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When it comes to summer vacation, some of us find adventurous road trips the most appealing, while others dream of tech-free weeks in the Caribbean. No matter where your wanderlust takes you, vacation season is just around the corner and planning is in full-swing for both travelers and digital advertisers. Here’s why you should care.
In 2014, Americans spent an estimated $307 billion on travel and are expected to reach $337 billion by 2016. This year, Americans will plan an average of two and a half vacation trips and almost three fourths of these travelers will use the internet to help plan their trips. On top of that, 47% will start looking for vacation ideas on one device and finish on another. In response to this trend, digital ad spending for the U.S. travel industry was over $4 billion in 2014. That number is expected to continue to rise rapidly.
Multi-vacations, multi-screens, and multi-chances to reach consumers who are gearing up to spend money. Sounds like a great adventure for digital marketers of all kinds. Use this infographic to see where your consumers are headed and how you can stick with them every step of the way.
From Gen X’s notoriety as the forgotten generation to its financial insecurities and generational adversities – it’s pretty clear that Gen Xers have been through quite a lot. And to add to their hardships, there is an urgent need for Gen Xers to get their financial and estate planning in order – especially as the first generation to exist in the digital age. In fact, Gen X has a lot more to consider than their parents or grandparents did in the past. To clarify, today’s estate planning is not just about death and taxes, but includes protection of assets from the potential claims of creditors as well as personal income tax planning. Additionally, advancements in technology and the emergence of digital assets have expanded the planning process to include such areas as social media accounts, personal computer files, email accounts, and other account information. Are you prepared? Find out on Financial Advisor>>
Cinco de Mayo is officially here! It’s the one day a year when everyone digs deep to unlock their inner Mexican roots, put on a sombrero, and eat their weight in guacamole. And while the holiday actually marks the Mexican victory over France in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, brands are becoming more aware of the marketing opportunities that the day brings.
According to Nielsen, Latinos hold $1.2 trillion in purchasing power, and are 54 million strong in the United States. That’s a huge segment of people and dollars that big brands are fighting for. Additionally, in the last few days alone, #CincoDeMayo has been tweeted more than 22,000 times – before the actual celebration! It’s no wonder that more and more brands, such as Taco Bell and Corona, are creating more multilingual and multicultural content to try to win this consumer group. Not only are brands talking, but they are getting us all to join in on the buzz.
So if you are a brand or advertiser trying to get a slice of the Cinco de Mayo torta (cake), here are some tips to keep you out of hot water: celebrate diversity, keep it good-natured, and avoid linguistic faux-pas.
Otherwise we hope you enjoy the holiday. ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
In part one of our Gen X audience series, we looked at how marketers can reach the small, but mighty influencer, Generation X. In part two, we dove into Gen Xers’ spending habits and how this generation is over preparing for retirement. But did you know that in regards to income and wealth, Gen X has suffered the most adversity of any generation? Through many booms and busts – most significantly, the Great Recession – this generation has endured a long history of financial difficulties, including the biggest decline in home ownership. In addition, while the number of (mostly) Boomers age 55 and over with full-time jobs has risen by over two million since the fall of 2007, the number of (mostly) Xers age 35 to 55 with full-time jobs has declined by nearly seven million. Despite these financial hardships, the good news is that Gen Xers are finding their own ways to cope – like we said, small but mighty! Get the full story on Forbes>>
South by Southwest Interactive Recap
For publishers trying to understand the frenzied and changing digital media landscape, take a look at three sessions from SXSW Interactive that completely nailed it. Hint: lots of branded content. Featured insights are from executives at Thrillist Media Group, Mashable, Refinery 29, AdAge, and BuzzFeed. Catch up on #SXSW with this article.
Millennials Go Mobile
A recent survey cited by eMarketer found that Millennials are nearly twice as likely to use a smartphone while car shopping as Gen Xers. Around 80% of Millennials will use a mobile device for at least one stage of the car buying process, leading to big mobile opportunities for marketers! Follow the trend here.
The Future-Proof Salesperson
Peter Spande, CRO of Business Insider, gives his best advice on becoming a “future-proof” salesperson in the rapidly changing media and advertising industry. Get insight on the challenges today’s sellers face, as well as the broad skills that can help sellers be successful in the digital world. Pick up some tips here!
We are very excited to spotlight Lee Enterprises this month! Lee Enterprises began working with Centro in 2012 and launched 12 of its properties as full-service markets over the following years. The 12 markets flourished, with many of them being showcased in our top 25, including Madison.com and St. Louis Post-Dispatch who were often featured in the top ten. In 2014, Lee Enterprises decided it wanted to embrace the shift to self-service and started working with Centro DSP to take digital buying in-house. The company launched a centralized buying desk that now services all of its 50 markets. From media planning and execution to optimizations and reporting, the buying desk does it all!
Leading Lee Enterprises’ digital strategy is Kate Murphy, digital sales director, and Sinead Steele, digital operations director. They initiated the move to Centro DSP internally in order to streamline their digital strategy across all markets as well as gain further transparency and insight to their digital campaigns. Digital has always been a large piece of what makes Lee Enterprises successful, and with the help of our customer success team they are seeing digital revenue increase every year!
Congrats to Lee Enterprises!
Generation X – a goldmine for marketers, yet still forgotten in many media plans. In fact, we recently touched on this in the first part of our audience blog and infographic series, focusing on the uncapped potential of this highly influential and impressive generation. Despite this influence, researchers are saying that this generation is concerned about money and will likely have a harder time reaching financial security than their parents. Could this be because many Gen X’ers are financially supporting both their Millennial children, as well as their Boomer parents? One thing’s for certain – this added responsibility has left Gen X’ers feeling financially insecure. When asked for their retirement number the median Gen X respondent said they need $1 million. Nearly a third said $2 million or more. The median figure for both Millennials and Baby Boomers was $800,000 with only 29% and 23%, respectively, saying they would need $2 million or more. Get their full take on retirement here>>
It was once said, “If you don't tell your story, someone else will.” That was surely the situation in our most recent case study. Our client, one of the world’s largest public relations firms, was working on behalf of an energy company, who desired to spread a positive message about an upcoming energy initiative. Already the topic of debate, the initiative was in need of a constructive voice. The PR firm knew what had to be done, but needed some from us help along the way.
The goal of the campaign was to drive positive perception of the initiative by getting the target audience to sign up for an email list, for a CPA under $15. It was here that the PR firm ran into some trouble. It needed help accessing the desired audience across multiple websites with content relevant to national security, the conservative political party, jobs, and labor. This was no easy task for our PR client.
Fortunately, the Centro team was there to jump right in. Utilizing Centro DSP, the buying services team was able to serve the client’s positive ads to every site type using contextual targeting. In addition, the team was able to identify CTA correlations between those who viewed national security content and those who viewed political content. By isolating those domains, they optimized the campaign by retargeting those audiences. They were also able to increase the reach of the campaign by uncovering additional successful content verticals.
The results were quite staggering. The campaign drew over 19 million impressions across all targeted sites. More significantly, the campaign also brought in over 2,000 conversions, all under the client’s budget. These impressive stats were achieved with an eCPA of $10.41, well under the goal of $15 set by the client. Not only was the client thrilled with the results, it was also excited to work with us on future campaigns.
At Centro, we offer a modern approach to digital media. With over 13 years and 100,000 campaigns to our name, we leverage advanced technology, proven tactics, and industry expertise to build campaigns around the channels and platforms that drive the greatest results for our client’s specific business needs. People and technology are at the heart of Centro, and are the essential parts in every #CentroInAction story.
New Office Has 70,000 Square Feet to Accommodate 250 Local Employees with Room for More Hires;
Centro Has Experienced a Decade of Profitable Growth in the Technology and Digital Advertising Industry
Chicago – April 29, 2015 – Centro (centro.net), a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising, today announced a multi-year lease with Sullivan Center in Chicago to occupy 70,000 square feet in the landmark building in the Loop. The company will move its headquarters, with more than 250 local employees, to the structure by the end of the year. Centro will have a sizable presence in the heart of the business capital of the Midwest. The development has been endorsed by World Business Chicago (WBC), a not-for-profit economic development organization chaired by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“Centro is an excellent model for the city because of its continued innovation and focus on employee advancement,” said Jeff Malehorn, president & CEO of World Business Chicago. “Chicago is one of the top cities for technology with an unmatched talent pool. We are excited to continue working with Centro, whose growth and culture has solidified its strong reputation for cultivating technology-focused professionals.”
Formerly known as the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building, Sullivan Center was designed by renowned architect Louis Henri Sullivan and is an important structure of early modern architecture in the U.S. Centro’s employees will benefit from many of the building’s features, including its central location and bay-wide windows that allow for the greatest amount of daylight into each floor space and office unit.
“Building a beautiful physical environment is critical to creating and maintaining a happy, creative, imaginative and hard-working atmosphere,” said Shawn Riegsecker, founder and CEO of Centro. “The Sullivan Center is a 19th-century architectural masterpiece located at the corner of State and Madison Avenues — literally, the center of downtown Chicago. I’m excited for Centro to anchor a technology revitalization in the heart of the city in the Loop.”
A major driver of employment growth for Chicago’s technology and advertising sectors, Centro has created more than 150 new jobs in the city since 2010. Poised for continued expansion because of demand for its digital media automation technology, Centro will add more local employees in areas such as software engineering, design, sales, and account management. The company has been cited by media outlets as one of the best places to work in Chicago. Nationally, it ranks as the eighth best workplace among medium-sized businesses and the number one overall workplace in the advertising industry.
In addition to Centro doubling headquarter space, its other offices have kept up the same aggressive business pace and are poised for expansion this year. Its New York team is set to move to a 26,000 square foot space, and plans are underway to augment Dallas, Los Angeles and Toronto offices. This will give ample room for the fast growing 600-person company to compete and further develop its technology platform.
Centro was founded in Chicago in 2001 with a mission to automate the buying and selling of digital advertising. Bootstrapped for nearly a decade, the company grew revenue profitably and widened its national presence, while firmly deepening its roots in Chicago.
About Centro
Centro (centro.net) is creating a platform to make digital advertising easier. Its enterprise-class software centralizes, organizes and automates all digital media campaigns across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory, to achieve any objective. Our holistic approach gives marketers a single system of record to fulfill their research, planning, buying, optimization, reporting and reconciliation needs. Since 2001, Centro has successfully planned and executed more than 190,000 national and local campaigns across all digital display platforms and ad format types. Headquartered in Chicago with 35 offices in North America, Centro’s success and commitment to culture has led to many accolades, including #1 on Crain’s Best Places to Work in Chicago in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, #1 on Advertising Age’s Best Place to Work in Media & Advertising in 2014, #8 on Fortune’s Best Medium-Size Workplace in 2014, and #6 on Crain’s Best Place to Work in New York.
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