Category Archives: Advertising

More Replacements for Advertising

Posted on January 26, 2009 by hillel

We talk a lot about alternatives to traditional advertising. While we’ve focused mainly on companies providing (and branding) useful services on the internet to their customers, that’s certainly not the only avenue to explore. I love the idea of businesses taking their ad budgets and engaging in projects that are focused on the public good. (Note: our own Carbon Grove as an example.) The Good Blog talks about this direction:

These are scary days if you’re in the ad business, and not because the economy has bolted out from under us and off into a canyon. No, it’s scary because on the other side, there’s more terror still, because even when consumers begin to buy again, it’ll be harder to reach them. They don’t buy print media; they skip past television ads using their DVRs; they ignore pop-ups and banner ads online. And even if they’ve noticed your ads and go shopping for your gizmo, your $300 million ad-spend might be undone by a single, anonymous reviewer on Amazon: “This product sucks.”

more…

The Advertising Industry is Starting to Understand Branded Online Experiences

Posted on January 19, 2009 by hillel

When we started Jackson Fish Market, the first problem we decided to address was the lack of great options for brand advertisers online. Our simple premise was that useful and entertaining software on the web had the capability of engaging online audiences (both in terms of minutes spent and depth of engagement) much more cost-effectively than traditional brand advertising, online (banners and videos) or offline. Our belief that this is the ultimate destination of brand advertisers on the web has not changed. We believe that eventually all major (and not so major) brand advertisers will be providing useful software on the web that resonates with their audience and their brand. The software will typically be provided for free, and the company branding and product placement in the app will be tasteful, coherent, and complementary to the app’s function.

I can’t say it was surprising to me that the moment I left a big company and started a small one it would be much harder to get people’s attention in the industry. But, perhaps to the chagrin of some of the folks I’ve wanted to talk to, I can be persistent. The folks at the industry’s ad:tech conference are no exception. I’ve been bugging them to let me speak on the topic of Branded Software Experiences for some time. Imagine my surprise when today’s marketing e-mail from the ad:tech folks was about how to “Reach Consumers with Integration of Software, Digital Ads”. We’ve applied to speak at the conference being held in San Francisco this April. And even if we don’t make it this time, I do expect we’ll be speaking there eventually. Even more important than whether we speak is the fact that ad:tech recognizes the area of branded software as an important theme in the online advertising world.

Another group of folks who’ve been the “lucky” recipients of my attention are the folks at the Custom Publishing Council. This is the industry group for the companies that create branded content for big brands, like magazines for airlines and health insurers. Their annual Custom Content Conference is being held this March in Miami and the topic is “The Future of Branded Content”. Needless to say, we believe that branded online experiences are a key pillar of the future of branded content. And lucky for us, they agree. I’ll be speaking at their conference this year. You can check out the details on their site.

If you’re in Miami in March, hopefully we’ll see you there. And hopefully you’ll have another opportunity to see us in April at ad-tech. Either way, we’re just excited that the industry is starting to recognize what we’re doing as a core component of the future of online advertising.

Slowly But Surely, Marketers Will See the Light

Posted on December 2, 2008 by hillel

Even though we’re on winter break here at JFM we had to interrupt the peace and quiet of our blog because Bob Garfield wrote a huge and thoughtful piece for AdAge on widgets. Given that we’re at the very early stages of having advertisers fund useful consumer web apps, any time someone super influential, like Bob, starts beating the drum, it’s big news. The last time this happened was this past March, also in AdAge with an article from Matthew Creamer talking about how maybe ads on the web should be useful apps instead of just yelling messages.

This time, Bob is coming at the issue head on describing the disconnect between the potential for reaching users with software given how potentially effective and inexpensive it can be vs. the reality of how few marketers are seriously engaging in this area. And it’s true that we focus on full apps here at Jackson Fish Market, but to us they’re just the natural extension of what advertisers are (or should be) doing with widgets. Of course, the main point of Bob’s article is that never mind our full blown apps, marketers aren’t yet utilizing mini-apps/widgets the way they should. Bob describes the benefits better than I ever could:

“At a maximum, the widget is something like the magical connection between marketers and consumers, not only replacing the one-way messaging long dominated by media advertising but vastly outperforming it. Because online the link is literal and direct, and along its path, data of behavior, preference and intention are left at every step. Oh, and your target consumers actually go out searching for your branded gimcrack. Oh, and they display it within easy reach. Oh, and they pass copies along to their friends and associates. Oh, and because they’ve been turned on by a friend, they are hospitable and receptive recipients. And, oh, in case this didn’t quite register the first time I mentioned it, the barriers to entry are preposterously low.”

And, lucky us, we’re quoted all throughout the article. :)

So attention brand marketers who wandered over here curious after reading Bob’s piece:

  • the best way for you to do brand marketing on the web that engages an audience is through the creation of useful web apps
  • whether those apps are small widgets or full blown sites doesn’t matter. What matters is that you start understanding and using the medium now.
  • and in case you were confused… here at Jackson Fish Market, not only do we have a portfolio of six brandable web apps ready to go, but we have dozens of ideas for new apps that could be a perfect fit for your goals, your audience, and your budget.

We now return you to your otherwise peaceful month of December. (And potential customers have no fear, even though we’re on break, we can’t help but be on e-mail all the time anyway, so get in touch.)

What’s a brand marketer to do in a down economy?

Posted on November 4, 2008 by hillel

You certainly don’t need this blog to tell you that the economy is in trouble and there’s a lot of uncertainty. And while reviewing all your efforts with a careful eye, and spending conservatively is always good advice, it’s certainly something that everyone is doing now. I think everyone is asking themselves: “am i doing everything that would withstand scrutiny given the reality of the market right now?”

But… once that’s done, now is also the time for companies to double down. Not to oversimplify, but companies like Procter and Gamble and Chevrolet gained market share during the great depression, with increased marketing being a non-trivial factor in their gains. But not everyone always has the budget to double down on brand marketing. Even in the best of times it’s hard to justify spending on experimental new media, in hard times, shouldn’t it be impossible?

Here at Jackson Fish Market we produce brandable online experiences that are focused on engagement. You can rent our experiences instead of building them yourself. You can choose from our existing experiences (They’re Beautiful!, Invitastic, Carbon Grove, Elmore City Dance Club, and They’re Ugly!). Each of these can be ready for you to use in a matter of days. We also produce new experiences from scratch that can be ready in a few short months or even weeks depending on the size.

Here are three key reasons you should sponsor interactive branded online experiences (from Jackson Fish Market or elsewhere) in the coming months:

  1. With tightening budgets, consumers are going to spend more time at home. Trends are already showing that when consumers are at home, they’re spending less time in front of their televisions, and more time in front of their computers. This is the venue in which to reach your audience. And what better way to reach these customers than with a free and useful online service. We know how to build engaging and useful services that feature your brand exclusively. We know how to design functionality that resonates with your audience and reflects your brand values. With these sites, you’re in the right place, with the right service, at the right price.
  2. Renting branded experiences is way cheaper than building your own. While many agencies will build you a site and then move on to the next project, we let you lease our sites for as long or as short as you like. Our experience has shown that leasing sites from us not only keeps our shared priorities aligned, but it can cut your annual costs from 50-75% relative to building and managing your own site. And if you’re worried about long-term ownership, we’re happy to work with you on long-term discounts, exclusivity, and even buy-out clauses. Building high quality software that engages an online audience and is more than a 2 minute distraction is more difficult you might think. And despite the economy, finding software talent (design and programming) can be a struggle. We can build something great, exclusively for your brand, on a budget.
  3. Engagement online is eminently measurable. In tough economic times, metrics and measuring ROI take on even more importance than usual (and they’re already pretty important). Online experiences are incredibly measurable in multiple dimensions. It’s more than hits or page views or even unique visitors. It’s how many minutes people spend using your branded service, how many people they share it with, how many times they return of their own accord, etc. Did you know that users of our virtual flower service They’re Beautiful! who have planted their flowers in a virtual greenhouse return an average of 8 times to water their virtual flowers? Wouldn’t you like to have a service where your audience is returning on its own to use the service, and accruing value to your brand, the exclusive sponsor of that service.

Bottom line, here at Jackson Fish Market we:

  • build beautiful online experiences
  • our experiences are designed to engage audiences
  • we have several that are ready for you to sponsor (and customize) today
  • we can build new ones from scratch, just for your brand, in a relatively short time
  • sponsoring these experiences cost a fraction of what it would cost to build your own (even over multiple years)

    • And most importantly…

  • We love working with great folks, who are marketing great brands.

Get in touch. We’d love to hear from you. :)