Background Skins
August 3, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Apart from regular display campaigns, the team at Gourmet Ads are looking at ways we can provide advertisers and advertising agencies high visibility placements. As such we’ve developed Background Skins Advertising to our suite of Beyond the Banner creative options.
Because we actually serve the background skin like a typical 3rd Party Tag via our ad server, we can synchronize the background skin with regular display units for maximum impact and engagement. Add to this we can measure click throughs, impressions and provide targeting options just like any campaign such as time / day part and frequency capping. Background Skins play a significant role for Gourmet Ads Roadblock Advertising Packages.
Apart from simple static backgrounds, we can develop Background Skins which feature Flash elements including video. Great for running promotions like Movie Trailers, TV Shows (cooking shows) or new product launches. The ideas for campaigns are endless.
From a technical perspective, no matter the screen size of the user, our system will display the most ideal sized background for that screen size. It will also determine if the user has Adobe Flash installed or not and as such delivering the best Background Skin creative. Background skins are typically 1280 wide and they are delivered either via a 1×1 pixel or embedded into an existing advertising tag.
Finally we’ve all seen the impact that branded background skins have had on social sites like Twitter, so if you’re interested in learning more about how you can incorporate a Background Skin in to your next campaign, please Contact our Team or Download our Media Kit.
4th of July Advertising
July 1, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
The 4th of July Holiday or Independence Day is another day of the year where you can benefit from developing a targeted advertising campaign to drive sales. In the lead up to 4th of July festivities, Americans are planning parties, catering BBQs, having an extended weekend at the lake and post-game tailgates. Consumers want everything from meat, to new clothes, to wine.
Ideally your 4th of July Advertising should commence at least a week before the 4th of July as consumers begin to hunt for bargains for food, drinks, wine, beer, party products and more. So it’s essential to kick off the campaign early for best results.
So apart from grocery stores what other businesses can benefit from running 4th of July Advertising? Basically any sort of retailers involved with planning your 4th of July event. So think BBQ retailers, party hire, online meat and seafood retailers, home delivery services to name just a few.
Additionally, don’t forget restaurants for those who don’t want to entertain at home, but enjoy the holiday being spoilt. Restaurants should concentrate on advertising their 4th of July specials or fixed priced menus as a way of enticing bookings.
Like most online ads, your 4th of July Advertising creative should have a strong call to action, gain the user’s attention and articulate your offering. In keeping with the theme of the 4th of July your advertising could include imagery of Uncle Sam, and/or the star spangle banner along with the red, white and blue.
By running your 4th of July campaign with Gourmet Ads not only are you reaching the main household grocery buyer, but your reaching consumers planning an event as they look for recipes, cocktail ideas and more. So if you’re interesting in running an 4th of July Advertising Campaign to drive sales, then Request a Proposal from the Gourmet Ads team or Download our Media Kit.
Cinco de Mayo Advertising
May 1, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday celebrated on the 5th of May each year, and Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for “fifth of May”. The holiday celebrates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Within Mexico itself Cinco de Mayo is only celebrated regionally, however in the United States, Cinco de Mayo is heavily promoted by grocery companies, bars and restaurants where the it has become a celebration of Mexican culture. In American border states such California and Arizona, Cinco de Mayo is significant holiday, with most grocery stores, bars and restaurants offering special deals to entice and generate sales.
For green grocers and grocery chains, Cinco de Mayo sees increased sales of food items especially beef, limes, tomatoes, cilantro and avocados the cornerstone of Mexican Cuisine. For Liquor stores, tequila and Mexican beers such as Corona and on the shopping list.
If you’re interested in running a Cinco de Mayo Advertising campaign, then Contact Us for more information or download the Gourmet Ads Media Kit.
Diet After Easter
March 30, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Easter is about food, especially chocolate and hot cross buns. So it isn’t unusual that a great deal of diet and health food companies kick their advertising campaigns of on Easter Monday. Maybe bound by guild of eating a stack of chocolate after Easter a lot of people use this as trigger to kick off their diet. So for advertisers in this space it’s about being in the right place at the right time.
So who do most diet companies wish to target? The household grocery buyer, who is mostly female and aged between 25-55 year old. This person in the home influences the family eating habits and make the choices about whats going on the dinner plate today. So gaining the attention of this person in the household is key to any campaign success. Recent
Already booked this Easter is a number of well-known retail diet advertisers who are seeking to take advantage of the post Easter diet phase. These diet advertisers are running a range of creative from standard IAB sizes through to expandable creative to really gain attention of readers.
Generally speaking (as every campaign is different) diet advertising which works on Gourmet Ads includes advertising of diet books, diet programs, diet products you buy in the supermarket (i.e low carb, low fat), diet meal replacements (shakes) and of course meals which you have delivered to your home each week. Also advertising campaigns which focus on Gym memberships also provide good results. Gyms that focus on female only membership have performed very well in the past.
Some Comscore Index’s in relation to Dieting on the Gourmet Ads Network include;
- Index 267 for having searched for Diet Program information online in the last 6 months
- Index 146 for having spent under $25 for Diet meal replacements (e.g. Slim Fast) in the last 30 days
- Index 319 for having spent between $25-$49 for Diet meal replacements (e.g. Slim Fast) in the last 30 days
- Index of 251 for going to a gym or healthclub within the last 6 months
- Index of 135 for having a weight problem (25 lbs or more overweight )
Gourmet Ads has strict controls when it comes to the diet advertising. We can’t accept advertising that we call “fat ads” (the ones where is a thin stomach and a fat stomach on the ad) and any ads which make false and misleading claims. We prefer the advertiser to develop creative around food or simply use great messages reinforced with a strong call to action.
If you’re interested in running your next diet campaign with Gourmet Ads, then please download our media kit or request a proposal from our team.
Easter Advertising
March 3, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
This year Easter is the first week of April (dates below) and even if you don’t sell chocolate Easter eggs there are significant opportunities over the holiday period for all types of industries. Once regarded simply for the kids, Easter has become one of the most profitable holiday seasons of the year.
With spring in the air and many consumers possessing tax return money makes it an ideal time for you to kick-start your marketing campaign. As such we thought we’d put together a few Easter advertising ideas separated by various sectors.
Retailers
Given that Easter is of course a holiday period, many retailers run Easter Sales and to drive interest in the lead up is important. So running at least 10 days prior to the sale starting is essential, then upping the visibility over the Easter weekend to drive consumers in store. Ideally you’ll be running discounts off big ticket items and winter apparel.
Grocery & Supermarkets
With many people spending time with the family over Easter it’s important to gain market share in the lead up to the Easter Weekend. Ideally your Easter Advertising will feature creative with messaging to drive consumers in store like discounts off key staples items or loss leader activity encourage them to do their Easter “big shop” while in store.
Travel Companies
With most people spending time with their families over the Easter weekend, there are two opportunities here for travel companies. Firstly, with many people head home there is a significant benefit for companies such as airlines to go heavy up 3-4 weeks prior to Easter, then slow it down closer to the weekend. The 2nd opportunity is for people not heading home, but rather going away for the weekend. So vacation specials should be advertised 10-14 days from Easter weekend. See Grocery Buyers make Travel Decisions.
Ecommerce Sites
Many of the major ecommerce retailers run Easter weekend specials, from free shipping to coupon discounts so why let them have all the business? In the lead up to Easter why not run a campaign targeted at consumers with creative indicating your Easter specials. So no matter if you sell food, clothing or kitchen gadgets, Easter is a great time to boost sales.
Movie Releases
Many over the Easter weekend will be looking for things to do to fill out the weekend. So for the movie studios, running movie trailer campaigns for new release in the days prior and over the Easter weekend will help boost a movies weekend revenues.
Automotive Companies & Dealerships
Consumers in the market for a new auto will dedicate the weekend heading to dealerships and doing test drives. So running a campaign in the 5-7 days prior to Easter, then heavy up over the Easter weekend will no doubt result in leads being generated. Learn about our audience of automotive buying Grocery Buyers.
So as we head in Q2 and with only a few weeks to go till Easter now is the time to book your Easter Advertising Campaign. For more information, Download our Media Kit or Request a Proposal from our team.
2010 Easter Dates
Good Friday is 2nd April 2010
Holy Saturday 3rd April 2010
Easter Sunday 4th April 2010
Easter Monday 5th April 2010
Wine & Grocery Buyers
February 17, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Gourmet Ads works with a variety of wine companies, but you’d be suprised to know that the majority of the campaigns being run are targeted to the grocery buyer and not the wine coonisueeer. Apart from working with major wine companies and smaller boutique wineries, Gourmet Ads runs a lot of wine campaigns for wine retailers and liqour chains.
There is no doubt that expensive high end wines (here at Gourmet Ads we call them collectors) skews to more of a male demographic however the majority of wine campaigns we run are for wines are under $20 and targeted to the female grocery buyer. Our clients prefer to target the audience which is going to make a wine purchase while doing the groceries. With this mind it’s important to influence the wine buying decision before they go to the grocery store. With Gourmet Ads our advertising positions are next to or close by recipes, allow you to reach the grocery buyer while they are doing their grocery list. Instead of having your target market put down wine on their shopping list, wouldn’t it be better for them to write your wine brand down? That way their looking for your brand instead of just a white or red wine.
Some wine brands are national, others are available in select markets. Using our platform’s industry standard geo targeting capabilities, we can pinpoint your target market only displaying your ads if they live in your target market’s location.
So if youre a wine retailer or winery, what kind if campaigns could you run with Gourmet Ads? Well a while ago we wrote a list of ideas – check our Wine Advertising Ideas.
So of you’re charged with lifting wine sales and increasing brand awareness, then Download our Media Kit or Request a Proposal from our team. We’ll help you reach the grocery buyer online and influence their buying descions.
Most Popular for 2009
December 31, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
As we roll onto 2010 or “Twenty Ten” as many are calling it, I though it might be good to take a quick look back to some of the most popular blogs we wrote this year. Just like 2009, during 2010 we’ll try to write as many blogs as we can helping to educate advertisers, media buyers and owners on how to advertise online and reach your target audience.
So here we go…..
- 2010 Advertising Trends
- Targeting Grocery Buyers
- Online Drives CPG Sales
- Reaching Holiday Shoppers
- Grocery Store Loyalty Programs
- Display Ads Trigger Search
- Reaching Working Moms
- Creative Advertising
- More Cooking at Home
- Increasing Click Through Rates
- Interstitial Advertising
Maybe you had a favourite blog ?
Q1 Media Planning
December 22, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Q1 is literally only days away and you’ve probably already started your digital media planning for Q1 already. But for those that haven’t started media planning what should be your strategy for the first quarter of 2010?
Maybe take a moment and read our 2010 Advertising Trends.
For grocery / supermarket and CPG companies the largest event to allocate advertising budgets towards in Q1 is the Super Bowl the first week of February. Campaigns we’ve already got booked start around the 10th of January and conclude on the 10th of February focusing on driving consumer intent in the lead up to the Super Bowl – see blog on Super Bowl Advertising. Most advertisers are including a combination of regular display units (728 x90, 300 x250 and 160 x 600 ) and high visibility ad units such as interstitials and floating ads to make an impact. Don’t forget the earlier you start media planning the better CPM rates that can be negotiated.
Surprisingly we’ve already seen a number of companies who’ve held off advertising during 2009, now planning campaigns in early Q1 2010. Some have seen their market share reduce during 2009 and their strategy is gain back market share with roadblock advertising and high impact advertising units. So the strategy is to get their message in front of grocery buyers and household decision makers to drive sales growth.
So no matter what your media planning strategy you’re undertaking for 2010, the team at Gourmet Ads can develop a bespoke media plan for your consideration. Start by downloading our Media Kit or Request a Proposal from us.
Grocery Advertising
December 2, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Grocery Advertising online is about reaching the main household grocery buyer ( or Mr Household Grocery Buyer) when they are in the decision making phase. Running adverting for your grocery store next to recipes where the main household grocery buyer is researching food ideas and making critical family meal planning is the key for any grocery advertising campaign.
In the past, grocery stores used newspapers, television, radio and magazines to advertise their grocery stores and weekly specials. The previous focus was on mass branding, now it’s much more about spending advertising budgets more efficiently in order to reach the right person in the household, opposed to everyone in the household which is what you get with mass brand advertising.
From our perspective more and more Grocery Stores are shifting their grocery advertising budgets to online networks such as Gourmet Ads. This shift in moving grocery advertising budgets to online has been fuelled by a combination of key reasons, such as;
- Cost efficiencies offered by online
- Ability to target on a geo targeting basis from national right down to Zip Code
- Time and Day Part targeting – advertise throughout the day and evening
- Rich media opportunities that online presents
So what kind of advertising are grocery stores undertaking? Well it varies greatly from grocery brand to grocery brand. Large national grocery brands usually have their own grocery advertising budgets, plus Co-op advertising budgets which means that can run wide reaching and impactful campaigns online. However smaller, more regional grocery brands will tend to rely heavily on geo targeting to only reach local customers. Some of the grocery advertising we’re running includes;
- Brand advertising campaigns
- Grocery Coupon based campaigns
- Grocery Loyalty Card campaigns
- Weekly Specials Campaigns
- Pre Roll Video Campaigns
So if you’re grocery store isn’t running grocery advertising online, now is the time to start with more and more consumers online it makes sense to allocate a proposition of your budget to online. By running advertising with Gourmet Ads you’re reaching a network dedicated to reaching the household grocery buyer. That’s all we do. Download our Media Kit or Request a Proposal from us.
Super Bowl Advertising
October 27, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · 1 Comment
When you think of Super Bowl Advertising, you’ll probably immediately think of the advertising during the game, you know the ones that cost millions of dollars per 30 seconds. But the kind of super bowl advertising we’re talking about is the advertising to driver consumers to buy your food and beverage products prior the end of season game.
Each January the Super Bowl draws an enormous audience of viewers from right around the country, most at super bowl parties. So in order trigger Super Bowl party planning ideas with consumers undertaking a targeted Super Bowl Advertising campaign can provide great results. Because the Gourmet Ads network features an audience of grocery buyers and household decision makers it’s essential to ensure that we are part of your Super Bowl Advertising media mix.
So what companies can benefit from Super Bowl Advertising online? Well any companies that are associated with their products being served at Super Bowl Parties. With mostly a range finger food styled dishes being served at Super Bowl parties any ingredient or pre-made products which make dips, guacamole, chili, bbq ribs, nachos, spicy hot wings, sliders, hamburgers, hot dogs and quesadillas. Don’t forget chips, crisps, pop corn, crackers, cheese as well as beverages such as sodas, wines and beer which traditionally buy the million dollar TV advertising.
With the super bowl being played on the first Sunday in February, ideally your Super Bowl Advertising should commence in the last week of January which means you’ll have a two week campaign flight to drive consumer intent and engagement. Campaign ideas include using regular display advertising, expandable creative, interstitials, video and rich media. Campaign ideas which perform well include competitions and the ability to download Super Bowl coupons for product purchases.
It’s never too early to book your Super Bowl Advertising as this period tends to book up quickly as you can imagine. To book your two week Super Bowl Advertising campaign with Gourmet Ads, download our media kit or contact us with your campaign requirements.
