joshsternberg:

I know, I know. Not a sexy topic. But…I had a lot of fun reporting this AND is actually quite important (not the story, but what the NYT is doing) for the success of the NYT.

Like many publications, The New York Times has a banner ad problem. The problem is this: the Web is littered with banners and new computer-driven methods of buying discrete audiences is putting even further pressure on the display ad market.

But unlike newfangled publications like BuzzFeed, the NYT isn’t giving up on the banner. In fact, it wants to reinvent it by giving it a heavy dose of the same tech savvy behind its recent pathbreaking interactive feature, “Snow Fall.”

Inside the NYT’s Idea Lab, a team of 10 works to save the banner ad. The lab itself is an offshoot of NYT’s R&D Lab, which was set up to come up with new technologies for storytelling. Think of the three-year-old Idea Lab as something similar, only it works with agencies and brands to help advertisers tell stories in modern, interesting ways.

Click through to read more.

joshsternberg:

I wrote about sneakers. And Tumblr. Click through to see which kicks are doing Tumblr right.

Brands are learning Tumblr. It was a rocky match at first, but they’re getting better, as we saw with the top auto brands on Tumblr. By creating compelling content — whether in the form of GIFs, images, text or video — brands can use the platform as one giant branding tool.

As part of Digiday’s ongoing look at brands on Tumblr, this week, we turn to the sneaker brands who are building footprints in the social universe. These are obvious matches for Tumblr, as they’re true passion brands that have loyal followings and tons of great imagery at their disposal.