Panelists included Jordan Bitterman, SVP of Digitas, Ken Bracht, Land Rover Communications Manager, and Jack Myers, Media Economist and Chairman of the Media Advisory Group. Martini’s Chief Revenue Officer, Adam Chandler moderated the event while Michelle Madansky presented the research.

The research study examined the influencer audience, breaking the group into two subcategories: influentials and pollinators, while the rest of the online audience was deemed the general population. Pollinators, also referred to as “hyper influentials,” were of particular interest in this study, as they are the most active and engaged of the influentials, going out of their way to gather and share information.

In this study, influentials make up 45% of online users, pollinators make up 20%, and the general population makes up 35%. Overall, the study found that influentials and pollinators have a higher propensity to visit niche sites, which are websites that focus almost exclusively on particular areas of interest. Some interesting statistics that came out of this study include:

• Median spending for pollinators across passion categories is 7x what it is for non-influentials.

• 3 out of 4 pollinators access content about technology, food and wine, and the arts at least weekly, compared to 1 in 4 for the general population.

• 4 out of 5 pollinators visit niche sites related to their passion areas (compared to only 40% of the rest of the internet).

• 7 out of 10 pollinators made a purchase and recommended something to a friend after reading about it on a niche site

• 33% of those sampled reacted more positively to ads on niche sites, compared to 22% on general sites and16% on portal sites.

Martini Media is excited to see how these findings impact the world of online advertising, especially as it relates to influencers and pollinators. In an article for Media Post, Sarah Mahoney quoted Chandler as saying that “while automation trends continue to be important, research like this brings to light how important the right content and specific audience continues to be.”

Thank you to all who attended the conference and we are looking forward to seeing you at future Martini hosted events.

Under the stars in Manhattan, Martini Media hosted a party to celebrate that morning’s “Share of Heart” research study conference.  About 100 top media insiders gathered at a private event hosted at Hotel Chantelle’s new rooftop bar to take in views of the Williamsburg Bridge, sip cocktails, and listen to acclaimed Beats In Space and DFA Records DJ Tim Sweeney.

Attendees included representatives from top advertising agencies and online publishers.

But let’s face the facts: this is still the advertising industry. It’s all about the cocktails, networking, connections (did we mention cocktails?).

Martini provided the perfect opportunity for the above through a Speakeasy Themed happy Hour at The Barrel House (80 Tehama Street), a gorgeous wood, brick and stain-glass venue, on the first evening of the conference. With a live band, classic 1920s-era cocktails, and co-hosted by Pereira O’Dell, NileGuide, World Golf Tour, and Vizu, this happy hour packed the bar for nearly 3 hours and drew over 250 attendees. See below for a slideshow of photos from the event, and contact contact@martini-corp.com if you’d like to be on the guest list for our future parties.

JFAM invited Martini CEO Skip Brand to speak on a panel entitled “The New Media Mix: Financial Strategies for Tomorrow.” The panel was moderated by Bill Wreaks, Chief Analyst of The Journal of Financial Advertising & Marketing, and other panelists included Oliver Snoddy, Director of Digital Services at Doremus and Randi Levine, Senior Strategist/Financial, AOL.

Martini has worked with a breadth of Financial Advertisers, from American Express to State Street to TDAmeritrade. Our Finance Channel, comprised of premium trade sites such as Schaeffers’ Research, The Fiscal Times, and ETF Market Pro, as well as our Affluent Lifestyle Channels have proven effective reach to an audience of finance decision makers engaged around their passions at work and at play. Contact us if you would like to hear more about our success in the Finance Category.

Skip Brand, Martini CEO, moderated a lively panel discussion on “The Pitch: Grabbing Brand Budgets.” The topic refers to the issue that today, 34% of marketer “direct response” advertising dollars are spent online, while only 7% of “branding” dollars are. While companies like Martini, by bringing together premium publishers, affluent audiences and luxury brands, are certainly doing their part, the discussion sought to define what are the other key things we in digital media can do to accelerate the shift and help advertisers bring their branding campaigns to where their consumers are already spending the most time.

Speakers on the panel were Joey Trotz, Sr. Director of Ad Technology at Turner, Henk Van Nierken, VP of Business Development at digital video platform Adap.tv, Celia Wu, Sr. Director, Sales Development at MSNBC, and Mark Zagorski, CEO of data company eXelate.

What all the panelists agreed on was the continued need for innovation in our space. Celia noted the success MSNBC has by having in-house technology and creative capabilities – allowing them to design media-relevant branding campaigns from the ground-up.

The biggest takeaway of the discussion was the need for online media publishers to use the same metrics as our branding-rich counterparts in television, radio and print. The wealth of brand dollars are spent on TV, and TV buyers have 50 years of understanding what works and what doesn’t – measured in their terms. Until we in digital media make the shift towards speaking this language and helping them use their measures online, we will continue to miss out on opportunity.

Martini continues to develop our ability to create 360-degree online full-service solutions for brand advertisers online. Our Branded Response measurement platform makes strong strides towards bridging the measurement gap between offline and online. We are deeply impressed by similar strides our partners are making across the industry, and look forward to growing the pie of brand dollars online together.

Branding that leads online consumers to make purchases offline has become an art — rather than direct purchases — especially for big-ticket items, such as cars and gems. mInstinct, the new targeting platform from Martini Media, allows marketers to insert ads that brand companies, products and services.

Fayyad will work to move the platform from “applied research” to “theoretical research” to “Martini 2.0,” making sure it supports brands that want to quickly scale up campaigns. The work will close gaps between audience targeting methods — contextual, demographic, behavioral, psychographic, and social-graph targeting — developing a closed-loop system that creates a direct pipeline from publishers to the most affluent audience online.

This audience — which is extremely difficult to reach — is coveted by many companies, so it’s important to know their passions. Those who like yachting and cruises are different from racecar enthusiasts. “Reaching this group was one of my big goals at Yahoo, but I couldn’t get enough data to get there, which Martini Media can do today,” Fayyad says. “It’s not about gathering data for the hell of it, but rather enabling the advertiser to engage with this audience in the most relevant way.”

Collected data provides hints about human behavior to assist 300 advertisers targeting ads across 1,000 publisher sites. A deep analysis of the context and an understanding of the frequency in users over time at those sites form the basis for exact targeting.

Skip Brand, CEO of Martini Media, says the company will begin building platforms that mix first-party, behavioral-targeting, survey or qualitative and third-party data to identify trends that help companies launch new routes for airlines or lines of cars. “These customers spend money to save time,” he says.

It shouldn’t be difficult for Fayyad to help build the system. He built several data-mining and predictive analytics systems for NASA JPL, which changed the way NASA’s data sets were used for scientific analysis. He also led the development of data-mining products for Microsoft’s Server Division, cofounded and led Audience Science, and then DMX Group, which re-engineered predictive applications for the automotive, financial services, telecommunications, and technology industries. At Yahoo, Fayyad built the data processing and the ad-targeting systems.

Other advisors include Greg Coleman, who built the sales organizations for The Huffington Post and Yahoo; Kevin Brown, a Reed Elsevier Ventures principal who led both iPhrase and AllBusiness acquisitions; Chris McKay, a managing director at Granite Ventures who led multiple software investments; and Brian Asher, a VenRock partner, who has led investments in ad technology such as Adify’s acquisition by Cox Communications.
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This year, brands and media dominated the stage at the biggest show in Vegas.

I’ve attended CES for 10 years as a digital media seller. While it’s always been invaluable for developing relationships, the role of technology in marketing and media has been largely peripheral as a topic.

This year, though, brand and media technology took center stage. This is an important change for our business. Technology changes how consumers experience our brands, and we need conferences like CES to put this emerging dynamic on display…

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A few years ago there was a big push for organic growth. A lot of consulting companies and academics were advocating for growing the value of current customers and adding new ones without “buying” them or even buying other companies. The advent of DSPs and Internet customer acquisition strategies have made organic growth look a bit antiquated. Growth seems to be accessible at light speed. But the issue remains. Digital publishers and advertisers need to add customers without buying them.
I like what Martini Media is doing…

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Martini Media and TDP Media have come together to create the ad network that they claim reaches over 60 million consumers…

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Aston Martin and Burberry are engaging potential shoppers with rich-media ad units served across highly specialized verticals on a new ad network targeted specifically at affluent consumers.

Ads from both British brands featured Flash and engaging video content. The ad network was created as part of a partnership between Martini Media and TDP Media, who boast that it reaches more than 60 million consumers with average annual incomes greater than $100,000 through 1,400 Web sites…

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Two affluent targeted ad networks are joining forces — U.S.-based Martini Media and U.K.-based TDP Media.
The two will create a unique pan U.S.-European viewer network with an audience of 60 million for those who make more than $100,000 a year. Martini and TDP can now grab from more than 1,400 Web sites.

Skip Brand, chief executive officer of Martini Media,…
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This Friday, thousands of marketers will get a prediction for holiday sales and brand momentum in the New Year. For the first time, they will also get a fresh perspective on the most powerful audience for pivotal shopping days.
It’s no stretch to predict that this year, more holiday buying will be done online than ever before. More buying, period, gets done online with each passing month…

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Former Yahoo and PointRoll exec will lead sales effort for affluent ad network.

NEW YORK (October 19, 2010)—Martini Media announced that Adam Chandler has joined the company as Chief Revenue Officer. Former vp/sales at PointRoll and executive director of sales for Yahoo’s Partnerships and Emerging Markets, Chandler is charged with expanding the sales team and proposition for the Martini, an affluent ad network of 1,000 websites with more than 45 million unique visitors.

“Adam is the ideal hire to build out our global ad sales business,” said Skip Brand, founder and CEO of Martini Media. “He has proven himself as a thought leader in this business and an exceptionally effective deal-maker. Adam’s deep experience creating new business opportunities will position us for rapid growth and market leadership. Equally important, Adam is the right guy to mentor and coach our growing team.”

Prior to joining Martini, Chandler was vp/sales at Pointroll, a rich media company. Previously, he was the executive director of sales for Yahoo’s Partnerships and Emerging Markets, overseeing sales through Yahoo’s display advertising partnerships. Chandler shepherded Yahoo’s expansion into the US Hispanic market and developed partnerships with A-list brands such as eBay, AT&T, Wal-Mart, Comcast, Verizon, Forbes, CNET, and NBC/Telemundo. Prior to Yahoo, he held sales and business development positions at About.com and NBC.

“I was attracted to Martini as a strong and differentiated solution in the chaotic display ad space,” said Chandler. “The most affluent, influential top-25% of consumers will become increasingly interesting as sophisticated platforms like Martini combine media and audience expertise to unlock ROI for advertisers trying to keep up with rapidly growing engagement online. I look forward to bringing our solution to marketers worldwide, and expect to continue Martini’s revenue and audience growth on its exceptional trajectory.”

About Martini Media Network (www.martinimedianetwork.com)
Martini Media Network is a horizontally focused media company reaching American consumers with household incomes over $100,000 –25% of the US Internet population. Sophisticated audiences require sophisticated strategies – Martini’s high-engagement media in Lifestyle & Business, robust custom solutions & formats, deep data, targeting & technology, ensure success for Advertisers, Publishers & Consumers. With our invite-only publisher network of world-famous traditional titles & new media sites, Martini seeks to revolutionize the role of the media company in the 21st century with expertise in audience aggregation, technology solutions and advertising execution. Martini recently announced the opening of a New York office. For more information, see www.martinimedianetwork.com or follow the company on Twitter.

“We are extremely excited about ramping up our team with incredible sales talent to bring the Martini story and solutions to clients across the spectrum,” says Skip Brand, Martini CEO. “Serving the needs of our New York-based clients and partners has always been a priority to us, and we look forward to making Martini a major part of the New York media landscape.”

Leading the New York team is Todd Heger, who comes most recently from ESPN. Todd brings 16 years of media business experience to Martini on the buy and sell sides, with 9 years at ESPN, where he led global, cross-platform sales deals for both US and international clients.

“Coming from ESPN, I deeply respect the importance of quality media and how to leverage the relationship between a consumer and the media they identify with,” Heger says. “What I love about Martini is the focus on the websites that matter most to the affluent consumer, and the scale Martini brings with over 1,200 of those engaging, passion-rich websites to reach over 90% of their target audience.”

Heger is joined in New York by Brian Mulcahy, who will serve as a travel category specialist after stints at Zagat.com and Fodors.com, where he specialized in custom integrations and digital sponsorships for lifestyle and travel brands. Brian Ecclesine also joins the team, having most recently been the number-one sales person for seven straight quarters at AdMarketplace.

In San Francisco, Martini brings Ben Quinn’s five years of experience at Yahoo into an already strong team. Ben was a top sales performer at Yahoo, as an individual contributor and a sales manager. Ben initiated and led a 30-person call center in the Philippines for the Yahoo sales organization.

Lisa Newton will lead Martini’s business-to-business sales efforts across the Martini Business Network. Formerly MediaTec Publishing’s digital advertising sales manager, Lisa developed custom programs from branding to lead generation for clients across the sites of Chief Learning Officer, Talent Management, Diversity Executive and Certification Magazine, among others.

Martini’s marketing team is growing as well, with Maly Ly joining as director of marketing and custom solutions. With 10 years of product development and marketing experience, including marketing program development and execution and corporate brand-building in the digital media space, Maly will add new dimensions to Martini’s product suite, custom solutions and differentiation in the marketplace. Maly is joined by Colette Vance-Wright, formerly a marketing and sales specialist for Hearst Corporation’s Cosmopolitan and O magazines.

Martini will continue to grow all facets of the company to keep up with demand for digital media solutions to the affluent audience.

About Martini Media Network (www.martinimedianetwork.com)
Martini Media Network is a horizontally focused media company reaching American consumers with household incomes over $100,000 –25% of the US Internet population. Sophisticated audiences require sophisticated strategies – Martini’s high-engagement media in Lifestyle & Business, robust custom solutions & formats, deep data, targeting & technology, ensure success for Advertisers, Publishers & Consumers. With our invite-only publisher network of world-famous traditional titles & new media sites, Martini seeks to revolutionize the role of the media company in the 21st century with expertise in audience aggregation, technology solutions and advertising execution.
For more information, see www.martinimedianetwork.com, follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/martini_life
SOURCE Martini Media Network

Michael Downing, Co-Founder of DMM, states, “We’re incredibly excited to join forces with Martini; not only have the aims of our two companies been strikingly similar, but we have been consistently impressed by the work they’ve done this past year. Engaging the affluent audience online in both the professional and lifestyle environment provides Martini Media with a powerful position in the marketplace moving forward.”

In the discovery phase of this transaction, Martini Media partnered with Datran Media, using the company’s Aperture audience measurement technology to learn that DMM’s audience is highly accretive and incremental to Martini’s.

“The depth with which we can help our partners identify and understand the audience of any media asset has increased dramatically in the past year through Aperture,” said Patrick Vogt, Chairman and CEO of Datran Media.  “Our software’s analysis made it clear that DMM was a perfect complement to Martini and its objectives, and we look forward to our continuing work with the company.”

“The $100K+ audience has quickly become the most engaged segment online, at over 30 hours spent per week, so this acquisition is perfectly aligned with the Martini strategy of capturing affluent engagement,” said Skip Brand, CEO of Martini Media. “Martini, from the beginning, has been able to capture half this time through the passions and pursuits of this audience. Now, with the addition of Decision Maker’s business network, we now have affluent engagement at work and at play.”

Martini has broken new ground in this field, being the only media network directly targeting the 50M affluent consumers – the 25% of the domestic online population accounting for 54% of all spending.  Decision Maker Media’s strategy has been similar, specifically reaching leaders in the business world on behalf of Fortune 1000 advertisers.

“Our advertisers have been thrilled with the positive results seen reaching the affluent online,” said Brand. “Now, we’ll be able to offer distinct campaigns reaching this audience through their professional and personal pursuits, doubling the size of our market.”