Alejandro Molina checks in with some helpful tips January 14, 2010
Posted by Mark Blei in : Staff posts , add a commentHi. My name is Alejandro Molina and I work on the tech team in the NYC office as a QA/Support Analyst. I was once an avid user of ad blocking software. But as time went on, I saw site after site close down due to lack of funds. These days, it’s hard to not see how important online advertising can be for sites that need the money to stay afloat. Even so, it’s sometimes hard to see online advertising in a positive light when I run into intrusive ads that take over the webpage and interrupt what I’m doing. Working at a company that tells these online agencies that such ads should be frowned upon is a good feeling.
In my time here, I’ve learned a few other tips about making online advertising more effective. Make sure your ads are not intrusive. Don’t interrupt the user’s experience if you can avoid it. Make the message relevant to the user. If I’m on a website that targets a specific audience, make sure you are advertising product that really is relevant to that particular audience. Also, make sure your ads are perfectly clear and eye catching without being annoying. Attention spans online only last so long, that if your ad is confusing or takes more than a few seconds to get the point, you’ve already lost half your audience scrolling down the page or clicking to somewhere else.
Keep to at least these points and even a former ad blocker like me will pay attention to your ad.
Christopher Bian Looks Behind the Scenes of the Not-So-Big Screen September 21, 2009
Posted by markblei in : Staff posts , add a commentHave you seen the latest “epic fail” video on YouTube? There’s an app for that.
Missed last night’s episode of “Lost”? Check out the Hulu link tweeted by @Lost_on_ABC.
Is it time for President Obama’s latest speech on healthcare reform? The CNN homepage is streaming it live.
Any way you cut it, video content, syndicated or not, is now readily available almost anywhere, or on anything that has an internet connection. The capability of today’s technology is a wide departure from several years ago, when “YouTube” had yet to become daily vernacular and “pre-roll” was all the rage. Now, you couldn’t run from a video stream even if you tried. But what does this mean for the world of media? Does the fact that I can stream a feature-length movie from Netflix onto my Playstation 3 to watch on my HDTV really provide marketers yet another way to hawk their wares? More importantly, “Do I want them to?”
As the methods and vehicles to consume online video become increasingly accessible, viewership of online video will move from access through a computer as it humbly began, to integrated mobile devices, gaming consoles, and even television sets. Consumption is changing; not necessarily how much, but how. I see 3 factors that play into the consumption shift:
1- Internet video usage – Viewership has increased over 12% in the last year, to nearly 134M users, compared to a .9% increase to 284M traditional TV viewers.
2- Timeshifted TV – Approximately 30% of US households own a DVR recorder and hour usage per month has increased 19.5% since the past year.
3- Video on mobile phones – while usage remains relatively low at 15M users this year, this is a 70% increase over 2008, keeping in mind mobile phones do not comprise all mobile devices capable of, or used for video.
Overall internet video usage is up, as is demand for timeshifted TV, which is an inherent characteristic of internet video. Each of these represents a separate trend, which may or may not be correlated, but serve as a guide to the direction in which consumption habits are heading. The widespread penetration of video-enabled mobile devices provides readily available “supply”, as consumers have access to video with relative ease. Nearly two-thirds of Americans ages 13 to 54 have at least one mobile device capable of video. Perhaps the most common video-enabled device, laptops are owned by 57% of Americans. Over one in five have a video-enabled iPod. Perhaps most markedly, 42% of users of all devices claim to use a mobile device to actually watch video.
Granted, there are key differences among the media used by consumers, such as consumption of long form vs. short form video, time spent watching with each medium, etc., but the point is that the evolution of video consumption is certainly not insubstantial, and quite the contrary. As these habits grow and change along with the technology that enables them, eventually, some will become the standard.
So how does one add value to consumer marketing initiatives? Guessing is one option, though probably not preferred or recommended. Consumer desires and pet peeves can be fleeting; what works one moment can change as the industry yet again shifts in another direction. Chalk it up to the quick pace at which our industry evolves! Consumers grow increasingly savvy, empowered by the internet. Gone are the days of passively watching commercials. Today’s consumers are not only engaging on a daily basis with one another, but with brands – something previously unheard of. Media plans are changing to incorporate the expanding marketing repertoire, such as social, viral, mobile, as well as video components. In order to harness the interplay of these efficiently, the approach to take is akin to tuning a musical instrument: pluck a string and listen for feedback; adjust accordingly; rinse, repeat. This does not mean your first foray into emerging media is a blind stab in the dark, nor should it be cause for you to fear utilizing it. This is where research comes into play; ensuring your approach provides you with information that can give you actionable, post-operative insights is crucial to long-term branding success.
Granted, not all parameters of your campaign, such as budget constraints, can allow for costly research. On the other hand, external normative data provides access to a wealth of information at a fraction of the cost. Based on consistently aggregated data, it can not only help guide campaigns in the planning stages toward the best chance of success, but it can be used after the fact to help diagnose issues, or explore any additional questions that may arise.
The following graphs and tables use creative format data from the MarketNorms® database. Using the entertainment industry as an example, video units typically outperform rich media units on awareness, isolated at an exposure of 1; however, rich media may be the better performer when it comes to Purchase Intent. Included below is a calculator that gives a potential cost-effectiveness scenario that not only reinforces this idea, but provides evidence that rich media may also be less expensive to impact each person. This calculator tool populates with MarketNorms® data, allowing for comparisons across various creative attributes, which can be particularly valuable in the planning stages of a campaign. A simple tool such as this can aid in controlling costs in the long run, freeing up resources to focus on the campaign’s value-driven proposition.
Source: Dynamic Logic MarketNorms®
Entertainment Industry ,Rich Media, frequency of 1: Last 3 Years, Q2/2009, N=35, n=46,396
Entertainment Industry, Video, frequency of 1: Full Dataset; N=20, n=29,798
Analysis Adjusted for Frequency
The upside to normative data can also be its downside; it needs to be collected over a length of time, and in a consistent, comparable manner. This takes considerable effort and time, not to mention financial investment. In the end, the best way to market to the consumer is to do it with the best tools available. Research is never the magic 8-ball we hope for. In this case, it’s more like a compass that’s pointing in the direction we should go, but it’s up to us to go out there, traverse the terrain, and gather data along the way, but with a long term goal in mind. Video can be great as a centerpiece or supplement to any campaign; normative research is the tool to help give it the best chance to succeed.
Sources:
1- Nielsen three screen report, Q2/2009
2- http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=112822
3- Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms® database, Q2/2009
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here
Meet Scott Gendelman July 23, 2009
Posted by Mark Blei in : Staff posts, cute animals , 1 comment so farRecently we began a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
We hope that it will serve as a vehicle to allow you to get to know us better and through this to have a better understanding of our capabilities and the types of unique challenges we meet head on every day.
My name is Scott Gendelman and I’m a Regional Sales Manager in Dynamic Logic’s Chicago office (covering the Central US region). I’ve been with Dynamic Logic for 1 year, and enjoy helping clients understand how their marketing impacts brand metrics such as purchase/take-action intent, brand awareness & favorability, message association, and ad awareness/recall. I come from the school of listening to a client’s needs/challenges, and then matching up the right solution(s) that make sense both strategically and economically.
One of the more sticky topics I’ve come across lately is interest in maximizing the impact creative communication components have on achieving campaign goals. Going thru typical behind-the-scenes motions around the creative process of listen/brainstorm/concept/sketch/develop/deploy, there’s a critical component that is often overlooked. Some may call it a component, but I like to think of it as a real person – the target consumer!
Not Scott Gendelman
Marketers often think their chosen creative will dazzle the audience and ultimately sound the cash registers to ring so much they fall off the counter! Setting egos and hopeful ad awards aside, this strategy often will detract from achieving campaign goals which ultimately results in the failure of a campaign impacting the brand in an optimal manner. What really should (and needs) to happen, is to allow the real experts and decision-makers decide and tell us which creative ideas dazzled and which frazzled. So who are these people? They are your specific target demographic….the consumers you’re ultimately trying to reach and impact.
With that in mind, Dynamic Logic has a unique ad-copy/communication testing solution LinkSelect For Digital that provides deep analysis & insights into which creative executions will impact key brand metrics BEFORE a campaign goes live. This approach allows a client the ability to further optimize the creative prior to launch which ensures the creative with the most legs goes to market. It’s a unique and relevant way to ensure maximum return on marketing investment (ROMI).
We’ve even done some internal validation research that has uncovered how impactful ad-copy testing is on live, in-market campaign results. Ultimately, the more you optimize creative prior to launch, the greater the chance your campaign will illicit positive results as it pertains to impacting key brand metrics. You can find more information around LinkSelect For Digital here: http://www.dynamiclogic.com/na/products/DigitalLink/
Outside of working at Dynamic Logic, I fully enjoy spending time with family, friends, my dog Roxy ( pictured above), skiing (really fast!), playing ice hockey, travelling, dining out, collecting music, and music production (electronic music).
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
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Meet Stephen Cooper July 22, 2009
Posted by markblei in : Staff posts , add a commentRecently we began a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
We hope that it will serve as a vehicle to allow you to get to know us better and through this to have a better understanding of our capabilities and the types of unique challenges we meet head on every day.
My name is Stephen (sounds like Steven) Cooper. I work in Research in the New York office.
The most interesting project I worked on recently was a digital copy test. I enjoyed work
ing on it because I used to work as a copywriter. I learned that minor changes to an ad, such as changing the background color, can sway people’s perceptions of the brand. I don’t think most creatives realize the impact of these simple aesthetic changes. A lot of time is spent on developing concepts – however, sometimes the little things can be just as important.
My experience at Dynamic Logic has taught me a lot about the importance of branding. Many creatives would rather hear fingernails on a chalkboard than hear a client say, “Make the logo bigger.” But in the online environment, each frame in the creative rotation of an ad must be able to work independently, so proper branding is a must. This was a tough pill to swallow at first, because it can limit creativity, but now I understand its importance.
As for me – I enjoy traveling, watching soccer, being outside, swimming in the ocean and feeding my venus fly trap at my work desk ( Tuesday’s at about ten or so, if you happen to be around)
f you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
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Meet Lionel Mésidor July 21, 2009
Posted by markblei in : Staff posts , add a commentRecently we begin a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
We hope that it will serve as a vehicle to allow you to get to know us better and through this to have a better understanding of our capabilities and the types of unique challenges we meet head on every day.
My name is Lionel Mésidor and I’m an Account Manager working out of the New York City office.
One of the most interesting projects I worked on was for a publisher study. In fact, due t
o the extremely large size of the buy, it was proving extremely difficult to recruit control respondents and we had only 14 days left before the end of the campaign. At that time, we had 22 control respondents.
We had first thought conducting post control recruitment after the campaign ended (06/30) in order to collect control respondents who have not seen the creative.
Finally, we have recently had a great experience working with the new Safecount team by using their Safecount Viewpoint Community (SVC) to recruit the control impressions.
In less than 13 days, we were able to recruit around 600 control respondents!
In my spare time, I love to play classical piano, travel and attend painting exhibitions. This is working out to be a really great relationship!
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
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Meet Jacquetta Drones July 20, 2009
Posted by markblei in : Staff posts , 3commentsRecently we began a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
We hope that it will serve as a vehicle to allow you to get to know us better and through this to have a better understanding of our capabilities and the types of unique challenges we meet head on every day.
I am Jacquetta Drones and I am the Controller at Dynamic Logic. I’ve been at Dynamic Logic for almost 7 years. Some people ask, “How can you look at numbers all day long”? It’s what I do and I love it! Gathering and dissecting information is my claim to fame 
Since we are facing what some call an economic crisis, I wanted to share an article I recently read in the Journal of Accountancy. The article talked about the improvement of economic optimism. There was recently a survey conducted that consisted of CFO’s, Controllers and CEO’s. The results showed that most are optimistic about the economic outlook vs. last year. The reasons cited were due to the new administration, recent government actions and improving economic indicators. Although optimistic, they’re cautious.
We, too, should maintain the same level of optimism. Let’s have a bright outlook. It increases our drive, determination and motivation. It also makes the day go faster.
On a personal note, in my spare time, I have started cycling. I usually ride on local trails, in parks or to Jones Beach when the weather is warm.
Several weeks ago, my husband and I rode in a 66 mile bike tour. It might not seem like much to some, but to me, it was a killer!! I did finish, panting to the very end. The other thing I love to do is travel. Extend an invitation to me to anywhere HOT and I’m there!! Tom, I’ll be in Puerto Rico very soon.
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
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Meet Stephanie Teng June 30, 2009
Posted by Mark Blei in : Staff posts , add a commentRecently we began a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
We hope that it will serve as a vehicle to allow you to get to know us better and through this to have a better understanding of our capabilities and the types of unique challenges we meet head on everyday. 
My name is Stephanie Teng, and I’m the graphic designer within Dynamic Logic Marketing in the New York office. Like most people, I’m able to stay in touch with friends via social media tools. During my sophomore year in college, my Kinesiology class partner sent an instant message, ordering me to “Join The Facebook pls” so that we could “be friends.” Today, “social media” are still buzzwords, having capabilities far beyond counting one’s number of friends. The marketing team has worked with many DL departments to explore the social media niche. I recently worked closely with our VP of Digital Strategy, helping to develop materials to further examine DL’s holistic approach to social media measurement. During this process, I was surprised to learn exactly how broad the social media space is, with light bulb moments of realizing “THAT’S social media? …Well, that does make sense…” I thought I was already a pro at updating my Twitter status, posting photos to Facebook, and reading my favorite blogs (like this one right here). The social media landscape is quite beyond my usual fares, including but certainly not limited to syndication, P2P, wikis and collaborative projects, consumer reviews, and endless more. I just needed a reminder to step outside the personal daily routine to realize the even more massive scope of this technology. Out of the office, I enjoy being an avid Penn State alumna, watching loud/obnoxious movies, finding the best eats in NYC, learning French (again and again since high school), and learning how to breakdance. Headspins are in the queue. I’ll also admit that I follow a few celebrity Twitter accounts.
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
Meet Vivian Takach June 24, 2009
Posted by Mark Blei in : Staff posts , add a comment
Recently we began a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
We hope that it will serve as a vehicle to allow you to get to know us better and through this to have a better understanding of our capabilities and the types of unique challenges we meet head on everyday.
My name is Vivian Takach and I am a Senior Research Executive in Dynamic Logic’s San Francisco office.
Recently while I was watching TV I saw an ad for a consumer packaged good targeted at women that offended me so much my initial reaction was to never buy the product again. Taking a step back from my reaction as a consumer, I started to think that the brand may not have had anything to do with the campaign beyond hiring an agency, and that the sentiments may not be their own.
I began thinking about how advertising can strongly connect a consumer with a brand, and that this connection could be a very negative one. I did some research on the CPG campaign that offended me, to find that I was not alone. Many women’s groups had felt the same way, and intended to boycott the brand. I visited the product’s website to find pages upon pages of negative comments. If only measuring site visitation, the campaign may actually be measured as a success. Through my research I also saw that although misguided, the campaign had been carefully thought out and researched prior to launching.
What I found has led me to start doing further research within Dynamic Logic’s extensive database on the lasting impact of bad advertising campaigns. Even with the best of intentions and carefully planned creatives, consumers can respond in a deeply negative way. What does this mean for brand perceptions in the long run? How long will it take for the brand to return to previous baselines in regards to consumers’ impressions? Does the brand need to find a new target entirely, having alienated the original target audience? I am hoping my research will help in some way guide our clients who are in similar situations back to a healthier place for their products.
When not studying ad impact at work or boring my husband with it at home, I spend my time with my two adorable cats and am a big scooter fan, and have been in an all girls’ scooter club for nearly 5 years now.
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
Meet Stefan Sellberg June 23, 2009
Posted by markblei in : Staff posts, Uncategorized , add a commentLast week we began a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
In invite you to meet Stefan Sellberg
“My name is Stefan Sellberg and I’m the Vice President of Client and Market Development at Dynamic Logic. I have been with Dynamic Logic for over 8 years and I’ve really enjoyed watching the industry mature as an Advertising and content delivery mechanism as well as a platform for conducting Research.
A client came to me earlier in the year asking if we could help them measure a campaign leveraging TV, Print, Online and OOH. They were deploying a two pronged creative approach using both brand and topical advertising. The goals and objectives were to understand the following:
- How is each medium working in isolation and what are the synergistic effects of exposure to multiple mediums
- What creative theme (brand vs. topical) is working most efficiently in driving Brand and Persuasion metrics
- What is the ideal media mix and how can I can reallocate media to optimize campaign performance
I recommended using our CrossMedia solution that incorporates a path model and media simulator/optimization tool. This approach would provide the client a good understanding of campaign performance and allow them to adjust GRP, Print insertion dates and online delivery to optimize performance. While I cannot get into specific results due to client confidentiality, I can say the campaign measurement approach was a huge success. The client found the media simulator extremely helpful and has since made recommendations to adjust GPR weigh to optimize performance.
In addition to media and advertising effectiveness measurement, I like spending my spare time golfing, camping, and enjoying life with friends and family in the thousands of restaurant and bars in Manhattan”
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. We invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
Meet Jennifer Schulze June 22, 2009
Posted by Mark Blei in : Staff posts , add a commentLast week we began a new feature where we introduce you to a few new staff members at Dynamic Logic every week . Here they will discuss their specialties, new challenges they may have faced and how the challenges were overcome, interesting projects they have worked on and new things that they have learned.
We hope that it will serve as a vehicle to allow you to get to know us better and through this to have a better understanding of our capabilities and the types of unique challenges we meet head on everyday.
I invite you to meet Jennifer Schulze.
My name is Jennifer Schulze and I am on the Client Service team in the Chicago office. Something I noticed that has been coming up again lately is what a powerful online segment moms are, particularly within the social media landscape. According to a recent eMarketer article I came across, an estimated 34 million mothers go online at least once a month and given that moms tend to be the primary purchasers for the household, it is no surprise that marketers continue to be eager to tap into such a segment.
I see an increasing number of brands opting for highly customized ad opportunities in hopes of gaining favor within this group. One of my clients within the CPG consumables industry has been experimenting more and more with completely customized ad spends within popular social media and community spaces geared towards moms. They have seen positive results from such ventures thus far. For their study that recently closed, we have observed that customized placements heavily integrated throughout mom communities provided increases in purchase intent and other key metrics. I am predicting that this client as well as others will continue to expand their efforts to better market to moms.
The creative executions utilized in these campaigns will no doubt play a vital role in efforts to build relationships with and persuade moms. For any campaign online ads must stand out, clearly convey the message, and have relevance. Hopefully those with moms in mind will take steps to ensure that they are using the most effective and efficient creative to achieve their advertising objectives
If you’re interested in how Dynamic Logic can help your next campaign perform optimally for you. invite you to call us at 212-844-3700 or email us at answers (at) dynamic logic (dot) com. Tell them that you read about us here!
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