Last week, the IAB held its second annual Long Tail Alliance Fly-In in Washington, DC. CPX’s CEO Mike Seiman, and VP of Publisher Development, Mike Zacharski, joined other IAB member supporters, and 46 small publishers, to tell their elected officials about the importance of Internet advertising to small business growth. The publishers represented 14 states, and spent a day on Capitol Hill meeting with members of the House and the Senate to discuss how the privacy legislation proposed by Rep. Rick Boucher would negatively impact them.

According to MediaPost, the bill “would require companies that track users across the Web to notify them and either obtain their consent — though opt-out consent would be okay if the companies allowed consumers to view and access their profiles. The bill also would require opt-in consent before sites collect or disclose sensitive information, defined as medical records, race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, financial records and precise geolocation information.”  The Fly-In attendees split into groups and spoke with members of Congress about issues that concern them, such as why they believe cookies are beneficial, and the importance of the fact that IP addresses are non-personally identifiable pieces of information.  This video shows more about the positive impact of cookies on a user’s online experience.

In addition, a new study issued by the IAB on June 10 found that interactive advertising is responsible for $300 billion of economic activity in the U.S.–or 2.1 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). Plus, over three million people are employed in the U.S. thanks in part to the online ad business, including 1.2 million with high-paying jobs that did not exist two decades ago, says the study.

“The results of this study confirm the vast influence and driving importance of the ad-supported Internet to the overall economy,” said Randall Rothenberg, IAB president and CEO. “By understanding the total contribution of the Internet to the U.S. economy, we can more accurately assess the impact of potential legislative changes on the Internet’s operations, particularly the consequences of any actions that would alter ad-supported business models.”

When they were not meeting with legislators, the Long Tail members attended training sessions, strategic planning panels and roundtable discussions created specifically to address the business interests of small publishers. Mike Seiman joined Jarvis Coffin of Burst Media, and Scott Portugal of TRAFFIQ/MMi to answer the publishers questions about ad networks.

Mike was grateful for the opportunity to participate in this event, and enjoyed speaking to members of Congress. Read about his experience here on his personal blog.

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The benefits of targeting are clear, for both advertisers and publishers. As seen below, more than 60% of agencies were able to increase their clients’ online display ad spending budget as a result of audience targeting.

Publishers benefit from higher CPMs, better performance, and more, as seen in this chart:

Agencies, advertisers and publishers are all concerned about the looming possibility of targeting-related legislation. eMarketer found that the majority of advertisers and publishers, and about one-half of agencies, believe the most effective way to protect consumer privacy is through industry self-regulation. However, many of these advertisers and publishers were unfamiliar with the self-regulatory initiatives already begun by the IAB. Although they know what is at risk if the government takes control of regulation, it is clear that some are still hesitant to take the initiative themselves.

For more on targeting and consumer privacy, check out  these posts, and visit the Online with CPX section of our blog. CPX COO & President, Rob Rasko, discussed these issues in video interviews with some of the foremost industry execs at the IAB Leadership Meeting earlier this year.

By Samantha Karol, Senior Marketing Assistant

It’s a busy week for the online advertising industry, and CPX Interactive is taking part in events in Florida and Washington, D.C.

COO & President, Rob Rasko, and EVP of Sales, Gary Bembridge, are attending the iMedia Brand Summit in Miami.  At this Summit, iMedia is asking digital marketers and their brand manager colleagues to pair up and learn together. They have been discussing core business challenges with peers-and publisher and service provider partners, and yesterday, enjoyed a keynote from Mark Snyder, CMO of the Kmart Corporation. CPX is sponsoring today’s lunch, from 12:30-1:45.

While Gary and Rob are in Florida, CPX CEO Mike Seiman, and VP of Publisher Development, Mike Zacharski, are in Washington D.C., lobbying Congress on behalf of small website publishers. They are participating in the IAB Long Tail Alliance Fly-In, a unique opportunity for small publishers from across America to tell their story to Congress. CPX is a major supporter of the Long Tail Alliance, and is proud to be a part of this event.

Recently I was able to participate in a comScore webinar entitled: State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy in Q1 2010. Here are some of the things that I learned:

Although there is still a lot of progress to be made, the U.S. online retail economy has finally begun to show some signs of recovery.  According to a comScore, e-commerce has grown significantly, and sales are up 6% (from last year). This quarter is the first, since the recession hit, when e-commerce spending has been more than 8%. Since the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, GDP has stopped declining and begun increasing again. There has been a positive growth in GDP in Q1 of 2010, but this is not necessarily a sign of economic progress. The job market is still painting a gloomy picture, and it comes as no surprise that unemployment remains the top economic concern among consumers. Consumer sentiment about the current state of the economy is improving, although many are still pessimistic overall.

A greater focus on price and spending has caused consumers to turn to the Internet more than in the past.  They have also found themselves “trading down” as a means of coping with decreased spending power, and brand loyalty has become less of a priority than saving money. Coupon sites have also increased in importance and popularity, as have cost saving offers like free shipping.  Although consumers are still cutting back on spending, all income segments have seen an increase in growth in retail spending since a year ago. More than half of the major retail segments out-performed the total quarterly e-commerce growth rate of 10%, compared to a year ago.

There has been an increase in the use of social media and group buying sites to reach consumers. People are spending one out of every twelve minutes online, and it has been observed that social media users are also heavy online spenders. In addition to the more traditional social networks, group buying sites have seen significant growth in Q1 2010, and flash sale sites continue to grow.

Twitter continues to have a high awareness, even among those who have never used the site.  Of those who do use it, 23% follow businesses to find special deals, promotions or sales, reviews and opinions.  comScore believes that certain social media myths, such as that the audience is all young people with no money, and that low ad click through rates equal low performance, may be responsible for advertisers’ reluctance to advertise on social media. However, it is clear that those who give into these myths are missing opportunities to reach large groups of people who are already active online.

By Samantha Karol, Sr. Marketing Assistant

Thoughts from our CEO, Mike Seiman:

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the DC Summit Series, an amazing gathering of some of the youngest and brightest entrepreneurs to ever grace this world.  While there, I had the pleasure of hearing a futurist named Ray Kurzweil speak about the evolution of technology and where it will go in the future.  He explained the phenomenon of how technology generally starts off linear, and moves into an exponential phase, where it grows at a rate faster than people can generally keep up with.  I thought about this concept long and hard, and decided that it could be related to advertising in general. So, I did a little research and here is what I’ve come up with (this is in no way a complete history of advertising, just a few key points to explain my rationale):

1704 – First Newspaper Advertisement Placed

1742 – First Magazine Ads

1843 – First Advertising Agency

1882 – Proctor and Gamble Start Advertising

1917 – First Agency Trade Association Developed

1929 – $12 Million Spent Advertising Lucky Strikes

1939 – TV’s First Baseball Game Aired

1954 – CBS Becomes Largest Advertising Medium in World

1976 – The Supreme Court grants advertising First Amendment protection.

1980 – Ted Turner creates CNN

1986 – Needham Harper Worldwide, BBDO International, and Doyle Dane Bernbach merge to create Omnicom Group, the largest advertising company in the world

1988 – WPP acquires the Ogilvy Group for $864 million, the highest price paid for an agency

1993 – The Internet becomes a reality as 5 million users worldwide get online

1997 – WPP combines the media operations of JWT and O&M to form The Alliance, the largest U.S. media buyer with more than $2 billion

1999 – Internet advertising breaks the $2 billion mark and heads toward $3 billion as the industry, under prodding from Procter & Gamble, moves to standardize all facets of the industry

Okay, so now you can start to see how advertising and mediums for advertising started in a linear fashion.  I haven’t added anything from 2000 on, because that’s when it just starts to get crazy, and the exponential growth goes wild.  Think about how long it took for advertising and agencies to start moving when magazines or TV first started accepting advertising, and look at how short a period it took for online advertising to explode after the Internet was embraced by millions.

Now, the choices are endless, between TV, Print, Online, and Mobile, then it breaks down to Video, Display, Search, Wap, Mobile Apps, In Game, Virtual Currencies, and on and on it goes.  Mix that in with all the choices today for managing your ads, ad servers, crms, optimization, transparency tools, online exchanges, supply side and demand side platforms, ad networks, and who knows what’s next to come.  I guess the overarching point of all this, is that the landscape of advertising is in such a rapid state of change that agencies and advertisers can no longer expect to be able to do it all, they need to start relying on companies that understand the ever-changing landscape to help get their clients’ messages out to the world.

So, I propose the new ad network is one company that can do just that, and at CPX we plan to make sure we understand every inch of the landscape, to provide our clients with the most sophisticated capabilities on the market every second. I could sit here and write a book about this concept and really dig into every last date to show the real exponential growth, but I have way too much work to do, and writing books is not my forte… but, who knows, maybe one day I will.

CPX is proud to sponsor lunch at the iMedia Agency Summit on Tuesday, May 18, in Austin, TX. The Summit takes place from the 16-19, and focuses the agency’s role in the integrated media landscape, with a keynote by Lisa Donohue, CEO Starcom USA. Since 2001, iMedia Agency Summits have been a place for agency executives to gather and network in a collaborative learning environment. This year’s Summit is located at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, and is already sold out. Visit the iMedia website for more information.

CPX Interactive would like to invite to you to join the IAB and other online entrepreneurs like yourself in representing small publishers from across the country at the 2010 Long Tail Alliance Washington Fly-In, June 14-15. This event is a great opportunity for long tail tail publishers. During the two-day meeting you will:

• Meet with members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs to tell the story of your small business.
• Learn strategies and best practices for growing your business through workshops designed specifically for the small publisher.
• Be guests of honor at a special networking reception and dinner at the Google offices in Washington, D.C.
• Share your personal experiences on how interactive advertising has impacted your life and sustained your business.

More information plus photos and highlights from last year’s Fly-In can be found at www.iab.net/flyin.

There is no charge to attend the Fly-In. However, you must pay for your own travel and lodging. As a thank-you from the IAB, those who come to Washington will receive a complimentary one-year Long Tail Alliance Membership or a one-year extension to their existing membership.

If you would like to be part of this special event, visit www.iab.net/flyin to register and book your hotel. The IAB has reserved a block of discounted rooms specifically for Fly-In attendees. Or if you want more information, please contact Chris Glushko of the IAB at chris@iab.net or 212-380-4722.

Jimi Smoot is a self proclaimed tech geek who works as Director of Sales in CPX’s LA office. Find out more about Jimi, including his past work experience, and why he loves the online advertising industry.

1. Who are you, and what do you do here at CPX?

I’m Jimi, and I am a West Coast Director of Sales, which means that I have the great job of meeting new people every day and making sure they know the ins and outs of CPX.

2. You were just in New York City for sales training with the rest of the CPX Sales team. What did you get out of that experience?

The understanding that, as service providers, we can never do enough to understand the goals of our clients and work tirelessly to help bring those goals into reality.

3. What did you do before you came to CPX?

Before CPX, I spent some time at MySpace, packaging offline and online programs for brands. Prior to that, I worked on the agency side of the business. There, I developed strategic media plans aimed at solving marketing problems.

4. You’ve worked with a lot of different brands. What is one of the most memorable experiences you’ve had?

While I was at MySpace, we put together a concert series with Adidas (through an amazing partnership with my friends over at Carat) which included major talent such as Flo Rida and Method Man/Red Man. The catch was, to get tickets for the concerts, people would need to pick them up from Adidas’ original stores in their respective markets. We had folks driving from Orange County to the Hollywood Adidas store for the LA concerts. Overall, we drove hundreds of people from online to brick and mortar adidas locations. The client was extremely happy, and the program was so much fun to work on.

5. What is your favorite thing about working in the online advertising industry?

Hands down, the people. Where else would you find such a friendly group of smart people who are looking to work hard and know how to have a good time?

Connect with Jimi on Twitter!

Meet Alex Andreyev, Account Manager with the Brand Sales team at CPX Interactive, and find out what sparked his interest in business when he was just a teenager.

1. Who are you and what do you do here at CPX Interactive?

My name is Alex, and I am East Coast Brand Sales Account Manager.

2. You started in a different role here. How did you make the transition to Account Manager?

I began working as a business analyst, but wasn’t finding enough opportunities to utilize my time and my skills, so I worked with Rob (Rasko, COO & President) to find a better role for me in the company.

3. What did you do prior to coming to CPX?

After graduating college, I worked a variety of jobs. From running a soup store in Midtown, to managing a wholesale bridal business, to selling Christmas trees.

4. What is your favorite thing about working here?

CPX is a great company in a vibrant market where I can make a difference. However, the people are the best thing about CPX.

5. You’ve referred to yourself as a “serial entrepreneur.” What originally sparked this interest in business?

My parents both had/have their own businesses, so partially, it’s in my blood. After reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad with my best friend at 15, we decided that we would be business partners. By 18, we had tried a few small business ventures, and hit it big with Christmas trees. I’ve also managed an ice cream store, a soup store, and helped out a few other small businesses.

On Thursday, April 15, CPX Interactive will be sponsoring a 313 Digital Casino Night in Birmingham, MI.  The event will take place at the Birmingham Community House, and will last from 6-10 pm. Attendees will be entered in a raffle drawing, with prizes awarded at the end of the night. Visit the 313 Digital website and event page for more info. Hope to see you there!