MediaShift Inc., a digital ad tech company headquartered in Newport Beach, has launched Premier Airport Network, an advertising platform that enables airports to recoup the cost of providing free Wi-Fi to travelers without directly charging them.
The network will place video ads at sign-in and throughout Wi-Fi sessions at 20 major U.S. airports. Company officials declined to reveal which airports, citing nondisclosure agreements.
MediaShift’s technology also tracks users’ behavioral data, such as click-through rates, a measurement of how many visitors click on an ad redirecting them to another page where they could make a purchase. MediaShift gathers data “across the entire travel lifecycle,” such as users’ initial search for travel arrangements, booking details, and their Internet experience at the airport, as well as their hotel stay, all of which help produce targeted advertising.
For example, travelers headed to New Orleans will see ads pertaining to that region, according to MediaShift’s President Brendon Kensel.
“We believe that MediaShift is the only company to monetize Wi-Fi networks at both sign-in and while surfing (the Internet),” Kensel said. “Competitive solutions that we are aware of only provide sign-in solutions and do not have the robust retargeting capabilities that MediaShift can offer.”
Kensel was referring to advertisements customers see when logging on to free Wi-Fi networks offered at some chain coffee shops.
Avocado Commission Geo-Targets
The California Avocado Commission of Irvine is expanding its social media efforts to help retailers reach consumers with targeted messages.
The commission, supported by the state’s nearly 5,000 avocado growers, is geo-targeting its Facebook posts to provide information about the fruit’s availability in specific regions and to publicize local retailer events, such as demonstrations and cooking schools that encourage avocado sales.
Geo-targeting, which Facebook kicked off last month, enables marketers to promote their posts to select groups of fans based on the fans’ location or language. It also helps avoid showing all content to the entire fan base when only a select group may benefit from it, such as a sale in a specific region. Geo-targeting is also available for ads promoted on Twitter.
“The sweet spot of social media geo-targeting is the three-way intersection of [the commission’s] targeted social media outreach, consumer fans looking to buy California avocados and retailers who merchandise them and want to bring those shoppers into their stores,” Jan DeLyser, the commission’s vice president of marketing, said in a news release.
The commission is integrating social media efforts with its other marketing programs, online and offline, to ensure consistency of marketing messages. Its latest promotions include “Wake up to Breakfast with California Avocados,” Cinco de Mayo and July Fourth campaigns, all featuring recipe contests, co-marketing recipe exchanges, tweets and posts.
“By integrating social media into our marketing communications we are able to add a much deeper level of engagement with our consumers,” DeLyser said. “We have had success with our integrated approach and find it to be much more effective than managing social media as an independent silo.”
California avocados have more than 200,000 Facebook fans, 5,600 Twitter followers, 7,800 followers on Instagram and 10,000 fans on Pinterest.
Surf Mag Goes Digital-Only
The September issue of TransWorld Surf will be the last printed edition of the popular surfing magazine. The digital version of the publication will continue online at transworldsurf.com.
The magazine was among several publications San Clemente-based GrindMedia acquired in May.
“The dot-com costs a lot less to support and has a huge audience that supports it,” Norb Garrett, the company’s senior vice president, said in an interview with TransWorld Business, another GrindMedia publication. “We’ll see if that audience continues to support it without the print title. We may find that the print piece was an incredibly valuable marketing component for allowing that site to be valuable, but you don’t know until you know.”
GrindMedia owns an integrated network of magazines, online properties, events and television programming, such as Surfer, Surfing, Snowboarder, Skateboarder, Powder, Canoe & Kayak and SUP-Standup Paddler.
