Month: February 2018

Maybe chatbots can jazz up regular old display ads.

Emirates airline is using artificial intelligence for a chatbot that lies within display ads for its Emirates Vacations unit. The ads allow people to ask travel and trip questions and receive answers immediately within the ad unit. But the company believes AI can be impactful for another application: breaking down additional friction points when it comes to search. The chatbot will recommend destinations and vacation packages based on the context of users’ questions, the content on the site it appears on and Emirates Vacations’ inventory. For instance, if Emirates Vacations doesn’t have a hotel in Toronto, the chatbot won’t suggest a hotel in Toronto. “Explore the world without leaving the page,” the ads read.

“For us, it’s about looking at the customer journey and removing as many friction points as we can,” said Ailsa Pollard, svp of marketing at Emirates Vacations, which worked with WayBlazer on the execution.

Emirates Vacations began testing the ads in a 30-day campaign starting at the end of December. The ads ran on sites like The New Yorker, Lonely Planet, Time and Smithsonian in major cities across the U.S. At the end of the 30 days, Emirates Vacations saw an 87 percent lift in engagement compared to its traditional click-through ads, according to Pollard. Emirates Vacations tested 550,000 impressions for the new chat ad format and compared those to the same number of impressions for its traditional display format. Emirates Vacations wouldn’t share any metrics around engagement for its original display ads, only that it plans on continuing using the enhanced version.

Right now, the chat ads advertise four destinations: the Maldives, Bangkok, Milan and the Seychelles. So, if a user types in a general question about where they should go on vacation, the chat ad will recommend travel packages to these locations. The ads are also strategically placed against articles that reference these locations. For instance, Emirates Vacations ran one of its chat ads on People.com next to an article about singer Jordin Sparks visiting the Maldives.

Pollard also said these chat ads help to “weave new life into traditional display ads.” Traditional display ads have long played a role in consumer annoyance with online advertising, and many brands are looking into ways they can provide more value to users. Travel brands especially have to pay attention to user experience, Pollard said.

“Travel is really all about the experience,” said Pollard. “We see AI as a way we can add more relevance to the consumer journey and provide better responses.”

The post Emirates brings a chatbot to banner ads appeared first on Digiday.

Vaibhav Khullar, a London-based banking technology startup founder, noticed that digital ads alone wouldn’t generate a big enough bump in business. Six months ago, he decided that content, or branded stories, could be the answer.

“We started off with paid advertising, but online ads aren’t good for the market we’re working in,” said Khullar, the founder of six-year-old OSREC Financial, whose clients are mostly banks and hedge funds. “People who are tech savvy aren’t going to be as influenced by online ads as a high-quality article that’s shared around — it could be an article talking about things that might address an existing problem.”

In finance, content marketing has become a must-have to keep customers and attract new ones. But it’s a cluttered market. It’s tough for a company to distinguish its voice from others presenting the same topic in a similar format or style. For example, the “news and stories” section of Chase’s website features the headline “7 essential rules of saving“; Bank of America’s “Better Money Habits” offers “7 steps to stay financially fit” and Capital One weighs in on “7 ways to enjoy your wedding season without crushing your wallet.” The similarity in look, feel and presentation can make branded articles seem less authentic.

“You’re generally going into a marketplace where everyone is just shouting,” said Khullar. “It’s eventually going to be a mess of noise, and there’s going to be nothing coherent to be heard.”

Read the full story on tearsheet.co

The post Finance brands have a content ‘sameness’ problem appeared first on Digiday.

Walmart is following in the steps of Dick’s Sporting Goods and announced Wednesday night that it will raise the minimum age limit to buy guns and ammunition to 21. The retailer also said in a statement that it will stop selling items, like airsoft guns, that mimic assault-style rifles. The move is in response to…

Music-streaming giant Spotify filed its Form F-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday to register an initial public offering in the hopes of raising up to $1 billion. An IPO date has not yet been set, but Spotify’s move to sell shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange without relying on underwriters may…

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Spotify filed its F-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, forgoing a traditional IPO for a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Read the filing. The direct listing means Spotify can directly post its shares on the stock exchange rather than going through the traditional process of hiring a bank… Continue reading »

The post Spotify’s F-1 Shows Programmatic Makes Up 18% of Ad Revenue appeared first on AdExchanger.

Two weeks after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Viacom’s new Paramount Network is delaying the premiere of one of its flagship shows, “Heathers.” A TV adaptation of the 1980s film about
killings in a high school, the Paramount series is an updated version featuring dark humor — apparently a little too dark, given the timing of recent school shooting news.

Two weeks after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Viacom’s new Paramount Network is delaying the premiere of one of its flagship shows, “Heathers.” A TV adaptation of the 1980s film about mass
shootings in a high school, the Paramount series is an updated version featuring dark humor. Apparently, a little too dark given the timing of recent school shooting news.

Music-streaming company Spotify cemented plans for its unusual initial public offering while revealing the financial particulars of a fast-growing company that upended the music industry and revolutionized how consumers listen—but spent heavily to do so.

Facebook confirmed that it has been testing a feature since last year that automatically creates events using the information contained within posts by pages. Coffey & Tea managing director Meg Coffey shared the screenshot above and below with Social Pro Daily. A Facebook spokesperson said, “Events on Facebook makes it easier to connect with people…

Early this week, Facebook found itself in the middle of another highly politicized debate over digital marketing just days after President Trump cited a series of tweets from vp of advertising Rob Goldman as proof that Russian social media efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election played no significant role in his victory. A…