STRATA News

Under the Lights at Bloomberg TV

2010-07-28T19:58:39Z

By now whether it was through our website, the Washington Post, YouTube or even live, many of you have watched my interview that was on Bloomberg TV. It was an interesting experience to be a guest on the In Business program. I’ll get more into that in a second. The main reason we were on the program was to talk to about our latest survey (www.gotostrata.com/news). Since we started doing these surveys at the end of 2008, we have noticed some interesting trends. Digital advertising has taken a big leap forward, TV remains tops, and agencies have gone from shedding employees to returning to a hiring process. We use this valuable information in many different ways. One, it helps us get a gauge of what our clients are going through – their struggles and successes. Two…

STRATA Survey: Ad Agencies Go Mobile, TV Losing Ground Quickly, Ad Economy Sees Big Gains

2010-07-21T14:26:45Z

(see STRATA President/CEO, John Shelton talk about the latest survey and other topics on Bloomberg TV at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqvk0MaOsgI)

The popularity of smartphones and in particular, Apple’s iPhone, is leading advertisers to make major investments in mobile advertising, according to the STRATA quarterly survey of major advertising firms. Nearly one-third of advertisers say that mobile advertising is the focus of their interactive spend. That is up 107% over the first quarter of this year and marks a major increase in spending for the relatively new platform. Overall, digital advertising continues to encroach on TV as an advertising medium of choice. STRATA, the leader in media buying/selling software, conducts a quarterly survey that denotes agency trends by surveying top advertising firms in the United States.

Social Media is Changing Advertising

2010-06-30T19:42:28Z

Many media buyers that we hear from say that their clients are more and more interested in putting dollars into social media advertising. According to a recent Nielsen report, the world now spends over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites. It also pointed out that consumers spent more than five and a half hours on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in December 2009. That is an increase of 82% from the same time a year earlier.

Wall Street Journal - Apple Could Jump-Start Mobile Advertising, Challenge Old Media

2010-06-07T21:32:22Z

By Nat Worden Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) 6-7-2010,—Apple Inc. (AAPL) Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Monday that the company’s iAd platform, its mobile advertising network, will go live on July 1, introducing yet another disruptive force in the media industry.
The rise of digital advertising already has weighed heavily on traditional media businesses—such as publishing, radio and television—and the nascent mobile market is expected to bring a new wave of upheaval as devices like Apple’s iPhone and iPad proliferate.
John Shelton, chief executive of STRATA, an ad-software provider that manages $50 billion worth of ad transactions, said that, while mobile makes up a small portion of the total ad market, there is pent-up demand from large advertisers and agencies to enter the space, and Apple is poised to tap into it at an opportune time.
“I think you’ll see a lot of agencies really pushing this,” Shelton said. “These devices are just showing up in the market, like televisions in the 1950s, and all of sudden, I think you’re going to see a watershed of advertising coming in here.”

Great Job STRATA Runners/Walkers

2010-06-04T20:36:27Z

STRATA proudly sponsored a team of runners/walkers for the recent J.P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge. The JPMCC is a huge run in Chicago that saw nearly 20,000 people run and walk 3.5 miles near the shores of Lake Michigan not far from our offices at STRATA. The theme this year was “Working Together for a Greener Tomorrow”.

STRATA Survey: “Don’t Kill TV Yet!”

2010-05-20T15:57:47Z

TV is tops for advertisers, for now. That’s the conclusion of a new STRATA quarterly survey of advertising firms, which shows that while more dollars are moving to digital advertising, corporations continue to spend the majority of their ad budgets on television. STRATA is the leading provider of media buying/selling software and conducted the quarterly survey.

Social Media: Is it Measurable?

2010-05-20T14:26:22Z

I attended The Cable Show recently in Los Angeles. Among the many great points discussed at the conference were Social Media and its impact on advertising. We use various forms of social media here at STRATA in our marketing efforts, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn just to name a few. We aren’t alone either, hundreds of thousands of businesses use social media to connect to their clients, customers and prospects.

STRATA AND NCC MEDIA REACH A NEW HIGH IN ELECTRONIC ORDER PROCESSING

2010-04-22T15:07:12Z

Political Agency GMMB Benefits from Streamlined eBusiness Solution
STRATA and NCC Media announce reaching $82 million in paperless orders. Spot Cable media rep firm NCC Media’s eOrders platform streamlines the transmission of Spot Cable advertising orders and revisions between media buying agencies and their media stewardship systems including STRATA. eOrders eliminates paperwork and faxed orders adding cost efficiency and precision to the cable ad buying and selling process.

STRATA STRENGTHENS DIGITAL PRODUCT WITH GOOGLE’S DOUBLECLICK DFA6

2010-04-09T15:50:35Z

STRATA links with Google to take purchasing digital advertising to a new high for media buying agencies. STRATA, the leader in media buying and selling software, now connects with the latest Google ad-serving platform to provide agencies a seamless end-to-end system for placing, tracking and billing digital advertising campaigns.

Olympics or No Olympics… a Ratings Tale

2010-03-26T15:33:59Z

The much-anticipated Nielsen February ratings started rolling out this week. For the majority of Nielsen clients that’s one of the four report cards most stations look forward to getting. I say most stations because this release presents a quadrennial set of challenges for TV stations and their buyers. The Vancouver Olympics may be just a memory now, but they’ve left quite a legacy in the short-term for broadcasters. The February 2010 survey period was influenced by impressive Olympic numbers for most NBC affiliates, which in turn made this rating period anything but normal. For familiar primetime “hits”, well, some of them took a big hit running against the Olympics! So what’s a station to do?

Political Advertising Affects Everyone

2010-03-25T16:10:03Z

If you have one shot at keeping your job what do you do? For many politicians, they launch a television campaign. Television commercials are still the avenue of choice for politicians and this is a huge election year for senate, house and gubernatorial races. You couple that with the recent Supreme Court decision to open campaign finance limits, and the floodgates are wide open for political advertising and lobbying groups like healthcare, energy providers and many more.

NEW ECN AND STRATA LINK GIVES MEDIA BUYING A BOOST

2010-03-18T14:25:23Z

The media buying process shifts into high gear for agencies with a new link between Entertainment Communications Network, Inc. (ECN) and STRATA, the leader in media buying software. ECN and STRATA, jointly announced today that ECN’s media services for advertising agencies throughout North America are now directly available through STRATA’s media buying software. STRATA agencies can use ECN’s services to guarantee delivery of commercial information to targeted media contacts. This connection allows agencies to deliver traffic on time and to the right person while receiving confirmation electronically.

35,000 feet up – and worlds away from good customer service

2010-02-24T19:48:30Z

Good customer service is essential. When it isn’t a priority, you notice and it can negatively influence the way you feel about a company. I was a victim of bad customer service recently. Imagine this – you are 35,000 feet in the sky, belted to your seat and the service you received makes you want to grab a parachute and jump. Ok, it wasn’t quite that bad, but it did leave a negative impression on me. I was on an airline (that shall remain nameless) flying back from New York. I travel quite a bit, so I redeemed some frequent flyer miles for a first class seat. What I received there was less than first class and even less than my luggage in the hull…

STRATA ADDS SPEED AND EFFICIENCY TO DIGITAL PLATFORM WITH EYEBLASTER’S MEDIAMIND

2010-02-17T16:36:21Z

STRATA enhances its premier digital product with Eyeblaster’s MediaMind, the first agency-based ad serving solution built from the ground up specially for agencies and advertisers. STRATA, the industry leader with its full suite of software for media buyers and sellers, recently began offering buyers integrated access to Eyeblaster.

STRATA provides a comprehensive suite of tools for planning, buying, stewardship, optimization and billing across all forms of digital media, including online display, search, mobile and in-game advertising. The new integration with MediaMind simplifies campaign management for agencies and alleviates daily challenges associated with planning, buying and billing.

STRATA ADVANCES DIGITAL ADVERTISING WITH VOLOS PRODUCT

2010-02-03T16:02:25Z

Comcast, Cablevision and Others Signed to Use New Tool

STRATA announces the launch of a revolutionary new product that is changing the way advanced advertising is managed. STRATA Volos allows media sales organizations the ability to manage their multi-media advertising platforms (Spot, Interactive Television, Video-on-Demand, Internet, Microsites and more). To date, Comcast, Cablevision and several others are signed on to use Volos in their advertising planning and reporting.