By Darren Vengroff, chief scientist at RichRelevance.
In the online retail environment, a shopper’s time equates to money – literally. Leading Internet powerhouses such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon concur that online, business is gained (or lost) every 100 milliseconds. That extra fraction of a second for an enhanced graphic to load can mean the difference between a sale—or a bounced session. Without timely uploads, retailers may lose sales to the tune of one-percent for every millisecond in delay (Google Search/Microsoft’s Bing, 2009).
I recently had the privilege of attending the IAB Mixx and Advertising Week conferences in NYC. A few main themes emerged as things we should all be aware of:
Advertisers Want a Creative Canvas
Seth Godin was one of the keynotes for this conference, and mentioned how quickly the industry has been commoditized and flattened. He said “Those advancing and growing in their markets are those who are creating art.”
Most of the advertising industry is tired of creating the same boring ads, over and over. So there are a few important trends happening in the creative market. All of this is happening with the goal of giving creative minds the ability to make engaging ads and improve consumption of rich media.
- Big publishers/portals are consolidating the number of ads they will allow on any given page. AOL’s projectdevil initiative is a great example.
- Publishers are creating larger ad units to allow for more creativity (see ESPN or Nickelodeon home pages)
- Ad units are becoming more flexible by pulling in dynamic elements into creative, like product recommendations. Many ads now pull in feeds from multiple sources (Titter, etc.).
One of the most telling quotes came from the CEO of Digitas, who said “Data will unlock the next phase of creativity.” We believe this to be paramount, as we move towards one of the most exciting ages of advertising opportunity.
Consumers Expect Ads to Be Aligned With Content
Almost all of the largest internet portals have a “content strategy.” We need to look no farther than Yahoo or AOL, given their recent acquisitions of content companies Associated Content, and TechCrunch. As part of this growth in content, more consumers are expecting to see sponsorships as part of their online experience. They have learned to ignore the standard ad placements, but are open to ads that engage, inform, and inspire.
I don’t know about you, but I expect ads to be a part of consuming quality content. If any of you watch Mad-Men on AMC, I’m assuming you notice how the lines are being blurred between what’s content and what’s advertising. When I go to Hulu.com to watch the most recent episode of 30 Rock, I don’t mind seeing a few ads as part of my experience. In fact, as an advertiser, I at least know consumers aren’t fast-forwarding over my commercials.
Another great quote mentioned during the conference was from the former head of NBC Jeff Zucker, who said, “We’re in the business of turning analog dollars into digital pennies.” As you can imagine, the online ad world is still working towards reaching its full potential, so there is still a lot of unlocked opportunity. The “true” value of an online consumer needs to be unlocked, but through the right vehicle.
Ads + Recommendations?
As we move towards an important upcoming announcement at {rr}, I want to leave you with one last obvious, but important quote from Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) which she gave in reference to the advertising opportunities on Facebook…”People want things that are more personalized.”
…Many exciting things to come.
Former Accenture Executive and CRM thought-leader joins RichRelevance to deliver the highest levels of relationship management and unprecedented client success to the world’s top retailers
San Francisco, CA – October 7, 2010 – RichRelevance®, the leading provider of dynamic e-commerce personalization for the world’s largest retailers, today announced that Brian Sprague has joined the company as Vice President of Client Services. Sprague comes to RichRelevance from Accenture, where he spent more than 25 years leading global customer initiatives in complex business environments for customers in the high tech, media and retail segments. In his new role, he will be responsible for RichRelevance’s global client strategy as the leader of the RichResults Personalization Team, the only relationship management organization of its kind in the industry. The team, which combines e-commerce expertise across a broad range of disciplines with a dedicated focus on partner relationships, has been instrumental in helping RichRelevance deliver more than $1 billion in attributable sales for its clients. Sprague will be responsible for accelerating these results as RichRelevance rapidly expands into new markets including the UK and Europe.
“Brian is a seasoned and strategic executive who combines customer advocacy with an unparalleled ability to listen, advise and guide global brands on the best ways to achieve their goals,” said David Selinger, CEO of RichRelevance. “His experience and proven track record at Accenture is a tremendous asset for RichRelevance – and to our clients who represent nearly $20 billion in annual e-commerce sales. In hiring Brian, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to the highest level of relationship management possible.”
Sprague most recently served as Global Communications, Media and High Tech Customer Service and Support Managing Partner at Accenture. In this role, Sprague created and grew a new practice to over $200 million in annual sales. Each year, Sprague and his team of executives exceeded their targets in thought leadership established, client quality delivered, sales generated and client benefits achieved.
Sprague’s CRM insights and research have been featured on MSNBC, Businessweek.com, The Wall Street Journal, and he is a frequent industry speaker. He was also a founding member of Accenture’s alliance leadership team, creating and managing Accenture’s most important global software alliances. His team of alliance executives expanded Accenture’s capability and delivery quality and increased sales of software alliance partner products.
“As e-commerce has become the growth channel, top retailers are looking for true partners who can deliver innovation, strategy, and bottom-line results,” said Sprague. “RichRelevance is already accelerating the customer relationship through the RichResults team and I look forward to continuing to bring the very best to our customers now and into the future.”
The RichResults team combines expertise across a broad range of e-commerce disciplines with a unique partnership approach and 100% commitment to personalization success. Team members have over 85 years of combined e-commerce expertise in strategic consulting, best practice implementation and user design, with deep expertise in establishing successful client partnerships at leading companies like Salesforce.com, Amazon.com, Digitas, Accenture, Charles Schwab and Autodesk. By tapping into the RichResults Personalization Team, retailers gain more from their personalization strategies through a precise and innovative services implementation, as well as an ongoing advocate and strategic consultant long after the integration.
RichRelevance currently serves more than 350 million product recommendations each day on over 45 of the world’s largest e-commerce sites with combined e-commerce sales volume of over $19.7 billion, including Sears.com and Walmart.com. In the last year, the company has expanded with offices in Seattle and the UK, as well as key customer wins, including Overstock.com and outdoor retailer, Patagonia.
About RichRelevance
RichRelevance is the leading provider of dynamic e-commerce personalization for the world’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart, Overstock.com and Sears. Founded and led by the e-commerce expert who pioneered personalization R&D at Amazon.com, RichRelevance helps retailers increase revenues (over $1B in attributable sales since June 2008) by powering relevant experiences throughout the customer lifecycle and across multiple sales channels. The company stands apart for its dedicated team of personalization experts, integrated product suite, and award-winning personalization engine, which enables twice as many consumer touchpoints as the industry average. RichRelevance is located in San Francisco, with offices in Seattle and London. For more information, please visit www.richrelevance.com.
Wow, Shop.org was full of creative people and creative ideas this year. We got a chance to meet everyone from folks setting up Facebook storefronts to the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders!
There were three key trends I picked out, and fortunately, {rr} gets to be a part of each of them:
- Interest in Mobile is accelerating: Every retailer was interested to learn how things are progressing and every vendor seemed to have a mobile strategy. {rr} even got headlines in the local press for the personalized mobile app we built in partnership with Sprella for Patagonia. Numerous retailers are seeing significant sales from mobile web, iPhone and iPad applications.