Facebook announced this week its partnership with Nielsen to provide ad measurement to advertisers. The product, Nielsen BrandLift, is expected to prove the performance of Facebook display ads. The information will be gathered using surveys that will ask users about their attitudes and purchase intent based on display ads that run throughout Facebook. The surveys will appear on Facebook’s homepage in the same space where sponsored messages currently are. The goal is to have a look and feel that fits within the existing Facebook experience. The frequency of the surveys will be closely monitored. Nielsen BrandLift will launch in the U.S. first with select advertisers and then roll out to all Facebook partners. According to comScore, Facebook pulled a 9.1% share of display ad views in the U.S. in July, landing behind Yahoo but ahead of AOL and Microsoft. I am very interested to see what sort of quantifiable results they report because it will allow me to better evaluate placements on Facebook. Social networking sites accounted for more than 20% of ads viewed online, with MySpace and Facebook accounting for 80% of them. We know there has been a shift in user behavior online and it is only fitting that we begin accurately measuring performance as we do with other leading content sites.

http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/entry/45288/facebook-allies-with-nielsen-to-provide-ad-measurement

According to Nielsen, Microsoft’s Bing grew 22% in August, increasing it’s share of searches to 10.7%. To many critics surprise, it appears as though Microsoft has reinvented its search business. Taking advantage of the recent merger with Yahoo, the two search engines now provide close to 27% of all searches, pleading their case to be included into marketer’s campaigns. These finding indicate that Bing’s massive marketing campaign was successful by resulting in a boost. Will Bing’s novelty wear off, or has it become a real competitor in the space? I guess only time will tell. What are your predictions?

I have to say I was surprised to hear that Gap will not be advertising its new denim line on-air in any capacity. The brand has been known for some of its past TV commercials so I think this shift is really confirming the new direction of advertising. The new ad campaign “Born to Fit” will be placing a significant emphasis on online advertising and social media, specifically facebook. Caroline Tall recently wrote a blog post about the Gap’s facebook page and how it landed on Creativity Online’s top 20 list. The Facebook page will act as the centerpiece for the online campaign, all initiatives will drive consumers to their page where they can view video, upload their own photos, etc. What I found the most interesting is that they have set no numerical benchmarks to determine success, but will look at “how much consumers interact with the brand” to gauge ROI. The Gap has struggled with their brand for some time; however, by shifting direction and focusing on emerging social marketing and online media initiatives that allow for audience interaction, Gap is beginning to reposition themselves again as a leader in the industry.

http://www.clickz.com/3634707

The other night my husband, 5 month old daughter and I video chatted simultaneously with my parents who live in LA, and my sister who just moved to Chicago. My sister was able to give us a virtual tour of her new apartment and everyone was thrilled to be able to see my daughter chat away. It got me thinking about what sort of world my daughter is growing up in. She is only 5 months old and I am already exposing her to the computer and all of the amazing technology available to keep people connected. I can’t even imagine what she will be doing when she is in elementary school, or high school for that matter. How advanced is technology going to get? How will she be communicating with peers, family and her parents? Will Facebook and Twitter be part of her day to day life or will they be a distant memory? I am going to seem like a dinosaur when I explain to her that when I left for college I didn’t have an email address, or even cell phone, and I had to go to the library to gather research from actual books for assignments. That was not very long ago so it goes to show how quickly things have changed over the past few years. Will we maintain the same pace?

When you hear the term “creative” within a conversation related to advertising, most people think of the visual representation that includes images, copy, etc. I think “media creative” is often overlooked and is something our agency is currently focusing on. Interestingly enough, following an internal meeting we had regarding creative media, we attended a local Ad Club session discussing the very same topic. Media Buyers and Planners are constantly facing the challenge of how to “cut through the clutter” and I think it takes a collaboration between the media and creative departments to come up with both creative visual representations and creative placement ideas to achieve results. Creative media placements can range from homepage takeovers, owning the units on a page, wall paper to roadblocks and expandable banners. Rich media enables the creative department to further enhance the creative by synchronizing road blocks or adding an interactive element to the banners. The recent Mac synchronized roadblock on the NYTimes.com is a great example of creative at its best. I recently read an article on iMedia regarding rich media, written by the VP of Strategy and Marketing at PointRoll and was surprised that only 5% of online ads include some form of rich media. I understand there is an additional cost associated with this type of placement, but if interaction rates are going to be significantly higher why not work the creative costs into the existing budget? There is so much opportunity online to be creative with the placement and visual execution, perhaps if we all do it right we can add value to the sites we are running on. There is a fine line between being creative/engaging and intrusive which is why it is vital for planners and buyers to focus on relevancy and implement frequency caps to ensure a good user experience.