Industry: Ad Agency Deathwatch: DIY Advertising

DIY Advertising Agencies

"Half of my advertising is wasted...the trouble is, I don't know which half."
- John Wanamaker (1838-1922), retailer, Philadelphia

The days (and fortunes) grow shorter for the traditional ad agency as nimble upstarts leverage technology advances to subvert our long-held business models. Below are some examples that traffic in client self-sufficiency.



http://www.spotrunner.com
Allows companies to create television ad campaigns over the Internet for as little as $500 and as quickly as within one week. Spot Runner lets advertisers select a generic commercial from its library, personalize the ads and target customers by demographics, networks and neighborhoods. Advertisers can buy air time on major networks, including local broadcast and cable channels like CNN and ESPN. The company was formed by Nick Grouf and David Waxman who previously founded Firefly Network and PeoplePC.

Real estate broker network Cendant recently announced it has teamed with Spot Runner. The Cendant ads could spotlight individual agents and individual properties. Traditionally, real estate agents have relied on print, direct mail and online advertising.  



http://www.revver.com/
Revver attaches major brand advertising to amateur videos and gives the creators a cut of the profits. The company is building its inventory of amateur and semi-professional video while waiting for larger companies to become more comfortable with their technology. "We're hoping that the gap between amateur creativity and creativity funded by large, centralized media companies will probably continue to shrink,"says Ian Clarke, the man behind the Freenet file-sharing network. Other partners include Steven Starr, a former Hollywood agent and co-creator of MTV's "The State;" and Oliver Luckett, who recently spearheaded the Norman Lear "Declare Yourself" voter registration campaign.



http://www.motionmall.com/
A revenue-generating advertising service for websites and blogs.




Independent blogs and websites are able to opt-in to Google's+Yahoo's pay-per-click pool of major-name clients who seek just the small-scale (but passionate) micro-audiences that these sites specialize in attracting.



http://www.blogads.com/
Place your ads according to pre-set micro-market blog segments within 3 minutes if you've got a credit card or Paypal account. Then edit your ads, anytime, in 30 seconds to maintain ongoing conversational topicality in the blogosphere.



WPP group's Martin Sorrell has often warned the ad industry about the threat posed by management consultants muscling into the business. Now his fears have come to fruition as one of his biggest clients, Ford Motor Co., has asked Accenture to put a microscope to its upcoming marketing plans.



But it is Google, again, which seems to be making the biggest plays towards becoming the mechanism advertisers use to place ads across virtually all media.

In January they announced the acquisition of dMarc Broadcasting, Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif.-based digital solutions provider for the radio broadcast industry.

dMarc connects advertisers directly to radio stations through its automated advertising platform. The platform simplifies the sales process, scheduling, delivery and reporting of radio advertising, enabling advertisers to more efficiently purchase and track their campaigns. For broadcasters, dMarc's technology automatically schedules and places advertising, helping to increase revenue and decrease the costs associated with processing advertisements.

Google plans to integrate dMarc technology into the Google AdWords platform, creating a new radio ad distribution channel for Google advertisers.

Further, Google is giving advertisers a chance to bid online for space in 28 magazines, part of an effort to extend its dominance of Internet search advertising to print.

The program reflects Google's ambition to use online auctions to sell advertising in media beyond the Web. Google began buying space in PC Magazine and Maximum PC last year. Publications in the new phase of the test include Car and Driver, Budget Living, Martha Stewart Living and Information Week, according to Google's Web site.