Thursday, February 25, 2010

VeriFone becomes the dominant outdoor advertising source for New York City cabs

Media vehicles can attempt to corner the market; it is necessary to be aware of it if that happens.

In January, VeriFone Holdings announced its acquisition of Clear Channel Outdoor’s Taxi Media division. This move includes both the outside vehicle signage and digital advertising within the cabs in New York City.

VeriFone will now have a fleet of 11,500 cabs after adding in the 5,000 from Clear Channel. This places 90% of all New York City cabs under VeriFone advertising. The deal also allows the 20 Taxi Media sales reps to continue working but under the VeriFone name.

An interesting development will be seeing which TV station programming will be shown on the digital screens within the cab. VeriFone had been partnered with New York’s WABC and featured Eyewitness, News, AccuWeather, Reuters Business News, Zagat Survey content, People.com and PMbuzz.com. Clear Channel had been playing news, weather, entertainment programming, advertising, and public service announcements from NBC.

Media vehicles can attempt to corner the market; it is necessary to be aware of it if that happens. The acquirement can affect a current campaign if the advertiser was utilizing the purchased vehicle.

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, February 18, 2010

A new study shows interesting results in radio format share from diary to PPM

As more markets leave the diary form of measurement in favor of the PPM, radio station share irregularity can emerge.

The transition from Arbitron’s long used measurement of diary to the new Portable People Meter (PPM) in top rated markets has initiated many studies to document the switch. A recent study conducted by Research Director Inc. and Inside Radio has focused on the affects of PPM share measurement on radio formats.

The Center for Media Research reports that while Urban Adult Contemporary formats have the highest share of listening per PPM market, the stations have actually declined in ratings. A reason for the large share is that the top16 markets that comprised the study had a high concentration of African Americans. If the study had incorporated all top 50 markets, the share results may have been different due to different makeup of ethnicity.

Other high ranking share formats included Adult Contemporary, News/Talk, Country, Contemporary Hit Radio, and Regional Mexican. The high concentration of Hispanics in the studied markets can account for the high share the Regional Mexican format received.

As more markets leave the diary form of measurement in favor of the PPM, radio station share irregularity can emerge. It is important to remember that each market is unique and will require time to adjust.

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, February 11, 2010

Chicago Tribune trims cost by trimming the paper

Being aware of size, editorial, and style changes within a print publication can help an advertiser in being affective with the campaign.

MediaPost reports that the Chicago Tribune has recently cut 1” from the width of its newspaper. While the new page size is becoming an industry standard in the United States, the change is said to be an effort to trim the costs of the Tribune Co., which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since December 2008.

Due to the size alteration, which started on February 8th, other aspects of the newspaper have adapted. For example, several comic strips have been removed and headlines and photos have shrunk. However, it has been noted that the size of the font in the articles will not be affected.

Being aware of size, editorial, and style changes within a print publication can help an advertiser in being affective with the campaign. If the sole reason to advertise in a certain paper is due to a syndicated article or comic strip, it would be good to know if either is dropped. Also, it can be a sign to reevaluate the size of an ad. If the newspaper is getting smaller, perhaps the large 30” ad is no longer necessary and a 24” ad would have the same impact at a lower cost.

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, February 4, 2010

More viewers expected to watch the Super Bowl for the commercials

Super Bowl TV commercials can cost an advertiser millions, but is anyone paying attention to them?

As the Super Bowl approaches, talk of the commercials comes to the foreground for the industry. According to MediaPost, a new poll by Hanon McKendry, which was conducted by Harris Interactive, shows that more US adults are preparing to watch the commercials than last year.

Results from the January survey conclude that 22% of viewers who are expected to watch the game are only doing so in order to watch the commercials. Also noted is that 35% of those who watch the commercials are more likely to visit the advertiser’s website, which is a 5% increase from the 2009 poll. Social-networking is sited as a conversation platform for the aired ads. In fact, 48% of the people who will see the TV ads may use such sites to discuss them.

Commercials for the Super Bowl are a multi-million dollar commitment that most advertisers can not justify. However, as these commercials become the topic of conversations and pop culture references, it may be a gamble that some advertisers should take.

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...