Longtail's Blog

New agency trading desk – bidr

cbertozzi — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:15:17 +0000

Longtail is launching a new media venture – a trading desk called bidr. This is a first from Perth, and you can read a little about the venture here in an interview with a very on-the-ball journalist at Exchangeewire. Web address is bidr.com.au

Filed under: Strategy

Getting the best out of us!

cbertozzi — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:00:28 +0000

We posted a link today to an article on agency/client relationships from the blog of a senior agency figure in McCann Sydney. It really resonated with us because at a time when we are poised for our next stage of growth we want to make sure we are working with clients who are going to grow with us, and help foster and fuel the passion we have for their business and ours. At the risk of getting too controversial I’ll let you read the article yourself but it really does sum up some of the frustrations we have to deal with day to day!

Filed under: Strategy

Monday links…some you will have seen, some maybe not

cbertozzi — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 06:45:18 +0000

Just some of the things that made us smile last week

Google Chrome experiment
http://www.allisnotlo.st

Tailoring the user experience
http://tinyurl.com/3avy5g3

New Zealand – interesting navigation to show case new zealand
http://www.newzealand.com/au/

Alienware 3D projection
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/alienware-area-52-3d-projection-mapping-event/

State of the internet html 5 info graphic
http://www.onlineschools.org/state-of-the-internet/soti.html

When performing a live webcasting, be careful not to click the stream webcast!
http://www.videobash.com/video_show/live-webcast-infinite-loop-15487

Gmail is evil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrkAuwaoFGg

Create your own robot
http://robohash.org/

Filed under: Strategy

Innovation extravaganza…working real hard to engage!

cbertozzi — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:49:24 +0000

I haven’t always been a fan of the Trendwatching team. I’ve found their insightful approach a bit too abstract at times but their article (which somehow I missed when it came out) Innovation Extravaganza inspired me. It also shows how hard brands are working to engage with their audiences, delivering on a personal level. Local brands haven’t quite caught on to the idea of the old Godinism of ‘be generous’. The article show some practical and some not so practical innovations that brands have been creating around the globe.

Filed under: Strategy

Australian publishers nervous about Exchanges…they shouldn’t be!

cbertozzi — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 10:19:11 +0000

The advent of trading exchanges has been viewed as a negative by most major publishers in Australia, or as a necessary evil perhaps! They appear to be panicking that they will have to sell their inventory dirt cheap!

Publishers don’t have to sell cheaply but their perspctive is most probably coloured by the prices the ad networks currently pay them. It would appear to be a great opportunity to cut the ad networks out of the loop and instead reap the benefits of RTB and data to take those profits themselves. The market may put some pressure on the less valuable inventory but surely it will be better than the arbitrage model?

The beauty of the model is that operated properly both buyers and sellers should see a more efficient and value driven model emerge that is good for both sides of the equation.

Filed under: Strategy

Building a culture that grows the brand…

cbertozzi — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:43:14 +0000

Josh Edge, our new ‘creative director in waiting’ sent me this link today. Its a company blog and they are posting about a pretty unique approach and its very admirable, and not out of reach. I’m not sure that a Pets and Kids day, a regular Monday Bake-off or Wednesday massage therapy counts! Dave was growing Chilli plants in the front garden but they snuffed it in the summer! There’s some great ideas in here and it’s the culture that it represents that is rather inspiring!

Filed under: Strategy

Still don’t ‘Like’ G+, am I alone?

cbertozzi — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:29:10 +0000

I’m not the only one who doesn’t like G+ surely? I’m not afraid to say it! (well slightly!) Its not that I don’t think its competent but its just lacking in soul, its corporate! Apparently they are taking on a million users a day which is comparable with FB in 2009. G may force the issue by making it impossible to use their services without you using G+. Mostly though I’m getting fed up with a bunch of randoms adding me to their circles! No sign of the ads yet but they are coming!

Filed under: Strategy

One less tabloid won’t hurt and surely it’s just the begining

cbertozzi — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:24:59 +0000

As someone who grew up in the newspaper industry in the UK I was initially surprised at the closure of one of the biggest tabloids in attempt to stem the rising tide of condemnation being levelled at the organisation. Shrewd. When you think about it, what have they lost? News International were already considering a 7 day version of The Sun so all they’ve really killed is a brand which was on the way out, the rest is smoke and mirrors.

Let’s face it the newspaper model as we know it is dying and the real battle is online, and in particular whatever morph of internet enabled TV platform finally dominates the space. The old advertising revenue model ain’t coming back regardless how many tablets make it into circulation.

The surprise is that Rupert managed to keep a lid on things so long but given the pending buyout of BKsyB you have to say that the old lion still has his eye on the bigger prize! The thought of that one media empire dominating the pay TV space in the UK is pretty scary for some, but perhaps they should take a look at what’s happening online, there’s some equally scary stuff evolving while most politicos are looking elsewhere!

Filed under: Strategy

FB & Skype, I get it..

cbertozzi — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:05:39 +0000

..but it kinda takes me a little too close to some of those ‘friends’ that I might not really want to see! Interesting to see if this starts a friend ‘cull’ as FB users start to get calls from randoms that they would rather not engage with. Its a great integration and let’s hope that Skype and FB avoid pandering to Apple’s restrictions so we can the service equally well from iOS devices as well as Android and WM – [personal rant about not being able to use Skype with bluetooth headset, which seems like a classic hobbling of the technology to stop us all ditching our mobile or reducing our talk plans]. Will the Skype integration throw up any new advertising opportunities? Havent had the chance to check yet.

Filed under: Strategy

Hard to get quality international speakers..

cbertozzi — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:57:47 +0000

So I bought a two day pass to the Media140 event sight unseen thinking that I’d try and find time to get along for the keynotes and any interesting sessions that might catch my eye! Looks like the FB keynote is being delivered by an advertising rep and the rest of the sessions are pretty much just locals who have a twitter account. Will teach me to read the event program!

Filed under: Social Media, Social Network Sites