CPX Interactive is looking to hire some outstanding individuals to join our team. We are currently looking to fill two positions within our IT department at our Westbury location.
Web Scale Engineer (LAMP): The Web Scale Engineer will be responsible for supporting a blended physical/cloud infrastructure and providing high availability solutions for web and infrastructure applications. Provides advanced troubleshooting of Linux- related technologies, Web sites, systems, networks, and databases. Monitors internal Web- site/Linux environment via real-time tools and alerts…
Technical Project Manager: We are looking for a Technical Project Manager who will coordinate and monitor technical projects from initiation through delivery. Our ideal candidate is organized and comfortable with formal project management methodologies, but flexible and agile enough to work in a fast paced and rapidly changing environment. Project types include small multi-day one-offs to large multi-month implementations…
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Lauren Nemeth, VP of Sales, AppNexus sitting down with Mike Seiman, Founder and CEO of CPX Interactive
This morning was a very exciting morning for us here at CPX Interactive as several of our team members attended the AppNexus Summit. Our President and CEO, Mike Seiman sat down with Lauren Nemeth, VP of Sales at AppNexus to talk about the past, present and future of ad networks in the online advertising space.
Prior to his presentation, it was announced that CPX Interactive has chosen AppNexus, the world leader in advertising technology, as its new exclusive ad server.
NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2011/PRNewswire/ –“We are thrilled to announce our exclusive partnership with AppNexus and are extremely confident in its world-class platform to manage CPX’s enormous reach of nearly two billion global impressions per day,” said CPX CEO, Mike Seiman. “AppNexus has an incredibly scalable platform which can handle our rapidly growing ad serving and real-time bidding needs and, in allowing it to do so, we remain focused on our core competencies – designing and executing digital campaigns, driving the highest yield for our publisher partners and generating powerful and proprietary first-party campaign data.”…Read More
CPX Interactive's David Zapletal, VP of Network Operations and Mike Zacharski, VP of Business Development at the AppNexus Summit
Also announced this morning at the AppNexus Summit, CPX Interactive was named as one of the inaugural app providers for AppNexus’ groundbreaking new App Marketplace for the digital ad technology industry. To learn more about AppNexus’ App Marketplace, read their recent press release here.
A special thanks to our Marketing Associate, Taylor Hall, for the contribution.
It was a full day of talking about Display…advertising, that is. OMMA Display New York was held at the Sentry Centers in Midtown Manhattan on Nov. 7, 2011 as industry professionals gathered together to spend the day listening to some of the greatest minds in the internet advertising space. It was my first time attending an OMMA event as I tagged along with my fellow CPX Interactive team members, Jamie Gutterman, Director of Sales; Ross Cohen, Director of Sales and Matt Fillingame, Account Manager/Brand Sales. I came to OMMA Display mostly to follow along with the overwhelming amount of tweeters who were vigorously participating in our sponsored Twitter feed throughout the day, but I left with an inside look at the future of display advertising.
CPX Interactive Team Members Jamie Gutterman, Dir. of Sales; Ross Cohen, Dir. of Sales; and Matt FIllingame, Acct. Manager/Brand Sales
Stephen J. Kim, the General Manager, Global Creative Solutions, at Microsoft was the first speaker of the day, following intros and opening remarks. The theme of his conversation was on the advances of storytelling and the future of digital display. As Kim presented an array of case studies and stimulating imagery, we were all pleasantly reminded about what’s possible when we return to the idea of storytelling through a technology standpoint.
That conversation became the true focus of all the presentations at OMMA Display. There were plenty of other points of view and professional opinions, and I will get to them, but I think the main take-away from the event was the idea that, as we embrace the growth in technology and acquire new tools for reach and targeting and incorporate all the different layers of data, we cannot forget to couple all of that equally with the technological possibilities of creative.
The following panel was titled “Man vs. Machine”, and was an in-depth discussion about the move into the Age of Analysts. Panelist Maryann Bekkedahl, President of AdKeeper jokingly referred to it as, “It’s Revenge of the Nerds.” With technology-heavy approaches to online advertising, the industry has started to see a new generation of innovators come onto the playing field. The title of being “creative” is being replaced by “Technology creative” where artistic minds with a tech savvy side are slowly going to take over the traditional creative realm of the industry.
My favorite panel of the day was, “Try that with a DSP,” which raised the issue of technology still centering on the idea of more performance around clicks and conversions and less on creativity. Jim Meskaukas, Co-Founder of Media Darwin, Inc. said,
“Brand advertising is a rhetorical exercise of persuasion, not bludgeoning one over the head with a click. Agencies make more money in transactions than ad creation so the creativity suffers in online ads. The only thing that advertising technology did recently was create a better mousetrap, but at the same time, it ignored the dearth of mice and quality of bait.”
The CPX Interactive sponsored Twitter Feed located to the left of the stage.
After hearing every different take on the Display Advertising marketplace, I still stand by my original statement that the idea of storytelling or truly making a connection through good creativity must continue to be intertwined with the technology side of things. You can add new targeting tools, make a data-layered cake if you want, 100 layers high, but at the end of the day, if the creativity isn’t making that connection, offering some kind of solution or engaging the user on a personal level, then the display advertising space isn’t reaching its true potential.
As the technology in data and targeting become more advanced and widely adopted by the industry, I think we will see these “technology creatives” come in and really change up the game. It’s only a matter of time before the art of advertising figures out how to use the science side to its advantage and evolve right alongside side in online advertising harmony.
If you would like to see more pictures from the event, visit our Flickr page. To see more information from OMMA Display and video recordings from each of the presentations, visit their site at http://www.mediapost.com/ommadisplay/.
In the news this week, the hot topic of conversation for the online advertising industry has been about Yahoo! Inc. acquiring advertising technology company, Interclick. Yahoo! Inc. reportedly bought the ad network for $270 in an effort to increase their remnant inventory sales. Yahoo’s display ad sales have made a significant drop this year and the company hopes that adding the technology power of Interclick will help revitalize their position in the market.
In this installment of an ongoing series, CEO and Founder of CPX Interactive, Mike Seiman shares his comment on the relevance of this news to the display advertising industry. Click on the video below to see more.
CPX Interactive Events
In other news, OMMA Display, an online advertising industry event, is scheduled to kick off this Monday November 7, 2011 at the Sentry Center in New York City. CPX Interactive is excited to be a part of this great event as several members of our team will be in attendance. We are also pleased to announce our sponsorship of OMMA Display as we will be offering a live Twitter feed that will be shown throughout the day adjacent to the main stage.
By using the hashtag #ommadisplay, each attendee will be able to tweet about the latest and greatest things taking place at the event and have that tweet displayed on a massive screen for all attendees to see.
You can watch more videos about the latest and greatest from CPX Interactive on our Vimeo channel at www.vimeo.com/cpxinteractive or on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/cpxinteractive. Follow us on Twitter @cpxinteractive and don’t forget to use the hashtag #ommadisplay this Monday at OMMA Display.
CPX Interactive has entered a relationship with predictive data solutions company, Semcasting, as a ‘first major distributor’ for the company’s new online ‘cookie-free’ targeting solution, IP Audience Zones. IP Audience Zones is a ‘breakthrough audience identification platform that maps nearly 100% of online home, education and business traffic into qualified, target-ready audiences…,’ and is, used specifically to power Agency Trading Desks, DSPs, Ad Networks and Analytical Platforms.
In a press release about the new product, CPX Interactive’s Vice President of Business and Product Development, Mike Zacharski, explains why the CPX is so enthusiastic about the partnership. He says:
“Early on, our industry settled on the ‘cookie’ as the primary tool for audience targeting, and we have been slow to push innovation since that point. However targeting an audience based on the proclivities from their web-surfing habits is still, at best, inferential. Stepping away from the cookie and instead looking at targeting based on real world information about specific households within IP Zones, we have entered a new realm of targeting capabilities. We are excited to be working as a first-mover with Semcasting and we look forward to a long-term mutually beneficial relationship.”
Semcasting is a supplier of predictive data solutions that help marketers, agencies and ad networks target online and offline customers. IP Audience Zones was built with the same predictive modeling technology used in the development of Semcasting’s premium data. It contains detailed, publicly available and modeled information on more than 227 million individuals–mapped as demographic zone clusters to IP Addresses. Semcasting data is licensed to data compilers and ad networks and is used by hundreds of public and private companies each month for targeting T&E, finance, retail telecommunications, and political campaigns.
Last week, a press release reported on some of the new strategic changes taking place within the company and a realignment of our C-level executives as we begin to move forward into the next phase of the online display advertising space.
–(PR.com)– The changes come at a time when the company is beginning the unification of its global sales efforts, a move designed to leverage the synergies that exist between the traditionally independent silos of performance and brand advertising in the online realm. CEO and Chairman, Mike Seiman, explains, “For a long time the industry has assumed that ‘branding’ and ‘performance’ were distinct entities. The truth is, however, that they are two different tactical directions that ultimately both support the strategy of driving revenue to the bottom line. With our new team in place, we are set to create significant synergies from value we have always offered on both sides of that tactical equation.”
A special thank you to our Marketing Manager, Dana Posner, for the contribution.
CPX Interactive employees at the 4th Annual Softball Game and BBQ
On Wednesday, October 12th 2011, the CPX Interactive staff gathered at Eisenhower Park in Westbury, NY, for the company’s 4th annual softball game & BBQ. With the fear of Mother Nature rearing its ugly head, predictions of thunderstorms nearly canceled the game. However, CPXers decided that a few measly raindrops wouldn’t allow them to miss a fun-filled day of festivities.
Mike Seiman, Founder & CEO, checks his phone in between games to make sure he didn't miss any important emails.
CPX Interactive holds true value to its employees’ team spirit in addition to supporting some healthy competition. After all of the hard work and dedication that these employees put in day-after-day, throughout the year, the annual company softball game & BBQ is one small way that the CPX Interactive executive team likes to say, ‘break-time everyone’! Since family and friends were also invited to join, dodgeball, Frisbee and a piñata were available in addition to the softball game.
Mike Seiman, Founder and CEO; Mike Weissman, Publisher Development Manager; and Jeffrey Reitzen, VP of Sales, CPA Division, all playing little dodgeball in between softball games.
All departments, regardless of responsibility and rank, gathered together for one afternoon and left all thoughts of business behind. Even Blackberries and iPhones were turned off…well MOST of them anyway. I did happen to catch our CEO, Mike Seiman, at one point checking in on a few things, but notably with Frisbee in-hand, so kudos on the multi-tasking skills. Aside from that, the only conversations which ensued were those of sports and games.
Sal Castelli, Director of Creative Development, gets ready to hit a home run.
While folks in the stands listened to the crack of a bat, gazed as their coworkers slid into first and, on occasion, ducked from a foul ball or two, they happily dined on some tasty grub. Catering consisted of finger-licking BBQ ribs, pulled-pork sandwiches, spicy green-bean casserole, delicious mac-n-cheese, sweet corn bread – and what’s a BBQ without some freshly-made potato salad!?
With minimal bruising, scrapes, face-dives and trip-ups, the CPX staff clearly “had a ball” at this year’s annual event. Feel free to visit our CPX Interactive Facebook page to view our softball photo album.
CPX Interactive is pleased to report that our inaugural membership into the BrightTag ONE Partner Program is now official. Announced in a Press Release yesterday, Oct. 17, 2011, BrightTag named several organizations, including CPX Interactive, as part of their ‘first wave’ of members connecting to the ONE Platform.
“BrightTag’s ONE Partner Program is designed to benefit digital marketing services providers by expediting activation of new clients, enhancing data collection capabilities and providing meaningful performance benefits for members’ clients.”…
CPX Interactive’s Strategy is the New Creative initiative has always been a conversation about, “The Promise of Digital” and reaching its full potential in the world of online advertising. We recently revisited this conversation by hosting a panel discussion at the IAB MIXX 2011 Conference and Expo on October 4, 2011 at the Crown Plaza Times Square in NYC.
David Shay, our EVP of Marketing, moderated the panel discussion and opened up a conversation that explored how a pendulum counter-swing that has seen the industry rapidly move towards a pure technology-based vision of ad serving, combined with an acceptance of a poor online attribution model, now runs the risk of marginalizing the value of the human element that makes up the ‘art’ of ad placement.
CPX Interactive recently sponsored the iMedia Brand Summit held this past Sept. 11-14, 2011 in Coronado, CA. Ross Cohen, Director of Sales at CPX Interactive gives us his account of the event and shares more about the theme, ‘Going Big in 2012.”
“What happens when advertising can’t bullsh*t us anymore?” That was the question. A provocative question, to be sure, but all the more so when you consider who was being asked: the very people behind the ads. No, not the creative wizards, but the brand marketers — the stewards of the brand.
The setting was the iMedia Brand Summit. The theme was “Digital Marketing at Scale: Going Big in 2012.” A few hundred executives, representing major brands and leading providers of digital marketing solutions descended on Coronado, California with gusto, relishing the opportunity to hear from industry heavyweights, meet fellow marketers and exchange ideas.
A few hundred may sound crowded, but for an advertising industry conference, it’s downright intimate. iMedia carefully crafts its summits for an enjoyable, informative, collegial, and with any luck, productive atmosphere.
CPX Interactive is proud to sponsor these gatherings and our own Jamie Gutterman, Dir. of Sales and Brie Thomas, Dir. of Sales, helped kick off the events with a lunchtime presentation that took the audience on a trip through time. Marketers witnessed just how far advertising has come in recent years, culminating in the latest marketing capabilities CPX brings to bear. Jamie, Brie, and I were on hand throughout the summit and were pleased to see iMedia once again outdid itself, delivering the impressive lineup we’ve come to expect.
Conventional wisdom was challenged, worn strategies refreshed, and clichéd buzz words dismissed, even as new ones were introduced. Summit Host and former Mars Chocolate marketer, Carole Walker, encouraged attendees to be “tradigital.” Shiv Singh, keynote speaker and global head of digital at PepsiCo Beverages, spoke of going “glocal” to achieve scale. While squeezing words together seemed to be the thing to do, others went a different route.
Geoff Ramsey, CEO and Co-Founder of eMarketer, spoke about “magnetic content.” Advertising grew up on the interruption model of TV, but digital gives brands the power to make audiences find them. “It’s more about attraction, rather than distraction,” said Ramsey. This was exemplified perfectly soon after as General Mills showed off their impressive foray into the market with branded information. As General Mills VP Doug Moore explained, users search for help baking cakes all the time, and there’s no shortage of ads fighting for their attention on the results and landing pages, but that really doesn’t concern General Mills. After all, with their branded information strategy, virtually every organic result links to a page syndicating one of their Betty Crocker how-to videos. That’s magnetic content.
Mitch Spolan of Living Social eschewed the vocabulary portion of the speaking formula and instead treated the audience to some amateur video of his daily lunch routine. The group couponing craze is about breaking pattern—getting someone to turn left, when every other day they go right.
Jeff Rosenblum, Co-Founder of Questus/Filmmaker
He was a great speaker, but the real entertainer on stage was Questus founding partner turned filmmaker Jeff Rosenblum, who stole the show with his caustic takedown of traditional advertising, hilariously scathing rebukes of advertising gone wrong and clarion call to embrace the new reality of marketing in the digital age. It started with a sneak peak at his upcoming documentary, The Naked Company. Jeff traveled the country interviewing academics, CEOs, and industry luminaries to discern the future of advertising.
Of course, to know where you’re going, you need to know where you are, and where you’ve been. Cue the black and white Flintstones episode with the cigarette product placement and full-throated endorsement by Fred and Barney (here’s another). It’s pretty shocking to today’s eyes but that’s where advertising started. Cut to the famous shot of the tobacco executives being sworn in for Congressional testimony and you can see where this is going. Trust in corporations is at an all time low. Advertising’s credibility has diminished over the years. Few industries in history have faced change as dramatically as advertising has over the past decade. But some brands are still preaching from the hilltop while consumers ignore ads and turn to unbiased sources of information.
Nowadays, brands can’t (and shouldn’t) stretch the truth. In the digital age, brands can’t claim their product is amazing when it’s a dog. To illustrate, Rosenblum tells a little story about a seemingly wonderful product he found online… and proceeds to mercilessly skewer it (although to be fair, it’s really the abysmal user reviews that do the heavy lifting).
He tells us he works too much and travels more than he should, so he wants to buy his kids a little something. He goes hunting for the perfect present to buy back their love; something fun but not too expensive. Voila! He comes across Crayola’s Washable Colored Bubble Launcher and its wondrous scenes of children filling the air with colorful bubbles, grinning ear to ear with the unbridled joy only a child can experience. It’s perfect, exactly what he wants. He’s ready to buy it and win Father of the Year award.
Unfortunately, before pulling the trigger on the purchase, he can’t help but notice that Amazon customers gave it just one out of five stars. Every product has a few detractors though, right? Well, in this case it was 80 detractors. And it turns out they gave it one star because Amazon doesn’t let you give zero stars. At this point in the presentation, there’s blood in the water and you can see Crayola is in for a tough time in this room full of brand marketers. Scientifically speaking, we’ve seen the quantitative feedback, now it was time for some qualitative reviews. Customer reviewers didn’t disappoint, saying it was “invented to torture parents,” and calling it “the worst ‘toy’ I have ever purchased.”
Perhaps the expression should be changed to “Hell hath no fury like a customer scorned.” The rebukes continued: “Whoever designed this product is a sick individual that hates parents, and thinks torturing children is great fun. It drips everywhere and destroys everything it touches”
These reviews may have made for some nice Schadenfreude, but a customer saying “you can no longer trust the Crayola name,” is a brand’s worst nightmare. That’s where the opening question comes in, “What happens when advertising can’t bullsh*t us anymore?” The answer, of course, is to watch his documentary and find out. Transparency has to be embraced, either you make it happen, or it happens to you. Making that point in the film is no less an authority than creative genius turned altruistic entrepreneur, Alex Bogusky. He continues, “Being a great company is the new brand, because there’s not going to be anything between the consumer and the reality of that company.”
Web Scale Engineer (LAMP): The Web Scale Engineer will be responsible for supporting a blended physical/cloud infrastructure and providing high availability solutions for web and infrastructure applications. Provides advanced troubleshooting of Linux- related technologies, Web sites, systems, networks, and databases. Monitors internal Web- site/Linux environment via real-time tools and alerts…
Technical Project Manager: We are looking for a Technical Project Manager who will coordinate and monitor technical projects from initiation through delivery. Our ideal candidate is organized and comfortable with formal project management methodologies, but flexible and agile enough to work in a fast paced and rapidly changing environment. Project types include small multi-day one-offs to large multi-month implementations…
It was a full day of talking about Display…advertising, that is. 
