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Magazine and newspaper publishers hate it when websites undercut their prices online, but it looks like they have a different opinon when it comes to ad creation. Last week Conde Nast announced it would start creating ads for brands — on its properties and elsewhere. The move is sure to step on the toes of agencies who pride themselves on doing just that. Now it looks like other publishers might follow suit.

Many ad agencies aren’t going to take this encroachment too kindly. Mary Price, principal of brand media at Dallas independent agency Richards Group tells Steinberg:

“These companies are not singularly focused on creating great work that produces results for clients. Getting into aggregate sales of inventory or creative production divides their focus. And fighting a war on two fronts is seldom successful.”

Isn’t it funny how much that sounds like the argument that publishers once made about keeping their focus on the print world?

But as digital media develops, keeping business goals siloed is increasingly difficult. Publishers have learned that online and offline strategies have to work together in 2010 and beyond. And media agencies as well as ad agencies are also evolving and creating new business areas, blurring the lines between what you can expect from a traditional agency today…

Source: Econsultancy

We have already seen Google introduce their Display Ad Builder and ad serving companies like Adform and Eyeblaster also including similar offerings (create-a-banner-easily) in their systems. Today I found a new service reaching out to all those clients that can’t afford to pay unreasonable sums for banners and versioning of them. Pointbanner offers you custom banner ads within 48 hours…

Companies in need of banner ads typically face the choice between creating their own or hiring a professional to create it for them. Many do-it-yourself sites use templates while using professionals can be expensive and time-consuming. Aiming to offer a third alternative, PointBanner promises custom-created banners in just 48 hours for USD 49.

Customers submit a banner request with New York-based PointBanner in three simple steps: they upload their logo, enter their desired text and URL, and then pick a size. Eschewing templates, the company’s design team works on each banner individually, guaranteeing a result for USD 49 within 48 hours. Three free revisions are included for each banner, and an assortment of multi-banner packages are also available with per-banner pricing as low as USD 11.

Much like Inkd, which offers a third alternative in the realm of graphic (print) design, PointBanner seems like a natural next step in the evolution of web advertising, making professional quality more accessible to all. One to adapt locally—or, more broadly, find another area where the niche between cookie-cutter and professional approaches is currently unfilled, and offer a middle ground of your own.

Check it out here: www.pointbanner.com and also have a look at their blog: pointbanner.com/blog

Source: Springwise

Springwise send out their weekly newsletter, two things in there got my attention, so thought I would share:

Users choose ads for their social web pages

Earlier this month, we wrote about Everyday Models, the company that lets consumers rent out various aspects of their lives for advertising purposes. Zeroing in more narrowly on the online profile is Bomeiti, a service from Catalist Group that lets social media users choose the ads that appear on their pages—and then earn rewards for their selections.
Through partnerships with social media providers, Bomeiti gives users of social networks and other such sites the ability to customize the online advertising that gets served on their personal pages. Users begin by specifying their preferences and interests; advertisers and agencies, meanwhile, specify the corresponding characteristics of the consumers they’d like to target with their ads. Bomeiti then matches ads to user tastes and displays the relevant ads on the appropriate users’ pages. Users are rewarded with points for the ads that are shown on their pages and can donate those rewards to the social causes of their choice. Bomeiti’s service provider partners are currently all Chinese, and include Cityne, Mipang, ShanghaiNing, Yobo and Neocha.

As with the ad-sponsored snailmail provider we featured this week, there are benefits to advertisers in letting users select the ads that their friends will see. With more control for social media users and better targeting for advertisers and service providers, Bomeiti offers a potential new model for advertising in the world of social media. Only time will tell if it will take hold; in the meantime, one to watch! (Related: Paying consumers for promoting products they love.)

Website: www.bomeiti.com

Free coffee for Iphone users at 7-Eleven

An iPhone application developed for 7-Eleven Sweden combines a store locator with coupons for a free coffee and biscotti. After downloading the app, users plug in their phone number and receive a unique coupon code on their iPhone. To claim their coffee, they just show the code to a 7-Eleven clerk; no purchase necessary. The coupon is only valid once, and free coffee in April will be followed by free ice cream in May.
The application, developed by Stockholm-based digital agency Lonely Duck, was downloaded 2,500 times in the week it launched—a considerable number given the size of the Swedish iPhone community, and enough to place it in the top 10 of free app downloads.

7-Eleven hasn’t launched the app in other markets yet, but it’s a smart example for other iPhone-loving retailers to follow: don’t just help (a relatively affluent group of) consumers find your store, but give them a good reason to visit and spend money while they take you up on your generous offer.

Website: www.7-eleven.se

Source: http://springwise.com/weekly/2009-04-29.htm