Tag: aol

Messaging App Tango Launches Brand Channels

Posted on by Lab Team

Today Tango, a messaging app with over 200 million users globally, launched a plug-and-play solution for brands called Channels.  It functions similarly to a Facebook brand page– a user follows a channel and then can view content like photos and video within a news feed.  Launch partners include Spotify, Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Cheezburger, Dailymotion, and OK Go.

The fact that TechCrunch, an authority on emerging tech, is betting early on Tango and messaging apps is perhaps the best indication that this is a noteworthy opportunity for media owners and brands.  As further proof: only two hours after launch, Spotify’s Tango channel already had close to 25,000 followers and over 2,000 likes and 450 comments on its morning playlist posting.

As we mentioned in our recent white paper on the messaging app space, Tango is in many ways an outlier compared to the competition.  Unlike popular millennial chat apps like Kik and Snapchat, its demographic skews heavily towards 25-50+ and proves that messaging is a phenomenon impacting all age groups.  With close to 70 million users in the US, Tango has a great audience that has already proven itself very receptive to interacting with games and music on the platform.

Tango is also arguably the most brand friendly of the messaging apps, and has found success with a native ad product leveraged by companies like Dunkin’ Donuts, eBay, Spotify and others to drive app installs.  In all likelihood these ads will also become a popular way for brands to attract subscribers to Tango Channels in the future.

Channels are currently free for brands to set up, so for companies looking to experiment with messaging app marketing there’s little risk involved in this opportunity. For now Tango houses the channels tab at the top of every user’s newsfeed. Once you click into it, you can search five primary categories: Entertainment, News, Sports, Music, and Funny & Cute.  To see the program in action for yourself, click here to download the app or watch the official Channels intro video.

 

MillerCoors Digital Ads Are Coming

Posted on by Lab Team

MillerCoors is working towards significantly increasing its digital ad spending, and hopes to turn the Internet into a barroom – of sorts. The digital deals include data-triggered ads and customized content as part of a broad, 50% increase in digital video spending for the company. It’s a big sign that alcohol companies, who tend to stick to traditional mediums like TV, are starting to recognize the value of unique, digital advertising. The ultimate goal, of course, is to reach a younger audience that is increasingly having its conversations online – much like in the past when they attempted to inject themselves into bar-stool conversation via TV or radio ads. Having partnered with the likes of Spotify, AOL, Weather Company, Complex Media, and others, MillerCoors is putting a particular emphasis on experiential marketing, with ads that engage users in a new way. It’s a different tactic for the big alcohol company, but it’s a sign of the times: digital, experiential advertising is important, and is here to stay in the Internet age. 

AOL Acquires Gravity

Posted on by Lab Team

Gravity, the startup that showcases content and advertisements for users based on their personal preferences, was bought today for $90.7 million by AOL. The advertising startup creates an “interest graph” that profiles individual users by preference, or habit. The company using Gravity can then share this information with content creators, and others, in attempts to corral users. At present, it works with brands and publishers like Sony, Intel, USA Today, and GAP as well. AOL wants to use the technology to make its own editorial and native content to use as advertisements on its websites, as well as to generate more relevant information for readers across the web. It seems like a step in the right direction for AOL, but it might not be enough, on its own, to make AOL relevant again. 

AOL Beats Google In Video Ads Served

Posted on by Lab Team

In September, AOL bought Adap.tv. While it might not have seemed a massive deal at the time, in the same month AOL surpassed Google as the company serving the most online video ads in the U.S. AOL ran 3.72 billion video ads to reach 50% of U.S. online video viewers, as opposed to Google’s 3.24 billion and 36% spread. The secret behind the win is the Adap.tv deal. The firm accounted for 84% of the video ads attributed to AOL. Adap.tv’s exchange fills ads for many publishers, including AOL itself. That said, Google continues to dominate in terms of audience size, thanks to the company’s massive reach into YouTube and other corners of the Internet. 

AOL launches “Cambio” – Will tweens tune in?

Posted on by Lab Team

In the midst of cutting its losses on social network Bebo, last week AOL launched a new music venture called Cambio– a partnership with the Jonas Group and production company MGX Lab to deliver exclusive video content for artists like The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lavato, and Jordin Sparks. The initiative is part of a new AOL content strategy under CEO Tim Armstrong and president of Media and Studios Davis Eun (both ex-Googlers) to reorganize the company around high-quality TV-style content.

Cambio programming features an array of webisode style shows like “Nick In London,” which follows Nick Jonas as he joins the cast of Les Miserables, and “Cambio Cares” where stars ask fans to get involved in humanitarian efforts. The site also includes “Cambio Connect,” a daily MTV inspired news and updates webisode hosted by ex-MTV VJ Quddus. Continue reading “AOL launches “Cambio” – Will tweens tune in?”

Meet the next generation of retail shopping

Posted on by Lab Team

As reported this week in Forbes.com, IPG Media Lab along with our parent company, Mediabrands is joining forces with AOL to create the next generation of retail shopping tools. Our hope is to make it easier for shoppers to get the information they need to make smart choices while harnessing the best of traditional retail advertising with the latest in online and social media technology.

We want not only to build a better, smarter experience for consumer, but a more effective advertising vehicle for retailers themselves. With average circulation of larger newspapers on the decline (down nearly 8.7% according to an Audit Bureau of Circulations study) the media has spent much time wringing its hands over the future of print. What we don’t talk about is what that might mean for retail advertisers. Retailers have spent billions of dollars over the years teaching shoppers to look in the Sunday newspaper for the latest news about what’s on sale in their city. Retailers have relied on print because it has a focused immediacy that online can’t provide; it promotes timely sales, serves as a metaphor for the retail season and even educates sales people. Television, radio, and even banner ads have never been able to make up the difference from a low-tech free standing insert or full page ad in the daily and Sunday papers. As a result, for decades, very little has changed in the regular weekly newspaper insert, or the coupon mailers that go to American homes each week. Continue reading “Meet the next generation of retail shopping”