Recent Publicity: Leading Agencies, Brand Advertisers, Social Media Companies form Social Media Advertising Consortium

 

Leading Agencies, Brand Advertisers, Social Media Companies form Social Media Advertising Consortium

First Industry Effort to Define Standards for Social Media Advertising: 

Buying, Metrics, Vocabulary

 

NEW YORK, New York. (September 17, 2008)  - Representatives from more than twenty-five agencies, brand advertisers, and social media companies are joining to form the Social Media Advertising Consortium (SMAC^TM), an industry association designed to set the first standards for buying and measuring marketing in social media. Tom Gerace, CEO of social network Gather and Founding Chairman of SMAC, announced the creation of the Consortium on the eve of the OMMA Expo in New York City today.

 

The goal of SMAC is to create a common vocabulary, standard buying units and uniform measurement methods for marketing within social media.  As social network advertising revenues hit an estimated $1.825 billion in 2009, out of a total online advertising market of $30 billion in the U.S. (eMarketer, May 2008,)  there is an urgent need among social media buyers and their clients to understand how to quantify and value engagement and exposure on social networks.

 

In addition to Gerace, SMAC founding members include industry leaders Stuart Bogaty, EVP Global Managing Partner of Universal McCann, James Kiernan, VP Group Director of MediaVest Worldwide, Don Epperson, CEO of Havas Digital, Torrence Boone, CEO of Enfatico and Tom Meyer, President of Davie Brown, and Jackie Price, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Edelman as well as top industry experts including Allen Weiner, Research Vice President of Gartner's Media Industry Advisory Service and TS Kelly, VP Media Research at Quantcast. Additional representatives include executives from 33Across Inc, BzzAgent, W2 Group and Zinio.

 

Along with traditional brand advertising, social media sites permit new methods of brand engagement with consumers.  "Brands are spending more and more of their media dollars on social networks.  We now need standard buying units, methods of measurement, and a common understanding of what we mean when we say engagement on sites like Facebook, Myspace and Gather," said Tom Gerace, CEO of Gather & Founding Chairman of SMAC. "For example, a brand's engagement might include 500 conversations featuring one product, which in turn cascades to close to a million impressions through friend feeds.  How do we measure and value that for our advertisers? How do we talk about that kind of engagement?"

 

 SMAC will operate as a not-for-profit organization formed by the industry to set these standards.  "The response we've gotten from all across the industry has been incredible," said Gerace. "This enthusiasm points to how critical the need is to find a common language, as social media grows as a critical marketing component for brand advertisers."

 

The first formal SMA Consortium meeting will be held in October 2008.

SMAC Founding Members Include:

 

Company                                               Representative                    Title

33Across Inc.	Eric Wheeler	CEO
Burst Media	David Cooperstein	Chief Marketing Officer
BzzAgent	Dave Balter	CEO
Carat	Adam Cahill	SVP, General Manager
Communispace Corporation	Diane Hessan	President & CEO
Davie Brown	Tom Meyer	President
DecisionStep	Dave Shevock	COO/SVP Marketing
Deep Focus	Ian Schafer	CEO
Digitas	Chris Paul	VP Director, Media
Doner US	Mark Brown	SVP, Media Director
Edelman	Jackie Price	SVP, Global Marketing
Edelman	Danielle Wiley	VP, Social Media/Food & Family
Edelman Digital	Elizabeth Pigg	VP, Media Strategy
Enfatico	Torrence Boone	CEO
Gartner, Inc.	Allen Weiner	Research Vice President Media Industry Advisory Service
Gather	Tom Gerace	CEO & Founder
Gather	David Woodrow	SVP, Sales & Partner Services
Hattaway Communications Inc.	Doug Hattaway	President & CEO
Havas Digital	Don Epperson	CEO
J3 Division of Universal McCann	Robb Hecht	Digital Managing Director
Kel & Partners	Kel Kelly	Founder & CEO
MediaVest Worldwide	James Kiernan	VP, Group Director
Moxie Interactive	Michael Winter	VP, Group Media Director
Quantcast	TS Kelly	VP, Media Research
Starcom Worldwide	Art Sindlinger	Activation Director | Social Media & Gaming
UniversalMcCann	Stuart Bogaty	EVP, Global Managing Partner
W2 Group	Larry Weber	Chairman and CEO
Zinio	Jeanniey Mullen	EVP, CMO for Zinio and VIVmag Founder, Chair, Email Experience Council