CORAL GABLES, FLA. — The drinks were flowing. The Mexican street-style tacos were delicious. The crowd, which included advertising agency execs and at least one media C-Suiter, networked as representatives from this mixer’s sponsor handed out free portable cell phone chargers, laptop cases and espresso mugs emblazoned with this company’s logo.
This was Oath‘s introduction to Miami-based individuals that play a significant role in directing brand campaigns. The key takeaway from this Thursday evening soiree: This Verizon-owned operation that gobbled up Aol and Yahoo! wants your ad dollars, because local digital media advertising is the chief reason for its existence.
For some of the 150 attendees of this event on Miracle Mile, the first questions poised to a reporter were, “So what is Oath?”, and “Are they rebranding Yahoo”?
We asked a few of the Oath representatives in attendance what their plans were, with respect to advertising the Oath brand. They’re not, two Oathers noted: Oath is really an overarching entity overseeing brands that will live on. The purpose of Oath is to bring consumers digital brands they can embrace, as well as advertising clients.
If there was to be any promotion of what Oath is, this was it: Getting the word out to Fleishman Hillard staffers working on Procter & Gamble Co. and AT&T accounts that they’re ready to service the local marketplace through two once-powerhouse brands.
“Three billion accounts hacked.” “Oath is an odd choice for such a company.”
These were some of the comments overheard at the event. Oath has a long slog ahead.
As new marketing pros entered the taquería/bar and the DJ cranked up tunes from J Balvin, Shakira and, of course, “Despacito,” more questions about what Oath was were asked to a reporter.
“So, are they trying to be Alphabet Inc. but without the $80 billion in revenue?”
“How are they different from YP — the Yellow Pages?”
As the company states in its marketing literature, “The Oath name is meant to convey the parent company’s commitment to the media business.”
Bingo. The media business is your business. And, they want your money.
Also in attendance were individuals from Zubi Advertising, which works with Ford Motor Company and the Lincoln automotive brand; the Associate Director of Total Market Strategy for the P&G campaign at Hearts & Science; the Marketing Director for FEMBi Mortgage; and a senior director at ESPN.
Were they swayed by Oath? It’s way too early to provide an answer. Some attendees, after exiting the event, noted that they still weren’t sure what Oath was, or how it planned on rebranding or reimaging two tired brands. Others, however, had a clearer picture of Oath’s goals with respect to building strong local digital marketing platforms.
This publication — ironically, a digital media resource with twice-yearly special print editions — has covered the growth of local digital advertising many times over the last 14 months since yours truly decided to become Editor-in-Chief after two strong years handling marketing communication and local PR strategies for a major national non-profit organization.
In May 2017, we noted that digital advertising is the No. 1 advertising medium in the U.S., as TV advertising (according to eMarketer) came in at $71.3 billion.
Growing from basically nothing ten years ago, mobile advertising is now a $36.6 billion segment and represents 51% of digital advertising.
| Ad Format in millions | 2015 Revenue | 2015 Share | 2016 Revenue | 2016 Share | Growth | Growth percentage |
| Search | $20,481 | 34.4% | $17,756 | 24.5% | ($2,725) | (13.3%) |
| Classified & Directory | $2,757 | 4.6% | $2,345 | 3.2% | ($412) | (14.9%) |
| Lead Generation | $1,756 | 2.9% | $1,989 | 2.7% | $233 | 13.2% |
| Mobile | $20,677 | 34.7% | $36,641 | 50.5% | $15,964 | 77.2% |
| Display | $13,881 | 23.3% | $13,790 | $19% | ($91) | (0.6%) |
| Total | $59,552 | $72,521 | $12,969 | 21.7% |
Source: IAB 2017
Google and Facebook, the two largest players, represented a combined 89% of the entire growth of the digital advertising market.
Then, there is this sobering yet wonderfully colorful chart from BIA/Kelsey from nearly one year ago.
You don’t think Oath saw this and set up its chess set pawns so as to squash “traditional media” even further?
With new reports featured Oct. 6, 2017 at RBR+TVBR from Jack Myers and from Kagan/S&P Global Market Intelligence, there is fresh data now available that can tell the tale of the continued effectiveness of TV, and radio.
Perhaps it takes iHeartMedia or Entercom to take a cue from Oath and sponsor a Happy Hour with people that can direct creative, media planning, media buying and brand development. As respected media broker Frank Kalil noted Thursday in an RBR+TVBR feature story, the radio industry does a poor job of promoting its positives.
A little self-promotion, along with free-flowing Modelo Especial and tasty birría tacos, may help the millennials of Madison Avenue and Miracle Mile in digesting the message that’s proven so difficult for the RAB and publicly traded giants to dispense: Radio is tasty with consumers.
