Research company and social media giant join together to create a new ratings service

Communicating is an innate characteristic of being human. With the introduction of social media networking, we have been able to reach out to more people instantly than ever before. Conversations that would have taken place in the office or over the phone to discuss last night’s TV show are now on statuses, posts, tweets, etc. In order for advertisers to stay current, The Nielsen Company and Twitter have joined forces to create a rating system to measure social TV activity.

According to MediaPost and AdvertisingAge, the new social media TV rating service will be called The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating. It will measure the total audience for social TV activity on Twitter exclusively. With the rating service, it will include both the people who comment on TV programming and others who have been exposed to the comments.

It’s reported that Twitter currently has 140 million active users which equates to about one billion tweets every two-and-a-half days.

Industry professionals are hoping that this could establish a stable metric that can help define how social activity and television work together. As a result, better marketing efforts can be placed to create stronger programming. 

2012 Cyber Monday reaches record high and what advertisers can learn from it

We are in the midst of the expensive holiday season. Between setting up budgets for the next fiscal year, finalizing the accounting books for this year, shopping for presents for family, friends, clients, co-workers and trying to make it home on time, it can get hectic for consumers and advertisers alike. A part of our job that never rests is research. In that, it enables us to know what is going on in the media landscape and gives us the foresight to create the best possible media plan. That being said, reports have been released in regards to this year’s Cyber Monday.

According to eMarketer, comScore reports that ecommerce sales on Cyber Monday have consistently grown over the past seven years.

§       2006: $608 million

§       2007: $733 million (a 21% increase)

§       2008: $846 million (a 15% increase)

§       2009: $887 million (a 5% increase)

§       2010: $1.03 billion (a 16% increase)

§       2011: $1.25 billion (a 22% increase)

§       2012: $1.47 billion (a 17% increase)

eMarketer has predicted that the 2012 holiday season online spending is going to reach approximately $54.47 billion, which is about a quarter of the year’s forecasted US retail ecommerce sales.

What does this mean for advertisers? If you are in the retail category, it means that a good behavioral targeting online campaign during November and December could be very lucrative for your return on investment. If you are in a different business category, like healthcare, you may experience smaller inventory selections and slower traffic. If that does happen to you, take heart and remember that inventory will likely be more readily available in January. The bottom line is know your audience and the trends in order to make the most of your advertising investment.  

Research helps B2B advertisers with email blast subject lines

As an advertiser, have you debated how to start out a subject line in an email blast? Is it too long, too short, just right? How is one to know? Luckily, if you are in the business to business (B2B) industry, some new research by Adestra can shed a little light on your dilemma.

Reported by the Center for Media Research, Adestra found that subject lines that are either less than 30 characters or more than 90 characters produced the best results. Email blast subject lines that fell between that area were classified as the “dead zone.” Apparently, the shorter subject lines produce premium results for transactional or direct-response type emails. These lines also proved to have higher engagement with readers. The longer lines worked best for emails that were more information-based in that it could better communicate benefits of the advertiser.

Also researched was personalized subject lines and how users relate to them. While they do have an immediate engagement, it can be just as quickly lost if the email content is not personalized.

Overall, advertisers can not expect a cookie cutter email blast to work. Experimenting with subject lines and personalization of content will enable advertisers to know what works best for the target audience.

Cable news networks see audience increase in November

With this being an election year, it comes as no surprise that cable networks were affected by the coverage. According to MediaPost, some cable news networks saw a boost in viewership during the month of November. Regardless of the spike, ESPN still maintained overall dominance.

ESPN averaged 3 million viewers during prime time in the month of November; however, this is down approximately 16% from November 2011. Coming in second for viewership was the USA Network at 2.6 million, which is down 16% from last year as well. Fox News came in at third for 2.5 million.

The cable news networks had the following gains throughout the political season:

§       Fox News: 2.5 million viewers: 46% gain

§       MSNBC: 1.3 million viewers: 75% gain

§       CNN: 1.1 million viewers: 63% gain

It will be interesting to see in the upcoming months if the news networks can hold onto the increased viewership or if it will go away now that the election is completed.

Some consumers believe content marketing to be misleading

One of the hardest things about planning advertising is how to make sure your message is in front of the right people at the right time and at the right amount of frequency. Otherwise, you may miss your target audience completely or worse, annoy them. Focusing on social media, how are advertisers supposed to reach an audience without being deceptive which can lead to negative brand views?

A recent study conducted by MediaBrix found that US internet users think some online content marketing misleading and in turn, off-putting. eMarketer reports that about 86% of those polled believed online videos to be content but were actually sponsored ads. It was reported that 85% of those misled by the sponsored ads either thought of the brand negatively or it had no change of opinion.

Looking at Facebook (57%) and Twitter (45%), users felt that sponsored stories and promoted Tweets were misrepresented to be content.

In general, people do not like to feel as though they have been duped. Therefore, it’s critical for advertisers to really evaluate the best way to present messaging in an honest way that will bolster brand loyalty. Social media is definitely a large part to marketing now; advertisers must be mindful of how it’s utilized.

Mobile ads may have fallen victim to "fat fingers"

If you have been in the media industry in the last five years, you will know that mobile advertising has grown leaps and bounds. While it’s been available for quite some time, it has recently trickled down to local advertiser budgets. There are many advantages to this kind of vehicle; however, research is beginning to prove that advertisers must be realistic with the results of a campaign. Click through rates (CTR) may be padded by “fat fingers.”

The theory is that people accidentally click on a mobile ad without intending to navigate to that page, which has coined the term “fat fingers.” According to eMarketer, the company GoldSpot Media recently did some research to learn whether or not the theory is true.

Initial results showed that 38% of clicks on static ads and 13% of clicks on rich media mobile ads were unintentional. The process for this was to evaluate actions after a click was made. If a user stayed on the website for more than two seconds, then it counted as an intended click. Conversely, if a user bounced out of the site less than two seconds after the click, it was deemed “fat fingers” and removed from the CTR results.

From this, the company devalued the rich media CTRs from 4% to about 2%. Likewise, static media CTRs went from 3.1% to 1.1%.

While this may affect how advertisers value the CTRs of mobile ads, it should still be known that even devalued mobile results are significantly higher than computer desktop CTRs.

Consumers explain how much trust lays with advertisements

In all honesty, do you trust every advertisement you see? You are in the industry, so your perspective may be a bit skewed. What do consumers think?

According to MediaPost, Nielsen conducted a study to see how respondents trusted media. Overall, the advertising landscape, which consumers define as “Don’t Trust Much/At All” measures up as follows:

§       71%: Text ads on mobile phones

§       64%: Online banner ads

§       64%: Ads on search engine results

§       60%: Product placements on television

§       58%: Ads on the radio

§       53%: Ads in magazines

§       53%: Ads on television

Interesting to point out that the traditional media maintained a better ratio of trustworthiness vs. untrustworthiness compared to digital media.

While this seems bleak for advertisers, research had this to show for consumers trusting an ad:

§       92%: People I know information

§       70%: Consumers opinion

Nielsen made the point that advertising campaigns that had a social component did perform better in the trust scale. It does make sense in that if a product is positively received by a friend of the consumer, he/she may be more likely to try it out. It was recommended to combine a few media vehicles in order to bolster trust from consumers. 

Do people multi-task when listening to internet radio?

If someone logs into an internet radio station, will he/she multi-task while listening? Or will his/her attention solely be on radio? Parks Associates on behalf of TargetSpot recently conducted a study to see how internet radio listeners spend his/her time when he/she is tuned in.

According to MediaPost, the vast majority of listeners are multi-tasking. Of those listening, he/she tends to do the following at the same time:

§       57% make a purchase online

§       56% research products/services for future purchases

§       60% are on social media networks

An interesting aspect of the results shows listeners views on advertising:

§       59% like to get coupons and offers from advertisers

§       55% don’t mind listening to ads in order to keep the station free

What can advertisers take from this? If moving forward with an online radio station, make sure the product/service website is prevalent. That way, it can help encourage listeners to research and possibly make a purchase. Also, it may be helpful to include a promotional offer vs. a straight branding initiative. 

Can anyone advertise on an arena jumbo screen?

For years, sports stadiums have had sponsors and advertisements all over the venue. While LED boards and jumbo HD screens used to be exclusively for team sponsors that has recently changed.

InStadium is a sports venue network company that helps advertisers get messaging into stadiums without being an official sponsor. According to MediaPost, this change can be attributed to teams needing to create new revenue streams.

The media company has partnered with about 480 NBA, MLB, NFL and NCAA teams. Advertisers can expect a ten-second PA announcement to encourage fans to look at the jumbo screens, a 30-second video, and digital crowd rings. All three components are set up to complement each other.

How does this help advertisers? This will enable those who are not team sponsors reach a large and engaged crowd.

Live tweets on a print ad?

Research has proved to advertisers for years that a media mix is one of the most successful ways in creating a strong campaign. Would combining multiple media in one platform make the campaign even stronger?

The CW Television Network recently combined print and social media in a branding effort. According to Mashable Business, the network created a print insert with a small LCD screen in the center. The screen looped a short video and followed up with the most current six tweets from @CW_Network. Approximately 1,000 ads were inserted in Entertainment Weekly in Los Angeles and New York.

The intention was to align the network digitally; therefore, the Twitter feed was monitored to see how often the CW’s tweets were retweeted. Fans could retweet in hopes of making it onto the ad.

This is the first print ad to have a live Twitter feed, and it could lead to more integrated ads in the near future.

Is there a magic length for effective online video ads?

For advertisers, we are constantly looking for new ways to reach the consumers in an unobtrusive way that is still engaging. Once a media platform is decided, the next step is to figure out how best to present the product/service to the audience.

For example, let’s take video pre-roll ads. Advertisers can buy various time lengths in hopes of informing the consumer and encouraging a call to action. But, is there a key time length that all advertisers must abide by?

The Center for Media Research released information on a study conducted by Jun Group. The study focused on how users react to the pre-roll video content. A highlight is that video completion varies with the length of the ad. A :15 spot had a 99% completion rate, :30 had 98%, :60 had 92%, :90 had 90%, and 2 minutes+ had 87% completion.

Even though the completion rate was higher with :15 ads, the consumer engagement was lower than a video between :30 and :60 seconds. In fact, the interactive level was about the same for both the :15 and :60 - :120 category. Engagement levels were also higher with the 55+ age demographic. Interestingly enough, the 18-34 category was the least likely to engage in video content.

What can advertisers take away from this? First of all, the thought that :15 spots are the absolute best length isn’t entirely true. While it has a highest completion rate, the engagement isn’t. Advertisers must strike a balance between who the consumer is, where they are viewing online video content, what the creative message is, and how long it takes to get the message across effectively.

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...

Cable subscribers tend to watch more TV than non-subscribers

With the new generation of media consumers becoming more accustomed to watching video content on devices other than a television, what does that mean for video consumption?

According to eMarketer, Altman Vilandrie & Company conducted research on US cable subscribers and non-subscribers and how they view video content. It was found that about the same amount of subscribers and non-subscribers use online video subscription services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc. For example, 38% of people with cable and 39% of people without cable had Netflix.

The difference between the two groups is the amount of video viewed. While cable non-subscribers watch TV approximately 29.3 hours a month across a variety of devices like TV, PC, tablet and mobile, cable subscribers consume 59.5 hours a month.

Therefore, both groups are watching video content on the same kind of devices, however, cable subscribers tend to watch more.  

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...

Is your typeface distracting drivers?

Any graphic designer has been taught that different typefaces appeal to different emotions, personalities, and can mean different things. For example, a serif font is better when writing a lot of copy. The little tails on the letters flow together and make it easier on the eye to read. The media industry has been looking into typeface to see if different kinds can help reduce distraction for drivers while in a vehicle.

According to MediaPost, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab, the New England University Transportation Center and Monotype Imaging Holdings recently conducted a study in order to find safer designs for in-car media devices. Eighty-two people between the ages of 36-75 were monitored while utilizing an in-car device in a driving simulator. The researchers were primarily focused on eye-tracking measurements.

Results showed that hard-to-read typefaces create more distraction. Overall, technical typefaces tend to reduce glance time. Do note that the space between the letters also aid in readability. For example, the popular technical-styled font Eurostile is tightly spaced and difficult to read.

Changing up typefaces can translate to less time not looking at the road and more alert drivers.

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 media has the majority of audience prior to shopping?

A new study performed by Arbitron and MBI Touchpoints confirmed that radio is still a valid media in reaching people prior to peak shopping hours.

According to MediaPost, the study, “Where Radio Fits: Radio’s Strengths in the Media Landscape” was conducted from October 2010 – March 2011 and August 2011 – January 2012 and observed the media consumption of adults 18-64.

Findings show that broadcast radio reaches 31% of adults 25-54 about an hour prior to peak shopping. This peak period is from about 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. in the afternoon. This percentage means that radio has the largest reach of the pre-shopping audience among all media platforms.

This does make sense because a lot of people own cars with radios and will drive his or herself to go shopping. Therefore, it is more likely that the last media a consumer views/reads/hears is radio between leaving a car and going in to shop.

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...

Young Hispanics' media use differs by gender

We all know that women and men view the world differently, and a new study confirms that even the way that they utilize media can differ.

According to new Experian Simmons data, Hispanic females between the ages of 18-29 are more likely then their male counterparts to post or comment on social media sites. They are also more inclined to click on other people’s posts, at 29%  versus 22% of young Hispanic males and the connections are going both ways – 31% of females in the same age group said that they frequently receive requests to connect in social media platforms, compared to males at 26%.

Young Hispanic males (28% to be exact) would also rather play the newest video game than find a TV show to watch, compared to 9% of young Hispanic females saying the same thing.

This information shows advertisers that there is a better opportunity in reaching a female audience with social media. In turn, advertisers may have to look at in-game advertising to reach the male 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...

TV Network does an advanced screening with a green twist

The new fall television season is underway, and that leaves networks with the responsibility of launching the new hit shows of the season. NBC chose to do an advanced screening of the drama “Revolution” in New York City’s Hudson River Park Pier 57. What made it different than a normal screening? It was powered by cyclists.

According to MediaPost, NBC teamed up with the public advocacy group Transportation Alternatives to create this “Powered by the People” promotion in which 80 cyclists generated the necessary power. Guests were invited to try out the specially created bikes.

The alternative power source circles back to the underlying theme of the show in which people must acclimate to a green lifestyle when the world’s electricity goes off.

In order to keep the momentum going, NBC has created a Facebook contest. Users can vote on other cities to host an advanced screening of the show. By going viral, this promotion can help word of mouth of the show.  

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...

Majority of social and mobile users prefer ad-supported apps and games

Advertisers have been keeping an eye on social media and mobile habits of consumers in the last few years. Recently, a study conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of MediaBrix breaks down how users choose to view ads on both platforms.

According to the Center for Media Research, the majority of people polled preferred ad units that are immersive and integrated rather than standard. Immersive and integrated means that the ads interact with users with virtual rewards/currency or video ads and typically run during a natural break in the game or app.

Results show that 37% of Facebook app users and 38% of smartphone app users prefer pre-roll video ads prior to the app launching, while 63% of Facebook and 62% of smartphone users wish to initiate the video ad or have it run during a break in the app or game.

Another finding is that users are in favor of ad supported apps and games in order to keep them free. Only 13% of Facebook app users and 39% of smartphone app users wish to pay in order to keep the apps or games advertising free.

Overall, advertisers can pull out the fact that users are open to advertising in the media they consume. However, standard ads are not going to be as well-received as an interactive 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...

Research shows key elements to memorable TV ads

There is stiff competition to stand out amongst other advertisers. In order to do so, it is helpful to know what are the most effective kinds of ads.

According to MediaPost, the Nielsen TV Brand Effect Service has done research into discovering what tests well with audiences.

Research shows that there are approximately five common characteristics that are considered successful. This is based on the viewer recall of the ad. One characteristic is “audience-appropriate humor,” while another is relatability. Nielsen explains that it is easier for a viewer to remember a TV ad if they can relate to the content and personalize it to his/her life. This can lead to an emotional connection with the product/service in the ad.

Nielsen recommends producing ads that have a “simple and upbeat storyline” as these are the ones that outshine the competitors.

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...

2012 shows 133 magazine launches thus far

Being in the media industry, it is common knowledge that vendors come and go whether it be print, online, radio, outdoor, TV, etc. Advertisers are obligated to know what is available for clients at all times.

The online database for U.S. and Canadian print publications MediaFinder.com recently released the number of magazines launched and closed during the first half of 2012.

MediaPost reports that 133 magazines were launched between January and June of 2012. Findings show that a good number of new titles fell into the “food” and “regional interest” categories. For example, Louisiana Kitchen launched.

Another 48 titles were shut down. According to the reports, the number shut down is on a decline. Between January and June of 2011, 74 magazines closed.

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...

Teenagers were watching the Olympics

The XXX Summer Olympics played out in London this summer. While the world was watching the games, the United States’ teens also got involved in the spectacle.

According to MediaPost, NBC saw a large growth in teen viewers during these Olympics. After the first week of the games, the whole 12-17 demographic had an increase of 29% from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

More specifically, the female 12-17 demographic had a 54% spike compared to 2008. To put it into context, the number one prime-time program for females 12-17 is FOX’s “Glee.” The Olympics scored ratings that were 89% higher than the hour-long program.

Some reason this growth comes from the successful performance of the women’s gymnastics team in which all members are teenagers.

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...

Pinterest is gaining ground

Amid social media powerhouses like Twitter and Facebook, another has come into the spotlight recently. New research reports that Pinterest has begun to impact the time spent on other social media.

According to the Center for Media Research, Compete’s Online Shopper Intelligence Survey shows that about one in four users are spending less time on other social media in order to spend time on Pinterest. Apparently, Facebook has seen a 3% decline in time spent in the month of June. About 39% of social media users have adjusted how he/she uses social networking because of Pinterest.

Over the last year, Pinterest has grown from 700,000 unique monthly visitors to 20 million. Part of the growth is gaining an audience that otherwise is not on social media at all. Approximately 15% of Pinterest users claim to not use any other social media.

The social site has also influenced purchase behavior among users, who purchased a product/service after seeing it on Pinterest. About 25% of respondents fell into this group.

Overall, it behooves advertisers to know what their audience is doing in their spare time.

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...

Americans spend how much time in a car?

Out of home media is the general term that encompasses every message a person sees or hears while not in his/her home. Arbitron has some statistics that can be helpful for advertisers in choosing media vehicles.

Fact one, the average American traveled 306 miles in a vehicle of some kind in the past week.

Fact two, 46 minutes is the average commute for a working American.

Fact three, 96% of Americans have said that they have traveled in a vehicle within the past seven days.

Fact four, the average American has traveled 1,771 miles in the past four weeks.

Therefore, if you are looking to get brand messages out to the average working American, then looking at out of home media like outdoor bulletins or radio may be a sound choice.

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...

MetroCard Gold will now be an ad vehicle in NYC

In an effort to bring in more revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City, it was just announced that MetroCard Gold will now have advertising on the front of the card.

According to both The New York Times and MediaPost, this is the first time that the front of the MetroCard Gold will have an ad placed on it since its introduction in 1997. However, the backs of subway cards have allowed advertisers since 1995.

It has been reported that the earliest the new cards could be put into circulation is October of this year.

The price tag for the front of the card has not yet been released; however, the pricing for the back of 50,000 cards is $25,500 and for 2.5 million is $450,000.

There have not been any reported advertisers moving forward with this concept yet, but representatives have mentioned that many are interested.

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 trend report focuses on men and media

Advertisers must constantly stay current with how their potential audience views different media. According to Advertising Age, Ad Age Insights and GfK MRI have partnered up to release the trend report “Dudes to Dads: US Men’s Attitudes Toward Life, Family, Work.” The majority of the report goes into detail about how different male generations vary from each other.

A portion of the report focuses on how media is viewed and valued by men. While 54% of respondents stated that television advertisements provide helpful information about new products and services, 63% also stated that TV ads are repeated too often.

As far as generational differences, it may be suggested that the younger age groups, the millennials prefer the internet, and the older age groups, Baby Boomers and Gen X, prefer older media. While there is some truth to that, it’s an over generalization. Millennials reported that they find print ads in magazines entertaining. One thing that the majority of men, 65%, agree on is that cell phone ads are annoying.

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...

17% of mobile internet users use the phone over a computer

Over the last few years, Americans have had more choices on how to access the Internet. Researchers recently focused on mobile Internet usage. According to the Center for Media Research, Pew Research found the following results.

§        As of April 2012, 88% of American adults have a cell phone of some kind.

§        Of those 88%, 55% utilize their cell phones to go online. In April 2009, the percentage was 31.

§        Approximately 17% of users stated that they use their mobile phone as their primary option for going online. Of those users, the most popular reason for using it over a computer is that it is more convenient.

§        About 51% of African American cell internet users reportedly do most web surfing on their cell phone. For Latinos, that percentage goes down to 42%, and only 24% white non-Hispanic users primarily use the Internet on their phones.

§        The age group that has the highest numbers of smartphones and internet usage are people 25-34 years old. Close behind them are the age groups of 18-24 and 35-44.

§        People are more likely to utilize the mobile internet in urban areas versus suburban or rural areas.

§        Of people who have smartphones, the predominate group are college-level educated and have a high household income.

Overall, advertisers need to stay up-to-date on new research in all media vehicles. It can aide in creating the campaign message and sending it 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...

YouTube is losing its views?

Living in a digital consuming society has helped people gauge how things are successful. For example, YouTube, it used to be the more views a video received the better. Recently, YouTube has adjusted the mechanics of the site and has noticed something occurring- less views.

According to AdvertisingAge, the website has dropped 28% of views since December. The reason behind this drop is that YouTube is attempting to transition from views to engagement. Meaning, they want viewers to spend more time engaged in longer format and quality videos and spend less time clicking around and bouncing out of the site.

Switching directions appears to be working in that the minutes viewers spend watching content has grown about 57% from last year to more than 61 billion minutes in March. Also, the average video length view has increased from one minute to four.

What does this mean for advertisers? This could be a very good change in that a more engaged audience in the content may be more accepting of brand messaging. With longer format videos, it allows YouTube to insert video ads prior to content launching or in the middle like a broadcast commercial break.

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...

Good Afternoon America

Summer TV programming is well underway; however, some new programs are slated to start mid-summer. Good Morning America, an ABC morning news/lifestyle program, will launch a spin-off program called Good Afternoon America to run for nine weeks starting July 9^th.

According to MediaPost, the hour-long program will be anchored by Josh Elliott and Lara Spencer with GMA regulars making appearances like Sam Champion, Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos.

Like Good Morning America, the show will be broadcast from the Times Square studio.

Summer is a good way for stations, advertisers and viewers to see if new programming is going to work. Should this be a success, it is possible that it could be a lead-in or pairing to Katie Couric’s new show, which premiers this fall.

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 shopping holiday?

Americans know when to expect good deals on retail shopping like on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The print publication Teen Vogue is looking to add another shopping holiday on the calendar called Back-to-School Saturday.

According to the New York Times, August 11^th is the set date and is intended to be a full blown event for shoppers with sales, samples and events in the stores and/or malls. Teen Vogue has gotten many of its advertisers, like American Eagle Outfitters, Express, H&M, Cover Girl, Olay, and Staples, to participate.

The magazine will be rolling out with a strong print and digital initiative in July. One of the digital plans will be an iPhone app called the Teen Vogue Insider.

The push behind the event is to help the magazine and retailers get in front of their core audience in a relevant way. Executives believe that Americans are showing growing interest in event-based shopping. The intention is to get Back-to-School Saturday recognized as a national holiday.

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...

4Seven to run shows popular on Social Media

Social Media has influenced and joined forces with many forms of media since its creation. A United Kingdom television station has gone a step further with creating a TV channel that runs programming based off its social media traffic.

According to AdvertisingAge, Channel 4 is launching 4Seven starting July 4^th. 4Seven will air shows that create the most noise on Twitter, Facebook, etc. The programming will look like:

§       8 p.m. and 10 p.m.: These slots are reserved for shows that created the most social media and newspaper buzz within the last 24 hours.

§       9 p.m.: This will be a re-run of the Channel 4 9 p.m. programming from the night before.

The rest of the schedule will be shows that were popular from the week prior. 4Seven will run programming from stations like E4, More4, Film 4 and Channel 4.

Advertisers will have to wait a few weeks to see how the new station will be received by viewers. It has been said that a reassuring fact for advertisers is that these programs may be re-runs, but audiences have a clear interest in them based on the Social Media feeds.

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...

Where is your audience watching TV?

If a snapshot was taken on how typical American family members watch television, it would show that age groups watch it differently.

According to MediaPost, Nielsen took notice of where age groups watch TV. Teenagers 12-17 were found to spend about half of the time watching TV in his/her bedroom at 47%, 48% of TV viewing was done in a living room/family room, and the remaining 5% was done in other rooms. Older demographics tend to watch more TV in common areas of the home. For example, the 18-34 group spends 57%, the 35-64 group spends 62%, and the 65+ group spends 69% of TV viewing in living rooms. 

Interesting to note is that the younger demographic 6-11 spend most of TV viewing, about 60%, in common rooms. It could be inferred this is because the younger demographic is with an adult when viewing programming.

What can advertisers pull from this? Each demographic is unique in how they utilize media. Therefore, advertisers need to be aware of this in order to best cater the campaign message to the core 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...

Watch a video ad in a public bathroom mirror?

In a world of reality TV shows, it seems as though the only private place left for people is the bathroom. While that is the case, people will now have a source of entertainment in public bathrooms in the form of advertisements running in the mirrors.

According to the LA Times, a company called Novo Ad has created the technology to run video advertisements in mirrors (LED screens with an internal hard disk). Here is how it works: a static ad will be posted over the whole mirror. As a person stands in front of it, a video ad will start to play, and after a moment the video will minimize and take up about one-fourth of the mirror’s surface area. Therefore, the patron can utilize the mirror and watch the remaining video content at the same time.

This latest advertising platform has been installed in Tel Aviv in May and is scheduled this month to be installed in a Carrefour mall in Barentin, France. The shopping center intends to run ads for stores within the mall and self-promoting ads. There is not a timeline for this technology to be installed in public restrooms in the United States of America.

While this technology is new, it’s important for advertisers to not jump on board with a platform if it doesn’t make sense for the campaign. A new platform needs to align with the client messaging.

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 else is playing in the movie theaters?

Media vendors are continually creating new products to best serve a target audience to the advertisers. The theater slide company National CineMedia (NCM) has recently branched out to other big screen products in addition to online and mobile ventures.

According to MediaPost, NCM has made a few deals to present movie-goers with more entertainment during the pre-show. The company is working with the comedy website Funny or Die in which advertisers have the option to incorporate their brands into the content. The Funny or Die comedy shorts will now be part of NCM’s “FirstLook” pre-show package and will be available for online and mobile consumption.

Other new pre-show content includes music video and entertainment footage from Vevo and a feature called “A Taste of the Movies.” This cooking segment will feature a celebrity chef preparing meals from well-known movies. All of these new in-cinema additions allow for product integration.

In order for vendors to offer advertisers access to active audiences, media platforms have to keep a constant eye on what consumers are doing.  A lot of that today leads to cross platform initiatives.

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...

Public Broadcast and Political Ads?

The advertising community has been preparing for its arrival, and its here. Political advertising has started to stream onto TV. In fact, there is potential for more political ads to reach avenues of media left untouched.

According to MediaPost, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco made a decision in April that states that the ban of political advertising on both public TV and radio conflicts with the free speech clause in the First Amendment.

The decision was not unanimous; however, the majority of judges deemed political advertising would not undercut the educational focus of programming. For-profit companies will continue to be banned from public stations with commercials; however, the “sponsorship” format will still be in effect.

Some estimates show that political TV advertising could reach a record in 2012 with $3 billion.

Overall, the political season is starting and advertisers must be aware of how it will impact his/her 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...

How are newspapers stacking up- digitally?

A Rockwellian view of reading the newspaper may include a cup of coffee, recliner and a smoking pipe on Sunday mornings. In the digital age, people consume news quite differently. The new American norm is driving people to the instant and customizable Internet.

This digression is and has been invoking a transformation for newspapers. It has been providing free news content online for years, but many of the larger publications are flipping to the paywall strategy. The term “metered paywall” refers to websites that will have users pay a fee to read all of the content available on      the page.

Newspapers, like The New York Times, are strategically using the metered paywall to not only increase online revenue, but print subscriptions by offering a lower price than online; in turn, this is also increasing ad revenue.

According to Advertising Age, the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ statistics show that newspapers have successfully used this strategy to counter diminishing paid-print subscribers. The New York Times has proved this strategy profitable by seeing the largest digital gain among the reported papers. Its weekday circulation increased by 73% since before the online pay meter was implemented.

The Wall Street Journal still holds the rank of largest newspaper across both print and digital platforms, while USA Today claims largest newspaper in print alone with a circulation of 1.7 million.

Metered paywalls have been met with some resistance from readers. However, the more it is being adopted by news sources, paywalls are creating revenue streams. One stream is the actual payment for online content, while the other is people returning to traditional sources for news. Either way, it is beneficial to newspapers.

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 you want a piece of $1 trillion?

If you haven’t thought about how your brand is viewed by the Hispanic-American market, you probably should. Otherwise, you may not have seen a share of the $1.1 trillion spent in 2011. According to a report by Nielsen on “The State of the Hispanic Consumer,” the buying power of this group will continue to have a greater impact on consumer trends.

From 2000-2011, the Hispanic population grew more than the rest of the entire United States population combined.

Economic growth is an important factor of this group. The portion of Hispanic households making $50,000 or more is also increasing at a greater rate than the rest of the country. Forty percent of the Hispanic population made $50,000 or more last year.

The age comparison was another noteworthy finding from Nielsen’s study. MediaPost reports that the Hispanic median age is 28 versus the 37 that represents the total of the U.S. With 60% of this market being under 35, it is clear that the Hispanic youth will hold a large chunk of the buying power in many categories.

Non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics absorb media differently. In general, Hispanics consume more new media and less traditional media than non-Hispanic whites. Watching video on the internet or on a mobile device rather than on a television was an identifiable habit of Hispanics. It is important for advertisers to discern that there will be more buying power among the Hispanic youth in the coming years.  Your message will better serve this audience if placed on a non-traditional media like mobile or internet.

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...

Viewers are utilizing TV and mobile devices simultaneously

Have you walked into a friend’s living room recently to find eyes glued to something other than the television? Well, there is a good chance they are partitioning some of their attention to a smaller screen. According to new research conducted by GfK Knowledge Networks, 52% of all minutes on smartphones or tablets in the U.S. are spent while watching TV. 


 MediaPost reports that the findings on each type of medium, smartphone or tablet, vary for different age groups. For example, adults 35 to 49 spend 67% of their total minutes on tablets while they are watching TV; however, adults 18 to 34 only spend 39% of their minutes doing the same thing. In regards to smartphones, the younger age group spends a slightly higher percent of their time surfing, texting etc. on his/her phone while watching television programming than the older group. 


 Advertisers can simultaneously integrate both television and mobile advertising. The benefits of these extensions in TV consumption is that mobile devices offer the ability for consumers to instantaneously research advertised products, share content, or link to websites which could potentially improve brand engagement. 

 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...

Large FB fan base doesn't coincide with high engagement

Some brands have thousands of Facebook “likes,” but how many of those fans are actually engaged? The answer may surprise you. According to Advertising Age, researchers from Ehrenberg-Bass Institute found the average of engaged fans among the 200 biggest brands on Facebook to fall below one percent.

It would be easy to assume that passion brands have a higher engagement. Nike, Old Spice, Harley Davidson and Ford would be considered passion brands because consumers tend to have more of an emotional connection with these rather than brands of hand soap, milk, etc. This assumption proves to be accurate; however, the average of passion brand engagement is still relatively small in conjunction with its fan base. In fact, passion brands had about a .66% average engagement while the top brands with the largest fan base had a .36%.

Holding the top position, only one brand in the study was found to have an engagement of two percent. The highest engagement levels were found with alcohol, auto, cosmetic, and electronic brands. Software, social platforms and fast-moving consumer goods were among the lowest.

What does this mean for advertisers? First of all, Facebook fan bases and actual consumer engagement are not the same thing. Secondly, advertisers must consider if a huge push towards engagement is worth the resources when the most a brand can really expect is around one percent.

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 much live TV does a DVR owner watch?

In the United States, it seems as though everyone has a digital video recorder (DVR) in their home, but is that really the case? No, but research shows that there are units in about 45% - 50% of US TV households. TiVo pulled information from 2 million of its devices to see how people are using them.

According to MediaPost, people who have DVRs tend to watch more recorded and on-demand TV than live television. TiVo confirms that users watch live TV about 38% of the time. The viewership lowers to 27% if a TiVo user also utilizes video options like Netflix, Hulu Plus and YouTube.

Not surprisingly, people who have DVR units in their home use them. This means that advertisers need to compensate for this. One way is to make sure the ads prevalently display the brand. That way, when a commercial is being fast forwarded, the viewer will still see the brand name.


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 positive turn-around for the magazine industry.

When the economy took a hit, so did the media. Slowly, media, including print magazines, has come back. According to MediaPost, more magazines launched during the first quarter 2012 than magazines that closed.

The online database MediaFinder.com reported that 52 titles debuted during the first quarter while only 12 titles discontinued publishing. At the same time last year, the numbers were 54 and 24 respectively. By comparison, the magazine industry suffered 596 closures during the entire 2009 year while only 275 were launched.

Restaurants/Dining was the top category of this year’s launches. Hunting and fishing were the next big categories. Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade and Spa were among the magazines that closed.

Acknowledging the positive aspects of the magazine industry, advertisers should be aware that with more selection comes clutter. This is why it is important to be careful when choosing the publication to carry your ad. By doing your research, it can help assure that your message is reaching your brand’s specific target audience effectively.

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...

Political parties are attracted to different radio formats.

Republican or Democrat; country or contemporary? Radio formats prove to sway towards particular political parties. A study conducted by Arbitron covering 208,274 individuals showed that radio is an efficient investment for political campaigns.

MediaPost reports that the study calculated party identification, voter registration and frequency of voting. By doing so, Arbitron found that the adult contemporary format attracts more Democrats than Republicans with a result of 39 percent to 34. Almost all rock formats, with alternative rock as the outlier, draw a Republican-heavy audience. Other radio formats with a Republican majority include country and Christian radio.

Political advertisers can use these findings to target listeners for certain campaign messages. Choosing the best radio format to utilize based on the political affiliation of its listeners, political advertisers can tailor the advertisement to better connect with the desired audience.

Ron Rodrigues, Arbitron Marketing Manager, explained that music formatted stations provide a broad audience to reach for “Register to Vote” messages. For political advertisers, radio can be a highly effective medium.

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...

Only online households?

The way people consume media is forever changing. An advertisers’ goal is to stay ahead of the trends. One way in which to do that is to be current on recent media research. The Nielsen Company conducted a study that chronicles the trend of American households discontinuing cable in favor of online TV watching only.

According to MediaPost, there is a small population of people, less than 5%, which subscribe only to broadband Internet. However, this is one of the fastest growing segments of “cross-platform” media in that between third quarter 2010 and third quarter 2011, there was a 22.8% growth. Nielsen states that it is too early to call these households “cord-swappers” meaning switching out the cable cord for an Internet cord. More research and time is necessary.

Some interesting facts of this group are that there is an average of 11.2 minutes per day spent watching television streaming; the national average is 5 minutes per day. In addition, they are watching about 9% of all of their TV minutes online while the national average is only 1.9%.

Overall, people will continue to find new ways to consume media, which can lead to segmentation. Advertisers must be aware of where and how their target audience utilizes media in order to have an effective 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...

This advertiser wants to pay your mortgage.

There is a new twist to out-of-home advertising that is finding its niche in the troubled economy. Many people have felt the tragic effects of the housing bubble, but there may be an interesting option that hasn’t been considered. If you are willing to give up the exterior walls of your house, you may be able to keep it mortgage-free for up to a year, according to MediaPost.

A company called Brainiacs from Mars has promised to pay the monthly mortgage for a couple’s home. In return, the couple allows their house to be painted in bright, eye-catching colors and accented with large logos promoting the company’s name, social media, and digital pages.

Foreclosures have swallowed millions of homes since 2006. In 2010, foreclosure notices were sent to 2.9 million properties in the United States. Brainiacs is planning to find up to 1000 homes to use as commercial billboards all over the country. The company’s founder, Romeo Mendoza, not only wants to promote his company, but he wants to help reduce foreclosures.

When planning billboard projects, Mendoza assures that Brainiacs adheres to housing ordinances, neighborhood covenants and homeowners association rules.


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 social media promote customer loyalty?

Other than seeing sales increase, another key element to most advertisers’ campaigns is growing customer loyalty. The company Pitney Bowes recently conducted a study with people from the US, UK, France and Germany to find out what advertisers can do to garner that following.

In today’s society, one may think that social media is the best way to engage customers and create loyalty. According to MediaPost, the study proved that line of thought false. In fact, only a small percentage of respondents felt that social media helped him/her want to buy a company’s product again. For small businesses, it was about 15% and 18% for larger companies.

Respondents were more likely to use a company again if home-delivery was an option, customers were allowed to comment on products and services, if there were multiple ways made available to contact the company, and if they responded to customers communication in a timely manner.

Overall, social media has its place in business. However, a company cannot assume that it will produce loyalty. Continued customer service, which can be incorporated into the social media platforms, is one of the most certain ways to maintain that relationship.

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...

Theater company looking for ways to grow ad revenue in 2012

Television broadcasters are already planning out its upfront for this fall’s programming. This year, National CineMedia (NCM) will be hosting one of its own.

According to MediaPost, the NCM upfront is an initiative to get some of the designated TV dollars from advertisers. Since the national sales for fourth quarter 2011 were down for the company, it is working on other opportunities to gain business.

Another point of revenue that NCM noted was that 2012 will be a heavy year for political advertising. Many advertisers that typically utilize television may get bumped out. In the past, political has not used a lot of in-cinema ads; therefore, NCM will be an outlet for those pulling TV dollars until the end of the elections.

While 3-D advertising is not a large part of NCM’s business, it is another avenue for growth. Namely, the cost per thousand (CPM) for a 3-D theater ad is an estimated 50% to 100% higher than traditional ads.

Overall, NCM’s ad revenue was down for national sales during 4th quarter in 2011, but the entire year saw a 1.8% gain. With the initiatives in place, NCM is looking for all growth in 2012.

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...