Traditional charities rely on donors to shore up their overhead and support their causes. But theres another modeland it can be incredibly relevant for todays brand marketers. Troy Young, President of SAY Media )formerly Video Egg(, hosted an AdWeek panel focused on how companies can boost their brand while doing a world of good. Brands such as Starbucks, The Gap and Nike have a huge platform,

Tuesday, on a wet dreary day, Doug Sweeny, Vice President of Brand Marketing for Levi Strauss & CO., and Tyler Whisnand, Director at Wieden+Kennedy , charged the Advertising Track session of the OMMA Conference to Go Forth. Doug Sweeny of Levis )left( and Tyler Whisnand of Wieden+Kennedy )right( Sweeny began by candidly outlining Levis primary brands goals: 1( reassert the brands iconic stature, and 2( express what America is today.

Today, we are launching the next phase of our Ads in Windows Phone 7 Apps program with the release of Microsoft Advertisings solution for Windows Phone 7 publishers and app developers in the U.S. This solution provides self-service registration, account management, reporting and payout capabilities for Windows Phone 7 app developers, leveraging the Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7. To monetize Windows Phone 7 apps via a Microsoft Advertising solution,

I must admit that Ive been slow to start using location-based services for the mobile, such as f oursquare , GoWalla and the recently launched Places from Facebook . The merit of checking-in to places I visit has so far escaped me. However, Im coming around to the idea that I would like to get something back in return for generating social content around restaurants, pubs and various public places.

In an interview conducted by Abby Klassen, Editor at Advertising Age , Twitters COO D ick Costolo took the audience through the companys strategy for monetization. Costolo said they were not in it to compete with Facebook, but rather to pull money away from traditional advertising. He talked about the user behavior on Twitter being one of the reasons he did not feel it was a competition; with Twitter, people are following vs. friending. In recent tests,

Its been a year since I listened to Facebook tell their story at AdWeek 2009 , and I was glad to be able to hear it again. Today Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, spoke about how consumers behavior is changing. The theme of her message was that the web is evolving; where once it was used primarily for information gathering, now the focus is more social. Users and content used to be anonymous,

Following on from Colm's post yesterday on the Xbox Advertising session at IAB MIXX, I caught up with Mark Kroese backstage to quiz him on the presentations, how advertisers can embrace multi-screen and games advertising, and his thoughts about the impending Kinect launch. Follow us on Twitter and our Facebook Page and subscribe to the Microsoft Advertising Blog for all the latest news from a rain-swept Advertising Week in New York.

This week, I am attending Advertising Week in New York. This morning saw David Moore opening the day for IAB MIXX 2010. David is the Chairman and Founder of 24/7 Real Media and Chairman of the IAB Board. His opening remarks were a great set up for the day, with talks from Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Ford, Google, and more ahead. Davids point? The internet and online marketing have matured to a state where it is our responsibility to take advantage of it.

TV for Me was the theme today at the Microsoft Advertising workshop on How Consumers Want to Interact with Television at IAB MIXX 2010. Mark Kroese, General Manager at Microsoft, led the discussion on how consumers are increasingly wanting to watch TV on their terms. He neatly presented the concept of TV for Me in five ways: 1. My content consumers are increasingly favoring relevant content that suits their tastes.

Follow us on Twitter and our Facebook Page and subscribe to the Microsoft Advertising Blog for all the latest news AdWeek in New York City. Check out our Advertising Week microsite and follow the action on your mobile device too: www.adwk.mobi Enjoy!

IAB MIXX 2010 kicked off in dramatic style with Seth Godin bringing his purple cow ideas and more to a packed audience at the Crown Plaza on Times Square. In his address, he challenged the global marketing community to rethink how to connect with tribes and to forgo the old ideas of constant advertising bombardment. Throughout his piece, Seth referred to the conventional thinking of old which was to promote a brand to the masses as often as possible.

I just returned from a fantastic few days at Spikes , Asias Advertising Festival in Singapore. The program was filled with speakers from all over the world who are all passionate about the incredible opportunities in the region. From industry leaders including Sir Martin Sorrell to Bob Jeffrey to Andrew Robertson and Bryce Courtney ..to the worlds largest marketers including P&G, Unilever and Johnson & Johnson, the whos who were in town for a packed agenda of meetings,

At the end of what seems to have been a successful event, Cedric Chambaz from Microsoft and West Burghhart from Yahoo! Spoke about the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance at ad:tech UK. The topic of many questions asked at our stand. Why an alliance? Chambaz says that during the recession more and more advertisers were investing in digital, especially search as it is very scalable and it is very easy to measure the return on investment.

Colm Bracken from Microsoft Advertising was talking to a packed Engage and Convert arena at ad:tech London about Microsoft Advertising Intelligence . What free insights can you expect from this tool and how can you apply these to improve conversions on your )search( marketing campaign? Bracken explains you may have an idea of who your core audience is, but who connects with your brand on the fringes? What is it that they desire? When do they connect with you?

In just a couple of weeks well be covering Advertising Week 2010 in New York Cityyou can follow along on our newly launched AdWeek Social Media Hub . Youll see pictures , videos , blogs and real-time Tweets from the events at Advertising Week including the Microsoft Advertising sessions at IAB MIXX and OMMA Global.

In its description of the annual MIXX conference, the IAB poses a vexing question: If every thing is every where for every one , how do you stand out? Its an issue that comes up often when I meet with advertisers, particularly those who have a sophisticated, multi-screen digital marketing strategy. In a recent meeting with a large consumer packaged goods company,

Weve just posted some online insight into the digital campaign our consumer marketing teams in the UK and France used to approach the launch of Windows 7. The campaign ran across a myriad of different properties including the Microsoft Media Network and was designed to promote the launch, raise awareness and favourability, and drive recommendation and purchase intent. Top line results: In the UK,

Just a quick note to say Ill be travelling down to Asia for Search Engine Strategies Hong Kong the week after next. Its the first time the event has been held there, so should be a fascinating immersion into all the online marketing activities in the region. Ive been honoured to be asked to speak on the keynote discussion panel on the second day Tuesday 14th September. From the agenda: Keynote Panel: Increasing ROI through B2B Lead Generation For the first time,

Had a chance to sit down and review a new program we have around Video that got my old Brand Manager motor running. For a while Ive been bullish on our Admira TV product, but as we build up our inventory to get to amazing scale, I also kept thinking about how we can expand that reach via Internet Delivered video ads. The pilot combines Microsofts owned inventory - MSN, MSNBC, Fox Sports, Windows Live, etc - with Admira )Television(,

I came to the 2010 Cannes Lions Advertising Festival to learn, share, and collaborate with my peers in the advertising industry )OK, and to catch some rays on the incomparable French Riviera(. I was also looking forward to a vigorous discussion on the topic of the future of television during a workshop I led called, The Rise of Rich TV . The workshop was filled to capacity in fact, standing room only - confirming that this is indeed a hot topic. What surprised me,