In an economy where media outlets are struggling, it is important for your company to be aware of the state each medium is in. If a publication, in which you want to run a campaign, is hurting in advertising sales, then it may be the perfect opportunity to lock in low rates for the rest of the year.
In a year where ad pages have declined in magazines, July is no different; however, there is reason for the industry to have an optimistic view. According to MediaPost News, MIN Online did a recent ad page count for the July issues of monthly magazines and found that there is a decline of about 20% compared to last July.
Publishers view this outcome as a sign that the decline is lessening and may soon level out. This response is due to the fact that the decline percentage from past months has been much higher. For example, total ad pages fell 26% in February and 22% in June.
While some publications have had huge declines in ad pages for July, like Town & Country with a 60% decline, about 17% of the 160 publications polled have not posted declines in July.
When considering new social media platform that appears to have a vast following, be aware that the vast following may not be depending on that platform for purchase decision information.
Knowledge Networks released new report on the influence of social media on purchasing decisions.
It found on average, 83% of the Internet population* is involved in social media. Even though 47% of the populace visits social media sites weekly, the report found that less than 5% use the sites for aide in purchase decisions in nine specific product/service categories. These categories were distinguished as Travel, Banks, Clothes, Eating out, Cell phones, Personal care products, Cars, Groceries, and Prescriptions or OTC drugs. The highest ranked category was Travel with 4% of the respondents admitting to regularly turning to social media for assistance.
Among those who participated, only 16% of users say they are more willing to make a purchase from a company that has advertised on social sites.
* A population is defined as people between the ages of 13 to 54.
In a media-gorged society, it is difficult to fully engage people’s attention. In a dark theatre where a giant screen is the dominant focal point, your advertisement can truly compete for the target audience’s full attention.
According to MediaPost, cinema advertising company ScreenVision commissioned a study by NewMediaMetrics. This study was to rank the assorted media by the amount of “emotional attachment” each created with the audience in regards to an advertisement. Results showed that cinema advertising had the highest level of “emotional attachment” for products advertised.
“Emotional attachment” was found to be 25% higher in cinema advertising than TV advertising in people who often shop at JCPenney’s. In addition, people who have shopped for electronics in the last six months were 45% more emotionally attached to cinema ads than the other 16 out-of-home advertising subcategories.
If debating about including theatre advertising in an overall media plan, movie attendance is higher during the summer months and the fourth quarter holiday season. Theatre advertising can also be geographically targeted to reach the best customer prospects.
When considering a new media platform that appears to have a huge chunk of the market, make sure that all sides of the point have been reviewed. Percentages and budget growths can be misleading without looking at the overall picture.
A research study was conducted by Ball State University and Sequent Partners and funded by Nielsen. It proves that the number of Americans using online video sites has climbed 339% since 2003. In the last year, the number of streams grew 41%, unique viewers of online video grew 10%, and the total minutes engaged with online video grew by 71%. With 87% more online social media users now than in 2003, an estimated 883% more time has been devoted to online video. The US market has an approximated 32% growth of advertising budgets for online video.
Online video can appear exponentially dominating compared to the lack of growth in other media; however, that data can be misleading without the supporting facts. Other reports have proven that traditional television still accounts for 99% of all video consumption. With the average person watching about 8.5 hours on some kind of screen, online video only is credited for 2.4 minutes of that time.
When considering cable as a possible medium for your campaign, think about your audience and what is being watched. Be aware of what films have generated big box office success and what following they generate; it may be a helpful tool in navigating which cable networks to pursue.
Cable networks are already in bidding wars to solidify the rights to 2009 summer’s biggest movie blockbusters. The three major cable movie buyers are considered to be Turner, USA, and FX. It was confirmed Monday that FX has received a standard four-year movie license for “Star Trek,” which means that FX could pay Paramount about $24 million for the deal. “Star Trek” is slated to appear on FX in time for the 2011 holiday season.
FX has acquired other blockbusters from this season to appear on the network. Some include “Monsters vs. Aliens” and “Wolverine.” The network also has the rights to “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” which has been speculated to be a blockbuster.
Earlier this year, FX secured the rights to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Cloverfield” and “Tropic Thunder.”
On July 16, the following markets are scheduled to convert from Diary to PPM estimates as the buy-sell currency: Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle-Tacoma.
Although PPM pre-currency data are available for this market, Diary data remain the ratings currency until July 16. Buyers and sellers of radio advertising must base their transactions on Winter 2009 or earlier Diary data until July 16.
Currently, PPM Currency data is available in the following markets (Per the Spring 2009 Book): Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Detroit, Houston-Galveston, Los Angeles, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, Middlesex-Somerset-Union, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island), New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Diego, San Fransico, San Jose, Seattle-Tacoma, Washington, DC
An expansion in it’s mid-tier local market service was announced by Scarborough Research today. With the addition of 17 new markets, Scarborough (a joint venture between Nielsen and Arbitron) will now be providing custom local market qualitative studies in 36 mid-tier markets. Some of the new markets include Bryan-College Station, TX; Charleston, SC; Joplin-Pittsburg, MO; Lincoln, NE; Peoria, IL; Youngstown, OH.
Included in this data will be retail patterns, lifestyles, demographics, and multimedia usage. Scarborough will begin to release the first data to clients next month.
Senior Director of Custom Research Kim Main stated, “In a down economy, local market research becomes even more critical. It can help marketers and media professionals fine-tune their strategies and better focus efforts in order to realize greater efficiencies for their marketing and advertising programs.”
