"You can observe a lot by watching."
—Yogi Berra
Who would have thought 12 months ago that many in the industry would think of Google as the company that would have the greatest impact in 2003, or that perennial money-loser MSN would be highly profitable?
The beginning of a new year is always a good time for reflection, so let’s take a look at the big hits and misses in 2003 and hand out some awards. My awards “committee” consisted of many of the thought leaders from a cross-section of the industry, including leading consultants, publishers, technology companies, industry associations and researchers (see complete list below).
The Thousand Points of Light Award: Interactive Marketing Community
As Doug Weaver, Upstream Group president, aptly described it, “What really impacted our business were the thousands of little developments that happened in the boardrooms of major marketers. It’s anecdotal, but the tide has really turned. The question is no longer: ‘Justify having online on this plan.’ It’s now ‘Why is there no interactive component here?’ It’s an iterative process, but it’s very real. Unfortunately, the financial and technology heritage of our industry makes us all watch for the silver bullet, the record-setting IPO or the paradigm-shifting business plan. I guess we’ll have to learn to be satisfied with just more money and more opportunity.”
The Rainbow Award: Online Ad Revenue
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain,” says Dolly Parton. Online ad revenue has seen lots of rain over the last few years. In 2003, the rainbow finally emerged. For example, online ad volume is up 19 percent from 12 months ago when DoubleClick served 144 billion ads in Q2 2002. That’s at 172 billion in Q3 2003. The IAB and PwC announced that Internet advertising totaled an estimated $1.745 billion in the third quarter of 2003, the highest total revenues reported since Q3 2001.
The Santana “Supernatural” Award: Search
Like the “overnight” success of a rocker who’d been around for 30-plus years, search became the overnight Internet success of 2003. Search drove much of the revenue increases for companies like Yahoo! and Microsoft and for the online ad industry as a whole.
The Onion Award: Reporting and Measurement
Like an onion, which can be pungent and make you cry, or be a great addition to a recipe, reporting and measurement has been a case of “the best of times and the worst of times.” Agencies have been frustrated that publishers still haven’t agreed on a bulletproof standard. But publishers have found that every time they think they have the challenge solved, there’s another layer that needs to be peeled away. On the other hand, there are bright lights. For example, users of CNET’s GameSpot Trax and Yahoo!’s Buzz Index have found these tools can be used as a dynamic research lab. Their reports can provide marketers with insights into what people want and how they respond to specific products and marketing campaigns.
The Loya Jirga Award: IAB Universal Ad Package (UAP)
A year ago, networks like AOL and MSN literally had hundreds of ad sizes and the industry as a whole had thousands. This all created additional cost and time for anyone running a multi-site campaign. The leaders in the industry finally laid down their swords to truly solve an issue nagging the industry. Today, all mainstream sites have adopted the UAP, dramatically reducing the cost of creating online creative. By the way, for those who aren’t Afghanistan historians, click here for an explanation of a Loya Jirga.
The Times Square Clean-Up Award: UAP Adoptees
The corollary for many of the sites/networks adopting the UAP standard was they used it as an excuse to clean up their ad environments. They have voluntarily reduced the clutter of too many ads per page, and some have developed creative acceptance standards to eliminate deceptive and objectionable ads.
The Amelia Earhart Award: 18- to 34-Year-Old Males, Teens and Business Decision Makers
As you might have deduced from the finger-pointing between Nielsen and the TV networks, these three audiences disappeared from TV ratings and have made online their predominant media consumption choice.
The Ahhhnold High Impact Award: Ford F-150 Campaign
This campaign literally shook MSN’s homepage. As Rex Briggs, CEO of Marketing Evolution, said, “With their simultaneous purchase on September 4 of MSN, AOL and Yahoo, Ford proved that online can deliver significant impact and reach. Ford broke the mold and showed that online buys can be something more than a toe-in-the-water, 5 percent reach, 10 GRP kind of buy. Instead, they bought more online GRPs that day than they bought on TV—and they buy a lot of TV.”
The Rolling Stones Tour Award: Cross Media Optimization Studies (XMOS)
Two years after the original MSN Dove study, XMOS continues to play to packed houses. IAB’s XMOS road show brought in more than 1,400 attendees around the country, with more than half of the attendees being so-called “traditional” marketers. XMOS was also highlighted to 1,250 attendees during MSN’s Interactive Best Practices road show.
The Mosquito Award: SPAM
Like mosquitoes, SPAM has been an irritant for some time. Just as mosquitoes can carry a dangerous virus like the West Nile, SPAM carries some of the vilest representations of mankind. It has gotten to the point where there are broad-based government (e.g., CAN SPAM legislation) and business-driven initiatives (e.g., AIM’s ethical email guidelines) to eradicate the virus.
The Telemarketer “Do Not Call” Award: Pop-ups
As David Oglivy once said, “The consumer is not a moron; she is your wife.” Just as telemarketing was lucrative for many marketers, pop-ups have performed—but there’s a rising backlash against marketers using pop-ups. Anecdotally, I have heard of many people who now refuse to buy anything from a marketer who uses pop-ups, or stop going to sites that overuse pop-ups. Today it’s ISPs and others helping consumers combat pop-ups. How far are we from legislation?
The Trista and Ryan Marriage of the Year Award: Yahoo! and Overture
Arguably one of the top acquisitions anywhere since the AOL Time Warner deal a few years ago, the Yahoo!–Overture marriage sent shockwaves across the industry. The ripple effect included the hype around Google’s rumored IPO and MSN’s much publicized re-focus on search.
The Freddie Krueger Award: Dotcoms
They’re baaaack! For the first time since 2000, there is an uptick in dotcom ad spending. Only this time, it’s a very different breed of dotcoms. Rather than ego and VC-driven mega deals with portals, these Darwinian survivors are tough-minded, analytical companies who only spend where there’s strong return on investment (ROI). Chances are you haven’t seen or heard of CEOs like Erik Blachford of Expedia/InterActiveCorp or Ian Morris of Housevalues. All they are concerned about is running highly profitable enterprises rather than getting on the cover of some magazine.
The Smart Bomb Award: Ad Targeting
As Craig Calder of the New York Times said, “2003 saw a significant shift towards more of an audience strategy, as evidenced by the rise in registration and behavioral targeting. This trend was driven by advertisers and agencies demanding better targeting rather than nameless faceless ROS blasts.” Technology providers such as Tacoda and sites such as Yahoo!, CBSMarketwatch and New York Times are increasingly offering more fine-tuned targeting solutions.
The Super Size Award: Ad Units
Marketers went beyond the traditional banner in 2003 with the adoption of larger ad units such as UAP sizes, half-page ads, and full-page takeovers such as Unicast’s Full Screen Superstitial. Consumers understood, as long as these larger ads were relevant to their interests and the creative was compelling.
The Power Steering/Power Windows Award: Rich Media
As Paul Kadin of Eyeblaster said, “Rich media has gone from developmental to fundamental.” At one time, power steering and windows were something special. Today they are a given in virtually every car. Jules Gardner of PointRoll said, “There will be no such thing as ‘rich’ media—only media. Flash will be considered just media.” Doug Knopper of Doubleclick similarly observes, “There’s little doubt that rich media usage will only continue to rise until it moves from being the minority of online ads to the majority.”
The George W. Bush Fundraiser Award: IAB
The Internet Advertising Bureau’s Greg Stuart managed to extract $5.8 million from the high-rollers to fund IAB programs to help grow the online ad industry. http://www.iab.net/news/pr_2003_8_20b.asp.
The Howard Dean Fundraiser Award: IAB
Stuart also demonstrated his grassroots fundraising acumen by bringing in nearly 100 new members in 2003.
So there you have it. Google, MSN, search—who would have imagined?
I’d like to express a hearty thanks to my contributors: Rex Briggs, Marketing Evolution; Craig Calder, New York Times Digital; Jules Gardner, PointRoll; Paul Kadin, Eyeblaster; Doug Knopper, Doubleclick; Kevin Noonan, AIM; Michael Palmer, ANA; Steve Wadsworth, Disney and IAB; Doug Weaver, Upstream Group; Dave Smith, Mediasmith, Inc.; and Mickey Wilson, CNET.
About Dave Chase
Dave Chase recently joined Altus Alliance (www.altusalliance.com) which specializes in working with startups, developing actionable go-to-market strategies and plans, with particular focus on situations requiring market creation. Before joining Altus Alliance, Dave spent nearly 20 years in the industry with the last twelve years at Microsoft in various senior marketing and general management roles, including his role as MSN’s Managing Director for Industry Marketing & Relations. In that capacity, he was responsible for MSN taking a leadership role within the Interactive Marketing industry to grow Online’s share of the overall ad market in concert with AOL, CNET, Yahoo!, Google and other market leaders.
Dave played leadership roles in launching several new businesses within Microsoft including Microsoft’s entry into the enterprise software and server business which is now an $8B business. This included co-leading Microsoft’s first vertical marketing efforts where he grew the Healthcare vertical market from virtually no presence to a market leading position. The healthcare business now represents over $400M in revenue for Microsoft.
From there, he was integral in Microsoft’s entry into consumer Internet businesses that achieved both critical and financial success. These included Sidewalk, Encarta, and HomeAdvisor which were among the first profitable consumer Internet businesses for Microsoft.
Dave has also been a successful investor and advisor to several early-stage companies. Dave maintains an active lifestyle with his wife and two children. Whether chasing after his children, traveling the world or careening down mountains, Dave loves velocity as much in his personal life and he does in his professional life.
