Digital Opens Door to Ads August 13, 2008
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , trackbackNEW YORK Historically, TV and print news outlets have offered limited opportunities for advertisers, at least compared to their entertainment brethren. Recently, however, companies including The New York Times Media Group, the BBC, CNN and MSNBC.com have come up with some innovative digital options.
Shoba Purushothaman, CEO and co-founder of The Newsmarket, a Web-based video marketing and distribution platform, said it’s encouraging that the news industry is recognizing it can’t simply take traditional ad models and apply them to digital platforms. “It’s not about slapping it on the Web and saying it’s going to work,” said Purushothaman.
That point is not lost on The New York Times Media Group, which late last month partnered with business social-networking site LinkedIn. In the deal, LinkedIn members who read the business and technology sections on NYTimes.com will automatically have articles related to their professional interest set up for them on the site. (This is made possible by a cookie on LinkedIn.)
Denise Warren, svp and chief advertising officer for The New York Times Media Group, said the agreement allows the organization to tap into “executive decision makers.”
Advertisers will receive targeted information based on profile data — e.g., a person’s industry, job, gender and geography-gathered by the NYT Media Group. Sales reps will help advertisers choose the appropriate platforms — including mobile, video and blogs — for ads ranging from banners to leaderboards.
Last year, for the first time, BBC.com — the international Web site for the BBC (outside of the U.K.) — began selling advertising globally. In April, a multiplatform sales force was launched in the U.S. to sell advertising across BBC.com, BBC America, BBCAmerica.com, BBC World News and BBCworldnews.com. (Advertising on BBC America and its Web site had been sold by Discovery Communications.) Two ad units are available, both offering video capability.
Currently, when users in all markets go to BBC.com, they’re routed to bbc.co.uk.
But the Web site is launching a U.S. edition in the second half of 2009 that will cater to U.S. appetites, according to Mark Gall, svp of advertising sales for BBC America and BBC.com.
CNN “turned a corner” when it struck a partnership in June 2007 with Google’s YouTube to present the network’s presidential debate coverage, according to Greg D’Alba, evp and COO of CNN ad sales. Starting with the 2004 elections, CNN had made a concerted effort to attract election-coverage sponsors with packages that offered a variety of platforms. In 2004, only four jumped on. Now the network has 12 sponsors, including AT&T, Cisco Systems, Exxon Mobil and Hyundai.
The perception is growing that CNN’s product is for a range of demographics, not just “the gray-haired gentleman with a huge portfolio of wealth getting ready to retire,” said D’Alba. Roughly six additional sponsors have inked election coverage packages, he added, though he declined to name them as those advertising flights have not yet begun.
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