At CPX Interactive, perhaps our greatest assets as a company are our people. We are blessed with a fantastic team chemistry that makes working here a real pleasure for everyone from account managers to our exec team. We thought we would introduce a series that would convey the kind of company we have created by letting these assets speak (and laugh) for themselves.

Enjoy ‘On the Couch’ with CPXers – Vol. 1 in which you will meet Business Analyst – TJ Bramblett, Manager of Business Analytics – Erin McCay, Account Executive – Stephen Kelly and Publisher Development Manager – Nick Colletti.

(We apologize for the less than terrific sound on this one, but if it catches on, perhaps we will invest in lavaliere mic…)

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/.

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.”…

READ ENTIRE PRESS RELEASE

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.”

Natalie Lambert, Director of Sales Texas Region, talks about CPX Interactive’s new presence in the Austin market. 

Since being appointed Director of Sales for the Texas Region over three months ago, I’ve been working hard to build our presence and branding here as effectively as possible.  I’ve spent a great deal of time meeting with various agencies, attending seminars and networking mixers, all in an effort to introduce CPX Interactive into the Austin market.  Working with the Austin Advertising Federation has been a major part of that and continues to be a great asset.   

The Austin Ad Fed is a hub for talented agencies, media groups, and various other creative industries. They consist of over 2,000 members in the Austin area and for the second year in a row, they have won “Club of The Year” by the American Advertising Association.  With the Austin Ad Fed’s deep commitment to the ad industry and their local community, CPX Interactive is honored to work alongside such a great organization.

Natalie Lambert and Polly Payne with Account Executives from GSD&M

CPX team members from the New York office: Gary Bembridge, EVP of Sales and Polly Payne, Product Planner/Brand Sales, flew into Austin to accompany me to my Agency presentation with GSD&M and to assist in representing CPX at a sponsored mixer with the Austin Ad Fed.

Natalie Lambert, Gary Gembridge and Keren Goumakos, President of the Austin Ad Fed

The sponsored mixer was held on August, 10th at the Dogwood in downtown Austin and was titled “Beat the Heat Mixer.” The event attracted 100 industry professionals from around the Austin area and was one of the largest turnouts for a mixer the Austin Ad Fed has ever encountered! We gave away a $100 American Express gift card and made sure no one left without taking various CPX goodies with them such as pens, notebooks, energy shots and key chains.

The event was a great way to introduce CPX Interactive to Austin’s advertising market and posed a great opportunity to meet some of talented individuals from around the area.  I was honored to host such a successful event and will continue to establish CPX’s presence here in Texas!

Getting back to the Basics of Working With an Ad Network…

A few months ago, I was reading a great book called, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, by David Meerman Scott.  After the first few chapters, I felt as if I was reading about topics I felt that I already understood.  Or so I thought.  By the end of the book I found myself saying, “What a refresher course.” Although I was trying to learn something new, as the book clearly states, I ended up remembering the important basics that had so quickly left my memory bank. The book talked about “the new rules”, but it was also a reminder that the old rules still apply.

This past week, I was reading an article posted on Adotas titled, Boosting Campaign Performance with Ad Networks; the same thing happened. The article pointed out five basic points to achieve an ideal campaign with an Ad Network.  Although the points were somewhat obvious, it brought to mind the undeniable disconnect between what advertisers know about ad networks and realizing the full potential of what ad networks are capable of.  We decided to elaborate on these points to rehash some of the straightforward yet often overlooked benefits of working with an ad network.

First, the article says to find someone on the inside that can, and is willing, or motivated to help you. Well, we couldn’t agree more. Our Account Management team is trained to think as though they are our client’s inside representative.

The second point, be honest about your campaign goals. To us, this seems obvious enough, but it is certainly worth including.  We deliver the best results for our clients when their true goals have been made as clear as possible.  We are always prepared to deliver success in any way we need to, but we are not trained to be mind readers.

Being realistic in your expectations is third.  This one is important.  We can deliver impressive online advertising campaigns, if we are given the chance.  But the truth is that, while we have pulled off a miracle or two, expecting a highly targeted campaign that is focused on a very small sample audience, to produce scalable leads, at a minimal cost, is simply not a realistic expectation.

The fourth point the article makes is, don’t be afraid to ask for special accommodations, especially if you are the key person buying media for a brand.  While we can’t promise we’ll always be able to accommodate a request 100%, the truth is that we are a service business and we understand that you know your business better than anyone else.  Our job is to make sure you know what is possible, but you need to let us know what is important to you.

Finally, the fifth and final point that the article makes is that constant communication is crucial, especially in the early stages of your ad campaign. Our view of the client/network relationship rests on the interaction between your point campaign person and one of our top notch Account Managers.  We know that the campaign that starts out in the most organized and open way is the campaign that ends with success.  Communication in the launch phase is probably the single most important to ensuring this success.

Working with an Ad Network is an important aspect to any online marketing strategy.  But if you don’t know what the Ad Network is capable of, you might get lost in an ocean of options that you don’t fully understand. We may all say we understand the importance of communication, but in the fast moving world of online advertising we can sometimes forget the basics. Re-remembering these few simple (yet true) key points is an important part of moving forward and running a successful campaign.

CPX is excited to sponsor and attend the The Austin Ad Fed’s Happy Hour Mixer.

We are looking forward to sponsoring the upcoming Austin Ad Fed Happy Hour Mixer next week in downtown Austin, TX.   Hosted by The Austin Ad Fed, the summer networking event offers the opportunity for industry professionals to mix and mingle with their peers and fellow CPX team members: Gary Bembridge, EVP of Sales/ North America; Natalie Lambert, Director of Sales LA/Texas; and Polly Payne, Product Planner/Brand Sales.

CPX Interactive recently opened a new office in Austin, TX. Being the ‘new kid’ in town, we are excited to connect with the ad community and show our support to the Austin Ad Fed.

The Event will be held at the:

Molotov Lounge 719 West 6^th Street, Austin

Wednesday Aug. 10, 2011 from 6pm-8pm

Attendance is free and open to everyone. The first 50 guests will receive a complimentary drink ticket.  Make sure you bring your business card to enter in our raffle to win a $100 American Express gift card.  CLICK HERE to RSVP on the event’s Facebook Page.

A special thanks to our guest contributor, Sharone Hadari, VP of West Coast Operations.

Working in Sales in the digital advertising industry can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. There are thousands of publishers, hundreds of ad networks, and soon, if not already, hundreds of DSPs to compete with for agency brand dollars. This is where a person in online ad sales must really try to stand out and differentiate themselves from the competition. In doing so, you want to put a little creativity in the ways you maintain your current client relationships and in the ways you cultivate new client relationships. The following is one example of my own creative way in helping to maintain an existing client relationship.
I attended a ThinkLA Poker event on a Thursday night with a few co-workers. We wound up spending the last few hours of the night with one of our existing clients. We had a great time together and ended up coming home around 2am!

Waking up the next morning was a little tiresome, but it was Friday and we knew the weekend was right around the corner. Knowing how I was feeling at that moment, I immediately thought that our clients probably felt the same way. With that, I went ahead and called a local pizza place and had a few pizzas delivered to their offices at lunchtime…the perfect cure for the previous night’s festivities! We had the pizza place include a note on our behalf. Once the pizzas were delivered, our clients responded with the biggest Thank You email. They definitely appreciated our thoughtfulness and clearly enjoyed the pizza. Who wouldn’t?

In the days after that gesture we have received have over $150k in new business from that client. Now while I can’t say it had anything to do with my small (but thoughtful) gesture, I can say that it didn’t hurt ; )

Moral of the story…the little things you do go a long way!

…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.