ADOTAS

But this year will be especially interesting as MediaMind was acquired by multi-channel marketer DG in July, which already owned ad platform Unicast and then acquired Eyewonder from Limelight Networks in late August to complete its “online media powerhouse.” So for the first time, campaigns from former rivals Unicast and Eyewonder are included in the nominees.

Today MediaMind announced the 2011 People’s Choice Awards Nominees:

• Personal PC Store – Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Microsoft Windows, Universal McCann
• Yellovator – Clemenger, Millipede, Yellowpages, OMD Melbourne
• Amazing You – Immerse Malaysia, Unilever, MindShare Malaysia
• Pernod-Havana Club 2011 – Isobar Denmark, Pernod Ricard Denmark A/S – DK, Vizeum Denmark
• Specsavers 2011 – Infinite Corridor@Annex, Specsavers, MEC
• White Collar – Glow Interactive, USA Network, Ignited
• Flip the Tortilla – Contrapunto, Gas Natural Fenosa, Media Contacts
• Inception – CBSi, Warner Brothers, Gamespot/CBS
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Biborg Interactive, Ubisoft

You can review the entries and vote for your favorite here. But act fast as voting closes on Oct. 21.

As for attire for the actual event, this year’s bash is superhero themed, so attendees are encouraged to dress up as their favorite fighters of crime (or evildoers — MWAH HA HA HA!).

Since the party is at Crimson, I may dress up as the Crimson Bolt from this summer’s under-appreciated flick “Super” with Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. It’s a real expectation-denying yarn about a cuckolded husband who receives a “message from God” to become a costumed vigilante. (Actually, in a wonderfully gross scene reminiscent of writer/director James Gunn’s last movie, comedy-horror flick “Slither,” sharpened tentacles slice open Wilson’s head so God can poke him on the brain.) Yes, it sounds a bit like “Kick-Ass,” but ultimately “Super” is more disturbing due to its gritty cinematography, unsettling imagery, graphic violence  and absolutely nihilistic third act — not for the feint of heart or those with easily upset stomachs.

Unicast announced that it supports all of the new ad units derived for the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Rising Stars competition, including Filmstrip, Sidekick, Billboard, Slider, Pushdown and Portrait. The Sidekick, an expandable ad that pushes page content left to reveal a large and functional canvas, was actually Unicast’s submission.

John Grech has been given the brand new role of vice president of sales at e-commerce specialist HookLogic. A 15-year veteran of the e-commerce space, Grech was most recently vice president of sales at PowerReviews.

Right after relaunching acquired deal site DealOn as ReachDeals, ReachLocal has been tapped by The Dolce Group for a multi-restaurant group-buying campaign.

Considering this, marketers can’t afford to miss out on or make mistakes in reaching out to this demographic. It’s vital to optimize online ad campaigns to inspire meaningful interaction with features like interactive video, discounts and geo-location.

Here are a few tips for marketers to increase effectiveness and visibility with key decision-makers in the home, 11.5 million of which are actively taking part in the blogosphere.

1. Do not overlook the value of marketing to moms online. Moms in particular tend to do more activities online than women without children, including listen to music (62% moms vs. 42% women without children), watch TV or movies (56% vs. 46%) and look up entertainment options (60% vs. 40%) (per Unicast 2010 “What Women Want From the Web Report”). This means there is that much more opportunity for them to see your ad.

2. Understand the unique publisher of your ad. Because a lot of ads are done directly by the blogger, it takes a bit more effort than just using a network. Although there are some mom-specific ad networks out there, 91% of mommy bloggers sell ads on their sites, and 40% report self-powering them. Linsey Knerl of lillepunkin.com tries to use affiliate programs and other advertising sources to generate more interest and increase click-through conversion rates.

3. Create an experience versus a sales pitch. Women are hungry for content that they can relate to, and a lot of advertisers have become smarter about producing content that brings readers to a branded experience not just a sales pitch for a product.

For example, Heather Flett of RookieMoms.com suggests if a marketer approaches a site like hers directly, they might be open to including a more integrated campaign including content within editorial space, which is clearly marked as sponsored content.

4. Ask “Why?” and “What?” All too often, marketers don’t consider the reasons moms actually come online when they develop their campaigns. But, “why” has a huge impact on “what” and “where” an ad should run. What women do online (per Unicast 2010 “What Women Want From the Web Report”):

• 76% plan to connect with friends and family
• 67% will keep up with news
• 64% plan to shop for sales/compare prices
• 59% intend to entertain themselves (play games, listen to music or watch TV/movies)
• 48% will research travel/vacations

5. Target with care. Heather Flett of RookieMoms.com notes moms especially appreciate when ads are targeted correctly. When reaching moms at the appropriate time with the appropriate content, they are much more likely to click-through.

6. Offer incentives. Moms are still in a tough economic environment so now more than ever they are looking for discounts, sales, free shipping offers and giveaways for holiday products that don’t break the budget. Offer these incentives and promotions so that they are more attractive.

7. Prime your audience for engagement and interaction. Women notice ads for items they’re already interested in, but positioning and first reactions are key. Erin Taylor of themombuzz.com notes that eye-catching and interactive ads are a tried and true trend. In a survey of moms that read mom blogs, the top five descriptions for their favorite blogs were “budget oriented, informative, humorous, relatable and fast to read,” according to eMarketer. Marketers will work to create ads that would be similarly described.

8. Consider realistic timing. Know when moms will be in the height of the season to notice your online ad. For example, while Back-to-School and Black Friday are highlighted shopping seasons and designated days with deep discounts as a driver, don’t forget most shoppers will buy closer to the holidays.

In efforts to best understand this demographic, rich media and online advertising solution provider, Unicast, partnered with several key influencers to determine the best ways to reach these decision makers in an impactful manner. We captured their thoughts about online advertising, appropriate content, advertising trends and policies as well as predictions for the holidays in this video:

Mom Bloggers Take on Online Advertising from Sean Couch on Vimeo.

Enabling crazed fans to get their “Twilight” fix, Unicast produced two rich media campaigns on MySpace that deciphered the location of the user and offered links to buy tickets at a local theater.

This campaign is the result of a new partnership between Unicast and the Aura Group, which develops web and wireless products. Fueled by Aura’s MovieConnect technology, Unicast’s Movie Finder allows users to post showtime information to Twitter accounts and send directly to mobile phones.

It’s also the latest example of the potential of geotargeting through social media. Online ticket marketplace Fandango sold 18% of the opening weekend tickets for “New Moon” and the film was its biggest advance seller of all time. Expect to see more of this as Twitter and Facebook work on their localized features.

Also expect to see more “Twilight” movies if their going to rake in so much adolescent cash. Me, I’m going to stay at home with my “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” DVDs.

The two companies have collaborated on over 10 rich media mobile ad campaigns thus far for brands such as Adidas, Land Rover and SCJohnson. These campaigns include rich multi-media mobile sites that feature data capture, video streaming, wallpaper and ringtone downloads as well as store locators. Unicast’s business intelligence reporting tracks the user interaction on a mobile site, which provides marketers with insight into user behavior and brand engagement.

One of the key features of the Rich Media Mobile technology is the capability to dynamically detect the type of media a user’s mobile phone can play, and then offer the advertiser’s content in the appropriate format. The platform is compatible with devices across major carriers including Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T.

Jason McKay, president of Unicast stated “We have extended our technology into the mobile marketing arena at a key inflection point, just as mobile marketing is emerging as a vital element of a fully integrated digital media strategy. We continue to invest in the development of our digital marketing technologies to deliver best in class rich media products to address the critical growth areas of the marketplace. We are excited to partner with AdMob, as they are truly as industry leader and a pioneer in the emerging market for the delivery of mobile solutions for advertisers and agencies.”

“AdMob’s clients leverage mobile marketing to reach their customers in a highly personal and interactive way,” said Tony Nethercutt, AdMob Vice President of sales. “We have partnered with Unicast in response to the significant demand for rich mobile websites to support mobile advertising campaigns, and believe that Unicast’s robust platform will make it easier for advertisers to deliver this rich experience.”

The ad connects users to a customized Whiskas site that features the “Happy Together” community for cat-lovers. “Once again, we are delivering on the promise that the Unicast Rich Media platform can drive better creative and more interactive engagement with customers than simple rich media,” said Patrick Vogt, CEO of Enliven Marketing Technologies. “This work allows us to showcase our PRM capabilities for brands that are aggressively pursuing the adoption of cutting edge digital marketing technologies in order to reach customers on the web in a more collaborative and meaningful way. The Whiskas HD3D campaign is just the start of our partnership, we plan to introduce additional PRM campaigns with other Master Food brands throughout the year.”

The entertainment company will work with DG FastChannel and Unicast to promote DVD releases for both traditional and online media channels. Warner Bros. will leverage the proprietary Unicast 3D Video Cube ad format to create a rich media ad campaign for new DVDs coming out for the holiday season.

Unicast’s rich media team will take movie trailers digitized by DG FastChannel to create interactive ads which will feature movie clips, sweepstakes, as well as an option to click to buy the DVD. Tom DeLuca, VP of Worldwide Interactive Marketing Warner Home Video said “Unicast was the best choice for us because of their cutting edge advertising technology. With DG FastChannel’s digital media services, we can promote our products efficiently through both traditional and online media.”

Chairman and CEO of DG FastChannel Scott Ginsberg said “DG FastChannel, has taken a number of initiatives to become a full service ad solutions company, and Warner Bros. selection of our technology for such an important advertising campaign is a validation of our strategy.”

Patrick Vogt, CEO of Viewpoint stated “Our successful partnership with DG FastChannel enables customers to better engage their audience on the Web with rich interactive features, and also provides valuable cost efficiencies as we repurpose creative content.”

MAKOS will work to serve Viewpoint’s clients better with cross-platform advertising support that includes broadcast video. Furthermore, MAKOS will provide Viewpoint with the opportunity to offer strategic marketing and creative services, campaign concepting and execution, broadcast production, and in-house digital advertising production services. Viewpoint in turn stands to gain more than 25 new marketer direct customers, while MAKOS will now additionally offer Unicast advertising and Studio 3D solutions.

Mark Turner, founder and CEO of MAKOS, states, “This acquisition will combine Viewpoint’s heritage in visualization and online premium rich media marketing with MAKOS’ creative expertise and broadcast video experience. As more marketers look to develop integrated strategies to reach their target audience through multiple mediums, we embrace the opportunity to join a company with a leadership position in the growing Internet marketing technology space.”

From the Viewpoint perspective, company CEO Patrick Vogt offers, “A key part of our strategy is to target local creative agencies that add value to our customers at every step of the interactive advertising supply chain. MAKOS provides us with new functional capabilities that we do not currently have, it accelerates our marketer direct strategy, and it presents us with local brand exposure and local reach.”

“With the explosive growth of opt-in online video programming, InStream video advertising offers a very effective means to build brand awareness for highly targeted audiences,” said Viewpoint CEO Patrick Vogt in a statement. “As a pioneer of pre-roll, Unicast understands the importance of providing publishers, agencies and marketers with a broad range of advertising solutions that leverage the latest in internet marketing technology, while retaining the flexibility to accommodate the unique needs of advertisers.”

The new InStream complements the custom pre-roll advertising already offered by Unicast, which plays advertising, but in its own separate player. InStream ads will appear as part of the publisher’s chosen video player.

Additionally, InStream will use Unicast’s Business Intelligence system to measure impressions, click-throughs and other user interactions.

The Unicast Advergaming product allows marketers to connect with and entertain customers through the creation of custom branded online games. Additionally, Viewpoint states that the technology allows branded games to be deployed as either site-side applications, or served as online rich media ad units.

With advergaming revenue estimated to grow from $200 million in 2004 to $1 billion by 2008, according to Gateway Reports and Wall Street Transcript, the timing seems to be right for a technology Viewpoint. In 2005, Pew Internet & American Life Project survey also reported that 81 percent of Web-connected teens played online games.

“Given our heritage for creating visually compelling, interactive online applications that educate and entertain, this new advergaming product rounds out our product offerings perfectly,” said Unicast VP/GM Jason McKayin a statement. “Once again we will leverage our core technologies to provide marketers with new ways to reach their target audiences on the Web.”

Unicast will offer three levels of advergames at three different price points based on game complexity and interactivity. The list includes Casual Online games, Custom Branded games, and the more complex Site-Side Advergames.

“Our focus on technology enables us to stay ahead of emerging market trends such as Advergaming,” adds Patrick Vogt, CEO of Viewpoint. “What’s more, gaming is a way to deliver a more immersive brand experience that can draw in users who ordinarily might skip over online ads. Viewpoint will continue to expand our lineup of IMT Product Series offerings as we see new opportunities emerge which truly add value for our customers.”