Public Archives - CRAFT Media | Digital

Emotional Ads

CRAFT| Media/Digital Partner Brian Donahue discussing the impact of culture and emotion in two classic political ads on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYD4yTNg_44&feature=youtu.be

Watch the ads discussed here:

1952 Eisenhower Political Ad – “I Like Ike”

1964 LBJ Political Attack Ad – “Daisy”

Testimonial Ads

Brian Donahue discusses the validating effect of real people telling real stories about candidates in testimonial ads — an important development this cycle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNydnF8WtLY

Quick, what sites performed best for your most- recent network campaign? What drove the most clicks? What about conversions?

Media buyers and planners need to know these answers to key questions to better plan, execute and optimize existing and future campaigns. Yet, many do not, and cannot, know these answers. Why?

Because of a lack of transparency. 

Lack of transparency can damage a campaign in several ways, including:

  • Wasted Client Money
  • Potential Loss of Revenue
  • Brand Dilution
  • Damaged Reputation

All of these could threaten the success of your business, resulting in lost clients and lost jobs.

Let’s look at this through the lens a traditional ad buy. A TV buyer would not spend his clients’ budget on ads without knowing where they are airing. So why should a digital buyer, with greater access to insights, accept a lack of full transparency?

Transparency, more than programmatic or native advertising, is the key to the future of digital advertising.

Notably, without transparency you cannot make truly informed decisions about your ad campaign. Without transparency, your “big data” is misinformed and can lead your campaigns astray. Without transparency, you are generating false data and wasting budgets.

We’re not the only ones pulling back the curtain on this. AdWeek’s Mike Shields wrote a compelling article ”The Amount of Questionable Online Traffic Will Blow Your Mind The World Wide Rip-Off“ that examines this ever-increasing problem for buyers and sellers – lack of transparency. In that article, Zach Coelius, CEO of Triggit, hit the nail on the head when he said, “Whenever you buy from someone who won’t tell you where your ads are running, there is a real danger they are ripping you off.”

Following up on this, Digiday published an article “The Hidden Cost Bots Add to Online Ads,” where they continue to highlight and address the fraud issues facing digital buyers and sellers. The article points out, “Not only are brands paying for fraudulent ad impressions, but they’re also finding bots are leading them astray in their efforts to reach real humans.”

So what can buyers do to help ensure their data is real and their campaigns optimizing correctly?

Demand transparency.

If you can see the sites that are driving traffic you can make informed decisions and more easily detect fraud. If you are running a public affairs campaign, and the bulk of your clicks come from ads on CollegeHumor (mentioned in AdWeek article), you should question the results.

Don’t waste your budgets on fake or misguided impressions or clicks. Before you plan your next campaign, make sure you can monitor and manage the sites where your ads run. Demand transparency.

Storify: What is it Good For?

The massive growth of social media in recent years is both a gift and a curse.

On one hand, sites like Twitter and Facebook give everyone a chance to contribute to the online conversation.

On the other hand, having so many competing voices can make social media seem like one big Darwinian experiment: a ferocious survival of the smartest, quickest and wittiest.

Continue reading “Storify: What is it Good For?”

Vine – A Walkthrough

Vine – You’ve heard about it. You’ve seen your friends use it. But what exactly is it?

Vine is a new social media app that allows users to share 6-second loopable videos. Think of it as Twitter with video. It’s a new way for people to communicate and share experiences with each other.

It’s also quickly becoming a new tool that communications and PR professionals are using for clients.

Continue reading “Vine – A Walkthrough”

Business Insider recently released THE DIGITAL 50: The 50 Hottest People In Online Politics, and CRAFT Partner, Matthew Dybwad, made the cut.

In the feature, Dybwad cites the success CRAFT brought to the Mia Love campaign this past cycle:

“The big takeaway from that race was that it was a great way for us to prove the effectiveness of the integrated model and bringing together different parts of our shop. We proved we could take events that normally would’ve gotten little coverage and make them huge events that got tons of traffic, inches in stories, tons of interest and tons of donations.”

Read more of the Business Insider spotlight here.

Not So Super…Bowl Ads

Here at CRAFT, the general consensus seems to be that Chrysler Group’s “Farmer” ad (Ram Trucks) was the most memorable ad of this year’s Super Bowl.

It was unlike every other ad that ran on Sunday night. There were no sexual innuendos. No celebrity brand endorsements. No reference to popular culture. And shockingly enough, no Twitter hashtag.

Continue reading “Not So Super…Bowl Ads”

What is Native Advertising?

It happens every once in a blue moon. You’re on your computer (about to get in your YouTube fix for the day), when you run into a monetized ad. But this isn’t just any click-through diatribe. No, this ad is tailored to your liking. So much so that you forget about the video of the dancing cats in sombreros and get lost in the content-richness of the ad. Welcome to the world of native advertising.

Continue reading “What is Native Advertising?”