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Very interesting.
IMDB has done site skinning right. While other sites (like college humor) skin a site based on product, IMDB has skinned a site based on engagement. IMDB's extra attention to detail by incorporating unique and interesting Mad Men content takes a site skin beyond passive into interaction.
Here are some ideas for Mahalo's take on this. Take them for what they're worth - just ideas :)
1)
Upsell the option to keep a modified version of the skin on x number of SERP's for perpetuity. Ad buyers like things that extend beyond the start and end dates of campaigns and they'll pay for it.
2)
Increase the tip of product related questions. Eg: If someone asks a Harry Potter question, increase the value of the question by M$2 automatically. A big part of the power of Mahalo lies in the questions found on Mahalo Answers.
3)
In the site skin package, include a redesign of the main page footer. None of the mockups that are shown display the main page. If you're not including it in the skin package (and I don't know that I would), offer a footer redesign.
4)
Timing and community engagement. Large media buyers and PR folks in general are very good at timing. They know when the marketing wheels are turning and have a good idea of when to push the right ads. Any type of site takeover (sponsored insertion, result highlighting, skinning, etc) is more effective if the administrators engage the userbase before the ad runs.
For example, a couple of months before the Harry Potter skin, whisper a few questions about the upcoming movie or relay a few carefully chosen celebrity gossip items. Almost like a video pre-roll, this pre-engagement will extend the advertising tail longer and deeply engage the community.
5)
Before this gets too long, I'll cut myself short by referring to A/B testing. Site skinning is risky business. It can change the productivity of the advertising of an entire site. Creating and testing a handful of skins may be the easiest way to determine what and how other sources of revenue will be impacted. Testing based on geo, time, pv count, etc isn't tricky and can not only help the advertiser but the site as a whole.
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In essence, we have a cool site that gets a lot of traffic, so it's appealing to advertisers. But what's WAY MORE appealing to advertisers is the active community that's here, that will engage with their product or service.
In Jason's Harry Potter example, I think this is obvious. Members of the Mahalo community (myself included) love the Potter movies. We already have questions about them, knowledge about them we can share, stories and memories associated with Potter, pages on Potter characters or books that we can build and claim...
So this is an opportunity for us to keep just doing what we're doing, essentially. The marketing just becomes another cool feature of Mahalo (though, granted, a feature that helps us make the site even bigger and better.) Plus, the conversations and pages that we built linger even after the actual campaign is over. That's a much more powerful experience than scanning past an ad on your way to contact, or watching a trailer. And, to me, that's what makes this such a valuable opportunity.
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*Make sure you click through to the video on Vimeo's site to see the takeover*
http://www.vimeo.com/4281939
Just be careful to avoid seeming like you are selling out.
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We could start by implementing new advertisers. We could ad video advertising. Meaning the viewer would have to watch a small ad first. Google ads are great but I have been noticing that they barely show ads based on the page content. Some advertising agencies are starting to focus alot of attention to the glamour of the ads shown.
Perhaps, this first featured content advertising should be done as a group. Like, if we get tasks more than one person can help with one page.
Last thing, what content will we do this with? Harry Potter? Don't you guys think this trend has passed with the movie or is it still active?
I like the new movie by Tim Burton - 9
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Harry Potter is a great example, as he is universally known and loved, and many people know a lot about it. Plus, it had a worldwide release-date. So that would really be a good choice.
I'd love to see this in action, and will very likely actively participate.
Wait.. I see the 'How to dress up like Harry Potter' page is still free?? :)
Edit: I just realized that Harry Potter is actually a very BAD example. J. K. Rowling has shown to be not very fond of user-created content using her characters, locations or books. So, I don't see her sponsoring a site- takeover allowing zillions of articles and questions posted using HP material (it is hard to write a page on hogwarts without showing a picture of it!)
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Answered Question
M$4.35
August 14, 2009 05:31 PM
How amazing is this IMDB/Mad Men "featured content site takeover" advertisement? Would you like to see these on Mahalo?!
How amazing is this Mad Men site take over on IMDB.com?!!?!?
How cool would it be if we got someone like, say, Harry Potter to do this on Mahalo!?!?!? :-)
Our concept is kind of cool:
1. We do a Barn Raising around the advertiser. So, in the case of Harry Potter we do 300 pages about Harry Potter topics (i.e. a page about EVERY SINGLE place and person in the Harry Potter universe!). These pages would be at a nice rate... like maybe double: M$4 or M$5 each!
2. We do How to Articles around Harry Potter (like in the example below).
3. We do two Harry Potter featured questions every day for a week or two for M$20 each!
4. We do a super sexy Harry Potter frame around the site for two weeks (with some way to take it off if power users hate it).
5. We feature user content around the frame.
Kind of a cool model huh?
How cool would it be if we got someone like, say, Harry Potter to do this on Mahalo!?!?!? :-)
Our concept is kind of cool:
1. We do a Barn Raising around the advertiser. So, in the case of Harry Potter we do 300 pages about Harry Potter topics (i.e. a page about EVERY SINGLE place and person in the Harry Potter universe!). These pages would be at a nice rate... like maybe double: M$4 or M$5 each!
2. We do How to Articles around Harry Potter (like in the example below).
3. We do two Harry Potter featured questions every day for a week or two for M$20 each!
4. We do a super sexy Harry Potter frame around the site for two weeks (with some way to take it off if power users hate it).
5. We feature user content around the frame.
Kind of a cool model huh?
Interesting Question?
Yes (4)
No (0)
Interesting: robbrown M$0.05, gno M$0.05, spoon M$1.00, sysaaron M$0.25
- In Internet Advertising & Marketing |
- Tags: madmen, mahalo, harrypotter, advertising, online |
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Best Answer Decided by Votes
| August 14, 2009 06:10 PM |
IMDB has done site skinning right. While other sites (like college humor) skin a site based on product, IMDB has skinned a site based on engagement. IMDB's extra attention to detail by incorporating unique and interesting Mad Men content takes a site skin beyond passive into interaction.
Here are some ideas for Mahalo's take on this. Take them for what they're worth - just ideas :)
1)
Upsell the option to keep a modified version of the skin on x number of SERP's for perpetuity. Ad buyers like things that extend beyond the start and end dates of campaigns and they'll pay for it.
2)
Increase the tip of product related questions. Eg: If someone asks a Harry Potter question, increase the value of the question by M$2 automatically. A big part of the power of Mahalo lies in the questions found on Mahalo Answers.
3)
In the site skin package, include a redesign of the main page footer. None of the mockups that are shown display the main page. If you're not including it in the skin package (and I don't know that I would), offer a footer redesign.
4)
Timing and community engagement. Large media buyers and PR folks in general are very good at timing. They know when the marketing wheels are turning and have a good idea of when to push the right ads. Any type of site takeover (sponsored insertion, result highlighting, skinning, etc) is more effective if the administrators engage the userbase before the ad runs.
For example, a couple of months before the Harry Potter skin, whisper a few questions about the upcoming movie or relay a few carefully chosen celebrity gossip items. Almost like a video pre-roll, this pre-engagement will extend the advertising tail longer and deeply engage the community.
5)
Before this gets too long, I'll cut myself short by referring to A/B testing. Site skinning is risky business. It can change the productivity of the advertising of an entire site. Creating and testing a handful of skins may be the easiest way to determine what and how other sources of revenue will be impacted. Testing based on geo, time, pv count, etc isn't tricky and can not only help the advertiser but the site as a whole.
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Voted as best: mysterygirl89, stanar, smartweb, ghanan20003000, chriswingate, dbiddie, nickunderscore, redgold, buddawiggi, jeffhoard
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Other Answers (8)
August 14, 2009 06:38 PM
I think @robbrown's Points #2 and #4 are pretty astute, and those methods of getting our users involved is what I find intriguing about integrating sponsored content on Mahalo.com. In essence, we have a cool site that gets a lot of traffic, so it's appealing to advertisers. But what's WAY MORE appealing to advertisers is the active community that's here, that will engage with their product or service.
In Jason's Harry Potter example, I think this is obvious. Members of the Mahalo community (myself included) love the Potter movies. We already have questions about them, knowledge about them we can share, stories and memories associated with Potter, pages on Potter characters or books that we can build and claim...
So this is an opportunity for us to keep just doing what we're doing, essentially. The marketing just becomes another cool feature of Mahalo (though, granted, a feature that helps us make the site even bigger and better.) Plus, the conversations and pages that we built linger even after the actual campaign is over. That's a much more powerful experience than scanning past an ad on your way to contact, or watching a trailer. And, to me, that's what makes this such a valuable opportunity.
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Reply
August 14, 2009 06:40 PM
This one (for the Honda Insight on Vimeo) is way more involved: *Make sure you click through to the video on Vimeo's site to see the takeover*
http://www.vimeo.com/4281939
Just be careful to avoid seeming like you are selling out.
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August 14, 2009 07:05 PM
I think it would be appealing to advertisers so it is definitely worth looking into. I think the community would support it and help out with barn raising activities. The only thing I'm not to keen on is the frame/banner takeover. I think that is getting too commercial and it draws away from Mahalo's individuality. It's ok to have ads, just don't make the site look like a full-time commercial.
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August 15, 2009 11:26 AM
I'm not sure about being appealing to advertisers. It depends in the mesh between the theme and what is being advertised. I get the feeling that a lot of what makes money on Mahalo is not going to go especially well with a Harry Potter theme.
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August 14, 2009 07:08 PM
I'm slobbering just by thinking about this! Sounds awesome. We could start by implementing new advertisers. We could ad video advertising. Meaning the viewer would have to watch a small ad first. Google ads are great but I have been noticing that they barely show ads based on the page content. Some advertising agencies are starting to focus alot of attention to the glamour of the ads shown.
Perhaps, this first featured content advertising should be done as a group. Like, if we get tasks more than one person can help with one page.
Last thing, what content will we do this with? Harry Potter? Don't you guys think this trend has passed with the movie or is it still active?
I like the new movie by Tim Burton - 9
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August 15, 2009 04:45 AM
I just want to point out the thought out responses others have given thus far on this. If you want your opinion to hold up against that of others you really should try to explain your thoughts. Clearly you don't like the idea... but why?? Look at the other answers to this (I know they all like this idea, so they don't fit with your thoughts but at least we know what there thoughts are) and try to give that kind of detail to argue your side of things. If it is a "horrible idea" is it because you don't like ads? Is it that you don't like the looks of the mock ups? Did Harry Potter kill your mother? Without this kind of detail your answer just doesn't hold much water compared to others.
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August 15, 2009 07:32 AM
I really like the idea, and am looking forward to see it happening. Just make sure it is about something that internationally appealing, as more than half of your Mahalo community is non US based. For instance, I wouldn't care at all about the NFL final, baseball (even though The Netherlands is one of the top playing nations), or Bud Beer (which I know some would applaud). Harry Potter is a great example, as he is universally known and loved, and many people know a lot about it. Plus, it had a worldwide release-date. So that would really be a good choice.
I'd love to see this in action, and will very likely actively participate.
Wait.. I see the 'How to dress up like Harry Potter' page is still free?? :)
Edit: I just realized that Harry Potter is actually a very BAD example. J. K. Rowling has shown to be not very fond of user-created content using her characters, locations or books. So, I don't see her sponsoring a site- takeover allowing zillions of articles and questions posted using HP material (it is hard to write a page on hogwarts without showing a picture of it!)
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August 15, 2009 01:47 PM
Jason, I think this is a great idea. Is there some way we can promote the one of these events on our own websites to give it more google juice? If your staff could provide link code for us to use it might help. Give me one without any javascript in it and I'll be even happier. Mahalo is part of my total online strategy to get better known and I am happy to let people know where I am at online if they want to find me. If I can get some of my own followers to participate due to their interest in Harry Potter (or the like) I think that has a better, more far-reaching effect than isolating it on Mahalo. (PS - I want the Severus Snape page :)
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I literally could go on for pages with ideas like this... but like I said, they're just ideas and not worth anything if not acted upon. Now, if they asked for help to implement or complete these ideas, well then I might ask for a little compensation because I'd be making the ideas real.
Create advertiser specific ad units. Allow page managers to insert a new ad unit on the pages related to the advertiser. For example, if I managed the page "Azkaban" and it was in the "Harry Potter" Mahalo category, I could add a "Harry Potter Sponsored Ad Unit".
Create a bank of sponsor specific ads and serve these new ad units from that bank. The setup and CPM/CPC cost for these ads would be included in the site skin ad package. After the site skin has ended, the advertiser is given the option to maintain these ads at a negotiated rate.
This means that after the initial upfront cost of the site skin, the advertiser would have the option to continue buying targeted advertising but at a lower rate than the expensive site skins. This would extend both the value of a site skin for the advertiser and the revenue for Mahalo.
If you really wanted to do something nice, increase the revshare for these ads over 50% with the user base. This would give an additional reason for folks to put their best effort into a barnraising and continue the theme of revenue sharing.
I would love to be able to put something on the pages I manage other than Adsense. If I made a Harry Potter page and could put a Harry Potter ad on it... well there is a ton of value in that for Mahalo, me and the advertiser.
In this product, you wouldn't be spending any more money. Just have the creative types whip up a bunch of ads, create a new ad unit, and split the rev equal to what you negotiate with the advertiser.
I just made a page on Pricing Strategy, and I don't think I want it Harry Potter themed. :)
nominated for AotD August 19