Outdoor advertising revenue sets a steady climb

As advertising spending continues a steady growth, it can be a benchmark in America’s return to a healthy economy.

Out-of-home advertising has steadily recovered from the recent economic downturn. Reported by MediaPost, the first quarter of 2011 marks the fourth quarter in a row in which the out-of-home advertising industry has posted growth in revenue.

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America attributes the consistent increase with a few causes. The first being that some industry categories have spent more like financial, media & advertising, and communications. Also, some categories have stepped up spending like educational institutions. That alone jumped 21.1% in spending from 2010 to $59 million.

The second reason behind the growth is the transition into digital advertising. Digital billboards and other out-of-home displays are vastly expanding and replacing, in some cases, traditional forms. This move has allowed outdoor companies to charge advertisers by dayparts, which can lead to more revenue.

As advertising spending continues a steady growth, it can be a benchmark in America

’s return to a healthy economy.

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...

The New York Times does a throwback to the newsreels of cinema

It can be easy to forget outdated or unused forms of media when the world is constantly releasing new ones.

In our society, we typically look for the “Next Big Thing;” whether that is in music, television, or technology, we anticipate constant change. Sometimes, old ideas are reintroduced as new much like with The New York Times (NYT) preshow for movie theaters.

According to mediabistro.com, the NYT is starting a new program called “Times in Cinema.” This will run in certain independent movie theaters. The show will be about ten minutes long and will cover topics like lifestyle, arts and travel. Material for the show will be derived from the archives of the NYT.

Once this information was released, some compared the move to the pre-TV era newsreels. While the intention behind the newsreels of the 1930s and 1940s was to update people on current events, this adapted rendition is more to put the NYT product in front of its readers.

It can be easy to forget outdated or unused forms of media when the world is constantly releasing new ones. However, sometimes going back to the basics can help an advertiser reintroduce its product or service to the 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...

The “cloud”- what is it?

While this may be the new way to consolidate people’s technical devices, it appears that not enough consumers are knowledgeable of its benefits.

When the Microsoft 7 TV commercials come on discussing the “cloud,” some may not know what this product is about. GfK Business & Technology conducted an online survey to find out how much the average consumer knows.

The “cloud” refers to cloud computing which is a way to utilize online applications and services that run on servers connected to the Internet. These servers do not require the user to maintain or support it, which can make it consumer-friendly. This technology enables people to link their data from multiple devices like laptops, cell phones and tablet computers.

According to the Center for Media Research, the study found that nearly half of those surveyed were conscious of the “cloud.” However, only 9% reported that they understood what it did. In contrast, 62% responded that they either didn’t know about it or did not understand it.

Data also shows that people who are interested in using this technology skew younger between the ages of 18 and 35. While older age groups are interested, these groups are by far less invested than the younger groups.

While this may be the new way to consolidate people’s technical devices, it appears that not enough consumers are knowledgeable of its benefits. This can create an issue with obtaining new users.

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...

Who watches time-shifted TV the most?

Overall, Nielsen was able to conclude that due to DVR usage, a typical American TV viewer increased time watched by about 18 minutes from the previous year.

With the advancement of media consumption technology on a continuous cycle, it begs the question; do audiences consume more media with these enhancements? The Nielsen Company recently released a report “State of Media” which examined such technology.

According to MediaPost, the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) was one of the subjects of the report. Nielsen found that the most common DVR users are people between 25-64 years old. In fact, during the fourth quarter of 2010, about 30 hours of time-shifted television were viewed by that demographic. To break it down, this is the percentage of total monthly television viewing that was time-shifted.

w Persons 25-34: 22%

w Persons 35-49: 19%

w Persons 50-64: 16%

Younger demographics like 12-17-year-old viewers and 18-24-year-old viewers only watched about 18 and 19 hours of time-shifted TV per month respectively.

Overall, Nielsen was able to conclude that due to DVR usage, a typical American TV viewer increased time watched by about 18 minutes from the previous year. An advertiser can utilize this information to better target an audience. For example, if the primary target audience is a person who is 33 years old, an advertiser can make sure the commercial shows the logo at a longer length of time onscreen. Therefore, when that person is fast-forwarding through commercials, the advertiser’s logo still gets exposure.

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 is the local radio advertising growth forecast?

While a steady growth is promising, it is still important to note that advertising revenues have a steep climb ahead to match the peaks of the past.

Typically, when you read of advertising revenue growth, it is not reporting the local level but rather the national. Recently, the local media and advising experts BIA/Kelsey reported its forecast of local radio revenue trends for the next few years.

The fiscal year 2010 showed a healthy growth in local radio advertising revenue. MediaPost reports an increase from $13.4 billion in 2009 to $14.1 billion in 2010, which is a 5.4% climb. Some additional advertising weight came in the form of political spending. This spending will not be applicable in 2011, but it will be back for 2012.

BIA/Kelsey’s predicts that local radio will grow 3.7% in 2011, 4.5% in 2012, 3.8% in 2013, 4.8% in 2014, and 4.7% in 2015. While it appears that spending is on track to rebound from the 2008 financial recession in a short amount of time that is not the case. In fact, 2015 will mark the first fiscal year that will match the revenue levels at the height in 2007. Even then, 2015 will not reach the levels that were met in 2006.

While a steady growth is promising, it is still important to note that advertising revenues have a steep climb ahead to match the peaks of the past.

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...

The constant need to communicate

Printed newspapers may not be the new form of obtaining information; however, there will always be a need for it.

Since the beginning of time people have yearned to communicate. From cave drawings to Twitter, the evolution of expression shows no sign of slowing down. However, with newer inventions such as the Internet, people fear that other forms will become archaic like newspaper. Recent events in Japan have created a counterargument.

Estimated to be the worst in Japan’s history, an earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. A tsunami soon followed. One of the results of these natural disasters being that the power was knocked out in many areas. One city in particular was Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture.

Because of the power outage, Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun’s, the local newspaper, employees had no technological way to inform the locals of news and safety information. Instead, they wrote newspapers by hand.

According to Newseum, reporters wrote their stories on poster-size paper and posted them at the entrances of relief centers. The first handwritten newspaper was published on March 12^th, and by March 18^th, the newspaper was able to distribute printed editions once again.

Printed newspapers may not be the new form of obtaining information; however, there will always be a need for it.

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...

Do people use mobile apps for local information?

Knowing how people seek out information can be critical for a successful campaign.

Mobile applications, or apps for short, have increasingly become widely known and acquired by smartphone users. A new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism, in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation looked into how people utilize smartphones and apps.

According to MediaPost, almost half of adult Americans surveyed accessed some form of local news and other information on his/her cell phone or tablet computer. By comparison, only 10% of those surveyed utilized local news apps to get information. Within that 10%, only 1% of users paid for those apps.

The common type of local information that users sought out was related to weather updates, restaurant and local business information, traffic and transportation, etc. Predominately, it was the weather updates that garnered the most engagement with 42%.

Knowing how people seek out information can be critical for a successful campaign. With the information above, advertisers can gather that apps may not be the best use budgetary funds if they are advertising a local business. Investing in mobile advertising on local sites may be a more cost effective option and maximize reach to the 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...