Has the mobile tipping point
already happened?
Agencies and Execs:
- Senior VP Peter Green of ad sales is leaving Weather.com to assume the same role at Undertone Networks, an ad network.
- Jeff Berman is now responsible for all marketing and content at MySpace following his promotion there. Berman spearheaded the MySpaceTV effort.
- Procter & Gamble selected Digitas to lead digital marketing efforts for Crest, following an agency review process.
- Tremor Media has selected Digitalsmiths Corp. to provide contextually targeted video ads across the Tremor Media network.
Entertainment:
Local:
- NBC Local Media has acquired LX.TV, which produces hyper-local entertainment programming. LX.TV will help NBC expand its local distribution offerings.
Major Players:
- Glam Media unveiled "Glam Evolution," designed to let advertisers determine the "prime time" for their ads, following a defined set of criteria.
- Google and Viacom met before the beginning of the trial the two are involved in to see whether Viacom can seek punitive damages, which could skyrocket any judgment against Google north of $1 billion.
- Google Health is rolling out sometime soon.
Mobile:
- A liaison between DoCoMo and Google may enable DoCoMo users to perform searches through Google. Other Google services will likely be available for DoCoMo users.
- Starcom released a study suggesting people aren't as adverse to advertising on mobile phones as believed.
- Google CEO Eric Schmidt believes mobile advertising's "tipping point" will be reached this year, largely as great strides are made in web accessibility on handhelds.
Music:
- Sony Ericsson has deals in place with three major record labels to provide music for its digital download store, which will boast about five million tunes.
- Qtrax's much-heralded launch was reduced to a fizzle when the record labels it claimed to have deals with denied those deals existed.
Online Properties:
- Online real estate guides, most of which got cash infusions before the housing bubble burst, are still seeing growth despite the downturn.
- The Rubicon Project, a site that helps web publishers determine which ad network might be the best for them, has secured $15 million in a new round of financing.
- Al Gore-founded online network Current TV has filed for an IPO, announcing that it will seek advertising dollars as it tries to become profitable.
Super Bowl:
- Verizon will sponsor the AOL Video page, which is dedicated to re-purposing Super Bowl spots after they debut during the game.
- FoxSports.com will offer chats, video and instant analysis during the game.
- Adrants will be critiquing Super Bowl spots in real-time. Disclosure: Watershed Publishing owns a stake in Adrants.
User Experience:
- Backchannelmedia finds 60 percent of TV watchers will likely click on an on-screen prompt that results in them receiving a coupon or other incentive.
- Online executions are largely an enhancement of, not a replacement for, traditional media advertising for political campaigns — according to an SS&K survey.
- Academic Duncan Watts puts in a good word for mass marketing, observing the "tipping point" is just hype-addled myth.
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