IanSchafer.com

Reminder: See me at Media Summit NY on Wednesday, March 12th.

Remember, I'll be attending the Media Summit NY on March 12th, presented by Digital Hollywood where I'll be speaking on the following panel:

2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Session C:
Advertising NEXT: Social Networks, User Generated Video, Blogs, IMs, Podcasts, Broadband and Mobile

In this session, we will look for a comprehensive understanding of what advertising in the next generation will look like. The world of advertising has been completely dislocated by the acceptance and integration of the new technologies, from PVR and Broadband to Social Networks, VOD, Mobile, Blogs and ITV, the consumer is being both barraged by content and choice, he/she is being overwhelmed by the technology itself. While the decisions being made by the advertising community are always measured and incremental, the technologies at hand are profound and will only move forward. How fast and at what rate of impact is still to be understood, but the question is no longer about consumer acceptance and proof of distribution, it is about when the roof is going to cave in. The new technologies are successfully invading traditional media and the good news is rather than leaving the advertiser without a way of reaching the audience, the new technologies may ultimately prove to be better and more comprehensive vehicle for reaching and developing relationships with an even larger customer base.

Bant Breen, president, Interpublic’s Futures Marketing Group

Kevin P. Ryan, Co-Chairman, Alley Corp., former CEO and co-founder, DoubleClick

Anne Hunter, Vice President, Platform-A Strategic Advertising Solutions, AOL

Scott Kessler, Senior Director, Information Technology, Internet Software & Services and Internet Retail, Standard & Poor's Equity Research

Marc Ruxin, SVP, Director, Digital Strategy and Innovation, MCCANN WorldGroup

Ian Schafer, President and Founder, Deep Focus

Dean Carignan, Director, Ad Business Strategy, E&D Division, Microsoft Corporation

Tim Chang, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners, Moderator

Registration is here. See you then!

MySpace and Portal-Envy

I've been harboring a viewpoint for a while, and now it's time for me to divulge it. MySpace wants to be a "portal".

As TechCrunch reports, MySpace will be announcing a new casual games channel. This is hot on the heels of them announcing their MySpace TV co-production, Roommates.

This is starting to look like Yahoo, isn't it? Yahoo!Games, Yahoo!TV, etc.

If you want to know the difference between MySpace and Facebook, the fundamental one is that Facebook does not have portal ambitions. That's not necessarily a bad thing either.

But, if MySpace keeps this strategy (and their reach) up, and if they can remain relevant and successful, they have to be considered every bit as much of a portal as Yahoo!, AOL and MSN -- albeit for a younger skewing demographic.

As with many portals, though, the success of its initiatives is dependent on its ability to drive traffic to those initiatives internally. External traffic visits are great, but most usage has to come from people that already use the portal. We've seen portal initiatives fail though, even with heavy promotion (i.e. many Yahoo! news initiatives).

So its obvious that MySpace is making that portal play. But their success will be dependent on their ability to deliver what their consumers want -- not what MySpace can promote to them. Hopefully, this kind of diversification of services doesn't dilute the core offering of connectivity and self-expression....

AOL to Buy Tacoda.

News travels fast. Even to courthouses with free public wi-fi (yay)!

According to TechCrunch (grain of salt added), AOL will be buying Tacoda, one of the leading behavioral targeting networks.

This is a great move for AOL, who already owns Advertising.com. Adding Tacoda to its portfolio makes AOL a powerhouse in targeting consumers based upon their browsing/content consumption habits.

The Webby Awards Redux

So I went to the Webby Awards last night, as Deep Focus was a double-winner along with our client, Picturehouse. I certainly had fun at the event, which is often touted as "the Oscars of the Internet". I have some serious issues with that statement, but just as the Oscars have highlights and lowlights, so did The Webbys:

The Highlights
* Our client, Nevin Shalit, SVP New Media at New Line Cinema accepted the Webbys on both of our behalf. In a very touching 5-word acceptance speech (as the rules state they must be), Nevin stated:

Thank you Guillermo, Chad, Sabrina.

That's Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth's Director), Chad Ossman (Senior Developer, New Line), and Sabrina Caluori (Account Director, Deep Focus).

I was able to pry Nevin's backup speeches out of him as well -- speeches he almost went with:

All hail Guillermo del Toro

Ian, you make the speech

Guillermo, direct Master and Margarita

Personally, I was for the second one, but hey...what are you going to do.

* The Beastie Boys -- It's amazing how they always manage to stay relevant.

* David Bowie -- Even though he didn't come out as Ziggy Stardust, it was still really great to see him on a stage.

The Lowlights

* There was virtually no enthusiasm at this event during the awards ceremony, other than those that were cheering on their party's designated accept-er. This is a serious problem. We're trying to celebrate creativity here. Didn't feel like much celebrating -- or appreciating -- was going on. This event needs its personality back. Apparently Nick Denton @ Valleywag agrees:

I've vowed never to attend another Webby Award show for as long as I've been going to the show. After last night's 2007 gala, it's finally time to burn the bridges.

* The old-school internet heavyweights, like AOL, Yahoo and eBay, received extremely lukewarm receptions. I wonder if it was that people don't remember the contributions these companies had to the fact that this medium is now taken seriously, or that they remember that these companies are not necessarily inspiring creativity all that much. Lest we forget that eBay's taken chances on Skype and Stumbleupon, and Yahoo's stepped up with acquisitions like Flickr (who also had a lukewarm reception). Weird.

It was definitely a classy event. But I don't know...maybe it was too classy.

Must Attend Event: Advertising in Social Media (5/21, NYC)

The fine folks at ClickZ are putting on a one-day event on 5/21 called Advertising in Social Media. While I will be speaking on at least one panel, that's not the (only) reason that you should go.

The speaker list currently includes:

Henry Copeland, Founder, Blogads.com
Peter Hirshberg, Chairman and CMO, Technorati
Greg Verdino, Vice President/Director of Emerging Channels, Digitas
Chad Stoller, Executive Director of Emerging Platforms, Organic Inc.
David Schiffman, Director, Messaging and Social Media Ventures, AOL

This is going to be a good one, filled with best practices, insights, and new learning on what makes advertising in and around social media successful. Many events are filled with 101-level basics. This one looks to be an academic exploration of what works and what doesn't, as well as what the future might hold.

Be there.

A Look at AOL ’ s First Look

I missed AOL's First Look today. I didn't want to. They had a fancy invitation, and it was at Lincoln Center.

But I'm sick with a virus that's straight out of a Dean R. Koontz novel, so I stayed in bed.

Anywho...

Leave it to MediaPost to be first out of the gate with a critique.

If this presentation was what MediaPost says it was, then goshdarnit, I'm underwhelmed too. It seems as though all of the programming is promotional in nature -- contests, reality shows, scavenger hunts. It all just feels so 1999. Aren't we past this? Shouldn't we be talking about original video series with real talent? New technology initiatives providing advertisers with new opportunities?

Maybe it's my fever talking, but we look to companies like AOL to help lead this industry. Here's to hoping that they do so, in spite of underwhelming 'upfront' announcements.

Advertising.com, Owned by AOL, to sell ads in NBC/NewsCorp Joint Video Venture

My head hurts.

In an interesting turn of events, as reported by CNN Advertising.com will be managing ad inventory on the new YouTube "competitor".

Makes perfect sense, as AOL is already a distribution partner and has the sales support to manage the processes and inventory. Interesting, though, that Fox Interactive Media wasn't pulled into this.

Interesting, indeed.

Could Doubleclick ’ s Sale Hurt Their Publisher Relationships?

Great, insightful piece by Kate Kaye in today's ClickZ regarding the fallout of a potential acquisition by Microsoft.

While I do understand analysts concerns, the fact of the matter is that AOL still most of their work on Windows PCs. On the other hand, I guess that doesn't mean that Microsoft knows all the details of AOL's ad serving and inventory.

But these companies always find a way to work together. Google powers search on lots of sites that could technically be considered competitors. Why? Economies of scale. It's beneficial for both parties. This is an ecosystem that can support co-existence. But then again, maybe not heightened levels of testosterone. Guess we'll have to see how this one plays out.

It ’ s Like YouTube, But in Reverse.

It's official, according to this press release. Read all you want, but here are the important takeaways:

There will be a site at the center of all this, but it's unnamed as of yet.

What's the rush in announcing then? Name the thing, hotshots.

AOL, MSN, Yahoo, and MySpace will be the new site's initial distribution partners. The 4 properties have a combined reach of 96% of the internet audience.
This is of no consequence here other than letting us know that those sites are very very big.

Peter Chernin, COO NewsCorp: "...for the first time, consumers will get what they want -- professionally produced video delivered on the sites where they live."

You left out the "with commercials" part. Now I know people like clips from TV shows and all, but ad-supported clips cut by someone else? I need to see it to believe that mass adoption will take hold. If done right, however, it's certainly possible.

"Each distribution partner will feature the site's content in an embedded player customized with a look and feel consistent with each site, making the offering organic to each destination. The new company will offer innovative advertising sales propositions by being able to sell cross-platform -- on-air and on-line."

Read: Lots and lots of pre-roll, and even more of the same :30 spots we're already ignoring on television. I hope there are plans to explore other, more integrated forms of advertising into these players and videos.

What's going to be interesting here is to see how not only Google/YouTube responds, but how the other big media companies not involved in this play respond as well. What does Disney do? What does Time Warner (who currently owns AOL, one of this new site's distribution partners) do?

Any guesses?