Promotion and Advertising Articles

MixerCast nabs $4.1 million for widget ads.
As the display advertising market tanks, widget-based ad networks like MixerCast still seem to be netting cash. After raising $6 million last year, the San Mateo, Calif. company has announced the close of another $4.1 million round led by Intel Capital.

MixerCast”s business is essentially dual pronged. For end users, it provides a drag-and-drop platform for creating and publishing widgets on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Dubbed MCast Suite, this platform essentially serves as a container for other widgets. This structure allows MCast Suite users to mix all sorts of licensed and personal video, music, and even third-party ad widgets into a single publishable widget. Although competitors offer similar services, MCast Suite”s primary appeal is its ease of use.more

JiWire raises $11M for WiFi hotspot advertising.
In addition to these customer facing products, JiWire also partners with marketers to deliver advertising through its hotspots.

JiWire”s ad network works by presenting users with ads as soon as they hit the company”s login page. Due to WiFi”s limited range, the company boasts that its ad network is also incredibly efficient for delivering targeted ads. Since the company primarily sets up networks in locations frequented by the affluent, or business travelers, it”s able to partner with advertisers seeking to reach those coveted demographics. Furthermore, since JiWire”s ad network is a mandatory part of its WiFi connectivity, exposure to some form of advertising is virtually guaranteed.

McKenzie underscored the importance of R&D as the currently WiFi-based company looks to make the switch to emerging wireless solutions like WiMax.more

Nexon America Selects Intergi as Online Advertising Representation.
Nexon America (http://www.nexon.net), a world leader in free massively multiplayer online games, today announced a new, exclusive advertising agreement with Intergi (http://www.intergi.com), a leading video game and entertainment advertising representation company. Under the terms of the agreement, Intergi will represent and supply advertising opportunities for Nexon America”s portfolio of gaming properties including: MapleStory, Combat Arms and Mabinogi. This is the first time Nexon America has hired an advertising representative for its Web sites and opens the opportunity for in-game advertising as well.

‘Advertising is going to help Nexon America improve our services as a leader in free-to-play gaming,’ said Min Kim, vice president of marketing for Nexon America. ‘Our user base is enthusiastic and growing, which makes us a great opportunity for marketers.more

WPP Merges Agency Built for Dell.
WPP is folding Enfatico, the agency it built as a one-stop shop for all of Dell”s advertising and marketing business, into its Young & Rubicam Brands ad firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move is a retreat from one of the most ambitious projects on Madison Avenue — an effort to eliminate turf wars by housing many different marketing disciplines within a single firm. The structure was one of WPP”s key selling points when it landed Dell”s advertising and marketing business in December 2007.

Enfatico will continue to exist, but it will operate as a division of …

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Actress Calls For Changes In Beauty Advertising.
All research indicates that women were actually pleased to have somebody in her 40s advertising anti-ageing cream because a girl in her 20s doing so doesn”t feel right.?

The Italian born beauty was the face of Lancome for fourteen years. Interestingly, her daughter Elettra Wiedemann now represents the brand.

Written by the CareFair.com Editorial Team.

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Branded Entertainment welcomes Embedded Advertising.
P9 is planning to embed advertising for the following brands: Ponds, Mango Slice, HDFC Life Insurance, Sunsilk, Reebok, Dabur Honey, and Clinic All Clear.

‘It [embedded advertising] provides evidence-based accountability quantifying brand exposure in various content,’ said Danny Townsend, President of Repucom International-an Australia-based company that has a strong global presence.

Townsend continued, ‘MirriAd Limited provides the technology and integrated service to embed advertising in video content. As such, the offering sure sounds like a win-win combination.’

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In-Stream Twitter Advertising: Does It Work?.
As Twitter continues to boom, Twitter advertising is slowly starting to emerge as a hot button issue, at least when delivered by third parties.

Marshall Kirkpatrick on ReadWriteWeb on April 10 covered advertising through one of a number of services that is offering Twitter advertising, Be A Magpie. Marshall originally attributed the ads to major companies, which Allen Stern at Centernetworks pointed out was incorrect: the ads highlighted for companies like Apple were affiliate ads (RWW has since amended the post.)

The notable thing is that affiliate marketers are using Twitter advertising to begin with. But does it work? I signed up for a Be A Magpie advertiser account to find out.

Before we start

In testing Be A Magpie, I”m not endorsing the service nor the form of advertising.more

PR industry vies for honours at Cannes Lions International.
This is the first time that Cannes Lions, which was founded as an advertising competition in 1954, has introduced PR awards. PR professionals from 45 countries have applied for the awards, including around 60 entrants from the UK.

Philip Thomas, chief executive officer of Cannes Lions, said: ‘There was a need and a desire for PR to be represented at Cannes.”

Lord Bell, chairman of Chime Communications, will be jury president for the PR category.

The deadline for entry is 24 April but PR Lions will consider requests for further extensions. The Cannes Lions runs from 21 to 27 June 2009.

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Bayard Advertising Agency, Inc., Hires Mark DeChant as Managing.
PHOENIX, March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —-Mark DeChant has been appointed as Managing Director of Bayard Advertising Agency, Inc.”s Worklight Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Division. Although Worklight will have a national reach, this division will be based out of Bayard”s Phoenix office.

Mark has more than 14 years of business development, recruiting and marketing experience. DeChant was formerly an area sales manager for CareerBuilder where he led sales, operations and the financial activities of CareerBuilder”s Phoenix office. He also acted as an account executive responsible for driving more than $1 million incremental revenue growth for Fortune 1,000 companies.

‘Mark is an innovative sales executive and leader who possesses a proven track record of exceeding revenue and profit goals,’ says Louis Naviasky, Chief Operating Officer at Bayard Advertising Agency, Inc.more