Bradford: Demand Media Will Take Out AOL First, Yahoo Later

Joanne Bradford, the newly minted chief revenue officer for Demand Media, seems to be drawn to seemingly insurmountable challenges. In her previous role as head of U.S. advertising sales for Yahoo (which she left in March of this year), she was tasked with re-vamping the ailing portal’s display business. Now, at Demand, she’s striving to increase sponsorship dollars for a closely watched startup that is often seen as a risible attempt at journalism, a “content factory” churning out articles and video made to turn up in generic search results.  Ms. Bradford talked to Ad Age about her new role and her focus on re-shaping the Demand narrative.

Read More: AdAge

Will A Real Advertising Conference Please Stand Up And Can the Rest Sit Down?

To what degree are conferences considered content versus sponsored marketing pitches? In the scheme of things, are attendees considered loyal readers or are they viewed as caged pigeons?  Going in, you know there are going to be keynote speakers and breakout sessions and Q&A discussions, all sandwiched around networking opportunities and recreation. Nothing wrong with that formula, even though I bet little has changed since Marconi authorized the first radio confab. The problem I have is not with the conference agenda; it’s with the speakers delivering “content” spiked with their own agendas.  Conferences need sponsors, to be sure. That’s how the conference owners make money. Much like media editors, they sell advertising so that they can afford to secure a place in which to deliver content that attracts an audience. Where conferences like the one I recently attended differ from respected media outlets is that this conference did not offer the veneer of editorial independence.

Read More: MediaPost

Comeback on Display

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of Internet display advertising are greatly exaggerated. This is especially true in local markets where advertisers, seeing a limit to what search can do, are embracing display ads.  That’s a happy trend for local TV stations’ branded content sites, which depend on display for two-thirds of their online revenue.  “Display is on a sharp rebound,” said Jon Swallen, svp of research for Kantar Media, which reported U.S. display ad spending gained 5 percent in the first quarter this year to $2.2 billion.  TV stations have seen their online business surge 26 percent in Q1 over Q1 2009, per the Television Bureau of Advertising.  ”Marketers hit a wall with search. When the efficiency starts to level off, they look to other ways to expand business, and that’s where display has come in,” said Eric Koepele, director of digital media sales for Hearst Television, which has seen display revenue grow by double-digit percentages this year.  “At the end of the day, marketers have to stand out. If there’s no brand awareness from search, they’re just like everyone else,” added JonPaul Rexing, senior director of sales for ESPNlocal.com.

Read More: AdWeek