Nina Disi is one of the newest members to the CPX Interactive family, joining us in January, 2012.  Find out more about where she’s from, where she’s been and what she’ll be doing here at CPX.

What is your title and what do you do here at CPX?

I joined CPX Interactive as the Director of Sales for the Eastern Region.  I partner with agencies and brands to help scale digital with the plethora of media solutions that our company has to offers.   I welcome the ever changing media environment and enjoy translating new offerings into simple yet successful solutions for my client’s.

What did you do prior to coming to CPX?

Prior to joining CPX Interactive I assisted agencies and brands in streamlining their digital planning and buying process so they can devote more resources to strategic thinking and maximize their potential revenue growth.

Where are you from and where did you go to school?

I am originally from New York receiving my Bachelors Degree in Media Studies from Queens College.  I enjoyed living in Cambridge, MA for a few years and when I returned to NYC I settled in the Upper Westside of Manhattan.

We know you recently visited a far off destination over the holiday. Can you tell us more about that and why you traveled so far?

I have a passion for traveling.  The best way to learn about a country and its culture is to submerge yourself into it.  My most recent trip took me to Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh.

What is your favorite piece of technology?

At the fear of sounding cliché…the iphone.  I’ve got to have my Words with Friends and Spotify apps.  I also like to check my weather app before I leave the house in the morning…making sure I’m prepared for whatever the day may bring.

What is one website that you constantly find yourself visiting?

I constantly find myself visiting Linkedin.com.  I enjoy networking and keeping up with the projects my colleagues in the industry are working on.

Connect with Nina on LinkedIn.

CPX Interactive recently sponsored an event with members from the Boston Interactive Media Association (BIMA) at New England Aquarium in Boston, MA. 

In recent months, CPX Interactive has been growing its presence in the Boston area with the help of some new friends from BIMA (Boston Interactive Media Association). Through a combined effort, CPX team members have been taking valuable strides in developing relationships and meeting with marketing and advertising professionals as well as getting to know the Boston area a little better. CPX Interactive’s Ben Turk, Director of Sales; Dana Posner, Marketing Manager; Jessica Calyer, Sales Associate; Polly Payne, Product Planner/Brand Sales; Stephen Kelly, AE/Emerging Verticals and Taylor Hall Marketing Associate, attend their sponsored event held at the New England Aquarium on Boston’s beautiful harbor.

Shannon FitzGerald, Digitas; Frank Petrosky, Digitas, Rachel Aranson, Digitas, and Nicholas Puccio, Digitas, all want a piece of the Cow Nose Rays.

On Thursday, August 18, 2011, the CPX team and BIMA members gathered in the newest attraction at the New England Aquarium, a touch tank filled with Cow Nose Rays and Bonnethead sharks.  The event,  Drinks, Eats and SHARKS?!, was CPX’s way of saying, ‘just as there are plenty of fish in the sea, there are just as many online advertising opportunities.’

Andrew Plakias, Digitas; Polly Payne, CPX Interactive; Kevin Vigneron, Digitas; Jessica Calyer, CPX Interactive and John Anderson, Digitas, enjoy a meal surrounded by beautiful Jellyfish.

The theme mirrored the fun-filled evening of everything interactive where guests had the chance to touch the friendly rays and sharks while they chatted with one another. Attendees included media people from Digitas, Allen & Gerritsan, Starcom MediaVest, all of whom participated in the touch tank experience.  A room just below the main exhibit housed a jelly fish observatory where attendees dined as they enjoyed looking at the beautiful creatures.  

Andrew Plakias, Digitas and Polly Payne, CPX Interactive, can't help but laugh as they touch the slimy backs of the Cow Nose Rays.

 It was the perfect evening for the CPX team and BIMA guests to mix and mingle as both groups are still getting to know each other.  Meeting  a few of the BIMA team leaders, Cally Cooke and Lindsey Thorne-Bingham, was a great opportunity for CPX to put names on the faces we have been in contact with since CPX began working with BIMA in the beginning of the year.  Overall, the evening was a ‘great catch’.

To see all the pictures from the Drinks, Eats and SHARKS?! event, visit the CPX Interactive Facebook page.

Drawing Up Solutions with CPX

Recently, our sales team  was in need of some new direct response materials.  They joined forces with the marketing team to come up with a new strategy for a direct response campaign that was both fun and interactive.  The ideas were then passed on to our in-house creative team who created a series of comic strips designed to highlight the many solutions that CPX has to offer.  The CPX Solutions series recently debuted their first installment, Cost Per “Like”, which was just featured in a sponsorship newsletter for BIMA (Boston Interactive Media Association).

In this first episode, we meet Mike, a social media strategist with a major dilemma.  In 2 weeks, Mike has to present to his company’s executive board who want to see results.  Only one problem though, the successful social strategy he needs to develop is lacking in more ways than one and driving fans to his company Facebook page is not as easy as he thought.  Will he reach his goal before the big presentation?  Will CPX Solutions save the day?  Read more to find out what happens to Mike.

…User Experience IS the Brand

Is it ‘digital marketing’ or ‘interactive marketing’? I am never sure which is better to use, so I use them interchangeably. The confusion is understandable–I guess. The world of digital marketing ushered in the completely new concept of being able to interact with the message being put out by an advertiser. We take it for granted at this point, but ‘clicking’ on an ad’ was a pretty amazingly novel idea a little more than 10 years ago.

Unfortunately, as I have written about before in this blog, I believe the industry actually may have leaned too far into this novelty. ‘Interaction’ quickly became a tactic to be measured, rather than a part of the strategy to be incorporated. By ‘ponying up’ on the idea that interaction could now be measured, digital advertising may have tied a weight to itself that it is only now learning that it must shed.

The truth is that the interactivity (the ability to engage and control our experience) offered by digital media provides advertisers the chance to completely rethink their brand strategy. In a world where interaction is the norm, a user’s brand experience becomes three dimensional. A brand advertiser can now focus on the look and feel of his brand, while also focusing on the core benefits and attributes of his brand, and perhaps more interestingly, on how to  create interactive extensions of those benefits and attributes in which to immerse his potential target.

We do ourselves a disservice, however, when we try too hard to make this point. When a digital marketing player starts talking with a brand advertiser about the user experience possibilities, he often becomes so passionate about the picture he is painting that it seems to be a zero sum game, where all advertising dollars would be best spent in the digital (rather than the traditional) realm. The knee jerk reaction to being told that everything you are doing must change, is certainly predictable and it is of little surprise that brand advertisers often end up rejecting the idea that interactivity could assist in the job of brand building.

In order to move forward, we must start thinking more about how digital and interactive media advertising can play a role in the overall brand strategy, and in fact, work to magnify and compliment parts of a campaign that are executed across traditional media. The ‘user experience’ of the brand can begin in one medium and continue in another…one that allows more exploration.  In his commentary on MediaPost today, Olof Schybergson, CEO of Fjord, a 10-year-old digital design firm, explores this possible solution to the feud between digital and branding as he lays out a number of points that today’s brand advertiser should ask himself in light of the interactive possibilities. Schybergson also explains:

There are many great examples of integrated campaigns that truly take a user on a useful and enhanced journey with the brand. Companies that are getting this right, often capture user interest or trigger a thought in the offline world, and then engage and provide additional information and buy-in online.

This kind of integrated media campaign is absolutely the path forward. Bringing the digital experience into the planning stages of a cross media campaign will open some important doorways in creating new levels of brand engagement, and therefore brand favorability..and isn’t that what ‘branding’ really means?

The bottom line is, that in an interactive world, user experience is the brand.

Check out www.strategyisthenewcreative.com for more of our ongoing conversation on the importance of bringing interactive strategy into the creative branding process.

CPX Interactive sponsors and attends the popular west coast event,  Interactive Day San Diego.

Every year, advertising folks from all walks of digital life, come together for one of the biggest conferences on the West Coast, Interactive Day San Diego.  CPX Interactive was in attendance and also a proud sponsor of the one day event that was held on June 1, 2011 at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel.

Being that is was the 6^th annual Interactive Day San Diego (IDSD), attendance had nearly doubled from last year’s event.  More than 500 experienced and innovative industry leaders from within the digital advertising space came to network with one another and learn about the latest technologies and online trends.  Networking was, indeed, a key aspect of this event as the venue provided a comfortable and casual setting for attendees to communicate and interact with one another.  Our own Gary Bembridge, EVP Sales, North America and Brie Thomas, Director of Sales West Coast had the pleasure of attending IDSD.

The morning events were kicked off with opening keynote speaker, Jason Sadler, founder of iwearyourshirt.com.  Mr. Sadler addressed the audience with a bit of comedy while focusing on Social Media, t-shirts and Unicorns, yes- Unicorns.

There was a break in the Main Expo Hall following the morning’s events where exhibiting companies were set up, displaying their company messaging. What felt like a neighborhood of digital friends, through the increased booth participation, served as a great value to leverage  networking capabilities.  Individual sessions were also a valuable part of the IDSD’s event schedule.  Attendees could join a small group discussion about topics ranging from Creativity, Tools of the Trade, Mobile, Social Media, and the Business of Digital.

During lunch, the CPX team had the opportunity to sit with a group from MEA Digital The keynote speaker, Kari Allen, who is VP of West Coast National Sales for Groupon, discussed strategic relationships and how to build strategic relationships with top marketers on the west coast.

Interactive Day San Diego was a high energy and productive conference.  To be able to interact with such a large group from the digital advertising and marketing community is always a great learning experience.  Those who attended IDSD 2011, including CPX team members, left the conference with a more optimized and thought provoking view of what’s going on in the marketplace and put them a step ahead of what’s to come next.

We look forward to participating in next year’s event.

President and COO, Rob Rasko, discusses the evolution of the CPX Interactive technology platform. This video was filmed as part of an interview series at CPX Interactive’s 2010 Global Management Conference.

CPX Interactive President & COO discusses the evolution of the online ad networks’ technology platform. This video was filmed as part of an interview series at the company’s 2010 global management conference.

CPX Interactive attends iMedia Breakthrough Summit 2011

‘Thank you’ to Polly Payne (Product Planner/Brand Sales at CPX Interactive) for the contribution.

What brings top brands, ad networks and agencies in the internet industry under one roof?

Jamie Gutterman (Director of Sales at CPX Interactive) and Polly Payne (Product Planner/Brand Sales at CPX Interactive) having lunch with other iMedia Breakthrough Summit attendees.

The iMedia Breakthrough Summit in Miami, Fla. was packed with industry players this Spring. CPX Interactive was proud to sponsor a delicious lunch on day two which provided a nice opportunity for everyone to graze and mingle.  While the goal of iMedia is networking, this summit provided a great platform for educating advertising leaders on what will happen next in this rapidly changing industry.  I learned a lot from my time at iMedia, but some key take points I took away were: 

1. Social media is growing!  Advertising on Facebook is much different than traditional sites because people use them differently.  People use Facebook like TV.  People log on as a form of interactive entertainment.  Facebook “Likes” are reinventing the purchase funnel and generating a real connection to the user.

2. Engagement is vital for a campaign’s success.  Engaging users without relevancy to  the users, however, is useless.  

3. Touch screens are the future.  50% of kids younger than 15 by 2015 will use touch screens.  

4. Purchase decisions are dependent on peers.  78% of people trust their peers, while a mere 14% trust advertisers.

Joe Monaco (Mobile Account Executive at JumpTap), Jamie Gutterman (Director of Sales CPX Interactive), Frederick Stalings (Associate Director at OMD Airwave), Polly Payne (Product Planner/Brand Sales at CPX Interactive)

Another great function this year at iMedia was the 1:1 sessions.  I was told previous summits would match you up for only one minute!  That’s hardly time to say hello!  This year “one to ones” were pre-scheduled and lasted 10 minutes.  My colleague Jamie and I had great success with the one on one meetings and enjoyed the advantageous time to sit and engage with new faces.

At CPX we work hard to stay on the cutting edge of internet advertising.  We offer custom social media solutions such as Facebook “Likes,” “Allows,” traffic across our entire social media vertical and customized ad units that incorporate social media buttons!  We also run on multiple platforms and provide targeted traffic on mobile, iPad, traditional displays and video networks.  With all of this and more, we have the capabilities to make brands cut thru the clutter with innovative executions. All in all it was a great conference.  iMedia rocks!

To see more photos from the event, please visit our Facebook page and out Flickr page.

CPX Interactive uses Philanthropic site, CPXample, to help Japan

It was on March 11, 2011 that an earthquake ruptured off the East coast of Japan violently shaking cities and small rural towns for up to five minutes in some areas.  The earthquake was so powerful that reports of trembles from the violent quake were felt reports came in from over 1,200 miles from the epicenter.  Within fifteen minutes a 33-foot-tall Tsunami traveling at 500-miles-per-hour devoured Japan’s landscape as the wave traveled inward off the coast for almost 6 miles.  Without mercy, the wave swallowed everything in its path paralyzing a country and causing the greatest destruction and loss of life that Japan hasn’t seen since World War II.

In the past, CPX Interactive has leveraged its own philanthropic division, CPXample, to drive awareness of both brands and not-for-profits  using online tools and strategies to encourage  global activism. Whether focusing on help efforts in the wake of the Haitian earthquake or supporting the get-out-the-vote effort right here in the US, CPXample has always been the outlet through which this global online ad network has channeled its ability to drive significant online traffic toward good causes. The ongoing tragedy in Japan will be no different.

For the next fweeks and months, CPXample.com, will highlight organizations that are doing their part to help the survivors of the recent devastation in Japan. This will be supported by the division’s twitter feed (@cpxample ) and its facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/CPXample). Additionally, CPX Interactive will be ramping up the amount of online traffic it donates to directing internet users to the CPXample.com website.

By shedding some light on these valuable philanthropic resources, we seek to inspire individuals to participate and take action anyway they can.   In the effort to rebuild Japan, the global community will need to build a humanitarian support system committed to laying one brick at a time over a long period. Find out how you can get to work today at www.cpxample.com.

This blog is kind of like “Social Media Headquarters” for CPX Interactive. But, we have quite a few other pages across the Web, and we invite you to visit us there as well.

We also blog on WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, and Vox.  For photos from around the office,  CPX and industry events, and company trips, visit our pages on Flickr and Shutterfly. Longer CPX videos are on YouTube, and shorter blips can be found on the CPX Interactive channel on 12seconds.tv.

CPX also has a Twitter feed, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, Delicious bookmarks, and a FriendFeed. So, if you’re on any of these sites, be sure to check out our pages. We’d love to connect with you!

The year is 180 A.D., our beloved emperor, Marcus Aurelius, mysteriously died in his sleep. His only son, Commodus, has taken the throne. Commodus rules with irrational fear, killing anyone or anything that threatens his power. The glory that once was Rome is all but lost. The Senate is too weak to challenge Commodus and Rome’s elite are too scared to show dissent. Rome’s fate lies in your hands, a mere slave. You must raise an army, develop your political power, expand the reaches of your influence and rise above the masses. There was once a dream called Rome… It is up to you to bring back the glory of Rome and crown yourself Caesar.

Treachery: The Rise to Caesar is an exciting, interactive, and addicting social networking game that lets you step into the shoes of a Roman slave who must raise an army, develop political power, and build a kingdom in order to overthrow Commodus, rise to Caesar, and restore the glory back to Rome!

To add the app and join the fun, go to http://apps.facebook.com/treachery!

Treachery: The Rise to Caesar is the inaugural initiative of Paperclip Applications, a Social Gaming division of online ad network, CPX Interactive.

Also, be sure to join the Paperclip Applications Group, on Facebook, where you can talk about Treachery, receive updates on current games, and make suggestions for future games!