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Introducing Adly Analytics! (beta)

By on Friday, July 8th, 2011

P R E S S   R E L E A S E

ADLY DEBUTS ADLY ANALYTICS

Influencer Dashboard Helps Brands and Celebrities

Understand their Fans

Beverly Hills – Adly, a platform that monetizes celebrity distribution in social media, today announced the beta launch of its complimentary brand and celebrity influencer dashboard, Adly Analytics.

Now in testing with Adly’s top celebrities, Adly Analytics is designed to help top influencers manage and grow their audiences on Twitter. The simple, secure dashboard provides brands and celebrities with audience demographics and reveals:

– Top Mentions: which top influencers and fans are messaging you, mentioning you, and retweeting your content, so that you never miss a chance to engage.

– Also Follows: which other celebrities and brands your fans also follow, and how many fans you share in common, to better understand your fans’ interests. (We also reveal audience cross-over: how many of your fans are following a given influencer, and how many of their fans are following you.)

– Top Followers: which influencers are following you, and who your “Mega Fans” are (the ones with the greatest reach and potential influence) to better focus your attention.

– Follower Growth: the increase or decrease in your audience over time –- essential feedback that helps you manage your approach.

– Gender: the gender breakdown of your audience, and how it compares to that of the average Twitter audience, for greater insight into your appeal.

– City, State and Country: the geographic breakdown of your audience in your top 20 cities, states and countries, and how it compares to that of the average Twitter audience. This can help inform both online and offline promotions, advertising campaigns, tours, personal appearances, PR and more.

“Celebrities and brands have unique needs when it comes to Twitter,” said Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO of Adly. “With such large audiences, they need help prioritizing their inbound messages and optimizing their outbound activity to keep followers engaged. The first step is to understand and energize your most influential fans. Adly Analytics addresses this need.”

Adly Analytics also addresses some of the account security concerns faced by high profile Twitter users. Celebrities and brands are able to grant managers, agents and staff access to their Adly Analytics without sharing their Twitter passwords. This enables teams to glean meaningful audience insights that can inform future planning.

For instance, using Adly Analytics:

– Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) knows that he has more Twitter fans in Texas than he has in New York. #AustinRocks.

– Jet Blue (@JetBlue) can see that 24 percent of its followers are fans of 50 Cent (@50cent). #MightWantAnUpgrade.

– ESPN (@espn) can see that 24 percent of their followers are fans of @BarackObama. #YesWeCan.

– Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) knows she has more fans in common with Britney Spears (@BritneySpears) (2.1 million) than she does with Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) (1.7 million). #BlondsHaveMoreFun.

– Old Spice (@OldSpice) can see that 28 percent of its followers are fans of Charlie Sheen (@CharlieSheen). #FitForAWarlock.

– Taylor Swift (@TaylorSwift13) knows that 48 percent of her followers are fans of Katy Perry (@KatyPerry). #BlondeVs.Brunette.

– Paul Pierce (@PaulPierce34) knows that the only people that talk more about him than the Celtics fans do are the Lakers fans… #InYourHead.

– Whole Foods (@WholeFoods) can see that 23 percent of its followers are fans of Martha Stewart (@MarthStewart). #ItsAGoodThing.

– Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) knows that 40 percent of his followers are fans of Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (@Kaka). #FriendlyCompetition.

– Giuliana Rancic (@GiulianaRancic) knows that her top followers are Justin Bieber (@JustinBieber) the world’s pop leader, and Barack Obama (@BarackObama) the #LeaderoftheFreeWorld.

– The New York Times (@NYTimes) can see that 29 percent of its followers are fans of CNN Breaking News (@CNNbrk). #NewsJunkies.

– Charlie Sheen (@CharlieSheen) knows that his top name-droppers are Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk), Sean ‘Diddy Dirty Money’ Combs (@IAmDiddy) and Jimmy Fallon (@JimmyFallon). #BigBoysofSocial.

– Fox News (@FoxNews) can see that the Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) is following them. #KeepingAnEyeOnTheCompetition.

– Shaquille O’Neal (@Shaq) knows that he’s the most followed athlete by the fans of @NikeBasketball. #WinOrGoHome.

– Nicole Sn00ki Polizzi (@Sn00ki) knows that she has gained 1.5 million users in the past 12 months. #OvernightSensation.

– Virgin America (@VirginAmerica) can see that 32 percent of its followers are fans of Southwest Air (@SouthwestAir). #LowCostCompetition.

– RevRun (@RevRunWisdom) knows that his most high-impact retweeters are Nick Cannon (@NickCannon), Tyrese Gibson (@Tyrese) and Questo of The Roots (@QuestLove). #Righteous.

 

The 10 Most Influential Athletes On Twitter

By on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Adly Reveals the Top 10 Most Influential Athletes On Twitter

Professional Skateboarder Ryan Sheckler Drives the Most Consumer Traffic to Brand Advertisers’ Sites, Followed Closely by the Boston Celtic’s Paul Pierce

Beverly Hills, CA – May 4, 2011 – Adly, which runs celebrity endorsements in social media, today revealed the top 10 most influential athletes on Twitter.

According to the Q1 Adly Consumer Influence Index, the athlete that drives the most consumer visits to brands’ sites is professional skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, followed closely by Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics. Lamar Odom of the LA Lakers and Olympic Speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno are tied for third, followed by Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees.

“Twitter’s dramatic growth over the past 12 months is due in large part to it’s adoption by athletes and artists — who bring millions of passionate fans with them to the social web,” said Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO, Adly, Inc. “These celebrities create the lion’s share of the content that people want. They are the new ‘Prime Time’ in digital media.”

Throughout Q1, Adly athletes cemented their roles as tastemakers in media & entertainment, consumer electronics and more. The following athletes drove the most visits to brands’ sites, videos, apps and more:

1. Ryan Sheckler — Professional Skateboarder — 1,825,676 Followers
Find Ryan on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/RyanSheckler

2. Paul Pierce — Boston Celtics, NBA — 1,818,226 Followers
Find Paul on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/paulpierce34

3. Lamar Odom — LA Lakers, NBA — 1,427,831 Followers
Find Lamar on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/RealLamarOdom

4. Apolo Anton Ohno — Olympic Speedskater, USA – 252,889 Followers
Find Apolo on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ApoloOhno

5. Nick Swisher — New York Yankees, MLB — 1,319,996 Followers
Find Nick on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/NickSwisher

6. Jalen Rose –- Phoenix Suns, Retired, NBA –- 296,382 Followers
Find Jalen on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/JALENROSE

7. Steven Jackson — St. Louis Rams, NFL – 68,688 Followers
Find Steven on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sj39

8. Kirk Morrison — Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL – 363,962 Followers
Find Kirk on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/kirkmorrison5

9. Darnell Docket — Arizona Cardinals, NFL — 66,341 Followers.
Find Darnell on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ddockett

10. Shaun Phillips — San Diego Chargers, NFL – 424,864 Followers
Find Shaun on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ShaunPhillips95

About the Ad.ly Consumer Influence Index
The Adly Consumer Influence Index ranks celebrities in the Adly Influencer Network by a variety of factors to identify the most effective endorsers over a given period of time, in a particular vertical market or a specific demographic. It uses Adly’s proprietary internal ranking system to normalize performance data and establish ‘celebrity averages’ for a variety of engagement and performance indicators.

The debut issue revealed the most influential celebrities on Twitter overall during Q4, 2010, including Lauren Conrad, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Snoop Dogg and more.

About Ad.ly
Adly runs celebrity endorsements in social media. It helps brands connect with consumers via the most influential celebrities, athletes and artists on today’s most popular platforms. Based in Beverly Hills, CA, Adly is backed by GRP Partners, Greycroft Partners and prominent angel investors. To learn more, visit http://ad.ly.

Contact:
Krista Thomas
VP Marketing, Adly
Krista@Adly.com and 415.202.3523

 

QA Automation Engineer – Beverly Hills CA

By on Thursday, April 28th, 2011

The role: QA Automation Engineer

The area: Testing/QA
The location: Adly HQ, Beverly Hills, CA.

Adly’s automation engineer will guarantee that our company’s software works every time for every user while scaling to the highest levels. We tackle huge technical challenges that push the limits of computer science. Our team is a collaborative startup team that uses a weekly deployment schedule gated by continuous integration of unittests and system-level Selenium tests.

The engineering team at Adly supports the highest profile Twitter & Facebook accounts by providing insights into their follower’s demographics and revenue generating opportunities.

You are a software development engineer who is skilled in Quality Assurance processes and testing methodologies. Your abilities include developing suites of automated tests for server and client side applications. You are self starting, creative, driven, and able to work in a fast paced environment.

Responsibilities:

– Design and develop automated test case suites.
– Execute and maintain the suite of automated test cases.
– Provide thorough documentation of testing results.
– Design and develop test applications, integrate them into continuous integration for use in software product verification.

Requirements:

– BS or MS in Computer Science or equivalent (PhD a plus).
– At least 4 years of relevant industry experience. Experience with Python, HTML stack including JavaScript, and Selenium.
– Knowledge of git branching workflows, must be comfortable with using github, branching & merging.
– Knowledge of networking and Linux environments including the continuous integration server Jenkins (based off of Hudson).
– Knowledge of mobile devices, iOS and Android platforms and their interfaces a plus.

Qualified candidates should send a resume and cover letter to Jobs@Adly.com. Thanks!

 

Adly goes to the Variety Summit at Digital Hollywood

By on Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

We’re thrilled to be part of the Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit at Digital Hollywood next week.

It takes place at the Marina Del Rey Ritz-Carlton on Monday, May 2, and we hope to see you there!

Adly CEO Arnie Gullov-Singh will be a panelist on the 12 noon – 12:45 p.m. session called: Advertising and Marketing Roundtable: What Are the Secrets to Social Media Campaign Success?

Moderator: Michael Kassan, CEO and Chairman of MediaLink LLC
Panelists:
– David Lang, President of Mindshare Entertainment, North America
– Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO, Adly
– David Eastman, CEO of North America/Worldwide Director of Digital at JWT
– Manny Anekal, Global Director of Brand Advertising at Zynga
– Jordan Glazier, President and CEO of Eventful
– Vince Broady, CEO and Co-Founder of thisMoment, Inc.

No ticket? You can still buy one here.

The Ritz-Carlton is at 4375 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292

 

On Twitter, Celebrities Cut Through the Noise

By on Friday, April 15th, 2011

Twitter is on a tear, growing at break-neck speed to 155 Million tweets per day. See their Q1 report below.

Adly helps Marketers cut through the noise and connect with consumers via the most influential artists and athletes online.

We’re thrilled to be a value driver on the Twitter ecosystem.

Adly by the numbers:

– 24,000 endorsements to date
– 1,000 celebs in our network
– 150 brands, including Microsoft, NBC, Sony, Old Navy, Hyatt & more.
– Avg. campaign size $50K – $75K
– Avg. 6 – 12 celebs
– Avg. 49,000 visits / clicks
– Avg. $1 – to – $2 CPC



Been playing with numbers. Big Q1 for Twitter… 41% increase in Tweets per day. 38% increase in Tweets per day in US. [1/5]less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyTwitter Comms
twitterglobalpr


There was a 52% increase in monthly Twitter account signups from December to March — with 57% increase in the US. [2/5]less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyTwitter Comms
twitterglobalpr


Mobile growth on Twitter was big. There was a 50% increase in monthly unique mobile signups. [3/5]less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyTwitter Comms
twitterglobalpr


Oh and – not a Q1 stat – but noticed that we’re now at 155 million Tweets per day, up from 55 million at this time last year. [5/5]less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyTwitter Comms
twitterglobalpr

 

Celebrity Endorsements on Facebook: An Update

By on Friday, April 8th, 2011

In Q4 2010, we expanded Ad.ly celebrity endorsements for social media into Facebook Pages (aka “Fan Pages”).

(These are the Facebook “Like” Pages that you create for your business or your brand — the inherently commercial brand pages that people have to “Like” in order to receive messages from. Here’s Snoop Dogg’s, for example.)

Given the success of our product on Twitter, the scale of Facebook, and the popularity of celebrity endorsements (a $50 Billion industry), our Facebook product was met with excitement from brands and celebrities alike.

That excitement was fueled by results:

Ad.ly’s celebrity endorsements on Facebook performed very well – driving an impressive five percent click-through rate (5% CTR) to advertisers’ sites and a flood of “Likes” on celebrities’ Pages, in a purely opt-in community that consumers love.

That being said, we regret to inform our celebrities and advertisers that we have complied with Facebook’s request to no longer offer celebrity endorsements on Facebook.

Although we have had numerous discussions with Facebook, we have not been able to come to an agreement as to how to work together.

We are disappointed by this news, and feel that it is a step backward for the social media industry.

Here’s why:

Celebrities, artists and athletes are becoming a driving force on Facebook, as they are on Twitter, and as they no doubt will be on social platforms to come.

Social networks are starting to resemble TV networks, wherein consumers tune-in based on the content available, and brands align themselves with that content and the audiences it attracts.

On television, the most popular content features celebrities, artists and athletes. On social networks, it’s a similar dynamic, only the content is being produced and distributed by the celebrities themselves – attracting tens of millions of fans.

As an advertising-supported industry, we should welcome celebrity generated content and welcome brands’ interest in tapping into the vast audiences that follow them – just as TV networks have done for the past 50+ years.

Moving forward:

We will continue to try to work with Facebook to bring Ad.ly endorsements back into Facebook Pages, and we will keep you informed of our progress on that front.

Meanwhile, we’ll get back to our core business, helping brands connect with consumers via the most influential celebrities, artists and athletes on Twitter.

 

Alby the Adly Mascot

By on Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Fridays have gone to the dogs

 

"Sugar" Shane Mosley Brings the Boxing Battle of the Decade to Twitter

By on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Boxer "Sugar" Shane Mosely

Boxer "Sugar" Shane Mosley fights Manny Pacquiao on May 7, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Beverly Hills, CA – March 22, 2011 – Boxer “Sugar” Shane Mosley has taken to Twitter to start a pre-fight battle with rival Manny Pacquiao through a series of witticisms on Twitter.

Boxing fans can follow the fray via @SugarShaneM on Twitter or by searching for #SugarTime at Search.Twitter.com. The first salvo has already been fired.

“Fans want the story behind the fight, and I’m here to give it to them — unfiltered, unedited and in its purest form” said Shane Mosley. “I’m using Twitter to let my fans know exactly how I feel about Pacquiao… It’s #SugarTime.”

The pre-battle rattle was conceived with the help of Adly, which advised Shane Mosley, Untouchable J Productions and Introspect Entertainment on the best ways to leverage social media to engage fans on Twitter leading up to the epic match.

Adly, Untouchable J Productions and Introspect Entertainment are already in discussion with brands that want to work with Shane Mosley for endorsements on Twitter.

“For the first time, fans are part of the pre-fight battle of wits and can directly connect with the world’s top boxers on Twitter,” said Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO, Adly “Shane could win this fight before it even starts, and brands want to associate themselves with this moment in history.”

The highly anticipated bout between Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao takes place on May 7, 2011 at the MGM Grand, and is available pay-per-view on Showtime.

“Sugar” Shane Mosley is the winner of world titles in three weight divisions, and the former WBA Welterweight Super Champion. Manny Pacquiao is the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight world champion and the International Boxing Organization (IBO) junior welterweight champion.


I need to tell the world how I feel about @CongMP …no more Mr Nice Guy…. it’s #sugartimeless than a minute ago via webShane Mosley
SugarShaneM

About Untouchable J Productions

Untouchable J Productions is a TV film production company, and is the parent company to Everyday Rich and Ruthless “ERAR” clothing. It is headquartered out of Los Angeles, CA.

About Introspect Entertainment

Introspect Entertainment is a multi-dimensional management and entertainment company that focuses on music, television, film, sports and branding.

About Adly

Adly runs celebrity endorsements in social media. It helps brands connect with consumers via the most influential celebrities, athletes and artists on today’s most popular platforms. Based in Beverly Hills, CA, Adly is backed by GRP Partners, Greycroft Partners and prominent angel investors. To learn more, visit http://adly.com.

 

TV & Social: A Match Made in Heaven

By on Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Spoiler alert:

Smart marketers are excited about the intersection of television and social media.

They’re particularly excited about campaigns that have the power to create brand associations between products and popular TV events or series, or that drive audience tune-in and increase ratings for TV programs themselves.

We’re happy to report that the model works.

It works especially well if you match the brand with the right personalities in social media — popular artists and athletes who have the power to create a meaningful connection between the product and the TV event or series.

The Super Bowl:

Our Super Bowl campaign for a brand snack condiment is a great example. We leveraged celebrities and athletes on Twitter to build a meaningful brand association between the food item and the Super Bowl.

The Ad.ly influencers tweeted about why they like the product and how they enjoyed it on Super Bowl Sunday in particular.

The client was thrilled with the results, including increased brand awareness in direct association with the Super Bowl and the new tie-in with celebrity athletes, actors and TV personalities.

Driving tune-in & ratings for NBC’s Community:

A key part of the opportunity in TV + Social is creating pre-buzz, tune-in and ratings campaigns for TV events and series themselves.

In fall, we created a celebrity endorsement campaign for the NBC comedy “Community” (produced by Sony Pictures Television) to drive pre-show buzz and viewer tune-in for their season two premier.

– We kicked off the promotion with a season one DVD give-away, leveraging six celebrities to create pre-buzz and anticipatory excitement for the season two premiere.

– We then helped Chris Van Amburg’s team at Sony execute the “Twittersode” — a scripted pre-show conversation between the Community characters.

– We promoted the Twittersode and the season premier with a variety of relevant celebrities, including the Kardashians, Snoop Dogg and more.

– In particular, we worked with the comedians in our network — including Kevin Pollak, Michael Ian Black and Chris Hardwick (The Nerdist) — who had a natural affinity for the comedy and it’s stars, Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, etc.

Results: The give-away, Twittersode and endorsement campaign made NBC’s Community a trending topic on Twitter in 10 US cities and ultimately helped drive increased ratings on a very competitive season opener night.

Here’s a selection of the tweets we produced to seed conversation, drive traffic to the Twittersode, and increase TV viewership for the show.


Yes! RT @joelmchale Check it out! #NBCCommunity twittersode happening LIVE NOW: http://bit.ly/cRk0VN We’re back TONITE at 8/7c RT this! (Ad)less than a minute ago via Ad.ly NetworkChris Hardwick
nerdist

Kevin Pollak: http://twitter.com/#!/kevinpollak/status/25358407648

Tom Felton: http://twitter.com/#!/TomFelton/status/25352627276

Michael Ian Black: http://twitter.com/#!/michaelianblack/status/25368957982

Chris Hardwick, “The Nerdist”: http://twitter.com/#!/nerdist/status/25350313100

 

Charlie Sheen: Data Beats Emotion

By on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

The Results Are In (Updated 3/15/11):

There’s been a great deal of interest in our first endorsement campaign with Charlie Sheen, so we wanted to let you know how it is performing.

The 1st endorsement tweet – sent on behalf of Internships.com – went out at 1:03 p.m. March 7, 2011.

As Internships.com announced today via the 2nd endorsement tweet, the results are as follows. The initial tweet generated:

– 95,333 clicks in the 1st hour

– 412,000 clicks in 48 hours (see the Bit.ly data by cutting and pasting into a browser: http://bit.ly/hykQQF+ )

– A worldwide trending topic #TigerBloodIntern

– 74,040 applications for the internship in the first three days — now up over 82,000

– Applications from 181 countries

– 1,035,021 unique visitors to Internships.com, according to internal Omniture data (subtracting normal & affiliate traffic).

On Monday morning, Internships.com was a start-up with a good product.  By Tuesday morning, it was a brand with a promising future.

Success on this scale is rare to achieve outside of a multi-million dollar Super Bowl ad. But with 1,000 celebrities available to endorse brands in social media, Super Bowl moments have become much more accessible and measureable.

And frankly, after 24,000 endorsements over the past 12 months, these results are not surprising. Celebrities are the driving force in social media.  Celebrities are the new prime time.


AllTwitter: “Whatever your opinion of him, it’s clear Charlie Sheen is an advertiser’s dream” http://t.co/YCoVnF2 via @alltwtrless than a minute ago via Tweet ButtonArnie Gullov-Singh
arniesingh

Brands know they need to get their arms around social media.

But Marketers are overwhelmed by the rapid pace of change, and the array of high-priced consultants and high-touch solutions that don’t scale. This confusion has been holding back ad budgets.

We created Ad.ly as an easy way for brands to advertise efficiently and at scale on today’s dominant social media platforms via celebrities that have amassed the largest audiences and are creating compelling content.

With the rise of social media, consumers are following people.

Celebrities just happen to be the people with the largest audiences and therefore offer the greatest scale in social media.

Simply put, celebrities cut through the noise. Brands know this. They use celebrities in broadcast, outdoor and print to cut through the noise to the tune of $50 Billion per year worldwide.

The same applies to social media. Celebrity endorsements enable brands to stand out, whereas buying ads on Facebook and Twitter only makes brands part of the noise.

Ad.ly is simple, efficient and scalable.

1. Simple: Brands understand celebrity endorsements. It’s a $50B/year market. They like Ad.ly because it’s simpler and faster than a traditional endorsement deal, and because:

– We make it easy to test 10-50 celebrities per campaign (vs. betting the farm on one celebrity in a traditional deal),
– Campaigns go for 1-60 days (vs. 12-18 months in a traditional deal)
– They can start at $50-100k (vs. $1-2M in a traditional deal)
– They are easy to test and measure every step along the way – to see which celebrities and messages deliver the best results.

2. Efficient: After running 24,000 endorsements over the past year, we’ve optimized our celebrity network.

– We consistently deliver clicks in the $1-2 per-click range on every campaign.
– That’s less expensive than a Twitter Promoted trend and less time-consuming than buying Facebook ads.
– And endorsements from celebrities get a 5-10% CTR, which is 100x higher than a typical banner ad.

3. Scalable: If you bought the top 1,000 celebrities in our network, it would cost $1.1M/day.

We’ve already shown we can deliver $150k in a single day and we now have interest from brands at spending $500-800k in a single day.

So there is plenty of capacity.


Why, you ask? http://bit.ly/fSYKYq #TigerBloodIntern #adless than a minute ago via Ad.ly NetworkCharlie Sheen
charliesheen

 

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