Starbucks Most Photographed Logo on Instagram

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A new startup, GazeMetrix, can identify brand logos in Instagram photos. The service, which uses image recognition software, was originally developed to detect which apps people have on their devices by pointing them at each other. When that effort didin't pan out, the developers redirected their efforts.

The service, which will eventually rollout to Facebook and Twitter, makes it easy for brands to contact Instagram users who have posted branded logos and ask permission to reuse them on their own branded channels.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-11-12    
Topic: Research, Social, Tools



OneSpot Marries Benefits of Content Marketing With Reach of Advertising

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A couple weeks ago , I was briefed on a new company called OneSpot. Headed by venture capitalist and former head of interactive at the Houston Chronicle, Matt Cohen, the new company transforms existing content into ads that look more like content than ads.

After the briefing, I said the offering was "the perfect marriage of content marketing with the power and infrastructure of advertising." Yes, I really said that and yes, that quote is front and center on the OneSpot website which launches today.

Recently, so much has been written about content marketing which, as part of inbound marketing, is all about making sure the right information is in the right place when people come looking for it. But, people don't always know what to look for and they don't always know which available products and services could benefit them. Hence, the need for outbound marketing.

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by Steve Hall    Dec- 4-12    
Topic: Brands, Social, Tools



Digital Asset Management: Sexy? You Bet

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This guest post is written by Nina Brakel-Schutt, Business Development Strategist at Widen.

Establishing a system for storing, managing and distributing logos, photos, audio, video, design files and other digital assets to clients is probably the least sexy aspect of creative work.

However, agencies that fail to get the right assets to clients on time, every time, face losing accounts in a digitally driven marketplace that moves at warp speed.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-20-12    
Topic: Tools



How Real Time Bidding Can Improve Your Display Advertising

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If you're creating online campaigns (from a creative or media standpoint) and you want to make sure you have the right creative on the right site with the right offer matched up to the right landing page, you might want to watch this interview with EngageBDR Client Services Director Andy Dhanik. In the interview, he talks about how his system can integrate with existing ad servers and optimize creative pairings (landing page, banner, purchased site). It's a bit technical but isn't everything about advertising these days? That said, don't toss it off. It matters.

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by Steve Hall    Oct- 5-12    
Topic: Online, Tools, Video



MixRank Improves Online Creative by Analyzing Successes And Failures

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Competitive creative research has always been an important element when developing online creative. Finding that competitive information, though, is often tedious. MixRank has launched a product that makes it easy to find your competitor's online ads and other online sources that drive traffic to their site. The service can also determine which ads have worked and which haven't providing insight which can be used to craft more effective ads.

Check out this interview with MixRank Co-Founder Illya Lichtenstein. In the interview, Lichtenstein explains the service and how it can help brands develop more effective online ads and determine what their competition is doing online.

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by Steve Hall    Oct- 1-12    
Topic: Tools



Steelhouse Simplifies Online Ads With A2

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As a creative, you want your work to shine wherever it is seen right? But you dread all the technological hassles that go along with converting your idea to a workable online ad unit, right? Coding sucks. Flash doesn't work on mobile. HTML5 challenges some browsers. And all those rich media technologies make your head spin. Are we right? Of course we are.

Well, perhaps, your life may get a bit easier. A company called Steelhouse has launched A2, a new tool that brings the simplicity of drag and drop and point and click to online ad creation. The company says the tool will allow for the inclusion of video, images, location-aware information, product carousels, social sharing and content derived from behavioral data.

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by Steve Hall    Sep-24-12    
Topic: Tools



Site Retargeting Increases Display Advertising Effectiveness 30 Percent

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So our occasional roving video reporter, Murray Newlands, attended Affiliate Summit in last month and interviewed Chris Smith, VP of Sales and Marketing for Think Realtime, a site retargeting company. Site retargeting is an online marketing technique that allows a brand to advertise to a person who has visited the brand's site after they leave by showing them display ads on other sites. This is achieved through cookie technology.

In the video, Smith claims many of the brands that work with Think Realtime see a "30 percent increase in the effectiveness of their display advertising."

Hey, it's not sexy, there's no cleavage but, seriously, when you get right down to it, you don't want sexy, you want revenue. Check out the video.

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by     Sep-24-12    
Topic: Online, Tools, Video



FarFromHomePage to Mashup Web Content Into Interactive Presentations

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This looks interesting. FarFromHomepage is an Indiegogo project that aims to develop a tool that will allow people to remix anything from the web to create an interactive presentation. Viewers can choose to sit back and watch the show like a movie, or mouse over content that catches their eyes and actively browse it.

Check out their promotional video below. We like the idea

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by Steve Hall    Aug- 9-12    
Topic: Tools



Brayola Boosts Boobs, An Ad Pro's Wedding Invite

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- Ladies, need a better bra? Check out Brayola. Your boobs will thank you.

- This is how advertising people make a wedding announcement.

- Need inspiration> Graphic resources? Check out Online Graphic Design Degree.

- ThinkLA and the 4As have teamed up with Hyper Island to create and publish the fastest book ever written on the subject of... well, speed. Rabbit or Roadkill: Ad Agency Leaders Write The Book On Speed is the first of a new Hyper Island series called, Write the Book On It, in which executives participate in a group exploration of a current business challenge and address it in a book written in a matter of hours. Order it here.

by Steve Hall    Jun-12-12    
Topic: Agencies, Racy, Tools



PR Newswire Unveils Marketing, Social Media Workflow Product

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PR Newswire has unveiled Agility, an integrated communications and workflow platform that combines media monitoring, media targeting and real-time engagement tools with content distribution capabilities, all of which reside in a single dashboard.

Agility, which currently has about 300 active early adopters, allows marketing and communication professionals to target, engage with and monitor traditional media and social influencers through one integrated dashboard with a single login. Agility helps these professionals glean insights into who is saying what about their brand, how influential these people are, where these conversations are happening and to engage these influencers in real-time.

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by Steve Hall    Jun-12-12    
Topic: Tools