Archive for the ‘New features’ Category

Familiar and effective move TV budgets online

Thursday, November 4th, 2010
Image conveying data

Mixpo technology uses campaign data to optimize automatically on the best performing ad*

How do you break down the barriers that stop advertisers from extending their TV advertising online? Make it familiar. Make it effective.

Familiar Build on what’s familiar by incorporating many of the techniques, such as dayparting and ad sequencing, that advertisers are already accustomed to using in the TV world.

Effective Advertisers new to online are unlikely to know how to take full advantage of the dynamic nature of online advertising and the ease with which performance can be tracked and measured. Building automatic optimization into the process of running live online campaigns not only delivers the best results. It also educates advertisers about the creative and calls to action that are most effective online.

Auto optimization defined

Auto optimization means randomly rotating different versions of an ad through the same Player. After a specified number of impressions, the platform automatically stops running all versions except the best performer.

Advertisers have control over various aspects of the auto optimization process, including:

  • The number of versions to rotate.
  • The creative and calls to action in each version.
  • The number of impressions after which auto optimization occurs.
  • The metric on which performance is judged (for example, view rate, clickthrough rate, or percent viewed).

Auto optimization applied

To illustrate how auto optimization works, here are three different examples of the process in action.

Retailer: Optimize on view rate

A workout equipment retailer promoting a semi-annual sale wants to move as much merchandise as possible by attracting people into the store. The retailer comes up with a couple of different StartFrames (the image viewers see before they play a video ad) to determine which attracts the most views.

  • Version 1 describes the sale this way: Semi-annual Sale! All inventory discounted.
  • Version 2 describes the sale this way: Merchandise must move! First come, first served!

After the two versions rotate through the same Player for 75,000 impressions, Version 2 has the highest view rate. The platform automatically stops running Version 1.

Auto dealer: Optimize on clickthrough rate

An auto dealer wants to generate more local leads and get more car buyers into the show room. The dealer wants to test two different calls to action:

  • Version 1: Sign up for a test drive!
  • Version 2: Schedule a test drive today!

After the two versions rotate through the same Player for 100,000 impressions, Version 1 has the highest clickthrough rate. The platform automatically stops running Version 2.

Political campaign: Optimize on percent viewed

To garner votes as the election nears, a political campaign wants voters to view as much of the candidate’s message as possible. The campaign develops two versions of a video ad that approach the candidate’s platform in different ways.

  • Version 1 presents the message by attacking the candidate’s opponent.
  • Version 2 ignores the opposition and focuses on the candidate’s five-point program for change.

After the two versions rotate through the same Player for 50,000 impressions, Version 2 has the highest percent viewed. The platform automatically stops running Version 1.

More Information

New to Mixpo? Explore our website today to learn more about dynamic video advertising.

Read a MediaPost article about Mixpo tools that move TV ad budgets online.

Mixpo customer? Learn more now about optimization by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “auto optimize.”

*Photo taken by bionicteaching.

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Ad sequencing in the non-linear Web world

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Photo of John Steinbeck quote

Use ad sequencing to tell stories*

Consumers typically progress through a single TV program or a series of episodes in a linear fashion. Advertisers have taken advantage of this linear progression to build brand awareness and tell stories through ad sequences.

For example, Budweiser served a progression of popular beer ads to football fans watching the Superbowl. Taster’s Choice promoted its coffee using an ad sequence that traced the progress of a developing romance. The Energizer Bunny sequence not only won a best-commercial-of-the-year Obie award but also resulted in Energizer pulling ahead of Duracell in sales.

Because ad sequencing works on television, advertisers who extend their campaigns online want to tap into that same sense of motion and momentum. But, they face a challenge. How is it possible to capture the repetition and story-telling potential of ad sequencing on the Web, an inherently non-linear medium?

As part of its goal to remove barriers to online video advertising, Mixpo recently released its Dynamic Suite. Included in the Suite is a message sequencing tool that provides advertisers with one of the easiest, most effective ways to deliver in-banner video ad sequences on the Web.

Ad sequencing described

With Mixpo’s user-friendly ad sequencing tool, advertisers can:

  • Build in a progressive viewing experience by basing ads that a consumer sees on ads that same consumer viewed or encountered previously (through an impression).
  • Fine tune that experience by controlling the number of impressions or views that trigger the delivery of a different ad.
  • Set up as many ad sequences as necessary to deliver the optimal brand awareness or story-telling experience.
  • Preview the ad sequencing experience to make sure it performs as expected before the ads go live.

Ad sequencing applied

Automotive: From the general to the specific

An auto dealer runs a sequence of ads based on views. Consumers who have actively chosen to view a general video ad about the new hybrid SUV will automatically be shown a more detailed ad about some of the model’s hottest features.

Retail: Upping the incentive

A sporting goods retailer runs a sequence of ads based on impressions. Consumers who have been exposed twice to a startframe that shows a re-designed elliptical machine will see a new startframe on their third visit that offers a 10% discount coupon to first-time customers.

More Information

New to Mixpo? Explore our website today to learn more about dynamic video advertising.

Mixpo customer? Learn more now about ad sequencing by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “sequencing.”

*Photo taken by Jill Clardy.

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Dayparting works – on TV and online

Thursday, October 14th, 2010
clock image

Target audiences through dayparting*

Advertisers want to extend their TV campaigns online, but often fear the expense and labor involved in creating or editing video for online audiences.

To remove barriers to the TV-online transition, Mixpo not only makes it easy to re-purpose existing TV creative for use on the Web. Our platform also incorporates tried-and-true TV programming strategies, such as dayparting, into our dynamic feature suite.

Dayparting enables advertisers to deliver content at a specific time of day or day of the week, when it is most likely to be relevant to particular viewers.

Dayparting described

Advertisers accustomed to running dayparted campaigns on television will find it easy to take advantage of this feature on Mixpo’s platform. Using an intuitive interface, dayparting is simple to implement and supports:

  • Running different ads during select dayparts, with no limit on the number of dayparts.
  • Setting up customized dayparting schedules for different days of the week.
  • Copying schedules from one day to another.
  • Previewing dayparts to ensure functionality before the ads go live.
  • Trafficking one master ad tag that controls an entire dayparting schedule.
  • Generating custom reports that track the individual performance of each dayparted ad.
  • Changing creative or adjusting daypart times mid-campaign without re-trafficking any ad tags.

Dayparting applied

Here are a few examples of how dayparting can help your ad campaign:

Fast food: The right message at the right time of day

To bring customers into the store, a restaurant can run its breakfast burrito ad from midnight to 10am, its tuna melt ad from 10 am to 2:30 pm, and its four-piece chicken dinner ad from 2:30 pm to midnight.

Tune-in: The right message on the right day of the week

To queue up viewer interest and drive viewers to its nightly broadcast, a TV station can run ads a few hours in advance of air time that preview the most exciting news segment.

More Information

New to Mixpo? Explore our website today to learn more about dynamic video advertising.

Mixpo customer? Learn more now about dayparting by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “dayparting.”

*Image taken by David Sky

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Give viewers the coupons they want

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

According to a MediaPost research brief, more than 20 percent of the US population uses coupons found online. Google searches for “Printable Coupons” increased 67 percent over a year ago. A Razorfish report says that the number one reason consumers followed or liked brands on Twitter or Facebook was access to exclusive deals or offers.

In an iMediaConnection article, Emily Girolamo points out that women are overtaking men online (56 percent of Facebook’s audience are women). What do these online women want? Brands that show they understand women’s worlds by giving them something of value to make their lives easier and smoother.

Now, you can take advantage of these timely trends and preferences by integrating printable coupons directly into your Mixpo Xspots as overlays.

For viewers, coupon overlays mean getting their hands on redeemable coupons without ever leaving a video ad. No webpages to visit. No browser window printing confusion to sort out.

For advertisers, coupon overlays mean maintaining complete creative control over the coupon’s appearance and the ability to easily track the number of times a coupon is printed.

Experience for yourself how smoothly printable coupons work by clicking the coupon in the following demo Xspot.

More Information

New to Mixpo? Explore our website today to learn more about dynamic video advertising.

Mixpo customer? Learn more now about adding a printable coupon to an Xspot by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “coupon.” In the topics about overlay actions, coupons are described in the Print action section.

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Personalize each video ad viewer's experience

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Local relevance. That’s what turns online video ads from one-sided sales pitches into personalized interactions with your brand.

With the latest Mixpo platform feature release, you now have an additional easy and effective way to make Xspots relevant on a viewer-by-viewer basis: the Map Directions overlay action.

In case you’re new to Mixpo, overlays are text, image, video, and widget objects that you place on top of the video content in an Xspot. For example, an auto dealer’s Xspot might include a text overlay that invites viewers to sign up for a test drive. A restaurant Xspot might include an image overlay of its logo.

As the examples imply, you can associate overlays with actions. The auto dealer’s text overlay is associated with a Lead Capture action. Viewers who click the overlay open a customizable form where they fill in their names, email addresses, and more. The restaurant’s logo is associated with a Link action. Viewers who click the logo open the restaurant’s website home page.

To add a Map Directions action to an overlay, you provide a destination address – the address of your dealership, restaurant, retail outlet, event, or other key location. Viewers who click the overlay see a tailor-made Google maps Get Directions page. The page shows viewers how to get from the zip code where they’re sitting to the destination address.

Google maps Get Directions page

Google maps Get Directions page (click for larger image)


To experience a Map Directions overlay for yourself, play the following Xspot of a recent Mixpo bowling party. Click the Find the Mixpo office overlay that appears a few seconds into the video. (If you can spare a few minutes, take in the rest of the video to enjoy our team at play. While you’re there, explore some of of the other dynamic and interactive features that you can add to your own Xspots.)

Is your business national or regional with franchises or dealerships in a number of cities or zip codes? By adding a geotargeting variable as the destination address, you can automatically show each viewer the closest location.

More Information

New to Mixpo? Explore our website today to learn more about dynamic video advertising.

Mixpo customer? Learn more now about overlay actions and geotargeting by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “actions” and “geotargeting.”

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Live feeds bring customers closer to brands

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Consumers are more likely to buy from or recommend brands they follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Why? Brands with a social media presence engage their customers. This engagement brings customers closer to the brands.

Because Xspots are dynamic, they also provide advertisers with opportunities to bring customers closer. Four dynamic features with which you may already be familiar include:

  • Auto-optimization React automatically to viewer preferences and get the best performance by optimizing an Xspot while it’s running.
  • Message targeting Deliver the right message to the right viewer at the right time using geographical and other targeting methods.
  • Rapid response Respond to breaking news or date-specific offers by changing creative on the fly without re-trafficking ad tags.
  • Interactivity Increase engagement opportunities with links, forms, coupons, surveys, social media sharing actions, and other interactive features.

Now, advertisers have a new way to build rapport between customers and their brands. Xspots can include dynamic widget overlays that contain built-in animation and intelligence, such as XML, RSS, and other live feeds. As the Xspot plays, the widget continues to update in real time.

The possibilities are virtually limitless.

For example, a political Xspot might include a Twitter widget that streams the candidate’s most recent Tweets as the Xspot plays.

Or, as the following innovative demo Xspot illustrates, a lottery ad might include a widget that updates daily to show winning numbers.

More information

Interested in learning more about what dynamic Xspots can do for your ad campaign? Visit our Industries page now.

Mixpo customer? Learn more today about adding widget overlays to Xspots by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “widget.”

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