By Jerry Hong, Engineering Manager

L: Leadership
O: Opinion
V: Vision
E: Evolution

Free diving for California abalone is one of my favorite hobbies.  Abalone is a highly prized meat, but is very difficult and often dangerous to obtain.  Experienced abalone fisherman will swim out a little farther and free dive 10-15 ft deep, where there is little competition and plenty of abalone to be found.  Even greater risk takers go far out into the ocean diving 30 -40 ft deep to find trophy abalone 10 -12 inches in diameter.  The theory here is simple: with greater risk there is greater reward.

Steve Jobs recently took a risky dive when he unveiled the iPad to the world.  Jobs boldly declared that the iPod and the iPad will not support Flash. Flash, the technology that for years has served us video and complex interactive web content.  Internet users have relied heavily on Flash for interactive content, and without any other options we simply put up with Flash slowing down our web experience.  As technology evolved, a set of JavaScript libraries were created such as jQuery, ProtoType and Dojo to create a more dynamic experience on the internet.  As developers realized what web users were demanding, they started to create the next generation of HTML currently known as HTML5. 

What is HTML5?

HTML5 is the next generation of HTML.  HTML5’s standardization work is in progress and is expected to be ready in 2022.  Although, the standard is not final, major features are already being integrated into new versions of web browsers.  As people demand more and more interactive web content, developers have had to meet these demands through mediums such as Flash and JavaScript.  But since Flash is not native to HTML, interactive content must be built through Flash and the Flash application must be downloaded to view content.  HTML5 has simplified this process through the use of the <video> and <canvas> tags.  The introduction of the <video> tag allows you to display video files which are supported by the browser without too much additional programming.  This is good news to web engineers.   

New canvas technology will also enable non-flash developers to be able to produce more interactive content without the need of Flash.  Google has recently demonstrated this concept by placing a game of Pac-Man in their logo.  To the average user, this might not seem like a big deal, but to a web engineer, this is a very welcoming idea. 

Did Steve Jobs invent HTML5? (Opinion)

The HTML5 standard began long before the iPad was introduced. In 2006, The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) began discussing the development of HTML5, and in 2007 a working group had been formed to develop it.  So why is it believed that Steve Jobs invented HTML5? Steve Jobs disrupted the technology industry when he introduced the iPad, announcing that it would support HTML5 and not Flash.  Knowing that many online ads are made with Flash, Apple quickly introduced the iAd, which is based in HTML5, to deliver interactive advertisements.  The iAd gained a lot of publicity for HTML5, which is why some falsely credit Steve Jobs with inventing it. 

What is HTML5 capable of? (Evolution)

HTML5 will have several new features; features which are currently available include <video>, <canvas> and the geolocation API.  The video tag, as discussed earlier, is capable of displaying video content without wrapping it around Flash, and is considered to be the future of delivering video content.  Companies such as Google have already started enjoying the benefits of the canvas tag as displayed with their madly successful game of Pac-Man. Quick note on the <canvas> tag:  The <canvas> tag itself is not capable of doing any interaction, but it provides a base to draw and interact using JavaScript and CSS to deliver richer content to internet users.  Geolocation has already gained popularity, especially in the mobile industry.  Many new websites are also adopting the use of the geolocation API to provide localized service and content to non-smart phone users.  It is important to note that there are other features such as offline storage and client side database, but these features are used in the backend rather than shown to users as a feature. 

Where are we going with HTML5? (Vision)

I was recently watching a video clip of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates discussing the future of the internet in the mid 90’s.  Although Gate’s prediction was more accurate, Jobs took the initiative to make that prediction a reality with the invention of the iPad, the iPod and his support of HTML5. HTML5 will bring internet users a unique interactive experience which has never been possible before.  Interacting with content will become easier and will be tailored to individual tastes. When this migration begins, there will be a paradigm shift of the internet like we saw in the late 90’s and early 2000.  So get ready to embrace HTML5 into the future of your internet experience.

When do you recommend HTML5 to your client? (Leadership)

The move to HTML5 is inevitable. So, should we jump on the bandwagon now?  First, we should look into the demand for HTML5 features and the ability of browsers to support it.  Currently, browsers such as Internet Explorer are not adapting HTML5 features fast enough.  Although, IE9 is expected to support features such as <video>, <canvas> and geolocation.  How well it will support these features is another story.  As HTML5 matures, we will see hybrid implementation of HTML5 and existing HTML using some type of JavaScript library and Flash.  So you can either take a risk and begin using HTML5 now, or play it safe and wait for the rest of the world to catch up.

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By Heather Razukas, Associate Account Director

Ask any digital marketer to name a few opportunity areas that are top of mind, and chances are a little game changer known as Facebook will be one of them. And rightly so. According to a study of top web brands released by Nielsen earlier this year, Facebook has fallen in line just behind the big three – Google, Microsoft and Yahoo – in terms of unique monthly visitors in the US, at just over 160 million. Meanwhile, Facebook is winning handedly amongst this group in terms of the average user’s time spent on site – over 7 hours per month, representing 2 to 3 times that of the other properties.

While much of the intrigue lies in Facebook’s ability to help marketers reach customers in a revolutionary new way, a rather sophisticated advertising platform, advanced audience targeting capabilities, and competitive pricing has many wondering if this is also the next best paid advertising opportunity since SEM. And it just may be – for the right offer. Following are some critical factors that every advertiser should consider when weighing a Facebook advertising program.

Entertain me. We all know that Facebook visitors are in the mood to casually consume and engage with content. So how well will your offer fit with that motive? A social gaming site such as Zynga is an easy example of a brand that may appeal to this mindset. Other advertisers, meanwhile, opt to create a community or environment to meet this objective. An excellent example can be found in SanDisk – a producer of world class memory cards – who employs advertising to send qualified visitors to a branded Facebook fan page dedicated to conversation and contests for the photo enthusiast.

Rise above the noise. Unfortunately for most, many advertisers have grown wise to Facebook’s paid media opportunity, which of course means more competition and more noise. So how will your creative catch someone’s attention? There’s no doubt that a clean, eye catching image and pointed headline are two of the biggest considerations. But at the end of the day, what’s in it for the user? Advertisers with something tangible to offer – the more the better, be it a sweepstakes, giveaway or a lucrative discount – are going to stand a better chance of winning the click.

What do you want from me? It’s also important to consider the level of commitment and time investment you’re requesting – is it realistic? The most attainable responses will be ones where users can complete the desired action right in the ad itself – for example, submitting an RSVP to an event or becoming a “fan” of a brand. Advertisers who ask users to navigate elsewhere on Facebook up the ante, and those who are more aggressive still ask users to leave the site entirely. The ultimate question is how easy can you make it for a user to complete your desired action?

Are you talking to me? I find that some clients are still surprised by the targeting capabilities that Facebook offers advertisers, which include geography, age, gender and stated interests to name some of the most critical. What brands should consider is how well these parameters will allow them to reach their audience. Offers that do not readily align with these parameters – thereby reducing the assurance that ads are shown only to a reasonably qualified audience – may not fare as well.

Keep momentum. Brands must understand that their defined audience will likely be exposed to repeated ad impressions, particularly in the case of a healthy advertising budget and multiple targeting parameters. Oftentimes, this means that a campaign enjoys an initial surge in performance as the offer is fresh and the most qualified audience is ripe for the picking. From that point on, brands may need to work a little harder to keep the momentum going. How can this be accomplished? First, new conversions are going to be generated by new clicks which are going to be generated by consistently fresh ads – if one creative didn’t reel someone in, another one may. New conversions can also be generated by new eyes on the ad – something that could be achieved by testing response to gradually relaxed targeting parameters. While targeting is critically important to success, it’s key to strike an appropriate balance between the right exposure and enough exposure.

At the end of the day, there is no question that Facebook offers a lucrative paid media opportunity to advertisers. However, the brands that will fare best will be those who can successfully make the above factors work in their favor.

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Hitachi Global Storage Technologies on Monday awarded Red Bricks Media the key digital ad assignment of launching its LifeStudio consumer product.

Hoping to redefine the external hard drive category, Hitachi GST said the assignment includes strategy, creative, media, search, Web development and social media services across the United States and Europe.

“Our consumer business has the potential for strong growth,” said Mike Cordano, Hitachi GST’s EVP of worldwide sales and marketing and the president of Branded Business. “We selected Red Bricks Media because of their deep expertise in consumer technology advertising, social media and their reputation for strong account management.”

The Hitachi LifeStudio family of products is targeting consumer demand to more easily organize, manage and protect their personal files. The LifeStudio drive automatically finds and organizes photos, movies, music, and files and presents it on a 3D wall so life’s precious digital moments “never fade” — the creative tag line and campaign developed by Red Bricks Media.

Social media is a significant part of the LifeStudio campaign, which launched earlier this month. Ads have begun running across search engines and selected Web sites, while social media has kicked off on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

LifeStudio products are available in-store and online at a variety of retail outlets including OfficeMax, Fry’s Electronics, Amazon.com and BestBuy.com.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Red Bricks Media is an independent digital marketing agency that specializes in digital ad strategies, search marketing, creative, media, Web development, mobile and social media.

In a huge vote of confidence, RBM earlier this year scored Scott Neslund — onetime CEO of WPP’s Mindshare unit — as its new CEO.

Along with Hitachi GST, the 70-plus organization presently serves such clients as Microsoft, THQ and The Los Angeles Times.

See the full article at Mediapost.com

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The expansion of media choices is growing so rapidly that advertisers are looking for better ways to classify, plan and measure the media channels in their marketing plans. One framework that clients find helpful is the Paid, Earned, Owned and Partnered model for better understanding consumer media behavior and advertising impact.

Paid media are the standard advertising units we have known for a while in the industry. It’s the 30 second TV ad, the page in the magazine, the banner ad online, and the paid search ads. Paid media helps build a foundation of controlled messaging and consumer reach that is necessary for any campaign looking for scale.

Earned media is everything that consumers say about your brand in the communication marketplace where they are in control on the message. It is social media, blogs, word of mouth, anything where consumers can express their POV and have it influence a larger group of people. Earned media is a part of every marketing plan whether clients plan for it or not.

Owned media encompasses all the communication assets that an advertiser builds and controls everything from the environment to the messaging to the consumers who have access to it. It’s a company website or special event that clearly communicates the brand essence to consumers. SEO is an important part of managing the online “owned media” properties.

Partnered media is one area that is often overlooked by advertisers because it involves finding another advertiser(s) where you can exchange communication assets and have a win-win for both companies. Partnered media can still involve paid advertising but it is more about creating an integrated advertising program that uses untraditional formats to build engagement with consumers and allows them to interact with the brand in a unique way. Many media companies offer advertisers special programs to integrate with their content assets and they are open to new ideas from their agencies.

The Paid, Earned, Owned and Partnered media framework allows advertisers to take advantage of the changing landscape and develop new communication opportunities. It also allows marketers to allocate budgets where they can create the most impact with consumers. At Red Bricks Media we talk with clients about this framework and how it can add value to their marketing efforts. We are able to better steer a client’s budget to the channels where consumers find the most value in the client’s brand message and therefore create a stronger response. As the media world continues to change, it is now time to change the way we talk about it as well.

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By Jason Stevens, SEO Director

There is little else that whips the search community into frenzy than a prognostication from Google about “changes.”  The truth is that we love the quest to deduce the mystery of what Google thinks is important for ranking web pages.  So, when Google Caffeine was announced in August 2009 with unusual fanfare the speculations were rampant and the past year was spent wondering when our website rankings changed we asked: “Is this it?”

Since its inception, Google has striven to provide the cleanest and most relevant search results.  To accomplish this, they make frequent updates to their ranking algorithm.  And, over time, Google has evolved those ranking updates from periodically to seasonally and then monthly and finally to daily.

In fact, currently, Google updates the weight and priority of the over 200 ranking signals multiple times a day.  Sometimes the exact same query may return two different results within seconds of each other depending on the Google datacenter in which the searcher is routed.

However, Google Caffeine is not a major ranking algorithm change like we’ve seen with “May Day” earlier this year or “Vince” of last year.  It is actually an entirely new indexing system in order to provide fresher results for search engine queries.  And to boot, the index is larger thereby providing more choices on content to show searchers.  The primary adage of SEO has been “it takes time” to see changes to existing pages or the addition of new pages in Google search results is no longer necessarily true anymore.

Google decided that the method by which they compiled their index was not fast or fresh enough.  So, instead of refreshing the index linearly, they now analyze web pages and refresh layers on the index in parallel thereby potentially reflecting changes in minutes instead of months.   This is especially applicable to frequently changing content like blog posts, news articles, and social networking updates.

What does this mean to SEO?  It means that what you do on your website could be reflected in search results in a manner of minutes or hours instead of months.  Maybe there is a new topic in the news or public conscience that you can capture before competitors join in.  Or maybe you’ve held off deploying changes to your website content thinking that it will take a long time to be noticed.  Nothing could be further from the truth now.  The search landscape has changed not by how content is ranked but how often and how much content is now available to be ranked.

Why did Google do this?   The primary reason is to continue to be the most popular way to find information.  With the increased usage of social networking services like Facebook and Twitter, people are finding information where they spend their time.  If those services can be relied on to tell you what is happening now then search engines may decline in usage in favor of social graphs.  If Google wants to stay a verb then it has to get faster in serving what is relevant right now.  Universal search, social search, and real-time search gave Google more breadth in helping people find what they are looking for – and now they want to do it all much faster.

So, fear not, the mystery remains.  Google Caffeine may mean the results of testing a new title tag to rankings or construction of that new targeted entry page to capturing long tail keywords may be observed faster but it doesn’t mean we will know why with any more certainty.

We would never want that, right?

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By Scott Neslund, CEO

I am happy to announce the additional responsibilities and title change for two managers at Red Bricks Media who are helping to move the agency forward.

Scott Tieman will take on the additional role of leading strategy services for our clients including social media strategies. As Head of Client Service & Strategy Scott will help clients develop the right digital communication strategies to achieve their marketing goals and grow their business.

John Bosso has been successfully managing our web development practice for the last year and he now formally takes on mobile application development as well. As consumer online experience gravitates from their computer to their mobile devices it makes sense that we extend our capabilities as well. John will take the lead on growing our mobile capabilities as Director of Web Development and Mobile Applications.   

Please join me in congratulating Scott and John in their new roles and responsibilities.

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By Vincent Ma, Product Guy

No one can deny the incredible success of social media games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars.  But what is it about social games that make them so appealing and so successful? 

Some of the more popular social games appear to have the following attributes in common:

+      Collections:  Many social games have ancillary goals of accumulating points or collecting different sets of virtual goods as they progress through the game.  

+      Scarcity: Closely tied to collections, is controlled scarcity of items.  Certain game related virtual items are intentionally difficult to acquire or limited in number.  

+      Bragging Rights:   Whether it’s a race to build the biggest farm, earn the most points, or obtain the rarest game item, social games inherently have a dimension of competition about them beyond simply beating the game. 

+      Groups:  Borrowing from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. 

+      Individuality: At the same time that we yearn to belong, we also strive to be different and unique. 

+      Feedback:  A mainstay of role playing games, the concept of “leveling-up” or acquiring experience points is a time tested game mechanic that keeps players engaged.  

+      Luck:  Although it doesn’t apply to everyone, there is something exciting about games of chance.  

+      Sharing:  Possibly the most important piece from a growth perspective are the mechanics that drives the social and sharing aspects of the game.  

Like what you see? Read the full article at MediaBizBloggers:

Red Bricks Media: What Can Marketers Learn From Social Games? - Vincent Ma - MediaBizBloggers

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Red Bricks Media’s Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operations Officer, Kelly Olson, will be speaking at the OMMA Metrics & Measurements conference on July 22, 2010 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, located on 333 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco. 

Olson will be a featured panelist in the ‘Modeling Attribution:Practitioner Perspectives on the Media Mix’ panel, which will be held at 3:45 PM on July 22nd. 

From the OMMA Metrics & Measurements website:

How do you determine the channels that influence offline and online behavior and marketing performance? How should you allocate your budget across CRM emails, display ads, print advertising, television and radio commercials, direct mail, and other marketing sources? What models, techniques, and technologies should you use develop attribution and predictive models that can drive your business? Do you need SAS, SPSS, and a PhD in Statistics? Does first click, last click, direct, indirect, or appropriate attribution matter which is best? What about multiple logistic regression? What is the impact of survey and voice-of-the-customer data on attribution? Hear from experts who have to answer these questions and tackle these tough issues as they work hard in the field every day for their consultancies, agencies, and brands.

The session will be moderated by Cesar Brea, CEO of ForceFive Partners. Leinicke will be joined on the panel by Manu Mathew, CEO of VisualIQ, Dylan Lewis, Managing Director of Intuit and Jason Harper, Executive Director, Marketing Intelligence at Organic, Inc.

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