothy.”
But let’s look away from the dollar signs for a minute, because programmatic media buying goes far beyond the colossal projected revenues associated with it. Programmatic represents the industry’s gradual adoption of a completely new way of buying digital media that could revolutionize and alter the way media across all mediums is targeted and purchased.
What is it?
Programmatic, by definition, is the data-driven, automated process of buying digital advertising. Gone are the days of exchanging phone calls and emails and IO’s with sales teams, now replaced by…well…acronyms.
Specifically: PMP, DSP and RTB. Also known as the driving forces behind programmatic ad buying.
If you love tech speak as much as me (note: sarcasm), then you’ll love these definitions even more:
Private Marketplace (PMP) is a marketplace where specific, premium publishers make their inventory available to a select group of buyers. Unlike the traditional site-direct buy, PMP’s offer buyers access to these inventories via ad exchanges called DSP’s.
Demand-Side Platform (DMP) is the software platform by which buyers purchase digital media within a PMP. DSP’s make the ad-buying process more efficient by allowing buyers to access 1st and 3rd party data that ensures them that the impressions purchased are delivered on the right sites, to the right audience and at the right time. Allowing this access to buyers eliminates the need for any humans to be involved in the buying process—no extra costs, no negotiation, no back and forth. Instead, ads are purchased via RTB.
Real-time Bidding (RTB) is the entirely transparent, auction-style method for buying and selling ad impressions in real time, like the stock market. A general assumption throughout the industry is: RTB=auction=low quality/remnant ad stock. However, with the rise of programmatic, a growing number of publishers are making their premium inventory available through PMP’s.
So, how does a buyer get their hands on this premium stock? We refer to age-old adage:it’s all about who you know.
How are we using it?
Here at G/L, we are “getting with the programmatic.” One thing we prioritize as an agency is the importance of implementing business practices that not only benefit and drive our work forward, but those that do the same for our clients’ brands. True, the programmatic waters are still a little murky, so we knew we needed to seek out a partner to help us navigate. One whose expertise in developing strategic programmatic buys would help us produce successful, optimized digital campaigns and see that our clients achieve their desired ROI. Enter Goodway Group.
Working with Goodway Group, we are able to cultivate digital media buys based on specific target audience parameters versus the traditional site-direct buy. Thus, for example, rather than assuming a clients’ regional customers are solely surfing regional sites (that often have a higher monthly premium restricting the overall reach and frequency of a campaign), we’re able to utilize rich data that tells us exactly where the people we want to target are, in real time, and serve them the message within milliseconds. In turn, programmatic also offers us the ability to access immediate reporting data to track campaign success and pause or augment the campaign based on ad performance. Insights like these effectively inform the campaign, our targeting and our creative.
In joining forces with Goodway, we are able to be a dynamic player in the ever-evolving world of digital media by adopting programmatic as a way to produce better, more strategic digital campaigns that provide our clients with the greatest impact and highest ROI. Removing humans from the process of ad buying allows us as an agency, along with Goodway Group, to make our primary focus optimizing clients’ campaigns and ensuring they are on strategy.
Where is it going?
According to eMarketer, programmatic is the fastest growing area of online advertising. By 2017, it is predicted that programmatic media sales will account for 83% of all U.S. digital display ad spending. The trend is catching, however, and is predicted to represent 4% of U.S. TV budgets in 2015, increasing to 17% by 2019. We think it’s going to cause a pretty big shift in the industry, and we’re excited to be on board!
Want to learn more about how we’re working with Goodway Group in the developing digital landscape? Download your own copy of our webinar presentation, A Strategic Approach to Digital Media!
Now you can achieve MBA status for free—well, sort of—it may just be a higher education marketing masterstroke. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will offer a seemingly revolutionary MBA program they call the iMBA. It works like this—UIUC will offer the entirety of its iMBA coursework on Coursera, a free online education platform where students are able to earn specializations such as accounting, business operations and digital marketing. Pretty cool, right?
Well, as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. While course “certificates” may be earned for free online, legitimate iMBA’s can only be obtained by gaining admission to the University, then paying somewhere in the ballpark of $20,000. That ain’t free.
So what’s UIUC’s angle here? Maybe we can chalk it up to an act of charity—here’s a university providing a solid curriculum to folks who can’t or simply don’t want to pay for a traditional MBA. Could be, but what if UIUC saw free online coursework as an education marketing opportunity?
Perhaps UIUC realized prospective students’ reservation to delve into the all-too-familiar realm of student-loan debt. Maybe prospective students just needed a small taste of MBA coursework, like a sample at Costco, to fork over the $20,000 for the official iMBA. After sampling the coursework and assuring themselves that an MBA is attainable, they’d feel confident investing tens of thousands of dollars.
Charity or genius promotion, free coursework from any university as esteemed as UIUC should be greatly valued in this day and age. Average undergraduate student-loan debt is up to $30,867 per student—the highest it’s ever been. While college costs surge, the value of a degree has remained substantial. According to the Wall Street Journal, workers with only a high school degree earned a median weekly wage of $668 compared to $1,193 for workers with at least a bachelor’s degree.
If all of the knowledge can be found online, I fear it’s become blatantly obvious that we’re paying large sums of money (that we don’t have) for a posh piece of paper. This is neither profound nor a revelation. College has always been about getting the degree, and hey, if you learn something along the way, that’s great too.
We work with a number of education clients to help define their brand and create strategies that drive results. Think your brand could benefit? Contact us today!
Strategy and Planning to Digital Media Advertising
We conducted a webinar this past week for clients, entitled A Strategic Approach to Digital Media. We included our strategic partner, Goodway Group, in the presentation. It was a successful webinar and it got me thinking about the predictive nature of planning and buying digital media advertising.
PointRoll developed a helpful infographic showing the evolution of digital advertising.
With the tracking software and tools available today, information about consumers’ online media habits and interests, among other characteristics, are readily accessible to marketers. This information includes the best time of day to serve up digital ads, certain days of the week that the consumer is more likely to be online, frequency of which customer needs to be exposed to ad before taking action and even more.
Taking Advantage of Digital Media Advertising Opportunities
To target prospects, Goodway Group uses a real-time bidding model that serves advertising based on existing consumer data as well as online habits. Instead of buying digital inventory beforehand from media partners with the hopes of reaching the right target audience, Goodway segments audiences and places media where the target is. There’s no guessing game, just getting your message in front of the right people. Digital advertising is then placed/served through behavior targeting, contextual targeting, search retargeting, and more.
In the big scheme of things, I can’t think of a campaign we are working on that DOESN’T have the need for a digital advertising component; the challenge is we can sometimes back ourselves into thinking of digital as only an extension of a campaign. The hell with extension, putting digital first in planning is the key to making digital media advertising a reality in your next integrated marketing communications campaign.
The Impact of Digital Media Advertising
We are seeing digital media advertising everywhere. Consider these facts from the Advertising Age Marketing Fact Pack 2015. Digital advertising was the fastest growing ad medium in 2014 with 18.4% growth. People spend more time on the Internet than watching TV (273 minutes per day for TV vs. 346 minutes for internet). It’s no coincidence, heh?
We partnered with Goodway Group and held our webinar to display our commitment to digital media. Are you interested in learning more about what we do, or what digital media advertising can do? Download your own copy of our Webinar Presentation!
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https://geileon.com/the-hell-with-extension-put-digital-media-advertising-first/
9 questions to ask yourself to determine if your brand is still relevant
