The trends of Hispanic online consumerism

Understanding the trends of a target demographic can help insure that an advertisement is placed in front of the audience with the right medium.

While a broad generalization for media users is helpful, sometimes delving into a certain sector can be more so. The media company comScore recently conducted a study on online Hispanic consumers in the United States.

Reported by MediaPost, comScore’s study shows that 31% of Hispanic online consumers find enjoyment in watching online advertisements. This is compared to 19% of non-Hispanic online consumers. The enjoyment comes from entertaining and engaging ads with an underlying story. In fact, 48% of those surveyed expected online ads to be amusing; slightly behind were non-Hispanics with 39%.

A useful note for marketers is that Hispanic consumers had higher recall rates to non-Hispanics. Also, language doesn’t have to be roadblock in reaching this audience. Of those respondents, 52% prefer English as the main language, 26.1% choose bilingual, and 21.9% favored Spanish. Lastly, comScore reported that online Hispanic consumers often are younger than non-Hispanic consumers.

Understanding the trends of a target demographic can help insure that an advertisement is placed in front of the audience with the right medium. In this example, not only are Hispanic online consumers more likely to be influenced by advertising in making purchase decisions for his/her children, but overall, he/she enjoy watching online advertising.

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...

Why does it matter how college students spend money?

One lesson about the media industry is that advertisers primarily target people between the ages of 18-34. While other age demographics are desired, this is the group that receives a lot of attention. A reason explaining this lies within the Alloy Media + Marketing’s 10th Annual College Explorer Study.

According to MediaPost, the study explains that the number of people enrolling in college has increased by 6% from 2009. In fact, a steady climb over the last few decades has occurred. College students are primarily made up of people ranging from 18-34 years old.

The rise of enrollment is important in that it lends validity to the claim that discretionary spending will increase within the undergraduate population. It’s reported that college students will increase overall spending by 13% which translates from $270 billion in 2009 to $306 billion in 2010. In conjunction, the discretionary spending is thought to rise 10% to $69 billion. These figures alone show marketers how important the demographic is to a successful campaign.

Results explain that the main categories for spending were technology, entertainment, automotive, and personal-care products. However, the cell phone/PDA tier of technology actually stayed stationary. Male students tended to spend money on technology and entertainment while female students gravitated towards clothing, shoes, cell phones, and cosmetics. An interesting note is the fact that men have somewhat passed females in purchasing personal-care products.

Research results such as these reaffirm that college students have a steady grip on discretionary spending, therefore, are a front runner in determining an advertiser’s target demographic 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...

What does the public think of digital outdoor?

Advertisers can harness the positive attributes of outdoor to better relay a branding message.

As the media landscape has, in general, upgraded to digital formats, outdoor is no exception. However, unlike the radio and television switch to digital, outdoor has received harsh review and even legal objection to digital boards being built. A new study done by the Opinion Research Corporation and Strategy One contradicted the criticism in that most respondents found digital outdoor to be helpful.

According to MediaPost, 80% of those surveyed felt that digital outdoor was practical in receiving important information. This includes tips like road condition updates, emergency information and traffic advisories. In regards to advertising, 63% utilized the boards for learning about restaurants, lodging, and local attractions.

Not surprisingly, when focusing on the younger respondents, that tend to be early adopters, those percentages rose. Note that 76% of respondents did not agree with the need to ban the outdoor billboards.

On the cusp of studies revealing that digital outdoor boards do not cause traffic accidents, this study reinforces that it is a relatively welcome and safe medium. Advertisers can harness the positive attributes of outdoor to better relay a branding message.

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...

Can a TV ad be too creative?

While it can be tempting to produce a highly creative campaign, please keep in mind that if the audience doesn’t understand it, it is a very expensive waste.

Television has been around for decades. Likewise, TV commercials have been around vying for Americans’ attention. With that competitive spirit, sometimes the message gets lost in the shuffle of glossy creativity or just the congestion of other ads, and that leaves consumers confused.

According to MediaPost, Adweek and the Harris Poll worked together questioning TV advertising comprehension. Results showed that roughly 75% of Americans found at some point a commercial perplexing. More specifically, 21% of those polled felt that ads regularly lack clearness. In contrast, 55% say that he/she is not typically puzzled, and 14% never is confused with ads.

The poll also found that the percentage of confusion differentiated among age groups. In fact, about 30% of TV viewers that are 55 years old or older found commercials unclear. One can assume that the younger the audience, the higher the comprehension; the age bracket that had the best grasp, with 13% admitting misunderstanding, were people between the ages of 35 to 44.

While it can be tempting to produce a highly creative campaign, keep in mind that if the audience doesn’t understand it, it is a very expensive waste. The message must be clear to be effective. Just remember, clear messaging is not a synonym for boring.

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...

How consumers are saving millions

Digital couponing is an effective tool during times where people are looking for a price break.

The economy took a nosedive in fall 2008. As a reaction to the unstable financial landscape, Americans looked to alternative means to save money. One immediate source was utilizing coupons. As the digital age advances, so does its affect on traditional media. Coupons are now in print, online and mobile forms.

According to the Center for Media Research, the coupon aggregator RetailMeNot explained that consumers, who use coupons, have saved roughly $57.4 million dollars on planned purchases between January and June 2010. The average savings for an online coupon is $29 and $5 for each downloadable one.

In fact, during the first six months of 2010 a total number of 1,663,836 printable coupons were downloaded for future use. In addition, there were approximately 80.25 million users accessing coupon websites, which is a 49% increase from the amount of users between the same timeframe in 2009.

Digital couponing is an effective tool during times where people are looking for a price break. Advertisers can employ this knowledge by putting the product/service in front of the targeted demographic. It can be an excellent opportunity to continue and maintain branding.


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...

A new study denotes where Americans seek out the news

The question of whether or not to run advertising in newspapers or its online counterpart is a loaded one.

As the Internet continues to establish a place within traditional media, it raises the question does the Internet take readership from traditional news print platforms? According to MediaPost, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press recently surveyed Americans to record where people are getting his/her news information.

The survey showed that the percentage of people getting it from the newspaper has declined 32% in approximately four years.

It was reported that 44% of those surveyed admitted to getting news from the Internet platforms like email, social networks, podcasts, or mobile devices each day. In comparison, only 39% of the respondents got it from cable TV news programming.

While the number of people going online for news has steadily increased over the years, from 9% in 2006 to 17% in 2010, searching it out is not on the rise. Combining the traditional print and the digital complement, the percentage of Americans seeking out news has gradually fallen over the past few years from 43% in 2006 to 37% in 2010.

The question of whether or not to run advertising in newspapers or its online counterpart is a loaded one. The target demographic is vital. Typically, newsprint skews to an older audience, etc. Overall, having a presence in news related material is still strongly recommended.

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...

Out-of-home advertising finds new outlets for refreshed concepts

As digital out-of-home advertising expands to other platforms, it is important to keep updated with the advances and exposure it can procure.

With the 3-D craze being incorporated in multiple media platforms like theatre, television, and sometimes print, it is now entering the out-of-home platform. Public Media Works, EntertainmentXpress and Modular Conversions are three companies working together to bring 3D displays up to 7,000 convenience stores nationally.

MediaPost reports that these 3D displays, which do not require the use of 3D glasses, will enter the first phase on the West Coast. Approximately 1,500 retail and gas station locations will not only allow the kiosks but will also provide some of the necessary financing.

The gas station platform has been specifically targeted as a prime location for the new kiosk because it has grown in popularity with other digital out-of-home media. For example, Pumptop TV, Gas Station TV, and Outcast have all become fixtures on the convenience store network. It has been estimated that total ad spending on digital out-of-home networks will increase from $2.47 billion in 2009 to $3.8 billion in 2014.

As digital out-of-home advertising expands to other platforms, it is important to keep updated with the advances and exposure it can procure. Be aware of the product or service you are looking to advertise and make sure that using this platform makes sense. If using it just because it is ‘new’ is the reason, it may not be beneficial to the overall campaign.

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...