Digital media manager says online is growing at Ford, but rich media, reporting and billing still frustrate.

Joe Kyriakoza is a partner and manager of digital media for Ford Motor Media, the national media buying arm for Ford Motor Company and a subsidiary of J. Walter Thompson in Detroit. Kyriakoza heads up digital media buying for the Ford Division, Ford Customer Service, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Mazda brands. Prior to FMM, Kyriakoza was an account director at Beyond Interactive in Ann Arbor, Mich., and worked on over 25 brands in three years, including Nortel Networks, Sprint, GiftCertificates.com, LensCrafters, and Rodale Publishing.

iMediaConnection: What was your biggest online "win" this year, and how did you sell it throughout the company?

Kyriakoza: My biggest online win this year has been growth in online budgets across Ford Motor Company. Selling it throughout the company was not the most difficult task as our online campaigns have driven tremendous results, response and awareness. So the medium has essentially sold itself. As many have read about or seen the presentation from the IAB, our Ford F-150 Launch in 2003 provided very positive results for the online portion of the launch, including our one-day takeover on the three major portals.

iMediaConnection: How has your job changed this year?

Kyriakoza: It just seems to get busier year after year, mainly because I handle all of the online buying, and it has increased significantly each of the past three years that I've been with Ford Motor Media. Otherwise, things have changed for the better because the online space is garnering more attention from key decision-makers within our client-base.

iMediaConnection: What surprised you in the online world this year?

Kyriakoza: While it can be difficult to surprise someone who's been in the online world for over six years and seen some shocking things, I think the surprise has been how many traditional companies and clients have truly embraced the medium as a legitimate platform for nearly any marketing and advertising initiative and challenge they are confronted with. This comes from my experience internally with Ford, as well as from things I've read and seen throughout the industry.

iMediaConnection: Have you realigned internal structures and resources to simplify or increase integrated marketing?

Kyriakoza: To a certain extent, yes. But at the agency, we've seen quite a shift toward unique promotional opportunities through what we call Brand Entertainment. This is mainly driven by sponsorships such as Ford's exclusive partnerships with 'American Idol,' the '24' series, 'Alias,' and others. These partnerships have included things like product placement, and cross-platform promotions to drive the messaging.

iMediaConnection: How do you determine your marketing mix -- and how has the role of online in it changed?

Kyriakoza: Each brand at Ford Motor Company -- Ford Division, Lincoln-Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Mazda -- determines its own respective total communications mix based on its individual communication goals and product priorities for a given year. But the role of online has changed significantly simply from its growth, along with many of the things stated above.

iMediaConnection: What haven't you brought into the marketing mix yet that you want to try?

Kyriakoza: I really think Ford is not afraid to make bold statements with its marketing, despite its identity as a very traditional, conservative company. There is always the potential to do more with online particularly, including more rich media, more integrated partnerships, and the future could also hold behavioral targeting on a significant scale.

iMediaConnection: Have you seen specific evidence of online driving offline sales?

Kyriakoza: Yes. Just take a look at the IAB/XMOS Ford F-150 campaign launch presentation. The research indicated that while 2 percent of the advertising budget was spent online, 6 percent of the vehicles sales were driven by the online medium.

iMediaConnection: Are you using consultants, software, agencies or other tools to help with search engine  marketing?

Kyriakoza: No, we currently are not.

iMediaConnection: What do you believe is the future of ad agencies?

Kyriakoza: The role of ad agencies continues to evolve and change, but I truly believe that ad agencies will continue to play a significant role in the marketing initiatives of their clients. Agencies have, for a very long time now, carved out the appropriate structure of how to support the marketing of a company, large or small, and marketing/advertising is something that will always be a large part of a company's success.

iMediaConnection: What do we need to be doing as an industry to help you make interactive marketing a bigger piece of your marketing pie?

Kyriakoza: Continue to be innovative. We need our publishers to understand our business to provide better and more relevant ideas. We need them to be constantly outdoing themselves.

iMediaConnection: Are you being affected by any consumer-generated marketing (CGM) -- blogs, user groups, etc.? Are you using any blogs or other social networking tools to market?

Kyriakoza: I wouldn't say it's anything large enough to be concerned with. We are not currently using such tools.

iMediaConnection: How important is CRM in your marketing efforts? Give us an example of what's working.

Kyriakoza: CRM is a large part of our marketing efforts. At Ford, there is a large loyalty factor with the customers. Ford is a well-known brand with a lot of history, and like any large company, has seen its ups and downs. But customers are loyal, and we continue to drive that loyalty through communications mechanisms via online, direct mail, and other promotional efforts through the dealerships. An example of what is working is our MyFord online initiative. A Ford owner registers at fordvehicles.com for the MyFord service, and they receive email communications on things like service reminders, factory recalls, specials, incentives, etc.

iMediaConnection: What are you investing in now for next year's marketing program?

Kyriakoza: Lots of research, data-driven reporting and media optimization.

iMediaConnection: Does anything still frustrate you about what online can or can't do?

Kyriakoza: I think there many things that frustrate me about online. The primary items that give me headaches on a daily basis include:

• Rich media issues (technical hang-ups)
• Reporting discrepancies (we need to come up with a universal definition for an impression)
• Billing for online (this is simply the biggest hurdle to doing online media successfully. We pay based on actual delivery, and nothing seems to deliver in full).

iMediaConnection: What blogs do you read?

Kyriakoza: I currently do not read any on a regular basis. But I would like to start. Got any recommendations?

iMediaConnection: What are your daily "must-see" Web sites and why?

Kyriakoza: Mediapost, ClickZ, and iMedia, AutomotiveNews.com for industry news. MyYahoo, for all of my personalized info. CBS Sportsline and ESPN.com because I'm a big fantasy sports and general sports nut.

iMediaConnection: What are you reading these days, other than iMediaConnection.com, of course?

Kyriakoza: Mediapost, Clickz, Automotive News, AdWeek, some search-related newsletters. I've recently read the books Mystic River (which the movie is based on), and Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven.