The following is a report on the visit to the IAB MIXX Conference & Expo during Advertising Week in New York. The event was held at the Crown Plaza Hotel. Below are the overviews of two companies (among others) that were promoted at Expo.

ShareThis

ShareThis has developed the largest market for sharing on the web. It has more than 400 million users, servicing one million websites. In the words of the company’s CEO, ShareThis has a “passion for making sharing simple and valuable.”
ShareThis introduced a free all in one widget that allows users to share content across the web. One of the widget’s configurations is a single but- ton that publishers place after their content clicking on which opens up a pop up box presenting the user with a range of social media icons to choose from for sharing.
Other configurations include placing the icons that are used most often such as Facebook and twitter in open view and hiding the rest under the share button.

Whichever interface configuration is chosen, the aim is to achieve quick and easy sharing service that encourages users to share content.
There are additional services that the company offers for the publishers, such as “insights and analytics” that provide insight into social sharing behavior. For example a customer can log-in to see how many times his/her content was shared and on which networks it shared on. Sharing functionality can also be built into the ad units for advertisers.

The company’s logo is made of a white triangular shape where one large dot connects to two other dots placed on a green background. In my assessment the logo is fueled by the con- cept of sharing (the way company understands it) that allows content to become popular.
The promotional materials given out at the Expo were the stickers with the logo, a reusable bag featuring the logo as well and a small round, microfi- ber screen cleaner which can be attached and reattached to the back of a cell phone after each cleaning which also features the logo.
I like the little cleaner as it is innovative and somewhat useful but I don’t see how it is going to promote their product as it is tiny and always on the back of whatever it is that needs to be cleaned. The bag is good idea, especially a reusable one. The logo is largely visible on the black material. Personally, I don’t use plastic and these bags are always needed.
As far as the stickers, I find it to be a waste of paper and glue. I don’t see any practicality in it, at least not for me nor do I think that stickers promote the product by large. Not too many people will put stickers on their cars or bags. We have a propensity for stickers before we reach age 7. The fascination with stickers is lost after that age.

Advertising Database

Advertising Database was developed in 1998 to simplify prospecting. The company tracks every brand that annually spends over a million dollars on advertising and complies a database of the brand managers and media executives contacts. These decision-makers rotate every year so Advertising Database updates contacts within an average of two business quarters, leaving virtually no information older than 365 days.
The following is the type of information that Advertising Database provides: names, exact titles, addresses, phones (often, direct dials), faxes, and (for 88%+) emails for day-to-day decision-makers; name of the brand’s parent company, senior corporate entity owning the parent, the brand’s LNA category and Code, main media planning advertising agency, and all of the above for the brand’s ad agency decision-makers. For most brands, their plan timing, demographic, geographical, media spending, plus merchandising and promotion preferences; and the additional agencies they use for creative, interactive, media buying, and / or ethnic assignments.
The company also provides brand’s targeting and media planning criteria, and AdData in several web-based versions.
The cost for this service is not advertised on their website but I was told by the company’s representative that it’s about $4000 per year.
At the MIXX Expo, the company did not have any promotional materials except for business cards and a postcard size information flyer.