advertising Archive

Is there anything better than combining the subway with technology? If you answered “no” you are correct! Over the last couple of years, the NYC MTA (that’s the transit authority) has been wrapping subway cars with ads. Most of the wraps on the main subway lines have been boring but the 42nd Street Shuttle which runs back-and-forth from Times Square to Grand Central always seems to get the coolest wraps.

Vitamin Water had a neat wrap as all of the seats were different colors to match their products, the Travel Channel promoted Anthony Bourdain’s show and American Airlines tried to make the train look like the plane (although the train has a better on-time rate!).

Set on the tracks earlier this month is an advertising wrap from HTC featuring their line of tablets. There are a large number of tablet devices throughout the subway cars featuring all of the different ways you can use the Android-powered tablet device. There are also prominent calls to purchase the HTC tablet at Best Buy. They are specifically showing off the ability to use a special stylus with the HTC Tablet.

Below are a couple photos from the HTC Tablet with Scribe Technology wrap – there are more photos on SubChat.

These shuttle trains are packed during rush hours and riders only have 2-3 minutes on the shuttle so they might be more likely to see the advertising than on a mainline train where they have time to take out a newspaper or play with their mobile devices.

Continue reading “HTC Wraps a NYC Subway Shuttle Train” »

Last month, Jeff Cormier from Next Web reported that promoted tweets (aka ads) would be coming soon to third-party Twitter clients including Hootsuite and Tweetdeck. AdAge reporter Michael Learmonth noted, “Twitter’s ads will travel wherever tweets go — particularly third-party apps and search. This will bring a source of ad revenue into the ecosystem of Twitter-based apps, and increase the audience for the ads themselves.”

A source has shared with me that the promoted Twitter in-stream ads will begin a beta launch on Monday. These new ads will appear in-stream and are NOT the same as what I noted above regarding promoted tweets in search results.

We’ve heard that at least one third-party Twitter client will be part of the initial launch — when we can confirm who the initial launch partners are, we will update the post. Cormier spoke with Hootsuite last month who confirmed that the promoted in-stream ads will be coming to their third-party Twitter client. I’ve been digging but as of yet have been unable to find out the revenue-share between Twitter and Hootsuite (and the other client tools). Hootsuite discussed their promoted integration earlier this month – but the source tells us that Monday’s launch is for in-stream ads not for the search results promotion.

I have to assume that the promoted in-stream ads will also be pushed to twitter.com. These in-stream ads should help with visability and clickthru rates as they don’t require a stop at the search results for a promoted trend- you would go direct to the advertisers website.

It’s also interesting to note that in-stream ads will be very difficult (if not impossible) to block  similar to ad blocking tools. Over time, I believe we will see more and more content providers offering in-stream ads to make sure they can’t be blocked.

AdAge has released a new study looking at all of the primetime TV shows this fall season along with the prices for a 30-second spot on each. As one might expect, American Idol tops the list at just over $460,000 for a 30-second spot on the main show and $400,000 for a spot on the results show. Fox holds 5 of the top 10 most expensive shows which includes Glee, Family Guy, Simpsons and House.

The top 10 most expensive TV ad spots this season also includes Sunday Night Football, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, Desperate Housewives and Two and a Half Men.

Popular tech shows Big Bang Theory and Outsources grab $195,000 and $122,900 respectively per 30-second spot.

And here we thought $1/click on Google was high! Have a look at the full report and see where your favorite shows rank.

Yesterday I wrote about how new surveillance cameras were installed in several NYC subway stations. Earlier today Visa launched a program where subway riders could use their iPhone devices to pay their fare.

Just over a year ago, the NYC MTA began a program to “wrap” subway cars with advertising. The program focuses mainly on the 42nd Street Grand Central-Times Square shuttle (which is only one stop and only runs three-car trains).

Today the MTA announced the launch of a test program where advertisers can buy ad space which includes a video display. The video monitors will feature baseball highlights (clearly they will show the Yankees winning each night) and the content will be refreshed daily. The displays will have no audio. In some cities the advertising monitors allow for audio on a specific AM or FM frequency but that feature is not part of this new test rollout.

From the announcement, “On the subway, the inside and outside of a train serving the 42nd Street Shuttle (S) are fully wrapped with advertisements promoting TBS’ coverage of Major League Baseball’s 2010 postseason. While subway car wraps have become increasingly popular with advertisers, this campaign is the first to make use of moving images. Video screens inside the subway cars are showing replays of the previous night’s baseball highlights.”

The MTA reports that this program costs the taxpayers nothing as their partnership with CBS Advertising and the advertisers foot the bill. The MTA also reports that they take in over $100 million in advertising revenue per year.
Continue reading “NYC MTA Adds New Video Advertising Screens to Trains” »

When I left NYC last month, I knew I would have to buy a car. Since I am not a big fan of car dealerships (both used and new), I wanted to do all of my research online. Once I selected the brand and model of car I was interested in, my goal was to handle the negotiations online via email and chat and only go to the dealer to pick up the car and sign the paperwork. I will save my test drive experiences for another day as I have plenty to share regarding style, technology and usability of the entire passenger sedan market.

This post is to put automobile manufacturers and local dealers on notice that I have purchased a vehicle. There is no need to show me any more automobile ads. From the start of my research, it seems I can’t visit a web page without a car ad unit being displayed somewhere on every page. Here are a couple of the ads from Mazda and Nissan for reference:

From what I can tell, Nissan appears to have the largest online ad budget from the car manufacturers that were displayed as I browsed the web.

Perhaps there should be a simple way to update/ping the ad networks on my change in behavior — “Allen has bought a car and is no longer interested in seeing auto ads, instead show him x based on his online behavior.” The auto manufacturers wouldn’t spend money when they know the viewer has absolutely no interest in the ad anymore and the viewer (in this case me) would see ads that might actually be valuable.

I am sure the ads will eventually drop off — but how many impressions is Nissan wasting when those ads could be directed at potential car buyers – not buyers who have already made a purchase.

In the movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise walked by several advertising panels in a mall that changed and talked directly to him. Many wondered when ads like this would start to appear in real life and not in a movie.

A subway station in Berlin will create a new advertising experience beginning on July 8, 2010. Berlin U-Bahnhof Friedrichstraße station will feature all digital advertising – something many stations around the world offer in limited-use. The station will be fitted with a number of digital advertising panels and two Bluespot terminals on the platform. Passengers will be able to interact with the Bluespot terminals.

Intel will provide the first advertisements on the new panels and interactive displays.

Read the full article about the digital advertising launch in German and translated in English. There’s also a virtual walkthrough of the subway station that’s worth checking out.

At the OMMA Mobile conference today, Verizon Wireless (VZ) has announced the launch of the Advertising Development Center. The ADC will help developers select the right advertising option for their apps that are setup in the Verizon Wireless mobile store.

Initially in the Advertising Development Center there will be two advertising options: Microsoft and AdMarvel. Microsoft is the preferred partner and the Bing APIs are available for developers to integrate into their apps. The AdMarvel option will provide more robust advertising options and their analytics APIs will be available to developers to track their campaigns.

“Providing advertising tools that allow developers simple ways to add value and monetize their applications fits seamlessly with the overall mission of the Verizon Developer Community,” said Richard Williams, executive director, digital media for Verizon Wireless.

If you are interested in more details about the ADC, check out the Verizon developer website.