Our editor in chief chats with a company that's letting its customers pick who sponsors their content.
AWS Convergence Technologies, the parent company of the WeatherBug brand of products and services, recently announced that it is expanding its Sponsor Select advertising platform to the interactive games marketplace. I asked Andy Jedynak, CMO of AWS, and Michael Rosen, SVP of the AWS/WeatherBug Consumer Division, about it.
Andy Jedynak has directed the growth of the WeatherBug desktop application from a concept in 2000 to one of the top internet properties worldwide. As chief marketing officer, he plays a key role in driving marketing, strategy and growth across both professional and consumer businesses and also drives new business initiatives for AWS Convergence Technologies.
Michael Rosen joined AWS in January 2005 to lead the national advertising sales organization. As senior vice president and general manager of the WeatherBug Consumer Division, he now leads the consumer go-to-market activities for the internet and on-air offerings.
Brad Berens: What does Sponsor Select for Games actually do?
Michael Rosen: Sponsor Select is a consumer-friendly advertising platform that enables online game players to select which advertiser will sponsor their game experience. Since we've found that users who chose a specific advertiser's message are more likely to buy that advertisers' product or service, Sponsor Select is an effective way for marketers to reach their audiences.
It also benefits two other key constituents: 1) Content distributors, such as our game partners, can generate new revenue from adding sponsors to their games. 2) Advertisers can reach an audience of people who specifically ask to see their advertising messages.
Advertisers pay only when they are selected by users, and every selection is a guaranteed visit to a marketer's website.
Berens: How do you know that users like picking what advertising they want?
Andy Jedynak: AWS has been running Sponsor Select on its WeatherBug properties since 2001. Based on this extensive experience, we found that the vast majority of users like to have control over who gets to advertise to them.
In fact, about half of all users we surveyed say they appreciate their sponsor more because they perceive their chosen sponsor as helping making the content experience possible. And more than two-thirds say they were more likely to buy their chosen Sponsor's products or services.
Participating in Sponsor Select casts advertisers and distributors in an extremely positive light, since users appreciate that they are making free, valuable content available to the consumer.
Berens: WeatherBug is a desktop applications success story. Why put Sponsor Select into new industry verticals?
Rosen: With the success and high demand of Sponsor Select on WeatherBug, the time was right for AWS to expand Sponsor Select outside the weather space. The marketing and agency experts we spoke with all agreed that incorporating choice into the user's advertising experience is compelling. After exploring a variety of industry categories we decided to focus on gaming because of its rapid growth, powerful audience and the desire by game publishers to move from fee-based models to ad-based programs.
Jedynak: Games are now mainstream entertainment with 30 billion hours of online play logged in 2004. And it's only grown since then. Our program allows advertisers to deeply integrate their messaging with a kind of "sequential surround session" that lasts throughout a consumer's gaming experience.
And online casual games reach a very valuable demographic that skews heavily female and over 30. That's an audience that's filled with primary household purchase decision makers.
Berens: Why is empowering the consumer to pick his/her own sponsor important?
Jedynak: I think people appreciate the honesty of the approach. For generations, advertising has made great content and programming free. Giving consumers the ability to directly participate in that age-old relationship helps them acknowledge it and appreciate it. As media becomes more interactive, the consumer has greater choice over what they see and hear.
Rosen: And by empowering consumers to chose their advertising they are agreeing to see ads they are interested in, not avoid them. Consumers want greater control online, in the same way that remote controls and DVRs give control.
We want consumers to have a choice and, if they do select advertising that is interesting to them, they will feel good about their online experience.