EyeWonder Strikes New Site Deals
Atlanta-based streaming media player EyeWonder stands to see more advertisers use its technology through new agreements with more than 30 Web sites, which will offer its technology to advertisers.
Among the new outlets are more than a dozen sites operated by Lagardere/Hachette Filipacchi’s New Media group — including Elle.com, Roadandtrack.com and CarandDriver.com — as well as NYTimes.com, iVillage, CBS SportsLine and weather.com.
The new agreements bring the number of sites using EyeWonder to more than 300.
The firm’s Java-based EYERIS technology allows advertisers to embed streaming audio and video into online ad units. The thinking is that ads enhanced with video and audio will prove more compelling to consumers, and more attractive to advertisers. Publishers typically can also charge a higher CPM for rich media ads.
“With EyeWonder’s instant streaming video technology, marketers can effectively reinforce their offline brand messages across the Web with creative messages consumers will recognize from other media, or acknowledge for their originality,” said EyeWonder chief executive John Vincent. “Moreover, our technology builds confidence that the Internet belongs in the mix of any effective branding program.”
EyeWonder lists major advertisers like Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Nissan among those who have benefited from the use of the ability to deliver a TV-like impression online.
Other networks and resellers include Real Media, Interep Interactive’s Winstar Interactive Media, Lycos, CNN.com and iWon.com.
Webster to Take Leave of Absence from IAB
Robin Webster, the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s president and chief executive, will be temporarily stepping down from her post to take care of her 93-year-old mother.
Until she returns from her leave of absence, board member and long-time advertising exec Greg Stuart will head the industry association.
IAB spokespeople said Stuart has played an active part in the group’s affairs since joining the board, and would take on the role easily and without disruption in the association’s efforts. Among other things, the IAB is expected to release guidelines for impression measurement in coming months.
“Greg is current on all of our initiatives and programs, and has been actively involved in many of them on an ongoing basis,” said IAB chairman Shelby Bonnie, CEO of CNET Networks.
Until its close, Stuart most recently served as the top executive at a marketing dot-com he founded, DeltaClick. Previously, he held senior executive positions at or consulted with major players in digital marketing, including AOL, Sony Online, Classified Ventures/Cars.com.
Earlier in his career, Stuart worked at a number of traditional brand advertising agencies in New York, including Young & Rubicam, Jordan McGrath and Partners and WRG BDDP, handling clients such as American Express, AT&T, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft.
He began his work in the online space in 1993, leading the interactive communications group at Y&R’s Wunderman Cato Johnson as senior vice president and general manager.
OPA, Millward Brown to Launch Ad Studies
The New York-based Online Publishers Association said it’s commissioned two online advertising studies with market researcher Millward Brown IntelliQuest.
The first study will explore the media consumption habits of the “at-work” online audience, while the other will examine the role of online advertising in the overall media mix in order to better understand how Web ads work in conjunction with other media.
Ideally, the studies will further the cause of Web publishers and advertising firms, who are struggling against not only questions about the medium’s efficacy, but also with brands’ tightening ad budgets
“We believe these studies will further establish online advertising as a media imperative and provide a tangible way of measuring the effectiveness of online advertising when used in combination with other media,” said Michael Zimbalist, acting executive director of the OPA, an industry consortium. “We look forward to leveraging Millward Brown IntelliQuest’s on- and offline media effectiveness knowledge to help advance industry learning in these areas.”
The initial results of the studies are scheduled to be released in December and January, the group said.