This Week in Digital Advertising: May 1

This Week in Digital Advertising: May 1

by | May, 2020 | Content, Native Advertising

Hello Bidtellectuals. Here’s the latest in the digital advertising industry.

Don’t feel like reading? Watch here or below.

It’s May! Can you believe it? How long have we been self-isolating again? It feels like both a week and a year. While you’re reading this, why not make a cocktail? Up your zoom happy hours with one of these fun quarantine cocktail recipes. It’ll cure whatever you’re missing. And while you’re at it, a big toast to Nick Gomez, who was crowned Bidtellectual of the Week last week! Go Nick!

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we said to not block coronavirus content? We break down the latest data – including our own platform’s – to help you decide if placing an ad next to coronavirus content really hurts your brand. Only a mere 16% say they are NOT likely to engage with an ad adjacent to Coronavirus content, according to IAS. Meanwhile, according to Bidtellect’s platform data, we’ve seen a 23% increase in traffic on News-related sites since the coronavirus outbreak started and a 17.1% decrease in average impression costs from January 2020 to March 2020. The great irony of the coronavirus crisis is its driven massive growth in news consumption, but publishers are unable to monetize it. News publishers are twice as likely to be blacklisted vs. others. For more on this, watch or listen to our special-edition Bidtellect Beat: Digital Edition below.

IAB’s latest report is tentatively hopeful: Digital ad spend is experiencing a slight rebound, although is still o􀃠-plan. Brands are hopeful for an uptick this summer. Those channels with greater flexibility and agility in creating, editing and optimizing creative will experience less of an impact. For tips on refreshing creative, read this. And it’s (still) tax season! Read how this tax solutions provider beat their CPA goal by76% in this case study.

Have you been staying up late at night wondering about Bidtellect’s origin story? Wonder no more: read this interview with founder John Ferber in The Tech Tribune. We’re feeling nostalgic! And while you’re inspired, if you’re looking to upgrade your work habits and productivity, self-isolation is a perfect time. Think of it as a “clean slate” and follow this advice by Fast Company. If you’re craving a cultural experience, the MoMA is offering free weekly virtual tours of their exhibits. Last week was Dorothea Lang’s photography exhibit and this May 7th they’ll tour their sculptural gardens followed by a meditation. Swoon.

Stay healthy and stay safe.

Charlotte

For more on whether or not you should block coronavirus content, watch or listen here:

Want more need-to-know info? Subscribe to our monthly Bidtellectual newsletter!


Charlotte Otremba is Sr. Manager of Communications and Marketing at Bidtellect.

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by | February 8, 2023 | Content, Culture | 0 Comments

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by | January 31, 2023 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments

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by | January 12, 2023 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments

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eMarketer Podcast Insights: What Consumers Expect From Brands During Coronavirus

eMarketer Podcast Insights: What Consumers Expect From Brands During Coronavirus

by | Apr, 2020 | Content, Native Advertising

It’s a difficult time. How can brands possibly survive while remaining sensitive to it all? We pulled key insights from two recent eMarketerpodcasts: What Consumers Expect from Brands During the coronavirus and Effective and Noneffective, Ads During the Coronavirus Outbreak. We highly recommend giving these podcasts a listen. If you don’t have time – or even if you do – we pulled the mentioned statistics and key takeaways.

These are the latest key eMarketer insights for effective brand messaging during the Coronavirus pandemic as of April 8, 2020.

eMarketer: What Consumers Expect from BrandsDuring the Coronavirus

Listen to the Podcast here.

Key Takeaways:

  • Don’t be radio silent. Use your branding and marketing skills by building your own YouTube channel or starting your own podcast channel. Always try innovative ideas to build up your scene. There’s still room to be doing some upper-funnel brand awareness advertising. This can be from die cut stickers advertising to email newsletters which will keep customers in the loop.
  • Empathy: what we should be thinking about all the time. People are worried about the economy and job security, the outbreak itself, and someone in their family getting sick.
  • Deliver content that is helpful. Be sensitive to the climate.
  • If you have money to spend during this crisis, you will come out ahead of those who don’t have the money to continue advertising during this time
  • Stay in touch with loyal customers. Use this time to build a relationship.
  • “There is no rapid return to normal. The new world will have trust at its core.” –Richard Edelman

4 things brands should do according to the Edelman TrustBarometer:

  • Show up, do your part, use resources to help

  • Don’t act alone. Try to collaborate with others

  • Solve. Don’t sell.

  • Communicate with emotion, empathy, and facts

What are Consumers Expecting From Brands?

→ According to the Edelman survey, respondents believe brands should:

  • Tackle social issues
  • Act to protect their employees
  • Keep people informed

→ BUT:

  • 57% of respondents want brands to stop humorous or lighthearted ads
  • Respondents are not paying attention to new products unless they help the pandemic

→ According to Kantar Research: Brands should deliver helpful content in a reassuring tone, and are expected to be supporting employees and hospitals.

  • Only 8% say brands should stop advertising
  • 78% of consumers believe brands should help them in their daily lives
  • 75% saying brands should inform people of what they’re doing
  • 74% thinking companies should not exploit the situation.

→ 29% of Americans have already begun using a brand due to the innovative or compassionate way they’ve responded to the COVID-19 crisis. (Edelman)

→ 44% of Americans polled said they only rarely or sometimes engaged with COVID-19-related ads, and 40% said they never do (The Harris Poll)

“There is no rapid return to normal. The new world will have trust at its core, with the brand mandate expanded to solve problems for all, protect all, care for all, collaborate with all, and innovate in the public interest.“

– Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman (quoted in the podcast)

eMarketer: Effective and Noneffective, Ads During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Listen to the Podcast here.

Key Takeaways:

  • This is a time for branding, not about performance

  • Think about the consumer at this time. Don’t make it all about you. Be Helpful.

  • Now is about: Authenticity, empathy, understanding people’s new realities

  • Brands are being too cautious and overclocking coronavirus content. It’s news.

Brand Messaging:

  • Emphasize trust and reliability

  • Be empathetic to individuals’ new realities, be helpful

  • Speak to core brand dimensions

    • For example, clothing should emphasize comfort and CPG brands that make us feel normal and nostalgic should emphasize that.

  • Acknowledge the crisis

    • Coca-Cola and Guinness are examples (below)

What Do Consumers Want? (AAAA)

  • 43% say they want messages that are reassuring from brands they know and trust

  • More than half are pleased that brands are making a donation

  • 40% want to know what brands are doing in response to the pandemic

  • 15% don’t want to hear from brands at this time

The Three Types of Brands in this Crisis (Mediapost)

  1. “All About Me”
  2. “Helpful”
  3. “Friend in Need”

→ First category was most unappealing, the most appealing is the second. How can you help your customers now? How can you provide comfort, information, and value?

Advertising Near Coronavirus Content?

  • Only a mere 16% says they are NOT likely to engage with an ad adjacent to Coronaviruscontent (Integral Ad Science)

  • Brands are being too cautious, and it’s bad for the economics of the news organizations.

  • It’s news – like any other news – use it to help people stay informed

→ 38% of Americans agree that brands should advertise as normal (Global Web IndexStudy)

→ 28% disagree (Global Web Index Study)

Key Insights from the latest eMarketer podcasts on brand messaging.

Here’s More:

Read how Bidtellect’s in-house creative agency, [b]+studio, can help with your creative messaging and branding needs.

Reach out for personalized information based on your creative needs.

Download eMarketer Insights

Want more need-to-know info? Subscribe to our monthly Bidtellectual newsletter!


Charlotte Otremba is Sr. Manager of Communications and Marketing at Bidtellect.

Why You Should Factor Diversity Into Your Strategy This Black History Month

by | February 8, 2023 | Content, Culture | 0 Comments

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Behind the Platform: Using Peer39 For Brand Safety & Keyword Targeting

by | January 31, 2023 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments

Bidtellect VP of Product Arthur Hainline demonstrates the three key uses for the Peer39 integration in Bidtellect’s DSP, while offering helpful tips for traders and advertisers to get the most out of Bidtellect’s product.

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by | January 12, 2023 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments

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Should You Block Coronavirus Content?

Should You Block Coronavirus Content?

by | Apr, 2020 | Content, Native Advertising

Agencies, brands, and platform analysts alike started blacklisting”coronavirus” and related keywords en masse – but is that the right move?

Why block coronavirus content

We get it. Coronavirus content is not positive right now. In this already nerve-wracking, dire, and uncertain time, the last thing you want is for a consumer to notice your brand’s ad next to a news story about new reported cases, the latest unemployment rate, or worse (and there is worse). And with demand-side platforms (including Bidtellect) able to block based on keyword or even sentiment (negative), it is possible to eliminate that possibility.

Coronavirus news is everywhere

But it’s a daunting task: there are probably more than 15 billion or web pages per month talking about COVID-19. It’s taken over every news site, from current events (The New York Times waved subscription pricing for coronavirus coverage) to fashion (one of Marie Claire‘sheadline stories today is “Top Beauty Products to Try in Isolation”).

82% are actively seeking out Coronavirus news and content online, according to IAS, and 87% are consuming more news generally because of the evolving Coronavirus situation. “Coronavirus content” is ubiquitous and its readers are ravenous. It may even encourage them to look at what the best life insurance providers are According to lifecoverquotes.org.uk, or a site in the country they are from, with a view to taking out a policy to protect their family, should the worst happen. And, as this pandemic continues to march across the world, citizens will continue to consume information at a rate their lives literally depend on.

And yet..The great irony of the coronavirus crisis is its driven massive growth in news consumption, but publishers are unable to monetize it. News publishers are twice as likely to be blacklisted vs. others. 98% of sell-side respondents say they are expecting a decrease in revenue in2020, according to new IAB findings.

IAB: ‘save lives’

IAB published a rallying cry: save the industry, save lives: do not block coronavirus content. “We ask all brands, agencies, ad verification firms, and other companies in the digital advertising supply chain not to block the news… Don’t block them. Don’t block them at all.” Every dollar spent on a publisher’s site enables them to continue publishing news, spreading information, and saving lives.

 

According to Bidtellect’s platform data, we have seen a 23% increase in traffic on News-related sites since the coronavirus outbreak started.

Increase in news traffic + decrease in impression costs

So here’s the current situation: coronavirus news is everywhere.Period. If you prevent your ads from appearing next to coronavirus content, where will it end up? You are severely limiting your reach and frequency, and limiting your audience potential.

According to our platform, we have seen on average a 32% increase in traffic on Business/finance-related sites we are attributing to coronavirus, a 23% increase in traffic on News-related sites, and a 27%increase in traffic on Health-related sites. Meanwhile, we’ve tracked a 17.1% decrease in average impression costs from January 2020 to March 2020. In Managed Service offerings, we saw a 33% drop in CPM from February 1 to March 31 and a 31% drop in CPC.

Overall the increase in traffic on News should indicate that this is an area advertisers should look to spend more budget and be less concerned around coronavirus-related brand safety. If you are aggressive in keyword blocks, you are likely missing out on a lot of eyeballs. With impression costs lower, it’s a “buyers market.” Hello ROI.

Does an ad next to coronavirus content really matter?

It’s normal to want to keep a brand’s ads and logos away from inappropriate content, but there’s nothing normal about today’s current global health crisis. Over half of consumers have reported some level of concern around brands advertising on COVID-19content, according to Integral Ad Science. 78% of US internet users said their view of a brand whose ad was adjacent to coronavirus coverage would be unchanged (IAS). Only a mere 16% say they are NOT likely to engage with an ad adjacent to Coronaviruscontent (Integral Ad Science).

It’s not all damaging; especially if you do your creatives right.

Many publishers provide high-quality content in a premium environment to a highly engaged audience. Instead of blanket blocking, ask yourself where you might be able to “lean in” to content that is currently online (IAS). With so much information out there, make sure to cut through the noise: communicate your message in your creatives clearly. Consider offering support, promotions, or ways to help consumers save, and even a break from the somber tone. Refresh your ad creatives to nourish and bring hope.

Don’t block coronavirus content. It will hurt your advertising efforts more than it will help.

Want more need-to-know info? Subscribe to our monthly Bidtellectual newsletter!


Charlotte Otremba is Sr. Manager of Communications and Marketing at Bidtellect.

Why You Should Factor Diversity Into Your Strategy This Black History Month

by | February 8, 2023 | Content, Culture | 0 Comments

How and why you should make diversity your advertising priority.

Read More

Behind the Platform: Using Peer39 For Brand Safety & Keyword Targeting

by | January 31, 2023 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments

Bidtellect VP of Product Arthur Hainline demonstrates the three key uses for the Peer39 integration in Bidtellect’s DSP, while offering helpful tips for traders and advertisers to get the most out of Bidtellect’s product.

Read More

Behind the Platform: Tracking Emissions With Bidtellect Scope3 Integration, Plus What to Know About Supply Path Emissions

by | January 12, 2023 | Product and Technology | 0 Comments

Bidtellect VP of Product Arthur Hainline demonstrates the new Scope3 integration in Bidtellect’s platform, how you can take actionable steps to reduce carbon waste, and the current state of the industry’s wasteful supply path emissions.

Read More