Thursday, July 29, 2010

Consumers multitask with media and other activities on a regular basis

Understanding where and how a target audience consumes media can greatly affect your campaign.

In last week’s blog, it was explained that the Nielsen Company recently funded studies regarding consumer activities and media consumption. The Council for Research Excellence released the findings at last month’s Nielsen’s Company Consumer 360 conference.

A result of the survey disclosed that media consumption is typically used while engaging in a non-electronic activity. This multitasking most commonly is eating meals with 86% of respondents admitting to doing this. The next common activity was preparing meals at 62%. For women specifically, the percentage increased to 66%. Of the women surveyed, 57% combined household chores with media usage, and 54% mixed media with exercise, sports, and/or hobbies.
MediaPost also reports that 69% of TV viewing was done not in the presence of another person in the room. The study did show that 31% of viewing occurred in a “social setting.” Prime time and weekend afternoons were the most common dayparts for shared viewing.

Understanding where and how a target audience consumes media can greatly affect your campaign. The consumer’s environment plays a factor into the retention and attention of your ad.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

Thursday, July 22, 2010

A new study breaks out which media is consumed more right before consumers shop

If the intended result of your media message is a call to action or direct response, then it can be helpful to know what media shoppers are utilizing before such a trip.

The Nielsen Company recently funded studies regarding consumer activities and media consumption. The Council for Research Excellence released the findings at last month’s Nielsen’s Company Consumer 360 conference.

MediaPost reports that almost 62% of shoppers listened to radio an average of 14 minutes prior to shopping. In regards to television, 48% of responders watched it and 36% of that same group observed a TV commercial about 42 minutes before shopping.

The study also reviewed media consumption with mobile media preceding aforementioned excursions. Only 17% of consumers were utilizing their mobile phones during a trip. DVD viewing, mobile messaging, game playing, web usage, and the use of any other software are considered non-traditional phone activities. These only engaged 3% of a consumer’s time during a shopping experience.

If the intended result of your media message is a call to action or direct response, then it can be helpful to know what media shoppers are utilizing before such a trip.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

Thursday, July 15, 2010

2009 means record ad revenue for LGBT publications

When reviewing the economic landscape, it is important to look at not only the general overview but the smaller niche media, too.

As a general statement, the media industry saw a steep decline of advertising revenue since the economy took a downturn in 2008. Some media platforms, on the other hand, have been able to recuperate at a quicker pace than others.

According to MediaPost, the 2009 Gay Press Report was just released by Rivendell Media, and it concludes that publications for lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people had a relatively successful ad spending year. In fact, ad revenues for LGBT publications went from $308 million in 2008 to $350 million in 2009. That is a 13.6% increase. To compare, other consumer magazine ad spending decreased by 17.5% in 2009 from the previous year.

It is important to note that while the ad revenue increased for LGBT print, the actual number of ad pages sold decreased by 6.8% in a year. This can be explained that rates may have increased, or bigger and more expensive ads were purchased.

The report also mentions that while the number of gay publications increased from 130 in 2008 to 136 in 2009, there were some casualties to the recession. A few big titles closed like Genre, and a few consolidated like The Advocate and Out. These events resulted in a blanket drop in circulation for LGBT media of about 27.6% from 3.3 million in 2008 to about 2.4 million in 2009.

When reviewing the economic landscape, it is important to look at not only the general overview but the smaller niche media, too. Sometimes, those smaller groups like LGBT are on an upturn and can bring your message to an engaged target audience.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Time spent consuming media is on the rise for people 35 to 64

As more media consumption vehicles become available to consumers, some users are making room by using multiple media platforms simultaneously.

According to MediaPost, Knowledge Networks’ MultiMedia Mentor service recently released the findings on how consumers use eight key media. Results found that people between the ages of 35 and 64 had the most prominent impact from social and mobile media.

This age bracket spends nearly three more hours a day engaged in media than the general population. For example, the general population daily spends approximately 11 hours and 17 minutes consuming content from all kinds of media like computer, music/audio, television, print, movies, video games, and out of home.

For heavy social media users, they can spend daily about 13 hours and 37 minutes on various vehicles, and likewise, heavy mobile media users spend about 14 hours and 12 minutes a day. A reason for the disparity is that social and mobile media are being consumed along with television and the Internet at the same time, which creates longer time spans for total media usage.

Knowledge Networks did note differences between the general population and younger adults aged 18 to 34, but they were not as substantially different as with the older adults.

As more media consumption vehicles become available to consumers, some users are making room by using multiple media platforms simultaneously. This can give advertisers a great opportunity to reach target audiences through a united message on the various platforms.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Broadcast TV shows an uptick in first quarter revenues

As the economy gradually shows signs of an uptick, it can be helpful for an advertiser to place media sooner rather than later in order to lock in lower rates.

Since the economic recession hit advertising during the fourth quarter of 2008, total revenues have struggled to match the previous year if not decline further. Slowly, advertisers are investing more money into budgets which helps media vendors like local TV pull out of such declines.

According to MediaPost, television advertising had a healthy first quarter this year. The data that was collected by Kantar Media was first reported by the Television Bureau of Advertising.

While network revenues were up by 11%, local TV advertising scored the biggest gains with a 20% increase from first quarter 2009. This totals all broadcast TV revenues to about $18.9 billion. Syndicated television advertising marred the double digit gains of other broadcast TV media by declining 13% from 2009.

Important to note is that some of the big advertisers of first quarter 2010 include car dealer associations like Ford Motor and Toyota.

As the economy gradually shows signs of an uptick, it can be helpful for an advertiser to place media sooner rather than later in order to lock in lower rates.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...