fa·ble [fey-buhl] (noun)

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 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.”

READ THE ENTIRE RELEASE HERE

About Semcasting

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.

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 12^th 2011, the CPX Interactive staff gathered at Eisenhower Park in Westbury, NY, for the company’s 4^th 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.”…

READ ENTIRE PRESS RELEASE

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.

Hear thoughts about the opportunities, challenges and dangers of the technology-heavy ad placement tactics currently being used from our panel of industry execs:  Zach Coelius, CEO of Triggit; Steve Latham, Founder & CEO of Encore Media Metrics; Michael L. Miller, CMO of SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership; and Mike Seiman, Founder and CEO of CPX Interactive.

A special thank you to our own Taylor Hall, Marketing Associate, for the contribution.

The 2011 AWNY Women to Watch Luncheon was held on, Aug. 10, 2011 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.  The sold-out event packed the breathtaking hallways of the historic hotel with honorees, AWNY members and guests who were all eager to hear from some of the most accomplished women in the advertising and marketing industry today. Joining me, Taylor Hall, Marketing Associate, was Sales Associate, Jessica Calyer, at the event.

AWNY's Womeon to Watch Luncheon was held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City

As I sat with my colleague in the rear of the theatre hall, I looked around the room at all of the talented and successful women in my industry. We shook hands and met with some very interesting people, most of which, to my surprise, were all involved in the digital and online realm of advertising and marketing.  In the back of my mind, as I was introducing myself, I couldn’t help but think, “I’m so glad I got my degree in the right field.”

Jessica Calyer, Sales Associate and Taylor Hall, Marketing Associate

As the event began, 23 women took their seats on stage.  Each honoree was from a different company and being honored for a different achievement.  Dressed in savvy yet formal business attire, they didn’t forget to address the presence of their families before they addressed their respective questions.  Below are some of my favorite and inspiring quotes from the event’s honorees.

Maryam Banikarim, Senior VP-CMO at Gannett, responded to a question about the power of learning with, “It’s about listening, but also about knowing who you are.”

Lauren Crampsie, CMO at Ogilvy, answered a question about self promotion with, “We are brands just as our clients are brands.  As an agency we are at our best when we are learning and teaching.  Self promotion adds value to the industry and our clients.”

Beth Ann Kaminkow, first CEO at TracyLocke, on creativity said, “It’s creativity with consequence.  Taking responsibility for our creativity is how to create a meaningful experience.”

Katie Ford, exec VP-managing director at Starcom Mediavest, on what makes a good campaign said, “A campaign is like a marriage.  It’s knowing when to apply the art and when to apply the science.  It’s getting the right people in the room on both sides to make it work.”

Lisa Price, Founder of Carol’s Daughter, responding to a question about success in entrepreneurship said, “Nobody is going to treat your baby the way you do.  Keeping the DNA of your brand intact means you have to sit at the table and share those ideas with your team and learn with your team as well.”

Desiree Rogers, CEO of Johnson Publishing Co. talked about lessons learned saying, “Spend less time talking about what didn’t work and more time about the solution.  Look into the future and the road that is right in front of you.”

The event was as inspiring as it was memorable.  Learning where the honorees came from and seeing the career path that they have created is a driving force of determination to create a similar path for ourselves. These women are creating success through their roles and continue to prove that women in advertising are not only equal to men, but that they may soon be gaining the lead in the industry altogether.

Our philanthropic division in review…and a quick look forward. 

We like to think of ourselves as a global online ad network with a conscience. Since our early days as a pioneer in the display advertising space, we have believed that the power to drive millions of eyeballs to online destinations creates a corresponding sense of responsibility. For this reason, we have leveraged our resources to create a corporate philanthropic division, CPXample, and thru it we have lent the power of online exposure to good causes of all kinds. 

 In the first stages of the philanthropic division’s growth, we picked specific causes to work with and served millions of no-charge impressions per month (usually 30 million) to direct scalable traffic to the cause’s website. Causes we partnered with during this early phase included; SaveDarfur.org, LiveEarth.org, The Child Rescue Network, Children’s International, and the American Diabetes Association.  

As time passed we thought it would be interesting to put some more of our own ‘skin in the game.’ We began to think about creating and promoting our own causes. One gratifying result of this initiative was our partnership with Russell Simmons and his Hip-Hop Urban Action Summit Network in creating and promoting a celebrity studded video that addressed the importance of getting out the vote leading up to the 2008 presidential election. “Vote For it ’08!” was the name of the video and the related promotion. (OF NOTE: with the help of CPX Interactive’s global network, ‘views’ of the video shot to over 1 million with a two week launch period!)

As interest grew in the CPXample project, we realized that we wanted to ‘cover more ground’ and we decided to improve how we executed our plan. In order to increase the number of causes we could spotlight every month, we launched our ‘cause aggregation blog,’ http://www.cpxample.com/. Now, we could drive millions of impressions every month to one specific location, offering multiple cause per month the chance to be spotlighted on the site while a steady stream of cause-minded folks checked in to see what was new.

Along the way we have focused on Brand Philanthropy, offered ways for interested parties to get involved in causes, pointed to places where they could donate to recovery efforts and highlighted fun and interactive ways to make the world a better place…one click at a time. 

In trying to keep up with how people choose to engage, we have added a Twitter stream and a Facebook page to the CPXample family along the way. 

As we look forward to what is in store for our philanthropic efforts in the remainder of 2011, we are very excited about the upcoming Social Good Summit, a partnership between the United Nations Foundation and Mashable. The Social Good Summit will bring together entrepreneurs, philanthropists and technologists from around the world to discuss the current and future global challenges, and how the advances in technology can help.  CPXample plans to cover the event in depth and to offer any assistance we can (with the help of the CPX Interactive network) in helping Mashable to make it a truly globally viral event. 

As we continue to grow, we are always looking for new opportunities to branch our philanthropic efforts into other directions.  You can reach out to us on our website at http://www.cpxample.com, on any of our social media pages or by emailing us at CPXample@cpxinteractive.com. 

Video: Jeffrey Reitzen on the Evolution of CPA

CPX Interactive’s VP of Sales, CPA Division, Jeffrey Reitzen, talks about what CPA clients are looking for, the evolution of CPA and the differences between traditional and online media. This video was filmed as part of a series of interviews at the company’s 2010 management conference.

Although many marketers have realized the importance of social media in their overall strategy, not all of them are integrating social media with the rest of their campaign. Certain features, like polls and product reviews, are the most commonly integrated, but others, like blogs and microblogging, are still run separately by a large percentage of marketers.

Earlier this month, we wrote about how social media is only one piece of the marketing puzzle. There are things that cannot be done through social media, just as there are things that are not as effective through traditional media channels. Integrating social media with your campaign allows all of the various elements to compliment and supplement one another. For example, we include we include our Twitter/Facebook/Blog links on printed materials for industry events, and as part of the contact section at the bottom of press releases.   We also asked all of our employees to include these links in their e-mail signatures. These things give our social media presence context.

By Samantha Karol
@cpxsam
Sr. Marketing Assistant