If you want to capture the attention of today’s young demographic, think vertical and niche. Vertical online ad networks are looking to play a major role in the big picture of online advertising. Recently, Pete Vlastelica, CEO of Yardbarker (YBN), an online advertising and content network representing 675 independent sports publishers and targeting the 18-34 male demographic, spoke with Marketing Matters about vertical online ad networks and the shift that is occurring away from traditional media sites.
Marketing Matters: How would you characterize the level of engagement in online networks for the 18-34 male demographic?
Pete Vlastelica: Sports blogs are different from traditional sports media because the experience is two-way, not one way. Representing 675 independent sports blogs, our vertical advertising and content network collectively reaches 13 million unique users a month. The reason our style of content is so popular, especially with a younger demographic, is because the younger generation is used to a much more authentic interactive style of content. It’s a lot more appealing than the one-way content produced by the major sports media such as CBSsports or Foxsports.com. The blogs are written in their style of language and it’s not filtered. It kicks off a conversation. A post in one of our blogs is an invitation to engage with the content. 
MM: You indicated that you’ve set up some editorial guidelines to help ensure quality control of content for the publishers that are part of your network. Could you describe some of these guidelines and how they work?
Vlastelica: We’ve developed a process that involves selectively choosing blogs and commenters. We may receive 10 applications a day from publishers but we accept only 2-3. Our focus is on the quality and consistency of the content. We want to make sure every blog stays in a well-lit environment where we can monitor the site.
On those sites within our network in which we manage exclusive blogs for athletes, we monitor the content more closely. It’s important to both the athlete and their publicist that those blogs are not entirely open platforms. Our editorial team monitors the athlete posts and helps ensure the credibility to each of our users. In addition, commenter can earn privileges. If you behave well, you’re allowed more leeway.
MM: From your perspective, what are key factors in network and online campaigns for reaching this demographic?
Vlastelica: It’s important to have a value proposition for advertisers, publishers and users. A lot of ad networks miss the user piece. Our advertisers need to be convinced of the overall brand affinity of Yardbarker and the audience we’re serving up. Without solid content, we can’t claim brand affinity. We need to associate our brand in our audience’s mind with a certain style of content. It must be authentic, real and direct.
MM: What trends do you foresee in the near term for vertical online ad networks?
Vlastelica: Vertical ad networks are popping up in some categories but we believe we’re ahead in establishing a consumer brand. We see ourselves as a media network and we see that trend continuing. We can serve advertisers we work with better by building more of a consumer brand.
I also see vertical ad networks growing in popularity as they become more attractive to young audiences that will continue to flock away from mainstream sites. Smaller, niche sites will be the future of sports media. Currently, with mainstream sites, the user isn’t even invited into the sports conversation. Sports are all about opinion and perspective and engagement. Every sports fan thinks they have the expert opinion and they’re looking to blogs as the perfect forum to express those opinions.
MM: What role do networks, in general, and your network, specifically, play in the issue of metrics and ROI?
Vlastelica: It will become even more important to be able to report metrics that are tied to engagement. We’re in the process of producing a new set of metrics that is connected to the time and level of engagement spent on our entire network. A typical user experience involves visiting a site, finding a post on a blog, clicking off, accessing a widget and surfing to another blog. It’s important for us to report to advertisers the total time spent on the network. Behavioral targeting will become critical to these new metrics as users continue to navigate across the open web on sites that have a lot in common.
MM: What advice would you give marketers today wanting to target their campaigns, especially to this demographic?
Vlastelica: What I’m uniquely alert to is the rapid migration of a new generation of sports fans away from corporate sites to small sites and blogs. The blog has become the format that is driving the evolution of sports media. Blogs are a perfect format for marketers, especially in this niche, because it’s still early in the game. Few brands have reached out to try and influence the influencers. A little bit of messaging to this group of influencers can help drive brand loyalty. And this isn’t Times Square; the brand message doesn’t get lost. Brands get positioned above the fold where they can offer sponsored content, video content and produce placements—all of which gets noticed.
Blogs are also a terrific format for brand advertisers because they can own 100 percent of the share just by running 1 or 2 advertising units on a single advertising unit of a blog. A blog never refreshes. It’s a style of engagement that doesn’t get tracked by pages per visit. An advertiser can virtually own all of the screen real estate throughout a single blog page.
MM: There are some industry pundits who are predicting the impending demise of the banner ad. What do you foresee for this format?
Vlastelica: I don’t see the banner going away anytime soon. Instead, I see it being used more effectively. One thing that’s holding it back is the cost of serving rich media as a banner unit. The industry will need to move beyond the banner to other forms of sponsored content including product placement, video and content that tells a brand story.
MM: Based on your experience and observations, where should marketers be focusing their attention as it relates to vertical networks? In the space today, who do you think is getting it right?
Vlastelica: We’ve done a lot of work in the video game category because there’s a great overlap with our brand. We’ve noticed a greater willingness to develop creative, custom campaigns, including custom banners. Companies like 2K Sports and EA Sports have exhibited a willingness to experiment with new models which have paid off for them.
MM: Overall, how will current economic conditions affect the network market as we move into ’09?
Vlastelica: There’s no question that 2009 is going to be a slower growth year for online advertising, although there still will be growth. Marketers are looking for efficiency which plays well to networks like ours where you can very efficiently target a specific audience with rates that reflect that. Efficient rates couples with targeting opportunities makes vertical ad networks an appealing place to be.
Existing advertisers will need to focus on ways to better demonstrate specific results which are in line with performance goals. Over the next five years, advertisers will continue to move online.