Order Up! PaperBoy Comes With A Full Menu Of A la Carte Features & Configurations
Posted on 30 April 2009 by Patrick FlanaganNo Comments
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Loading ...What is the difference between a rich media capability and a product? Easy. With a product, there is typical an underlying code base, a developed platform and a host of client configurable features that come “out of the box”. With just a capability, all of this base build out needs to be undertaken from scratch and each and every execution is an unique one-time, throw away custom build. The bottom line is, using a product (and NOT just a capability) is always:
- Cheaper: Any prospective client gets to benefit from the loads of internal funded R&D dollars that have been pored into the product as well as the horde of knowledge, examples, code bases, etc that have been built up from past client executions. Instead of starting from scratch, there is substantial substance to build upon and with.
- Faster: Again, by building any new client executions upon a stable and robust platform, the time to build a campaign is less. Much less. In PaperBoy’s case, the development team has not stopped working and we all started back in 2005! All of this behind the scenes product work all comes into play every time we execute a client campaign. Instead of taking weeks if not months as we have witnessed numerous times with external vendors, it take days to a few weeks.
- Most Stable / Higher Quality: Since any client execution is not a random one-off build, but rather another implementation that is build with and/or upon the same underlying code base (eg the product), the inherent quality level is automatically much higher. Any past bug that may have plagued past client executions all have been solved. Any new bugs that are discovered are immediately fixed at a product level, thus benefiting all implementations of the product.
PaperBoy vs. the rest of the rich media world of dynamic data ads
So applying the above principle of product vs. capability, one of the most important concepts to get your head around is one of feature level configurations and/or client allowable customizations. What these product development strategies build for is you (the client). Rather than expecting every client to have the same feature applied and configured exactly the same way, we fully expect and build for the fact that every single client will envision and want a set of features deployed in a unique, client specific manner. This means features are NOT simple “on” and “off” switches, but rather “dimmer” switches. Each unique feature has many built in settings, configurations, defaulting, business logic, etc. What client wants to look just like their competitor after all? Pointroll and ShopLocal think that creative choice and control is the solution, so every feature ever built is always crafted in such a way to give exactly that back to the advertiser / client.
Paperboy is a real product, and is out to kill StanDarad in the rich media battle for Mediapolis
Base PaperBoy Feature Set (included at no additional fees or costs)
- Intro Panel Animation Integration
- Front Ad Cover Within The Intro Panel
- Ad Start & End Dates Within The Intro Panel
- User’s City, State & ZIP Code Within The Intro Panel
- Continuous Item Results Scroller (eg horizontal carousel)
- GeoIP Targeting
- Change Store Location
- Browse By Category / Department
- Browse By Brand
- Browse By Keyword Search Term(s)
- Store Locator (Find A Store)
- Buy-Online Item Level Links To Advertiser .Com Pages
- Item Level Detail Page Links To SmartCircular Site Pages
- Post Ad Impression and/or Post Ad Click Tracking Within The SmartCircular Sites
- Intra-Ad Unit Product Level Reporting
- RSS (Real Simple Syndication) & Atom Feeds
- Email Address Capture Point
- Display Larger Item Image
- Print This Item
- Featured Items
- Featured Categories
- Featured Brands
- Integrated Null Search Results To Point Back To Advertiser’s dot com Site
- Weekly Preview Of Upcoming Ad Content / Data
- AOL / GeoIP Failure Logic And Associated Prompting
- Error Screens
- All Of The Recent PaperBoy 2.0 Features
- In-Ad Unit Circular Page Turning
- Custom Geo Reporting
- Etc, Etc, Etc – Believe It Or Not, This is An Abbreviated, Non Complete List!
But the comparison of a product vs. a capability does not end with just a feature comparison. It goes much deeper and wider. To really understand the difference, the following concepts need to be added to the argument:
- Defined & streamlined client engagement process
- Standardized set of client deliverables
- Extensive set of creative best practices (over 2 BILLION PaperBoy ads served and counting)
- Multi-dimensional set of performance benchmarking (by ad format, size, time, etc)
- Complete organization wide support, awareness and knowledge
- Dedicated set of quality assurance testing procedures unique to localized, dynamic rich media
None of the other rich media companies (e.g., Doubleclick, Atlas, EyeBlaster, EyeWonder, Tumri, etc) have a localized, circular based, retail in-store promotion product. What they have is a simple, generic capability that leaves a lot to be desired once a closer & deeper look is taken.
Yes, in the technology world, given enough time and money, anything can be built. But is this really the best approach to always be “re-creating the wheel” from scratch, using nothing more than base capabilities? Prospepective clients that are thinking about using rich media capabilities vs. a PaperBoy product should make sure to ask this key question prior to making any decisions on how to execute a localized, circular based, retail in-store promotion rich media display campaign. ShopLocal and Pointroll clearly believe that a product approach is the only right way and have / continue to heavily invest in this area of the product portfolio.
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