• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, August 13, 2014

Hmm. It seems BuzzFeed's decision to up the level of its editorial from idiotic listicles to content with actual merit was well timed. At least as it applies to Australia -- where the country's IAB and Media Federation have formed a new group to determine what exactly shall be deemed "premium content." Heading up the new group is GroupM Chief Investment and Intelligence Officer Danny Bass -- who in a not so subtle jab at BuzzFeed-esque native advertising said: “There is also the question of what can we as an industry do to protect journalism. That’s the thing I really want us to do on this board because if everything goes down the quick, snackable in-and-out news path then our opportunity to grow digital revenues, to work with clients on digital marketing spends will decrease.” Explaining further: Bass added, “There are two things I want to achieve with this. There is an operational goal around brand safety and one which is more around an industry goal where if we have the media owners who come to us and talk about premium and say we are not a Buzzfeed, Mail Online, News.com and we are this and this then we have to understand what does that actually mean.” Now, if this effort and others can eliminate the over 90% of content on the Internet which is pure crap, "surfing" the Internet might once again become a bit more than a mindless waste of time.

According to a new studyfrom AOL that queried 177 large advertisers, agency and publisher clients of AOL, 86% of agencies and 76% or brands use programmatic buying for their display advertising. In addition, 60% of agencies use programmatic for both mobile and video ads -- and among brands, 56% use it for mobile and 48% use it for video. Among agencies and brands, just 18% use programmatic for social. The report, without surprise, lends support to AOL’s recent $345 million round of funding to bolster the programmatic elements of its business.

Well here's some uplifting motivational information for you. David Murdico, ECD and managing partner of Supercool Creative, has penned an article in iMedia entitled "8 Reasons to Love the Ad Industry Right Now." While Murdico has some interesting points -- the rise of video advertising and the ability (if one partners with the right providers) of analytics to greatly improve campaign effectiveness -- he drops in the weirdest of all reasons to love the ad industry; people think it's cool. He writes: “I was actually at Best Buy the other day getting my laptop fixed by the Geek Squad (awesome name and branding). The Geek asked what I do, and when I said I run an online ad agency, he was very interested. Soon the whole store gathered around and listened, as I told tall tales of advertising lore. They dimmed the lights, gave me a microphone, and broadcast me on the video wall. I look particularly handsome on the Samsung models...just saying." Really? Really? This is more like the reason why everyone hates all of us in advertising. 

Healthcare. It's the hottest trend in the agency business now. Arnold recently bolstered its division. And now Grey is cranking it up with the hiring of Ben Ingersoll, who will take on the role to chief creative officer and managing partner of Grey Healthcare Group. Ingersoll comes to Grey from Cline Davis & Mann, where he spent upwards of a decade working on healthcare brands.

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