Turning Real Rocket Science into Real Revenue.

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Brian Ferrario

Tech Crunch writer Anthony Ha recently interviewed our CEO George John to see if our claim of applying “rocket science” to ad campaigns was turning into real revenue.

So what did Ha uncover?  Rocket Fuel made $44.5 million in revenue last year, compared to $16.6 million in 2010 and $2.4 million in 2009, and was profitable for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2011. But John was quick to point out that it would be “weird” for Rocket Fuel to remain profitable as the company continues in high-growth mode.

John says Rocket Fuel consists of “nerds trying to help the cool people in marketing do a good job.”

In addition to tons of open positions, we’re also looking to hire “a couple of robot psychologists that can monitor the autonomous behavior of our adserver and bid-server and explain the macro and micro decisions being made and how this complex behavior emerges from simpler rules and goals that various AI agents have,” according to John.

Read the entire article here and find out what else Ha squeezed out of our CEO >

 

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10 Curiously Interesting Facts You Should Know About The Super Bowl Viewing Audience

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Eric Porres
The fanfare of Super Bowl XLVI may have come and gone, with a record television viewing by 111.3MM US viewers, but insights live on!  As part of our research and insights practice, on Super Bowl Monday, we fielded a national online survey to learn more about the Super Bowl viewing populace.  Did they watch the game on more than one device?  Which ads did they truly like most?  What are their propensities to consume carbohydrates?  Some of the results surprised us as much as we hope that they delight you:

Why and How Did You Watch the Super Bowl – Top 5 Demographic, Media Consumption and Psychographic Insights
  1. More than one-fourth of all Super Bowl viewers surveyed watched the game mainly for the commercials.
  2. 17% of Super Bowl viewers surveyed used more than 1 media device to follow the game.  Of those multi-device users, 61% used a TV and Computer; 18% used a TV, Computer, and Mobile Phone/Tablet.
  3.  Women were slightly more likely than men to follow the Super Bowl using a Mobile Phone/Tablet2 or Radio vs. men who were more likely to follow the game on a Television or Computer.
  4. Team Players & Impulsive people were most likely to use a Mobile Phone/Tablet to follow the Super Bowl.
  5. Viewers who watched the game primarily for the commercials tended to be Dependables, people who can be counted on to follow-through to get the job done, and Pragmatists, highly sensible people who value functionality over style.

Favorite Commercials – Top 5 Psychographic, Demographic, & Consumerism Habits

  1. Fans of the “Introduces Ms. Brown (M&M’s)” commercial were 5 times more likely to eat dairy products such as natural/processed cheese and yogurt.
  2. Fans of the “Dog Strikes Back (Volkswagen)” commercial love their carbs and were 4 times more likely to eat fresh or baked bread.
  3.  Fans of the “Dog Bribes Cat Owner (Doritos)” commercial were twice as likely to shop through auctions and 3 times more likely to love dogs.
  4. 45+ year olds preferred the “Dog in Sneakers (Skechers)” commercial over all other commercials surveyed.
  5. Extroverts and Look-at-Me's (people who believe they are exceptional) preferred all other commercials surveyed over M&M’s “Introduces Ms. Brown”

At Rocket Fuel, we seek to uncover uncommon knowledge for our customers to help them make better marketing decisions.  Throughout the year, we'll field other surveys and share our knowledge here.

Got a suggestion for us?
Please feel free to contact us with your survey request.

Notes on the study:

1N= 4808; Confidence Level = 95%; Margin of Error ± 2%

2Strength of index for woman watching game on Mobile Phone/Tablet was low – Only 104 or 4% more likely vs. Men

3. Any of the 'types' of viewers above in italics represent Mindset Media segments.

4. Survey data collected online 1 day after the Super Bowl.

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Why “Real” Awards are Worth Winning

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Brian Ferrario

Rocket Fuel Named One of America’s Most Promising Companies

Who doesn’t like winning awards?  But truthfully — you never feel as good when it’s too easy, a pay-for-play, or popularity contest. Real awards, like Forbes list of America’s 100 Most Promising Companies, that come from real criteria, due diligence and credible data, are genuine badges of honor to help fuel awareness, growth, investment, recruitment efforts, employee pride, and more. And maybe getting a high-five from your CEO is another indicator of an award that matters.

To us, being on the Forbes list feels right, and well-earned. Why?  Well one reason is the process Forbes used — it was downright amazing. They used algorithms to crunch tons of data (from 30,000 sources — press releases and social networks to job boards and court filings — to come up with one score that measures a company’s potential), and blended this data with good old fashioned nose down journalism — surveys, interviews, fact checking, and more.

Forbes says its list of America’s 100 Most Promising Companies is all about “privately held up-and-comers with compelling business models, strong management teams, notable customers, strategic partners and precious investment capital.” That’s a pretty cool checklist.

At Rocket Fuel we’re focusing on the real awards that will truly help gauge just how great a company we’re building – whether that means validating our traction in the market, highlighting our amazing culture, or recognizing our potential to be a game changer in the digital future.

And — we’re hiring like crazy.  Come work for us >

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It’s the Small Things in Life, and Advertising, that Matter.

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Brian Ferrario

In Dr. Seuss’s book “Horton Hears a Who!” Horton hears a small speck of dust talking to him. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to a city called Whoville, inhabited by microscopic-sized inhabitants known as Whos. Much like Whoville coming into focus for Horton, advertisers can now leverage massive amounts of data to focus on the tiniest of attributes to help digital campaigns run better.

In Ad Age today Richard Frankel wrote an article entitled, “It’s Time for Online Advertising to Move Beyond Old-Fashioned ‘Audience’ Buying” that talks about how advances in technology are allowing marketers to target buyers down to the prospect’s tiniest attributes.

He talks about how advertisers have evolved from simply buying “eyeballs” to “audiences,” and why “even audience buying is not finely tuned enough in a world where customers are finicky, highly adept at searching for products, brand-disloyal and impervious to all but the most targeted advertising messages.”

So what’s the new form of buying impressions for your next digital campaign?  He’s coined it “artificial-intelligence targeting.” And he explains why this “micro targeting” actually allows advertisers to get massive scale.  Being able to “meaningfully use the tens of thousands of attributes that exist about consumers” means better accuracy and performance.

Read the entire article here >

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The Rubber Finally Meets the Road: Full Funnel, Cross-Channel Digital Campaigns are a Reality for Autos

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Brian Ferrario

Rocket Fuel today officially launched Auto BoosterSM, a transformative technology platform that boosts the efficiency and effectiveness of brand and direct response campaigns for the automotive industry. Rocket Fuel announced the new technology platform at the J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Internet Roundtable in Las Vegas.

What Auto Booster Does:

  • Auto Booster helps automotive marketers connect brand advertising efforts with direct response campaigns – so all digital campaigns are jointly optimized to maximize both long-term national brand impact and localized campaign-attributed sales.
  • Auto Booster optimizes results at every level of the funnel by collecting and analyzing synchronized learnings and data from multiple types of campaigns. No longer do auto marketers have to use proxy metrics such as click-through rate (CTR) to understand the value of branding or consideration efforts.  Auto Booster can optimize digital media – in real-time, as the campaign is running – to deliver the greatest boost in awareness, consideration, purchase intent or any other brand goal. As the only solution of its kind available on the market, Auto Booster provides automotive marketers with increased effectiveness and scale – as well as cost savings.

So how well does it work?

For Buick, Auto Booster:

  • Increased consideration lift by more than 4.5x
  • Successfully targeted and conquested competitive brand segments
  • Boosted awareness and consideration the most among target demographic of 25-34 year olds
  • Brought new pool of intenders to the Buick brand (45% of people who responded that they “would consider Buick” had never owned one before)

Gene Cameron, recently vice president, Media/Marketing Solutions at J.D. Power and Associates had this to say about Rocket Fuel:

“Rocket Fuel’s Auto Booster cures the schizophrenia that has been forced on automotive campaigns by current-generation digital media systems. It breaks down the silos and joins brand awareness and consideration with purchase intent in a coordinated way to bring prospects through the purchase funnel, personalized to their attitudes and shopping stage. Rocket Fuel helps consumers get the information they need, enables marketers to build demand, and brings in-market shoppers into dealerships at a lower cost.”

Read the entire release here >

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