Advertising posts

For the third year in a row, AOL was the premier sponsor of the Ad Age Small Agency Conference and Awards in Minneapolis. This one-day conference brings together 100 senior leaders from agencies all around the U.S. to network, share and celebrate their accomplishments over the past year.

During a fireside chat with John Coleman, CEO of last year's Small Agency of the Year, Via, AOL advisor and Chairman Emeritus of IPG, David Bell, shared how technology has leveled the playing field. He described its impact on agencies who no longer need to be big or part of global networks to deliver great work to big brands at home or around the world. A Minneapolis native himself, David has taken small agencies and turned them into major growth engines for global holding companies. Growth is a hot topic for all small business, and David shared his 4 Ps of growth: "People, Position, Projection and Pipeline."

Since David usually asks the questions (see our popular Voices video series spotlighting ad industry thought leaders), it was a real treat to hear him share his insights. He also emphasized the importance of corporate culture and shared some of his favorite new business pitches from his agency days, including having someone dress as General Patton to inform the client they "are going to war." The audience was thrilled to have him, and David acknowledged the special atmosphere in the room arguing, "Running a small agency is the best job in the world."

Following David's chat, AOL Director of Social Media Matt Knell gave a fun and enlightening presentation during lunch on telling brand stories through social media. To engage the audience early on, Matt announced an Instagram contest to win headphones -- attendees simply needed to deliver a creative image and tag it #thingsandpeople. "Things and people," Matt maintains, is what brings us together on the Internet, which is trending away from text and towards images. Online, a picture is not just worth 1,000 words, but 1,000 shares.

The day wrapped up with the annual awards at a nearby jazz club and this year's winner was Baldwin&.

Take a look at Matt's presentation and check out the AOL Advertising Blog for more research and insights.

Cambio – AOL's online entertainment platform for teens and young adults - has teamed up with one of the most influential internet personalities on the web, iJustine. The partnership centers around a program entitled "Do The Craze" in which iJustine will invite users to create a video where they imitate a hot viral trend -- for a chance at internet fame and a small fortune. In addition to iJustine, Cambio has partnered with Trendera, a leading trend forecasting and consulting company, to forecast and identify the hottest emerging trends on the web.

Exclusively broadcast through Cambio and AOL, "Do the Craze" will feature iJustine performing a new hot viral trend every four weeks that will be identified by Trendera. Viewers will then be asked to mimic the featured trend and submit videos of their performance. The most entertaining videos will earn the opportunity to be featured across Cambio and AOL with the top submission winning $1,000.

Visit http://www.cambio.com/do-the-craze/ to see what the first hot viral trend is and submit your video.

"Do the Craze": Win $1,000 from @Cambio For Your Best Viral Video aol.it/MOMUNv #cambiocraze

- AOL PR (@AOLPR) July 2, 2012

Maurice Levy, CEO and Chairman of Publicis Groupe, joined David Bell, AOL Advisor and Chairman Emeritus of IPG, for an AOL Voices session live from Cannes Lions last week.

Levy talked to the evolution of the digital space and its impact on the advertising industry, and more specifically to Publicis. He reflected on the influence of technology and how it has forced brands to think about how they approach consumers, and make a difference in their lives. This philosophy is at the root of Publicis' mission to be the #1 human digital agency connecting brands and consumers worldwide. Levy encouraged marketers to listen to their clients, that paying attention to detail is the secret behind delivering great campaigns. Levy's tenure at the world-renown agency has spanned 40+ years, and has been "...a dream, is still a dream."

To learn more about Maurice Levy, including his thoughts on leadership, fighting fires and pursuing one's passion, watch AOL Advertising's AOL Voices interview here. A video series featured on AOL Advertising's trade site, AOL Voices spotlights ad industry thought leaders exploring the state of media and creative and the future of the advertising business.

Today AOL announced that we have expanded our Premium Formats suite to the smartphone and tablet. After launching Project Devil for desktop just eighteen months ago, the beautiful, engaging, content-rich ad formats that are powered by the award-winning Pictela technology will now be available on mobile devices. We are simplifying premium digital advertising and offering marketers the ability to serve the same brand content experience across multiple devices.

Mobile Premium Formats are built using applications similar to those currently available for the desktop. Each ad unit includes three apps. At launch, the applications for an advertiser to choose from are:

• Photo Gallery – Allows advertisers to tell their brand story through beautiful, high-quality images of products or messages. Up to nine images can be featured in a carousel that can be swiped through to see the next image.
• Video Gallery - Displays stunning HD content and provides advertisers with another platform to utilize TV spots and other video content that has already been produced.
• Content feed – Advertisers can include proprietary feeds to highlight company news and updates for consumers.
• Facebook feed - Displays content from a brand's Facebook page in a scrollable-list to provide real-time conversation updates.
• Twitter feed - Displays content from a brand's account or a chosen hash-tag in a scrollable-list to provide real-time conversation updates.

Additional apps will be incorporated into this mobile offering in the coming weeks. Similar to the desktop browser experience, every high-definition experience within the ad unit can be navigated without leaving the page. The functionality takes into account the tactile nature of mobile devices, and allows users to swipe and tap to see more content which can be updated instantly during a campaign.

Advertising inventory will be available across AOL's Owned & Operated mobile web properties and apps, as well as across third party mobile inventory through Advertising.com. This technology is available for iOS 4.0+ and Android 2.2+ in the U.S. and Canada.