Jim received email after email in response to last week's piece, "Attention Sales Staff! Please Read This Before You Call." In fact, he got more respo...
View articleJim's already reminded buyers and planners to make very clear to site reps just what it is they are looking for when shopping sites for placing ads. B...
View articleIt's the middle of 1995, and Jim and his media counterparts are sitting in a small conference room in Wired's original San Francisco office. Some craz...
View articleJim takes a shot at predictions for the year 2000. Here's the scenario in the media-planning world on topics like "hits," ROI, sessions, and cross-med...
View articleBack in the good old days of online advertising, the greatest data point ever offered a brand manager engaging the online medium for the first time wa...
View article"Brrrrrzzzit," the phone warbles like an electrocuted bird. "Yeah, Magwich." "It's Old Possum from Wasteland.com,"the receptionist informs our protago...
View articleLast week, Jim raised the specter of awareness and branding and that there might be a difference between the two. He also alluded to how these two thi...
View articleJim quotes Immanuel Kant to distinguish between awareness and branding. There's a group of you out there, half of whom are stroking their chins like c...
View article"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." (Psalms ...
View articleTeddy Roosevelt once said, "Speak softly, but carry a big stick." That is what a network buy has at the core of its proposition. An aggregate of small...
View articleMany sites starting up these days have a much more difficult task than they used to when it comes to promoting themselves. In the good old days, you c...
View article"What's in an email? That which we call an email by any other name would smell as sweet." Not exactly how the line goes, but direct email as a media v...
View articleLast week we discussed the move toward more agency involvement in the business development process. As more dotcoms enter the scene with little or no ...
View articleWhen Jim first started buying online advertising it was a simpler time: You went to a site on behalf of an advertiser with some money and an idea of w...
View articleDuring this last quarter of 1999, we will see more online shopping properties than have ever been on the web to date. You've got Christmas99.com, Holi...
View articleThe moment of truth. A first month media plan for a big- name (or soon to be big-name) client. They're looking for big. They're looking for bad. They'...
View articleBy the time you read this, the news will probably be wrapping fish in most media buyers' and planners' kitchens. Excite@Home is going to be selling ke...
View articleOnce upon a time, somewhere in the Western United States, there was a great famine. People jealously hoarded whatever targeted impressions they could ...
View articleHere's a scenario all planners and buyers face the second-to-last week of every month: The first month of your client's buy is almost over. And you've...
View articleJim reminisces the good ol' days. Standardized banners and impressions were the 'atom' of the online ad universe. You counted hits on server logs by h...
View articleThe interactive media space is a minefield. There's no defined pricing. Ad models are all over the board. And measurement's a mess. Don't you just wis...
View articleOne of the most daunting tasks for any media planner is reaching CEOs, CIOs, VPs, and top-level executives. In the real world, you might rent a direct...
View articleTargeting. Whether it's carefully selecting sites to reach a precise demographic, or using sophisticated profiling techniques to find that needle-in-t...
View articleThe usual debate on the efficacy of web banners has reached a new level. Poor, blighted web banners are maligned and defended with equal vigor, as if ...
View articleJaffer Ali tells a war story in an online advertising battle with limping, maimed banner ads. Read how he ultimately led the charge to the top of the ...
View articleIf you must reach local audiences to succeed, the web probably hasn't been your weapon of choice. But that's about to change. Larry Braitman gives the...
View articleWhat really seals the success of an interactive agency? A good media plan and killer creative, sure... but it's also a high level of service excellenc...
View article