Strata

May 2012

• May 9

  Political TV Ad Rates Complicate Election Season

  
  Controversial new FCC rule requires TV stations to post political ad rates 
  Originally appearing May 09, 2012 at Adweek.com, by Katy Bachman
   
  Along with the headache of making sure TV ads that get bumped by politicals are quickly rescheduled, advertising agencies also will have to cope with the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial new rule requiring TV stations to post online the rates charged for each political ad.
  
  “Rates for the political season could show up in databases and on buyers’ desktops, and other buys would be measured by this,” said John Shelton, the CEO of STRATA, a provider of software-based buying tools. >Read More

• May 8

  Sell Google – Lot Of Heat, Not Much Light

  
  Originally appearing at techcircle.vccircle.com on May 7, 2012 by Adam Hartung
              
  With revenues up 39% last quarter, it’s far too soon to declare the death of Google.  Even in techville, where things happen quickly, the multi-year string of double-digit higher revenues insures survival – at least for a while.
  
  However, there are a lot of problems at Google which indicate it is not a good long-term hold for investors.  For traders there is probably money to be made, as this long-term chart indicates: >Read More

• May 8

  Some Agencies Focusing More on Traditional Media

  
  Originally appearing at Marketingcharts.com on May 7, 2012
  
  Digital may be getting most of the buzz these days, but many leading ad agencies aren’t forgetting about the value of traditional media, details STRATA in May 2012 survey results. TV remains the top advertising choice for 54% of the respondents (the highest proportion since Q1 2009), more than double the proportion citing digital to be their top medium (24%). And although an impressive 79% of respondents are more focused on digital compared to a year ago, some are also >Read More

• May 4

  Social media ad spend overtakes search

  
  A recent survey of advertising agencies by media management firm Strata Marketing reveals that social media advertising has surpassed search and close to overtaking online display advertising.
  
  Originally appearing at bizreport.com on May 4, 2012 by Helen Leggatt
  
  When STRATA surveyed 90 media buying executives that together process $50 billion in media buys annually, they found 69% focused their digital spend on social media. That’s more than those who focused on search (65.5%) and just short of online display (71.3%). >Read More

• May 3

  Survey: Social Media Laps Search in Ad Spend

  
  Originally appearing at Adotas.com on May 3, 2012  by Brian LaRue
  
  ADOTAS - Ad spending in social media has lapped spending in search and is fast pulling up to online display, according to a survey of several “leading agencies” conducted by advertising system provider STRATA. When asked where the focus of their digital advertising spending was in the first quarter of 2012, 69 percent cited social media — that’s a year-over-year increase of 32 percent — while 65 percent said search and 71 percent said online display, still the leading category. >Read More

• May 3

  Social Media Overtakes Search in Advertising

  
  Facebook dominates
  Originally appearing at webpronews.com on May 3, 2012 by Mike Fossum
  
  Social media is on a trajectory to become the main focus of advertisers, according to a new survey conducted by STRATA, a Comcast-owned media software firm. The quarterly report queried a broad pool of over 1,000 U.S. ad agencies processing over $50 billion in media annually, and revealed that 69% of firms regard social media advertising as being the focus of ad spend, up 32% over the previous year. >Read More

• May 3

  Social leapfrogs search as top online ad choice

  
  Originally appearing at BtoB Online May 3, 2012
  
  Chicago—Social media advertising has surpassed search and is poised to overtake online display advertising as the No. 1 source of digital media planning and buying, according to a survey by media management company STRATA Marketing.
  
  STRATA’s report, based on an online poll conducted in January through March of more than 90 advertising agencies processing $50 billion in media buys, found >Read More

• May 3

  Social Overtakes Search, Closes In On Display As Agencies’ Top Digital Focus

  
  Originally appearing May 3, 2012 at MediaPost’s Online Media Daily, by Joe Mandese 
  
  Social media has surpassed search, and is poised to overtake online display advertising as the No. 1 source of digital media planning and buying, according to the latest edition of a quarterly survey of U.S. advertising agencies. The survey, conducted by STRATA, the agency media software and processing firm owned by Comcast, found that 69% of agency executives now consider social the “focus” of their digital ad spending—up 32% over the past year, and now a close second behind display (71%) as the dominant digital media-buying platform in the minds of agency executives.
  
  “The survey demonstrates that there has been a shift from search -– which has dominated the digital part of the business for the last five to 10 years -– to social,” says STRATA CEO and President, John Shelton.   >Read More

• May 3

  STRATA SURVEY: AGENCIES TARGET TV; SOCIAL ALMOST CATCHES ONLINE DISPLAY

  Advertising Trends Identified in Q1 Agency Survey
  
  CHICAGO, IL (May 3, 2012) – Bolstered by political advertising, TV attracted the most ad dollars in early 2012, according to a new STRATA quarterly survey of leading agencies. The STRATA Survey also discovered that for the first time Social is starting to steal the spotlight from Online Display, as Digital has clearly matured in campaigns. >Read More

April 2012

• April 6

  Post-Panic Collection Syndrome . . .Don’t Let It Get Your Profits Down!

  Originally appearing in Collective Wisdom, a publication of Szabo Associates, Inc. on March 31, 2012
  
  The recession of 2007 hit the media industry hard. Of the 10 recessions experienced by the U.S. economy since the end of World War II, this one was the longest. It was also the deepest, as determined in part by its 18-month duration, but more importantly, by the magnitude of the decline in economic activity. In June of 2009, the National Bureau of Economic Research issued a “trough announcement,” officially proclaiming the recession’s end and the beginning of the rising phase in economic activity. >Read More

March 2012

• March 20

  Get your Digital buying on the right track with connectivity like never before!

  Work with any publisher, Rich Media provider, ad-server, DSP, Search engine – you name it. STRATA, the leader in Digital buying, tracking, billing and invoicing, has accelerated your buying process with tools that put you miles ahead of your competition.
  
  STRATA has created a dynamic Digital Buying Platform that electronically sends transactions throughout the full lifecycle of the Digital RFP through Billing and Invoicing. STRATA has streamlined the Digital buying process to help you eliminate unnecessary overhead.
  
  The electronic process doesn’t end there. STRATA’s AMBIT helps you determine the TRUE ROI of your Traditional and Digital buys. Plus, the sCloud helps you focus on managing your business by taking the work out of managing your hardware and software.
   
  Get on board and let STRATA lead you to better buying today. >Read More

February 2012

• February 24

  How Political Campaigns Should Be Using Video in 2012

  Campaigns Are Missing The Boat With Unsophisticated Targeting Techniques

  
  Originally appearing st AdAge.com on February 23, 2012 by Mark Trefgarne
  
  Presidential elections are always major events for the country, but the 2012 electoral cycle will also be historic for the digital advertising industry. Politicians’ spending on digital advertising has doubled since the 2010 midterm elections, according to a survey by STRATA, and it’s still only February.
  
  But there’s a learning curve for political advertisers, who have never had to lean so heavily on digital—especially video—where there’s a unique opportunity to deliver those TV messages to targeted audiences online. This results in them missing opportunities.
  
  >Read More

• February 10

  POLS: Platform creates interactive video for campaigning campaigns

  
  Originally appearing at BizReport.com on February 9, 2012, by Kristina Knight
  
  A new platform, launched from Jivox, may help politicians reach voters in this election year. Called the Jivox Political Ad Kit, it creates multi-screen interactive video ads for embedding on websites, in social media channels and across devices.
  
  Candidates could include speeches, debates, messages specific to different states or regions. The ad kit is available here. Agencies can create customized, interactive widgets for video messaging, share messages through social networks and optimize ads for different mobile screens through the platform. >Read More

• February 7

  39% Of Marketers Will Use Twitter For Their Campaigns In 2012

  
  
  Originally appearing at AllTwitter on February 6, 2012 by Lauren Dugan
  
  Facebook might still be the juggernaut of social media advertising, but Twitter takes the second-place silver medal. More advertisers will be turning to Twitter this year than YouTube, LinkedIn or Google+ to get at their customers’ eyeballs – and their credit cards.
  
  ZDNet got its hands on a new survey from STRATA, which asked advertisers how they would spend their money and their efforts on social media in 2012. >Read More

• February 7

  Ad agencies: 89% Facebook, 39% Twitter, 18% Google+

  
  
  Originally appearing at ZDNet.com on February 5, 2012, by Emil Protalinski
  
  Summary: Advertising agencies say their clients are still choosing Facebook above all social networks. While Facebook has a huge lead ahead of all its competitors, Google+ is growing quickly.
  
  Facebook continues its dominance in marketing campaigns. In Q4 2011, 89 percent of agencies said they plan to utilize the medium for their clients going forward. This is followed by 39 percent planning to use Twitter, 36 percent choosing YouTube, 21 percent picking LinkedIn, and 18 percent opting for Google+. Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean the agencies will be using ads on these social networks: it just means they want to use the platforms to market for their clients, whether that be with ads, Facebook Pages, Google+ Pages, or other creative means. >Read More

• February 6

  89 Percent Of Ad Agencies Used Facebook In Q4

  
  
  Originally appearing on All Facebook  on February 3rd, 2012 by David Cohen

  Facebook continued to dominate the social media advertising sector in the fourth quarter,with 89 percent of agencies planning to incorporate the social network into their clients’ campaigns, unchanged from the third quarter.
  
  That’s according to STRATA, in whose statistics Facebook was followed >Read More

• February 3

  Consumers Turn to Social Media for Presidential Campaign Info

  
  
  Originally appearing at eMarketer.com on February 2, 2012
  
  Candidates’ ad agencies invest more heavily in Facebook than Twitter, while Twitter wins out over blogs for more posts about the race 
  
  Social media sites play an important role in providing information about the Republican primary races and the upcoming presidential election in general. A Digitas survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that the majority of social media users turn to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to learn more about the presidential candidates. >Read More

• February 3

  Media Buyers Say Ad Spend Climbing

  
  Posted by John Shelton at iMediaconnection.com on February 2nd, 2012
  
  As some of you may already know, we survey media buying executives every quarter to identify major advertising trends.  The most recent STRATA Survey, conducted during Q4 2011, provided some important bellwether points around such areas as the economy, mobile, social media and platform focus. Below are a few of the main findings from the January 2012 release, but be sure to check out the full report here. >Read More

• February 3

  Agencies Say Spot TV Top Ad Medium of Choice in Q4 - 2011

  
  Originally appearing at MarketingCharts.com on January 31, 2011
  
  The top medium of choice for clients in Q4 2011 was spot TV (broadcast and cable), reported by 51% of agencies, according to a survey released in January 2012 by STRATA. Digital was second, cited by 31% of agencies, down 9% from Q3, followed by spot radio (8%). Spot TV (broadcast) continues to be an area of interest, with 28% of those surveyed saying they are more focused on it than a year ago, up 12% from Q4 2010. Agencies are similarly excited about spot cable, with 26% saying they are more focused on it than a year ago, representing 66% growth from the previous year. In fact, 38% feel that spending will never be greater for digital than traditional media.

    >Read More

January 2012

• January 27

  STRATA Survey: Ad Spending Climbs; Digital Hits Plateau?

  Advertising Trends Identified in 4th Quarter Agency Survey
  
  CHICAGO, IL (January 24, 2012) – Optimism returns to the media buying industry after it reports impressive growth during the fourth quarter 2011, according to a new STRATA quarterly survey of leading advertising agencies. The industry is confident that business and client spending on advertising will continue to increase in 2012. However, the STRATA Survey noted that Digital advertising was flat during the fourth quarter, but Mobile is building momentum.  >Read More

• January 26

  Media buyers optimistic about ad spending increases

  
  Originally appearing on BtoB Media Business’s www.btobonline.com, 1/26/12
  
  Chicago—Media buyers are optimistic that ad and marketing spending will increase this year over 2011, according to a quarterly survey of advertising agencies conducted by STRATA, a producer of media buying and selling software. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they expect their clients’ advertising and marketing spending to increase or stay the same this year compared with 2011. >Read More

• January 26

  STRATA Survey: More media hiring in 2012

  
  Originally appearing on Media Life, 1/26/12
  
  It may be a better year for advertising and for media jobs in 2012. That’s according to the quarterly survey of advertising agencies conducted by STRATA, a Chicago-based media buying and selling software provider. Forty-nine percent of respondents to the fourth-quarter survey said they believe the first half of 2012 will be better than the second half of 2011 for advertising, with an increase in business compared to the same time last year. >Read More

• January 11

  Yahoo Readies Its Advertising Arm for Election Season

  
  
  Cox Digital Solutions, CampaignGrid partner with Yahoo for election ads
  Originally appearing on Adweek.com  on January 11, 2012 by Ki Mae Heussner
  
  For the past few months, Yahoo has been ramping up its 2012 election coverage, with a new Web show “Remake America,” new blog “The Signal” and new ABC News partnership. Now, it’s making sure that it’s advertising arm is equally ready for the campaign season ahead.
  
  In an announcement today, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company disclosed that it was naming Cox Digital Solutions the exclusive national seller of political, issue and advocacy advertising across Yahoo properties for the upcoming election year. >Read More

• January 6

  Politicians’ Spending on Digital Ads Skyrockets

  
  Originally appearing on Mashable Jan. 6, 2012 by Alex Fitzpatrick
  
  Have you been seeing more ads for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama on Facebook and Google these days? That’s because politicians are dramatically increasing their spending on digital advertisements, according to a new survey conducted by STRATA. >Read More

• January 6

  Study: Digital political spending will soar

  
  
  We’re now in election year 2012, and the early indication is what most people suspected: political ad spending will be up versus previous years. Sixty percent of executives at political media buying and ad agencies believe political advertising budgets for this presidential election will increase versus previous years, according to a STRATA survey, >Read More

• January 6

  92% of Political Ad Buyers Choose Facebook: Report

  
  Originally appearing on All Facebook by David Cohen on January 3rd, 2012
  
  With the Iowa caucus today marking the official start of election season, Strata, which provides software for media selling and buying, conducted a survey on how political advertisers are spending their budgets, and Facebook dominated the social category.
  
  STRATA found that 92 percent of respondents said they >Read More