It seems Kellogg’s only became the leading cereal maker during the Great Depression, when they outspent Post on R&D and advertising.
Context Matters — New Research on Display Ad Effectiveness
Paid Content reports that a new UK study shows how “specialist sites are more effective than general-interest sites for ad delivery.”
73% of specialist site users say they pay attention to ads on those sites. But the news is much different for “large” websites, where just 12 percent of visitors often look at ads.
While the report does not speculate on the reason for this difference, the meaning is clear. Display ads still work… if you run them in the right places. As specialist sites rise in importance for every interest from politics to crafting, military history to romance and more, the idea of “mass marketing” becomes less important than reaching the right aggregation of niche sites. As Jeff Jarvis argues in his book, What Would Google Do?, “The mass market is dead—long live the mass of niches.”
From the Wacky World of Broadcast
Verso’s broadcast buying partners, ever on the prowl for great opportunities and bargains, have provided us with a good overview of the current state of radio and TV:
First and foremost: if you think you can’t afford it, you might very well be wrong! Some of the highest rated shows are willing to come way down from their sky-high prices. This is not to say that you’re going to get on the Superbowl for $10,000, but the bargains are out there and if there’s a program that you think might be perfect for your next big book, it never hurts to ask. Radio and TV alike.
Secondly: timing is important. We have recently taken advantage of huge discounts that were offered to us for national spots on the Today Show and Evening News. Remember: it’s all about supply and demand.
Just in case you were wondering: reality shows and awards shows still top the ratings in Network Programming (we’re looking at the week of 2/2/09). On cable, TNT’s The Closer is rated #1, but USA continues to dominate the Top 10 with Wrestling, Burn Notice and NCIS.
Finding the ideal reader for each book: The advantages of GEO-TARGETING on the Internet
Sometimes we dismiss the Web, with its hundreds of millions of users stretching across cyberspace, when we want a more localized, regional campaign. But technology allows us countless ways to target the user, including geographically.
Through our partnership with Burst Media, we can serve an ad to people living in a particular city, state, or part of the country. We can change the message, change the market, and change the timing according to the specific goals of the campaign. And we can do this for our usual low cpm, reaching potential book-buyers much more cost-efficiently than with multiple print ads in regional newspapers.
As with all of the Verso Reader Channel campaigns, you will receive full site-level reporting on a variety of measures and complete transparency. CPM’s vary per market, but small campaigns could be effective for as little as $3500. Let us know if you’d like to see a schedule!
The Beautiful Struggle
written by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Many in the publishing crowd recently enjoyed Ta-Nehisi Coates’ reading from his memoir, The Beautiful Struggle at PAMA’s cocktail party hosted by The Atlantic. Our very own Dan Sharkey was inspired to read the book!
When your desk is overflowing with books of every variety it takes a truly special case to stand out, but Ta-Nehisi Coates’ memoir did just that. From the opening page I was in awe of this young author.
This novel is powerful on so many levels. A driving lyricism draws you in from the start as the poetic prose dances with beat box rhythms. An unguarded honesty gives the narrative weight as it lays bare the universal struggles of a child on the cusp of adulthood. And in both aspects it soars. And for both aspects this book could be written about any time and any place and still resonate. But it doesn’t take place just anywhere.
Our author didn’t find his way in some faceless city or tucked away suburb. Instead he grew up in Baltimore, on the West Side—in the dark heart of the American dream. He grew up at a time when crack rock was sweeping through the community like a plague—leaving bodies in the streets and kids on the corner. He grew up in place that poverty and violence seemed determined to erase from history. And so this story is all the more affecting for surviving in the face of such odds.
But just as the Coates family fits no easy mold so too does this novel defy convention at every turn. No ghetto cliché or gangbanging morality tale could contain the rare power of Coates’ voice. There are no easy answers and no expected turns. Instead readers are treated to a masterfully written portrait of a family struggling as best they can against a world gone mad.
Harlan Coben on the Today show
Today’s Al Roker talks to bestselling author Harlan Coben about his new book “Long Lost” and shows off our full-page ad!
Read more to view the Today show clip.