Thirsty Thursdays are a great way to meet others in the interactive advertising industry, compare notes or generally unwind after an almost busy week. They occur in Auckland on the first Thursday of every month and Wellington on the last. More details for this week’s event are below:

Very interesting presentation from the European Interactive Advertising Association (www.eiaa.net). Credit where’s it’s due – I found this in APN’s newsletter (thanks guys) so apologies if you’ve already seen it.

Key findings:

1. Online ad spend continues to increase despite current economic climate
2. Advertisers diverting spend from TV and print media to online
3. Search and display set to grow substantially over the next two years
4. Advertisers recognising benefits of pan-regional online campaigns

A recent Nielsen release saw two AdHub sites feature at the top of the list for the best places online to get your brand in the hearts and minds of these people. The data had GetFrank in poll-position for the highest ranking site (by % of males aged 25 – 34) of all sites in NZ. Weddings.co.nz featured number three on the top 10 for females in the same age groups, after ohbaby and nappies.co.nz ;). 

Both sites feature unique, targeted environments to connect with these desirable audiences.GetFrank for it’s part has some fantastic large-format ad units, content integration and sponsorship opportunities for huge impact. Take a look at the current campaign running for Canadian Club for a fantastic example of what can be done in this environment. 

Weddings is an almost untapped opportunity to reach a fantastic audience of women planning, chatting and purchasing for one of the biggest events of their lives! The weddings site is fresh to most major brand campaigns in the market and has a host of integrated opportunities to associate brands in an environment rich with consumers typically spending around $20,000 on their wedding alone – not to mention gifts and associated home-wares for wives to be. With a whopping 8-minutes average time on site there is a huge opportunity to engage and beguile this audience.