Battling for Chalkboards
Admittedly, the bulk of my tweets broadcast celebrity sightings or request lunch suggestions from @midtownlunch. I primarily follow independent food blogs, and recently focus more heavily on dessert reviews in anticipation of LaunchSquad’s impending Thanksgiving Pie Bake-Off. However, I defend and promote these networking services to my skeptical friends not only because of the connections I’ve forged with other cyberspace foodies, but also because of my sincere belief in the power of social media to effect positive worldwide change.
Viral chatter undoubtedly ignites conversation across networks with an unbeatable momentum. Iranian political dissenters or green technology advocates can circulate news and reach millions of Twitter followers faster than you can say “real-time Web.” Whereas historically, social efforts might have remained confined to crowds already inclined to seek out information and volunteer opportunities, today social responsibility campaigns can touch open-minded readers who just happen to sign online.
Donors Choose, a non-profit organization collecting donations for public school projects, is on the cusp of launching their second annual Social Media Challenge. This competition is riding the social media wave, rousing everyone from media evangelists to Friendster alumni to help spread the word and raise money for underprivileged school children and teachers. Last year, Challenge winner Sarah Bunting mobilized 1,162 readers on her unusual Tomato Nation blog and raised $111,352, improving the education of 19,577 students.
Throughout the month of October, social media pundits and new tweeters alike can register a Giving Page with Donors Choose to establish a donation platform. Check in with the Challenge’s motherboard to view other Giving Pages and categorical leaderboards. Based on your interests or the thrust of your blog, you can choose to spotlight certain projects on your Giving Page. For example, SeriousEats’ Giving Page encourages donations for food-related charities, including Ms. J’s request for healthy eating educational materials. You will compete with other contest veterans and social media tycoons, such as Biz Stone, Fred Wilson, TechCrunch, BlogHer, and Tumblr. So harness that competitive spirit and join the race, and LaunchSquad — as always — pledges to match any employee donation.
For more information, contact daphra@donorschoose.org
The Internet Makes Kids Write More – LOL!
We’ve touched on this issue a bit before, but given that we here at LaunchSquad work in an industry almost entirely based on the written word, its worth revisiting. A major pet peeve of mine is hearing people talk about social technologies as narcissistic or meaningless babble. This – sadly – often comes from traditional media folk who are often scared at how the Internet is revolutionizing their profession, and it’s an irritating and incredibly disingenuous thing to say.
So, Clive Thompson’s piece in Wired, “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy” was a breath of fresh air. In it, Thompson analyzes a study done by a Stanford professor that claims that we in general, and kids specifically, are writing more now than ever, and amazingly, 38 percent of that writing is so-called “life writing,” or personal writing. сын осторожно трахал в киску своею беременную мать
This is remarkable if you think back to the pre-Internet and e-mail proliferated 1990s. People simply didn’t write back then unless it was for class or work. I remember when I got my e-mail account in 1997 during college, I used this mysterious new creature primarily for sending assignments and occasionally writing cute little notes to my girlfriend, which still felt oddly impersonal. But think how much that has changed. We now use the written word for interpersonal communication more than any time in history. Yes, some of those conversations are, “OMG, u r the gr8est person I no. LMFAO!!1!” – but it’s still transmission of thought through the written word, something that was dying in the pre-Internet era.
That idea of the Internet killing off writing is beyond irritating and is simply not true. For all the “LOL” and trite abbreviations we see online, there is also a ton of useful stuff that kids – and adults – read and write. People simple read and write a ton more than they did 10-15 years ago. And to all the fuddy duddies who complain about the “death of prose” – please, shut up. More reading and writing is a good thing, be it in the long-winded, haughty pages of the New Yorker, or the adolescent ramblings of MySpace.
Does Jim Spanfeller's Remnant Ads Argument Add Up?
For editorial coverage of the world of business, few publications command more respect than Forbes and its online site Forbes.com. As CEO Jim Spanfeller winds down his tenure at the venerable media company, his assessment of online advertising and how online publishers are preventing it from reaching its true potential is making its way around the Web.
Online publishers, Spanefeller says, are hindering the growth of the industry by adopting the remnant pricing strategies established by the ever-struggling airline industry. Yet, when it comes to pricing reform, is Spanfeller’s characterization of remnant ad units, and the ad networks that sell them, as the major problem facing the industry an oversimplification of the problem?
Fundamentally, Spanfeller’s argument is rooted in the assumption that by offering unsold advertising units to ad networks, who in turn make this inventory available to advertisers at a significant discount, online publishers have created massive price erosion in the market. After all, why buy ads at rate card prices when you get the same or comparable inventory for a song through a network?
Following this logic, Spanfeller suggests that by eschewing the remnant model, publishers will sustain higher prices for their ad inventory and increase revenue at higher profit margins, thus driving the industry to new heights. Mission accomplished? Yes and No.
Truth be told, there are properties that have gone the DIY-only ad sales route. ESPN, for example, announced that it would no longer work with ad networks in May of 2008. As a top online sports property, ESPN made the decision that it would rather lose revenue from unsold ads than face pricing pressure from ad networks. Advantage Spanfeller.
However, for a much larger segment of online publishers that don’t have deep relationships with advertisers, large sales forces and premium content, casting off ad networks is simply not an option. Even NBC Universal’s iVillage unit admits that while some sections drive lots of traffic, they don’t appeal to endemic advertisers, making ad networks a viable way to drive revenue that would otherwise be lost.
The bigger question – one which Spanfeller doesn’t address – is which approach will drive more ad dollars into the market and create a bigger opportunity for publishers long term?
In a recent quarterly report, LaunchSquad client BrightRoll reported that while CPMs across its video ad network were flat between Q1 and Q2 ‘09, overall revenue generated during the same period was up more than 200 percent. BrightRoll’s report illustrates that affordable prices are attracting more dollars into the video advertising segment. A rising tide floats all boats right?
Former client Adify, which delivers a platform for building vertical ad networks, allows media properties to offer reach to customers across their premium content and that of longer tail publishers by aggregating the ad units into a single, easy-to-buy network that streamlines the ad buying process.
Both examples signify that the real problem facing online publishers is not remnant inventory and ad networks, it’s moving more dollars into the medium and providing an easy way for media buyers to spend them at a time when reach, cost-effectiveness and efficiency are king.
Only time will tell if online publishers will embrace the model proposed by Spanfeller. What’s true is that the customer – in this case the media buyers, planners and strategists – is always right and the winning model will be born from an understanding of the unique challenges they face, not the desire to preserve old media pricing strategies.