Trust and Transparency in Digital Ads: Building Authentic Connections in a Skeptical Age

In our digitized era, the deluge of online advertisements is both a boon and a bane. While brands have unprecedented access to global audiences, consumers are increasingly wary of the content they consume, particularly ads. Authenticity, once a desirable trait, is now a non-negotiable demand. So, how can brands ensure trust and transparency in their digital advertising campaigns?

1. Honesty is the Best Policy

First and foremost, be honest. Misleading advertisements might result in short-term gains but will harm the brand's reputation in the long run. As the old saying goes, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." In the age of social media, this has never been truer.

Mark Twain once aptly remarked, “If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.” Brands would do well to heed this advice.

2. Embrace Authentic Storytelling

Storytelling isn’t about creating a fictional narrative but about genuinely sharing what makes your brand unique. Whether it's the story of your brand's inception or the tales of those it impacts, real stories resonate.

3. Prioritize Data Privacy

In a world post-Cambridge Analytica with GDPR in full swing, data privacy is not just recommended but essential. Brands must be transparent about how they collect and use data.

According to a survey by HubSpot, over 60% of users feel that their data isn’t being used in their best interests. Counteracting this sentiment means being clear about data use and giving users control over their information.

4. Engage in Two-Way Conversations

Engage with your audience. Respond to comments, take feedback seriously, and demonstrate that your brand isn't just about selling and building a community.

5. Showcase Real Reviews

Potential customers trust peer reviews more than brand messages. Flaunting genuine reviews, both positive and not-so-positive, showcases authenticity. Address negative reviews with genuine intent to solve, and you turn a potential PR crisis into a demonstration of customer care.

6. Collaborate with Genuine Influencers

Influencer marketing is powerful. However, partnering with influencers who resonate genuinely with your brand and have a history of authentic endorsements is crucial. A mismatch is not just ineffective; it's counterproductive.

7. Offer a Peek Behind the Curtain

Consider sharing behind-the-scenes content, introducing your team, or showcasing your production process. When customers feel they 'know' the people and process behind a brand, trust is organically nurtured.

In conclusion, trust isn’t built overnight, especially in the skeptical digital landscape we navigate today. However, with consistent efforts towards genuine transparency and authenticity, brands can not only build but also maintain and nourish this essential commodity called trust. Because in digital marketing, trust isn’t just an asset; it's currency.

My thoughts:

This time, I used ChatGPT to generate the post. At its core, the post tackled how brands can remain trustworthy in today's digital age. The platform used credible sources, like a HubSpot survey, to enhance its arguments, which showcases its ability to pull from reputable resources.

The language was clear and actionable, reflecting ChatGPT's knack for generating audience-friendly content. One particularly impressive aspect was how it seamlessly integrated quotes to emphasize points, like Mark Twain's perspective on honesty.

While the model understands context, giving clear instructions is key to getting the desired results. The experience with ChatGPT has been enlightening. It's fascinating to see AI generate content that's not just coherent but also engaging. It reflects the strides AI has made in understanding human language and context. Yet, it's also a reminder that while tools like ChatGPT are powerful, human oversight remains crucial to ensure accuracy and relevancy.

Call of the great outdoors fades for advertisers during muted commuting

 https://on.ft.com/2XDdSYN

At first glance this article seems to be focused on a non-digital form of advertising as it references the large decrease in profits for companies like JCDecaux, whose main focus is on outdoor advertising through billboards and relies heavily on commuters taking public transportation. 

Interestingly, as it did for many industries, the pandemic has accelerated change within the outdoor marketing space; the article comments: Digital out-of-home advertising holds particular promise, allowing the same space to be sold to multiple advertisers with a premium charged for video messages. 

No more commuters looking at that big billboard sign? No problem. Agencies are using the effects of commuter worries about germs and sanitizing to their advantage, using digital as a means to communicate a brand message from Dettol to those commuters who are now highly concerned with hygiene. 

The force of digital is that it remains relevant: 

Messages were tailored to localised restrictions in particular areas and could be updated within hours of the rules changing.

Now we're all reaching for that dettol bottle!

The Wild West of Advertising on a path to be a Little Less Wild

The rapid rise of digital marketing has created an interesting dynamic between regulators and scammers as they innovate in attempt to stay one step ahead of each other. The latest trick from the scammers in the UK is to use fake celebrity endorsements to promote a brand and trick consumers. Celebrity Martin Lewis was the victim of fake ads falsifying his endorsement for new Bitcoin get rich quick schemes. In response Lewis announced that he was suing Facebook, claiming that the false ads caused damage to his reputation and his livelihood.

Lewis and Facebook recently reached a settlement on the terms that Facebook will provide a £3 million donation to the local Citizens Advice scams action project to establish a scam advice bureau to protect consumers from falsified ads. Additionally, Facebook UK will experiment with adding a button to allow users to flag ad as being “fake”. For now, the feature will only be tested in the UK but could be rolled out worldwide in the future.

The rise of digital advertising has certainly outpaced the regulations surrounding the space. As Lewis puts it, digital advertising is like the Wild West right now. As money continues to pour into digital advertising there will be an increase in focus placed on the regulation of the industry.

"This is an absolute Wild West with people sitting all over the world, and with very little regulation, no criminal enforcement" - Martin Lewis

Currently, Facebook is in the spotlight, but Lewis is also turning his attention to Google and Yahoo. The digital advertising platforms have made it incredibly easy to post an ad; which is a double-edged sword since it easily enables the scammers. As a result, the responsibility for policing these ads is rightfully being placed on the platforms who have the right to control who is posting these ads – not to mention the billions of dollars in revenue they pull in each year from advertising. With the enormous volume of ads served on these platforms each day, even filtering out 99.9% of malicious ads could still be problematic. Moving forward to what standards is the public going to hold these sheriffs to?

Push a Button, Call Bullshit on GOP Pols - By Interlude, an interactive digital media company

Not buying a candidate's claims? Push the red button and see what’s up.

Look, last night’s GOP presidential debate was a hot mess. Not only because the candidates themselves at times resembled a cage of rabid, frothing-mad wildebeests, but also because CNBC hosted it as though the network is a second-rate comedy troupe.
Once all the interruptions, admonishments, gesticulations, and posturing wore off, however, there remained at the core a pretty serious subject: a bunch of people who want to lead our nation saying a few things that, let’s face it, aren’t exactly true. 

Yes, politicians—and people who aspire to be politicians—lie. Often through their damn teeth, and with a smile on their face. They’ll even do it while kissing your baby and making eye contact.

So did you ever wish you could point your finger and scream “bullshit!” every time you saw one of the aspiring leaders spout fresh BS from their Chiclet-white teeth? Now, thanks to documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and his band of merry pranksters, you can.

Using this interactive video from Interlude, you can choose your candidate and, when you think they veer away from the truth, you push the big red Bullshit Button, which will immediately vet what they’re saying. Prepare yourself for good times and, at the end of it all, a generally icky feeling in your heart due to the amount lies these folks will ply you with to gain your trust and vote.

Oh, and don't worry—when you catch 'em spouting hot air, it's easy to share their disgrace, too. That's another button.

Interlude is a digital media company that designs, develops and markets interactive video technology, allowing consumers to create in real-time, a unique and dynamic version of a video that is based on pre-recorded audio/video segments - a one-of-a kind version of a popular video, created from millions of unique possibilities.

The Interlude technology platform utilizes audio/video footage to create a fully functional and customized end-product that can be embedded on any corporate or designated website. Interlude's customers may either provide the footage and thus maintain full creative control or utilize Interlude's creative/production services to generate the footage. Interlude's products can be branded and skinned and may be integrated with a broad marketing campaign that encompasses Internet, television, mobile and radio mediums.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/29/now-you-can-call-bullshit-on-gop-pols.html

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/interlude#/entity

The New York Times leading the way to non-interruptive mobile Ads

The publisher rolled out a new ad format called Mobile Moments. The ads are customized to the seven moments in a given day that are most important to readers. Those moments include the beginning of the morning, lunchtime and the end of the day.

The ads take up the entire width of the screen and up to 75% of the screen vertically. However, by taking up three-quarters of the screen, the ads follow the Times' plan to reduce the number of ads it runs to make sure those that do appear have a chance to be seen.

These kind of initiatives are important in a context where consumers are being bombarded with ads and pushed to use ads blocking software.

http://adage.com/lookbook/article/branded-content/ads-timed-attention-native-content-stand/301101/

Ads that no one sees

AppNexus announced that it would allow advertisers to pay only for those digital ads that are actually seen by people. This is a very important innovation in the digital advertising industry, given that most studies estimate that only about half of digital ads are seen by real people.

However, many marketers might still pay for ads that no one sees. As programmatic advertising auctions became popular, they have put a downward pressure on ad rates as measured by CPMs  and advertisers have developed a taste for the cheapest option available. The problem is that the CPM metric measures page impressions but not always whether someone has actually scrolled down to where the ad is shown.

Ad agencies often have to promise advertisers lower ad rates as a way to land competitive deals. "One really interesting aspect of this is that procurement for marketers may effectively be forcing agencies to buy non viewable impressions." says Mr. O'Kelley, CEO of AppNexus.

http://adage.com/article/digital/a-market-online-ads-sees/301252/

Unethical or not, the Internet should take concrete actions to prevent the use of Ad blocker software

Among other benefits, the existence of digital advertising makes it possible to have free content on the digital media space. Advertising also subsidizes the cost of apps, which can take hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce, but are often free or low-priced.

However, ads have become more and more intrusive for the internet users and, as always that there is a problem to be solved, some companies found it and developed softwares to block ads, and 34% of U.S. adults are using them.

This is clearly impacting the revenue of many digital content producers and publishers and most of them claim that it is unethical to block ads and not paying for content at the same time. However, unethical or not, it is challenging to rely on individual consciousness on whether to use these softwares or not. The internet should take concrete actions to prevent the usage of these softwares. But, what is the appropriate action?  Should websites “curate” ads and only show the least intrusive to the users so to provide a better experience to them or should they block access to their web sites to people that block ads altogether, or both?

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/ad-blocking-unnecessary-internet-apocalypse/300470/

Privacy in the Digital Marketing Age

One of my Professors once said: in this internet era, privacy is dead.

Indeed, it seems that out of all the people who live in this world, the second person who knows us well besides ourselves is Google, or Apple if you are a 100% iPerson. Today it is almost a norm that wherever we go on the internet, we are surrounded by advertisements, and these are not just any ad, very often these ads would show products we just browsed, recently purchased, or even something related to what we just searched. Sometimes it almost feels like we have been followed everywhere we go, except that not many people know who are following them. When we were discussing retargeting in class, most of the responses from students concentrated on one word: “creepy”. Yep indeed, it is just not normal to realize that there seems to be some eyes behind our back when we browse the internet, it annoys people so much that some browser plug-ins were born just to clear up your trace when browsing.

But do people really always resent the idea that their privacy is not protected on the web? Well, maybe it is too soon jumping to the conclusion. After all, it appears that we all trade in our privacy for some service. Gmail, Facebook, Android, iPad to some extent they exists for free because we are actually paying with our personal information, which was in turn used by companies to improve their advertisement targeting. The question is, though, is this healthy?

A group of Marketing researcher did an interesting experiment in Shanghai. Since the mobile phone service carriers in China have the right to push commercial text messages to users, it appeared to be one of the few places where we could test how much people accept the idea of targeted ads without been annoyed. The researchers developed a geo-fencing system combined with store sales data in certain shopping malls. Then, when they detect someone walking into the “fence”, who have shopped in the store before but have not returned for long, the mobile network would push out a message saying: “Hi Mr/Mrs.X, YYY stores thanks for your earlier purchase with us. As a gratitude to our loyal customers, here is a 20% off discount if you make a purchase within these three days.” Since cellphones are very personal device, you would expect a lot of people complain about this type of spam messages. To the researchers’ surprise, not so many people complained. Rather, a fair amount of them actually did revisit the store and made another purchase. There were no indications that they feel offended whatsoever! If they are so comfortable with targeted text message pushed to such a personal device they have, does it really make sense that they would complain about targeted ads on their browser which is arguably less personal than the cellphone? The result seems puzzling in explaining human rationale.

Perhaps this new era with targeted ads synced with every service would push people to adapt and live with them. It is hard to say what would become the future, are we all going to accept this as a norm? Well, there is certainly a possibility for that. At least from the study result, it seems that people can comfortably accept targeted ads when they really bring values or convenience to them. If the same can be applied to online advertisements, then it would not mean that people hate targeted ads in general, but only mean that the current targeting method is way too naive to figure out what people really want. With the advance of big data and marketing analytic models, maybe we would see the day come when the targeted ads can really bring the “just right” product to the exact consumer. Isn’t that what marketing is about?

It may sound controversial, but what the professor summarized may very well be the reality of the future: perhaps it is time for us to forget about all the privacy complains, and embrace the advances in technology that would eventually bring us the most efficient communication between firms and consumers.

Looks like digital ad agencies will be happy this holiday season…and so will shoppers at Kohl’s

US sales during the holiday shopping season are predicted to increase 4% to nearly $490 billion this year. This is a huge number – and holiday advertisers want to capture as much of the pie as they can. Retailers make up the biggest share of ad spending during the holiday period according to Kantar Media (ad tracking firm owned by WPP). In the 2013 holiday period, retailers accounted for 15% of total ad spend – almost $5 billion of the total $32.5 billion. During Black Friday, retailers spent almost $790 million during that week alone (omg).

Guess which retailers spent the most on ads last year?

Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Target, and Sears – not surprising. Wal-Mart spent the most: $300 million. See the chart below for other top spenders.

I don’t know if this is surprising to anyone else, but last year retailers spent 45% of their November and December ad budgets to television ads. I personally would have guessed it would be a lower portion. I’m going to go ahead and guess that this number will drop this year, and much more significantly over the next few years as retailers move more advertising to digital. Internet advertising was just 17% of total spend last year, and I bet that will be much higher this year.

Now that we’re on the topic of the holiday season and Black Friday, I’d like to highlight an article from WSJ about Kohl’s. Maybe this is not so related to digital marketing, but I found it interesting. In such a competitive environment, Kohl’s has spent the last year trying to reach a deal to undercut competitors’ prices. Kohl’s took the approach of working backward from the price they wanted to offer, and then to find a product that fits the price. $5 is that price – and this year Kohl’s will be offering toasters, coffee makers, blenders, and slow cookers at five bucks a pop. Yes, you heard it correctly!

Kohl’s was able to reach an agreement with Select Brands to manufacture these products. You might be wondering “why would Select Brands agree to such a thing?”. Well, even though the margins will be quite slim, the volume and one-time shipment makes it worth it. Also, the $5 price tag is after a $10 mail-in rebate – which many people won’t even bother to redeem so they’ll actually be sold for $15.

Happy Holidays!

Kraft Concerned Over Digital Ad Impressions

Consumer brand, Kraft--one of Ad Age's 100 leading national advertisers--spent more than $35 million dollars on digital advertising in 2013. Recently, the brand has been extremely concerned with advertisement fraud and viewability. Kraft has rejected close to 85% of real-time ad impressions that are offered to them due to quality concern, leaving executives at the brand slightly worried. When Kraft puts in it's "pre-bid" tools, the company rejects anything that appears unsafe, doesn't meet the brand requirements, and is not viewable.

According to the company's director of data, content and media, "75% - 85% is either deemed to be fraudulent, unsafe or non-viewable or unknown." This statistic brings to light conversations about digital advertising "supply-chain" corruption, and raises industry-wide concerns. This analysis from Kraft was only recently highlighted, so time will tell what this really means for the brand and the consumer industry. 

Kraft representatives say that if they do not know where that advertisement is going to end up, they will treat it as unsafe, and end up rejecting the vast majority of impressions out there. Does this drive up their costs? Because there is such a huge pool of inventory, Kraft has been able to achieve it's deliveries without having to pay more.  

SOURCE:

http://adage.com/article/datadriven-marketing/kraft-rejects-75-85-impressions-due-quality-issues/295635/

Marriott Launches Global Creative and Content Marketing Studio

Aims to be the go-to brand publisher for travel entertainment

Following the trend of marketers becoming publishers, Marriott International is launching a global creative and content marketing studio to handle internal work for its portfolio of 18 travel-related brands. They view it as the opportunity to be the world's largest producer of travel-related content.

As the largest hotel chain in the world, Marriott aims to leverage its expertise on travel. Similar to the approach that Red Bull and GoPro take with action sports, Marriott wants to own the travel entertainment space—and, in turn, gain the recognition as a trusted source for all travel needs.

"You're most likely to remember something if a friend recommends it," David Beebe, Marriott's vp of creative, content marketing and global marketing said. "We want to take that same approach as a brand through building engaging content communities through social platforms."

The in-house division will have three parts: content development, which will be the personal creative agency; production, or the entertainment division responsible for video content ranging from Web clips to TV shows; and distribution, a real-time marketing group that will monitor social media to ensure immediate interaction with trending topics. Marriott will continue to work with external agencies and other production companies as needed.

Marriott has signed a stable of exclusive talent from the online space, including Sonia Travel's Sonia Gil, stunt team Substance Over Hype, social media news purveyors What's Trending and comedian Taryn Southern. Shows in development include Renaissance Hotels' indie music performance series The Navigator Live; action-comedy stunt show Two Bellmen; and Web series Marriott Rewards' Year of Surprises, which will honor people in the community for their contributions to society. Online series will be broadcast on Marriot.com and Marriot Mobile and through Marriott Rewards and other media channels like YouTube.

Gartner's Andrew Frank said Marriott's in-house approach reflects a general trend in the industry that meets the increasing demand for content marketing, particularly ongoing interactions for long-term campaigns. It can be a risky move, however, because brands can be less experienced in creative and media strategy compared to agencies, but widening media access has made it easier. "Since most agencies are not organized to support content marketing engagements, at a certain scale it can be more cost-effective to bring it in house," he said.

Larry Woodard of digital advertising Graham Stanley Advertising added that brands like Pepsi and Nike have had internal resources for years, and it can be a smart way to create a following and get in touch with your consumer base. "Things are growing so fast and are so divergent from traditional marketing that you need to cast a wide net just to stay relevant,” he said.

Still, Frank noted that it isn't easy to become a global entertainment entity. Marriott, in particular, has an uphill battle considering how many travel programs are already established online and offline. "For every brand do-it-yourself content publishing success story, there's a much larger number of failed attempts. Brands that lack creative core competencies may be surprised at the costs and cultural challenges involved in building a world-class in-house capability," Frank said.

Woodard was skeptical as well. "Neither Marriott nor any other travel giant will be able to own travel entertainment online. For the foreseeable future consumers will be the leading edge of content creation," he said. 

Source: www.adweek.com by Michelle Castillo

Advertising Week 2014

Today marks the first day of Advertising Week here in NYC. For those who don’t know, Advertising Week is the world’s premier annual gathering of marketing and communications leaders that is held each year in New York City.

According to the official website, Advertising Week draws from the client, media, and broader cultural communities with a laser focus on key business drivers which shape and influence the global industry. Here are some of the key numbers: The Week is 4 days long, has 250+ events, 190+ seminars and workshops, and expected attendance is 90,000.

The focus this year is on digital – as evidenced by the many hundreds of panels and discussions scheduled on various digital topics ranging from mobile marketing to data mining. One topic that is expected to get a lot of discussion is digital advertising, specifically programmatic ad buying. Programmatic ad buying is when automated software systems (rather than calls, faxes, or emails to salespeople) are used to buy and book ads.

According to the official schedule, there are more than 20 panels that will discuss some aspect of programmatic buying. Magna Global, a research and ad-buying unit of Interpublic Group estimates that digital-ad spending around the world done through programmatic channels will increase 52% this year to $21 billion. The majority of the panels will focus on the growth and efficiencies of automated buying, however the conference will also discuss some of the risks, including the rise of phony websites and online fraud. It will be interesting to see how the conversation develops and what larger trends emerge from The Week.

Source: Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/articles/digital-media-to-take-center-stage-at-advertising-week-1411933781