As a recent college graduate, I’m always interested in career-related articles, like “the top-paying jobs for people in their 20s” or “the most popular majors for Generation Y.” So when I saw iMedia Connection’s list of the 5 hottest job opportunities in digital marketing, curiosity struck and I clicked.

Good news for SRDS.com users. Digital media planner made the list!

According to the article, “While the traditional media planner of yesteryear is somewhat of a one-person department (or even merely a name on a list of approved outsource vendors), the digital media planner and buyer might be part of a department in the making.”

But while digital media planner is a hot career, that doesn’t necessarily make the industry any easier to break into. Read on for 7 things you need to read to help you get the digital media planner job of your dreams.

1. What is Media Planning? – Walk before you run. Let us give you the basics on media planning. Simply put, it’s one of the four key disciplines within advertising, along with account management, brand planning and developing creative. Typically media planning is a role that falls to an outside agency, but some companies choose to keep it in-house. More >>
2. Digital Media Planning Guidelines – Last year, our friends at Milward Brown analyzed the evidence from several of their studies to create straightforward, evidenced-based guidelines for marketers who want to make the most effective use of digital media as part of an integrated campaign. It’s a must-read for any on in the online advertising space. More >>
3. 7 Best Practices for Digital Media Planning - There’s no reason to fear digital if you’ve done your homework, says Ginny Ewing, one of our in-house digital experts. Smart planning, smart targeting, as well as relevant and powerful creative are your best tools to fight the fear. More >>
4. Top 5 Marketable Skills for New Media Planners and Buyers – It’s nice to hear that digital media planner is one of the hottest jobs right now, but do you have the skills needed to land the role? We asked SRDS.com users, “What advice would you give to new graduates looking for a media job at an agency?” More >>
5. Our 40 Favorite Websites on Media, Advertising & More – When you’re in the business of loving media, staying up-to-date with industry news, tips and trends isn’t just optional, it’s a necessary obsession – and a fun one at that! Check out the favorite industry newsletters/sites of Kantar Media SRDS employees at the link.
6. Media Planning in 2013 – At the end of 2012, Jacki Premak shared her predictions for what the changing world of media planning would be like this year as well as recommendations and considerations to keep in mind. Her main takeaway: Media planning in 2013 will consist of innovations and opportunities mixed with the everyday challenges we’re all accustomed to. More >>
7. How To Find the Best Digital Advertising Opportunities - Ad pros know that time is money when you’re crafting a campaign. While Google can be great for basic information, it can be frustrating to use when you’re looking for advertising opportunities for your plan. Simply put, website ad rates are hard to find through a search engine. Find out how to easily get the right information on digital ad opportunities here.

Have a question about the role Kantar Media SRDS has in the digital advertising world? Let us know.

Ad network Jun Group understands that advertisers often have a difficult time trusting networks and publishers. That’s why it’s now offering a money-back guarantee if it delivers undesirable ad types, including pop-under ads, autoplay videos, phony impressions and ads on ghost sites.

The Jun Group campaign, “Clarity,” promises advertisers total transparency and control to see where your ads are running.

Jun Group isn’t a tiny player in the game either. The network distributes videos on premium content, apps, music/entertainment platforms and social games. Its clients include Microsoft, Allstate, Jim Bean and Cadillac. The publishers in the company’s portfolio include Disney, Forbes, Food Network and others.

According to AdWeek:

“Besides promising clients that nothing bad will happen with their ads, Jun's new pledge (100 percent viewable, 100 percent opt-in, 100 percent guaranteed) is tied to the release of a new analytics product.”

The product allows advertisers to look up where each of their ads is running or has run. It also gives them the ability to allocate their budgets toward desired sites.

Jun Group isn’t the first network to guarantee high-quality placements. In 2008, Undertone Networks began a program in which it promised advertisers a refund of up to $50,000 if ads didn’t appear on high quality digital publishers.

Undertone Networks don’t state how many of these refunds have actually been delivered, but you have to think that it must be pretty tough for an agency or advertiser to find their ad running on “poor-quality” sites. It’s not like those are the sites they visit on a daily basis or that they have the time to surf for them.

So while it’s unclear how effective these pledges and guarantees are or will be in the future, they do seem to offer some measure of clarity that’s not easy to find among many networks.

Advertisers/Marketers: Does a pledge like this make you more willing to work with an ad network?

While digging around in our archives, we spotted a first-ever pocket-sized edition of SRDS released in November 1922. Though the book is more than 90 years old, it's in pretty good shape and packed with all of the data that media buyers and planners needed on newspapers. Take a look at this blast from the past!

Here's what the up-front says:

"In this first issue of the new Standard Rate & Data Service in Pocket Size (covering newspapers only) will be ound a surprising amount of important information pertaining to the display rates of ALL daily newsappers throughout the United States and the circulation of such papers.

The study, investigation and analysis which preceded the publication of the first issue, and the exceptional care exercised in its preparation and compilation, enables us to put forth this latest accomplishment with a conviction of the greatest confidence as to its practicality, accuracy and ease of reference.

Here is a Pocket Service serving a distinct purpose--a service containing all of the vital information necessary where our more complete Portfolio size is not imperative, yet a service sufficiently abridged as to avoid bulkiness.

Reference to a few of the listings will prove more convincing than anything we might say. Notice the clean-cut typographical arrangement, the logical order in which the inforamtion is given, the style of type contrast in the names of the state, city and paper.

At a glance, you know exactly the meaning of each figure--no guess work--no confusion! The same uniformity is carried out from Alabama to Wyoming.

You'll find it a pleasure to use this handy "pocket" service and when it's in the pocket, for all its size and weight, you'll never know it's there!"

While we no longer offer pocket-editions at Kantar Media SRDS, it's pretty remarkable to see one from the roarin' 20s!

Are digital campaigns the best way to market to millennials? It sure seems like many marketers think so. If you haven’t noticed it across industry headlines, there’s been an uptick in brands committing major resources to getting in front of Generation Y digitally.

Take Coca Cola. The company just released its first-ever digital-only campaign to teens called the “The AHH Effect.” Mobile platforms are the medium of choice for the campaign with most of the content primed for quick hits, including mini-games, videos and multimedia content. There are 17 digital experiences, starting at ahh.com. Adding an “h” to the URL allows visitors to access a new experience. Going forward, Coke plans to use paid and owned media on Facebook and Twitter to encourage teens to create their own experiences for the brand. Coke will select and include 25 users experiences in the campaign.

Retailer Nordstrom is launching a campaign promoting the concept of “Youphoria,” according to the New York Times. Tactics include videos featuring young adults involved in various outdoor activities like chopping wood. Naturally, these millennials are dressed to impress in Nordstrom gear.  It’s meant to show that everyone can find an affordable style at Nordstrom that fits their character. The videos are available on YouTube and promoted via Twitter, Facebook and the Nordstrom website.

Other companies, like Budweiser, are opting to reach millennials through a product change supported digitally. The company’s newly designed bow-tie beer-can will be released this spring, hoping to take advantage of the hip fashion trend of wearing bow-ties, according to MediaBistro. The can will be marketed directly to younger beer drinkers with a multimedia campaign that spans digital, print, and TV promotions.

As these brands jump on the millennial bandwagon, they'd also be advised to study some of the brands that this generation already loves. According to iMedia Connection, these include Coachella, Nike and Pretzel Crisps.

Are you using a digital campaign to reach your target millennials?

Did you know that srds.com helps agencies and marketers keep pace with all types of Latino-targeted multimedia? Our Hispanic Media and Market Source™ print service offers everything media planners and buyers need to develop an integrated marketing campaign to communicate with this market effectively.

That’s why when we saw this just-released infographic from Scarborough, we had to share it. Based on a custom study commissioned by AHAA and AARP, the image identifies the different business opportunities within the generationally diverse Hispanic population. Specifically, it highlights how marketers and ad agencies can effectively reach Hispanic millennials, Generation Xers and Baby Boomers by recognizes cross-generational differences and cultural orientation.

Here are three interesting tidbits.

1. Hispanic consumers are more likely to travel abroad than non-Hispanics. Hispanic Baby Boomers are 22% more likely than Hispanic Millennials to travel outside the U.S.
2. Hispanic consumers are 77% more likely than non-Hispanics to plan to switch wireless providers in the next twelve months.
3. Hispanic Baby Boomers are 73% more likely than their Hispanic Millennial counterparts to have life insurance policies.

Download the full report here or take a look at top-level findings in the infographic below.

Paid search is hot and competitive market, but can you guess which retailers were the top players in 2012? AdGooroo’s new infographic offer details on last year’s top 10 spending retail categories in paid search along with the top retailers in each category by impressions.

When taken together, retailers spent over $2 billion for paid search in 2012. Amazon took the top spot among mass retailers when looking at U.S. Google Adwords impressions. That’s not too surprising considering it’s the only one on the mass retailers list that is purely digital. Target, Wal-Mart, JCPenney and Macys all have brick and mortal store-fronts.

Check out the infographic below to get a sneak peak of the paid search retail universe and then get the full report here.

Full disclosure: AdGooroo, like SRDS, is part of Kantar Media.

If the chart above is any indication, the digital music space is overflowing with options for anyone looking to stream some tunes. From music video site Vevo, to free music streaming service Songza, to the interactive Internet radio service Slacker, the digital music options are truly unlimited.

But according to Kantar Media SRDS employees, there’s a clear favorite among the pack.

Pandora is the most used Internet music service among our employees with iTunes trailing as a far second. Pandora is a top automated music recommendation service that has been around and digital for more than a decade. Its top perk is that when you listen to your favorite song or band, the site mines through its Music Genome Project database to find songs with musical similarities to your choice. Pandora offers users two subscription plans: free/ad-supported and fee-based/no ads.

Even though the online radio business is crowded, that isn’t stopping social networks and other digital companies from trying to grab some market share. Last week, Twitter made an announcement that it’s launching an iPhone app that helps users find music that's trending on Twitter and songs based on the artists/bands you follow. Whether the app will make a big splash remains to be seen, but it doesn’t look like any online radio service will top Pandora anytime soon for those working at Kantar Media SRDS.

How do you listen to music digitally?

Scarborough's newest infographic is particularly useful for digitally-minded yet location-specific media companies and marketers. Specifically, it tells the local story of how online media consumption has evolved over the past few years by identifying the top markets in key areas of online media to paint a picture of national trends.

One interesting nugget of info: Atlanta, Austin, San Francisco and Washington, DC are almost always in the top 10 for every online media activity in every year measured.

The infographic can help media and marketers narrow their focus, using layers of data to reach digital audiences and consumers more efficiently. Download the full infographic here.

Did any of the data surprise you?

We’ve added updated Scarborough Newspaper Penetration reports to the new Local Market Info link in SRDS.com. DMA Profiles & Maps will also be housed in this drop-down menu, which can be accessed by all SRDS.com users.

The reports offer valuable media planning data for local newspapers and their e-editions, including daily average reach and percent reach as well as Sunday average reach and percent reach. Log in now, explore the data and let us know what you think.

Attention Users: We made a small enhancement to SRDS.com over the weekend, combining Business classifications “Industrial Purchasing” and “Industrial Purchasing Directories & Catalogs” into a new, single class called “Purchasing.” 

We hope this consolidation makes searching easier for you and as always if you have any questions or other ideas for updates, please let us know.

We often post interesting insights from our colleagues on the healthcare research side of Kantar Media. Now the healthcare team has some big news.

They’ve just launched their own blog for media companies, marketers and agencies. Posts will focus on the latest research and insights into professional and consumer healthcare media markets.

• Insights into the media usage of consumers and healthcare professionals
• Attitudinal and behavioral findings about brands and media
• Multimedia audience measurement data and ad intelligence
• Comments on related industry news

There will also be white papers, infographics and more. Check it out now and subscribe!

Digital marketing intelligence provider AdGooroo recently announced it added search marketing intelligence data on the Yahoo! Bing Network for clients. As part of this news, the team also published a special report on the performance of Yahoo! Bing that's essential for any digital marketer.

Full disclosure: AdGooroo, like SRDS, is part of Kantar Media.

As we’ve shared before, our team always reads industry sites and newsletters to find the latest media trends, news and tips. Here are a few of the online advertising stories that caught our eyes this week. Enjoy!

What Marketers Should Know About Ad Servers – Ad servers are the tools that place advertisements on websites. Sounds simple, but the truth is that without them, the unique capabilities and precision of digital advertising might not exist. So then why do so few marketers understand how ad servers function? Over at iMedia Connection, Eric Picard, CEO of Rare Crowds, shares the basics of the all-important ad server, arguing that better decisions can be made once a marketer has a handle on how this tool works. This is a piece you’ll want to re-read and then bookmark.

Enforcer of the Online Ad Opt-Out - Genie Barton, VP and director of the Council of Better Business Bureaus' online behavioral advertising and mobile marketing initiatives, is the enforcer of the bureaus' Digital Advertising Alliance’s AdChoices program, which requires brands to place a small, triangular blue icon on their ads. When consumers click on the icon, they are sent to a page where they can choose to opt out of targeted ads. In a Q&A with Adweek, Barton discusses online privacy and ad targeting. You’ll want to read what she has to say.

Are Your Online Ads Viewable? - Ad management company DG just released its Global Benchmark Report for 2012, which pushes to make viewability the chief metric for online ads – not clicks. In order for an ad to be counted as viewable, half of its pixels have to be in view for at least one second. Their argument makes a lot of sense and is very convincing. Click here to read more and download the report.

Digital Now Makes Up Bigger Chunk of Agency Budgets - U.S. ad spending grew 4% during the first two months of 2013 vs. that same period in 2012, with digital accounting for the second-largest share of media spending. Digital made up 22% of ad agency buys, according to data from four of the six agency holding companies compiled by the Standard Media Index. Digital media buys also rose 16% during the January and February, with a 23% increase in ad networks and 12% increase in premium display.

What online advertising stories made you click this week?

Here at Kantar Media SRDS, we’re obsessed with all forms of media. That’s why this brand-new infographic from research company Scarborough caught our eye.  It’s the first in a series of analyses about the evolution of cross-platform media consumption over the past decade with data on social, traditional and digital. Here are five things we learned:

1. Social media grew 238% between 2009 and 2012.
2. 42% of U.S. adults agree the Internet is their main source of entertainment.
3. Consumption of media on traditional platforms is declining or flat, but 68% of adults still read a print newspaper.
4. In 2006, 8% of U.S. adults lived in a household that owned a smartphone. That number rose to 44% in 2012.
5. Austin, Texas, has consistently maintained its position in the top three local markets for social media usage in both 2009 and 2012.

You can view these results here or see more in the infographic below.

So who is Peter? He’s someone you’ll want to get to know because chances are, you and he have very similar challenges and opportunities.

Our global team is currently attending to Peter’s every need, putting time and energy into determining his marketing and media problems and finding solutions.

Watch this exclusive video to find out more about this mystery man!

Unlike the Super Bowl, March Madness doesn’t bring to mind classic TV commercials and millions of dollars for a 30-second spot. The focus is on brackets, betting and the fear that your team will lose in the second round.

But marketers and agencies have increasingly put their chips on the table for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, making it more of a brand promotional opportunity than ever before. Trend data from Kantar Media reveals that the tournament has actually become one of the most valuable properties in all televised sporting events for advertising.

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the report:

1. Since 2004, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament produced more than $5.9 billion in national TV ad spending from 266 different marketers. In 2012, ad revenue exceeded the $1 billion mark for the first time.
2. Digital isn’t just an add-on anymore. This year’s features will include multi-screen digital access to the tournament via PC, smartphone and tablet devices, steaming-live games and ad-sponsored videocasts. There will also be a sponsored bracket game and sponsored “Social Arena” where viewers can follow game tweets and participate in fan chats.
3. The cost to advertise in the tournament has grown over the years and always peaks in the championship game. Last year, the average price of a 30-second TV ad in the championship was $1.34 million, up 8 percent from 2011.

Click over to Kantar Media for an extensive overview of trend advertising data on March Madness.

Even though mobile has become the clear medium of choice of Millennials and many other U.S. adults, marketers and advertisers are still apprehensive about launching mobile campaigns for many reasons. They find it hard to measure ROI, there are too many choices, it’s hard to fit mobile into a cohesive digital campaign and perhaps most importantly, there’s no standardization in terms of formats and sizes.

But as we’ve said many times here at the SRDS blog, marketers and agencies must re-evaluate and transform their mobile strategy in 2013 if they want to succeed.

The good news is that Joe Laszlo, Senior Director of the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, says that the IAB is making strides to ensure that mobile will have more consistent guidelines in 2013.

If you’ve ever planned an online campaign you’ll know that the IAB Ad Unit Guidelines are essential for creating, planning, buying and selling of interactive marketing and advertising. We also recently added ad sizes and formats (IAB-standard and not) to our SRDS.com digital listings.

It’s exciting to see that the IAB is taking the next logical step in digital advertising normalization and attempting to implement standards for both video and mobile.

Last month In February, the IAB and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) released “Mobile Phone Creative Guidelines” for public comment in an attempt to streamline the development of ad units across the industry. And just this week, the IAB revealed five video ad formats that it hopes will eventually become industry standards.

That’s not to say that both initiatives won’t be a major challenge for the organization, but without a doubt the entire online advertising industry, publishers and marketers will be much better off once it’s implemented.   

Kantar Media SRDS loves media and we also love yummy treats! This year, we held our 3^rd annual Valentine’s Day Bake Sale to raise funds for UNICEF. Thanks to our employees we raised more than $600!

Employees donated delicious baked goods including a variety of gourmet-style cookies, cupcakes, brownies and pastries.  Some employees showed off their baking skills by bringing in homemade desserts such as raspberry pie, heart-shaped cakes, cherry slices, Frango Mint chocolate chip cookies, mini heart-shaped Oreo-style cookies, and even baklava! 

The lobby was full of excitement, sugar and fun on Valentine’s Day!  Employees were able to enjoy a treat for themselves, share some Valentine’s Day goodies with friends and family, and support a great cause.   

Our friends in France just put together this short and sweet video on the services that Kantar Media offers, including competitive intelligence, audience research, marketing effectiveness, digital insights, social media as well as consumer behaviors and attitudes.

Let us know what you think!

When you’re in the business of loving media, staying up-to-date with industry news, tips and trends isn’t just optional, it’s a necessary obsession – and a fun one at that!

We thought it would be interesting to poll Kantar Media SRDS employees to find out which e-newsletters and sites make their list of must-reads. While you probably already visit many of these sites, we wager there are at least a few you’ve never heard of—and we love helping you discover new sites. Give them a shot! You never know what new insights you might stumble upon.

1. AAF SmartBrief
2. Ad Age
3. Ad Exhanger
4. Adweek
5. All Things D
6. Art Sobczak's Smart Calling
7. BtoB Magazine
8. Business Insider
9. ClickZ
10. Daily Infographic
11. DM News
12. Editor & Publisher
13. eMarketer Daily
14. Emedia vitals
15. Exchangewire
16. Folio
17. GigaOM
18. HispanicAd Newsletter
19. iMedia Connection
20. I Want Media from AOL
21. Lifehacker
22. LinkedIn Today
23. Mashable
24. Mediabistro
25. Media Daily News
26. Media Life
27. MediaPost
28. MPA Magazine News
29. Multichannel magazine
30. Outsell
31. paidContent from GigaOM
32. Publishing Executive
33. RTB and RTM posts from MediaPost
34. Stack Overflow
35. Target Marketing
36. The Media Briefing
37. TVNewsCheck
38. Web Marketing Association SmartBrief
39. Wooden Horse Magazine Media News
40. TheExcelAddict.com

What other industry websites and newsletters do you read frequently?