As we start to look beyond traditional computing devices for media consumption and social networking, one trend that is worth keeping your eye (or maybe we should say your hand?) on is haptics.


This is the concept of giving a response back to a user that instead of the sense of sight and hearing, takes advantage of touch or a tactile response.


From gaming (Wii-mote anyone) to mobile phones (small vibrations while typing or even the vibration of a new email or text). With more touchscreen devices on the market we are seeing more industrial designers utilize haptics.


There was some speculation that Apple was going to take advantage of a patent they filed centred around haptics with the launch of the third generation iPad, but alas that didn’t materialise. Though some folks are already speculating the iPhone 5 may incorporate something more than the simple alert vibrations found in the iPhones of today.

Even Nokia has filed a patent earlier this year that would essentially allow for magnetic ink to be embedded on a user’s skin via a sticker or even a tattoo that would vibrate once triggered from a smartphone. Think about that for a second. Imagine what a full-sleeve of vibrating tattoos would feel like. At least I know I’d never miss another phone call or text from my wife when I’m out at a noisy venue.

Our brain’s are an open source platform ready for us to hack.

So beyond the cool, geeky technology factor, why are scientists and developers looking at haptics as an opportunity for innovation? Well, there have been numerous studies that show how the human brain is able to interpret visual representations through what they feel and essentially rewire what we perceive (or what we don’t perceive). From feedback on which way is North, to discerning objects we can’t see, or even more complex experiments such as navigating mazes.

Have you ever wanted to feel something on the Internet?

Think about a world where a user can feel a product. Or how about a brand? No longer are the days of surveying users and asking them how they feel about a brand or message, but rather how the brand feels to them. Why do people still want to go into a store and see a product — because they want to touch it, try it on, and see how it fits for them. Soon they will be able to do that without ever leaving their home or office.

And while I am not sure too many folks (at least in the very near future) would get tattoos or wear a five-pound belt that would allow for tactile feedback, we need to think about a culture where the idea of a personal device is removed from the equation completely and humans become even more integrated with technology. This pervasiveness and inclusion in our lives will lead to ways for marketers to connect with consumers and potential customers in a whole new way. And for consumers to expand their senses beyond what they thought was possible.

If scientists are able to help people see with their tongue via very mild electrical shocks, what’s to say an ingenious marketer couldn’t display customized advertising this way for consumers? Even on a simpler basis, brands created jingles that have lived on way past the duration of a particular ad campaign – in the near future could we see (or feel) a vibrating jingle that resonates with consumers more than any melody or lyrical hook?

(Editor’s Note: This post, by Ryan Manchee and Dean Donaldson of MediaMind, originally appeared in the Huffington Post here.)

You don’t often think of toothpaste as eye-catching, but we take our hats off to Sensodyne for an eye-catching campaign, featured as the Ad of the Month in The Feed, our monthly newsletter.

In honor of the debut of our Smart Planning tool for planning and buying media, MediaMind has just launched a new contest just for media planners.
The best part? You get to dream up your own prize – a fantasy vacation you concoct with a little help from Smart Planning.



Media planners are busy people, so we made this very contest easy to enter. You just watch our snappy video, answer a quick travel planning questionnaire, and you’re on your way. You can even boost your chances by sharing the contest details with colleagues.
In addition to giving some lucky winner a fantastic travel opportunity, the contest will help get the word out about the killer benefits of Smart Planning. We’re more excited than usual about the launch, because Smart Planning not only saves time and headaches throughout the planning process (think automatic RFP submission and IOs, electronic sigs, and instant export to DART or Atlas), it also lets planners leverage more and better data to make buys – like past performance and engagement results and historic costs.
All the data is 100% publisher-neutral, too, so planners can look objectively at how different sites have typically performed on campaigns like theirs – and how much they cost. That’s valuable data to have in your pocket when you’re negotiating a buy, and it shows clients you know your stuff.
When your plan is done, you can export it in seconds to PPT and pick and choose the data you want to include. That means you not only have a clear plan to present to your client, your recommendations are also all validated by actual historic data. It’s all very buttoned-up, yet streamlined and hassle-free – like a good vacation.
So, will it be balmy beaches? Fabulous fjords? A glam city getaway or an away-from-it-all wild adventure? Start dreaming, then enter the Smart Planning Dream Vacation Contest here from May 8 until June 30!

MediaMind Blocks are your shortcut to building great online ads – Blocks are usable code and Flash assets that let you more easily incorporate commonly needed multimedia functionality or cutting-edge features.

We release new Blocks every quarter, and this year we’re on a roll – here’s a summary of the dozen blocks that are new for 2012 so far: 

Pinterest Pin-Through Block

The Pinterest Pin-Through Block lets you easily pin items to your Pinterest pinboard. You can specify an image, a click-through, and notes for each Pinterest item, and you can pin more than one item from a single ad.

Image Upload Block

Use this to incorporate user-generated content into your ad campaign and encourage sharing. Select an image to combine with the imagery in the ad, then save the result or send it out via email.

Webcam Block
Use the Webcam Block to access the ad viewer’s webcam (with their permission).

Filmstrip and Billboard Blocks

These Blocks help you to build the Filmstrip and Billboard formats, two of the IAB Rising Stars units.

The Billboard is similar to a pushdown, except it starts out expanded and the user can choose to collapse it.

The Filmstrip is a high-impact unit that presents a total of 300×3000 pixels of ad space in 5 sequenced panels.

See http://www.iab.net/risingstars for more information on the IAB Rising Stars. The MediaMind platform supports all Rising Stars formats.

JS Sync Block

With the JS Sync Block, you can have multiple ads communicate using JavaScript, as opposed to using the Flash-native LocalConnection class, which is used by the Sync component that is included with the Workshop. If you need your swfs to talk to each other and scripts within the page, you can rely on this Block for a solid solution.

Print Coupon Block update
Version 2.0 of the Print Coupon Block now supports multi-page printing. Note that this block can be used to print more than just coupons!

Web Page in Panel Block

If you ever wanted to leverage existing HTML content in an ad or use an API that is only available via JavaScript (Bing Maps, for example) then this Block is your knight in shining armor.

Sonoport Dynamic Sounds Block (Premium)
Based on technology all the way from sunny Singapore, the Sonoport Dynamic Sounds block allows you to manipulate sounds in an ad. This a Premium Block, meaning it has an extra cost – but if you tried to code up all the sound tricks that this Block can do, you would very quickly realize the $49 API Key you can purchase from Sonoport is a Block bargain-hunter’s dream.

The Block can:  Generate variations on a given sound sample. speed up or slow down an audio track, play with multiple audio loops, synthesize new tones, pan audio from left to right, read text aloud, at user-controlled speeds.

MapQuest Maps Block (Premium, with free option)
The MapQuest  Block helps developers display a map inside an ad. If used with open source data (OpenStreetMap), the map usage is free. If additional coverage or features are required a license can be purchased from MapQuest. For more information, please review the documentation included with the Block.

Live Streaming Block (Premium, and full-service required)
The Live Streaming Block gives developers a leg-up in implementing live streaming in an ad. Part of the process must be handled full-service, and there is a cost for this feature due to streaming costs. The price is set according to the bit-rate, event duration, territory, and other factors.

MovieSearch Feature (Premium, and full-service required)
The last feature is one we sadly cannot yet make available to external developers, since the backend setup requires MediaMind to implement the feature for you. Using this feature, you can integrate into the ad the ability for a user to find theaters showing a given movie, as well as purchase tickets in certain markets. There is an added cost for production services as well as access to theater data.

To find out more about any of our recently released Blocks, please contact your account manager or producer.


And, last but not least, we’re always on the hunt for feedback and new ideas for Blocks! Please send an email to blocksfeedback@mediamind.com with your input. Thanks and happy coding, from the Blocks team.


PS: Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming “Best on the Block” contest, where you can submit your best use of a block, real or fictitious, and win a trip to Cannes for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Having to redo work a second time after it’s already been done once is not productive.  Even after filling a chalkboard with a lesson learned, Bart never seems to remember the point of all that chalk dust.  Yet, in the digital space media teams frequently end up staying late doing the same kind of busy work that feels like detention.  Even though different systems are used for different workflow functions, it’s important that data can move freely from one system to another.  This typically happens through integrations. 

Integrations can take many forms:

Simple Excel or csv exporting and importing is common, especially when moving data between desktop systems or legacy systems.  For example, media plans, trafficking sheets or RFP’s are often managed via csv or Excel file formats.  Simply exporting an Excel file isn’t an integration.  To make this type of integration work, the two systems must share the same file layout (columns and formatting) or provide a mapping tool so that the information from party A lines up to the format for party B.

More advanced integrations use APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to allow two different systems to speak directly to one another.  APIs are created by a software company so 3^rd parties can build additional functionality or convenience to the product.  As an ad tech software company matures, building a robust API is paramount for success.  Companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Yahoo, MediaMind and AppNexus all offer APIs for various functionalities.  MediaMind currently has an API for campaign management and another for reporting.  For example, agencies that use iDesk from MediaOcean can transmit media plan information directly into MediaMind for ad operations to begin trafficking.  This is done using the campaign management API.  The challenge with APIs is that developers must code the connection between the two systems.  This includes creating business and workflow rules, mapping data between the two systems, and building custom user interface elements. 

Another type of integration is a data feed.  Data feeds are used to transmit large files of data from one system to another.  Modern advertising systems for search, social, and display can generate huge quantities of data.  Different advertisers look for different needles within these haystacks of data.   Advertisers analyze gigabytes of data every day: direct response clients seek insights about conversion, while brand advertisers focus on reach and brand lift aspects of data.   Data feeds come in many formats, including csv and XML.  Most ad tech companies schedule delivery of data feeds via FTP or secure FTP due to the large file sizes – in some cases 50-60 gigabytes each.

Specific to online advertising, another type of integration is a pixel-based integration.  It’s one of the simplest ways for two ad tech companies to work together.  For example, if an agency wants to use a verification vendor like DoubleVerify with MediaMind, we simply take a DoubleVerify tag and embed it as a 1×1 pixel that’s displayed the same time as the creative file.  As this industry creates more niches, pixel-based integrations have become very common.  Data companies, analytics companies and attribution companies offer pixel-based integrations for different purposes.  There is an undesired effect, though.  A webpage may load with 4 ads on it, but there might be 20-30 pixels behind the scene that are also loading.  This may cause latency, which becomes noticeable even on a broadband connection.

For certain integrations, time is of the essence.  Real time bidding executed on ad exchanges utilize a specific integration called server-to-server.  This is a variant on the concept of API.  The two systems are still asking for information from each other, but transactions must be opened, communicated and completed within milliseconds.  A common metric in the real-time, DSP space is queries per second (QPS).  This is used to communicate the robustness or volume of a particular exchange.  Server-to-server communications allow an exchange to communicate with a DSP and ad server quickly so an ad is delivered to the user’s screen with little perceptible delay.

Executing integrations can be time consuming – business and technical collaboration is required.  Developers must learn how to properly format requests between the two systems.  Stages include scoping, requirement detailing, development, testing and quality assurance.  Simple API integrations which only require sharing 2-3 pieces of information can be done in a short time (days to weeks).  Complex API integrations can take months to a year, depending on what resources are available and the scope of the project.  Data feed integrations can also be time consuming, but most of the effort is spent in aligning the data formats between the two systems.  This alignment is called data transformation.  

Holding companies and independent agencies are joining the 3^rd party ecosystem in bringing together information and workflow from multiple companies.  All of us, including MediaMind, are using all five types of integrations to execute online campaigns.  Some vendors are more open to integrations than others, but at the end of the day we all listen to our customers.  That’s why it’s important for agencies to communicate with their vendors and let them know what integrations are most important to their business.

As the digital and broadcast channels move closer to a merge, we want to avoid the inevitable traffic jam that will happen.  Integrations are a big part of the solution.  If you feel like you’re still in detention, we understand and are working hard to get you out.

Michael Lamb, Product Marketing Manager, MediaMind