Outdoor boards being sold in an out-of-home network vs. individual sale

In a society where advertisers have more tools to reach specific target audiences, it can lead some media vendors to develop new systems for its products.

According to MediaPost, Clear Channel Outdoor has created “consumer networks.”  Basically, this is a way for advertisers to select out-of-home inventory that best aligns with the desired target audience. The networks are chosen based off of demographic, geographic and psychographic factors.

So far, the networks can be purchased on national and regional levels. In addition, it will include the “Eyes On” ratings from the Traffic Audit Bureau in order to give an estimate on viewership. This new system could eliminate the selection of individual boards.

Currently, the new system is active in Albuquerque, Cleveland, Orlando, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Seattle. More markets are noted to follow.

While the network is appreciated, I would still recommend picking out a few key individual boards in a campaign. Just like other advertising initiatives, it’s smart to reach the individual consumer with very tight targeting but still have a solid coverage base.

More access to television shows leads to more binge-viewing

In order for advertisers to respond to consumer needs, it’s best to constantly be updated on consumer habits. According to MediaPost and eMarketer, Harris Interactive conducted a study this past February to record how US adults access time-shifted TV. Because of the numerous ways TV viewers are able to watch content, the phenomenon binge-viewing is continuing to grow.

Results showed that 80% of those surveyed watch TV through web-based subscription video on demand services (SVOD) like Netflix or Hulu, video-on-demand (VOD) cable or satellite, or through digital video recorders (DVRs).

In the findings, Harris reports that about 62% have watched multiple episodes of television shows in a row. This is called binge-viewing, which is most commonly watched through SVOD, VOD, DVRs, or DVDs. Interestingly enough, TV shows that tend to be the most binge-viewed are older shows or past seasons of current shows. Only about 12% of binge-viewing was done with current shows.

It is noteworthy that the younger demographics tend to have higher binge-viewership. According to the report, 18-29 year olds have a 78% likelihood to binge-view, 30-39 year olds are at 73%, and 40-54 year olds index at 58%. This behavior characteristic can be used to help advertisers craft a plan to reach the target audience. 

How do young consumers listen to music?

While streaming music online is growing more popular among consumers, it’s easy to forget that traditional radio still has a strong footprint in the media market. According to eMarketer, the research company The NPD Group conducted a survey over 4^th quarter 2012 on the music listening of US consumers between the ages of 13 and 35.

Results showed that the terrestrial radio still lead as the primary method, by a small margin, to listen to music.

24% listened to radio primarily

23% listened to internet radio primarily

15% listened to digital files primarily

CDs and Satellite radio both had less than 10% of responders, 9% and 5% respectively, chose it as a primary method of listening to music.

Another find was that the car is still the main place where the majority of those surveyed listen to most music. A good reason is that listeners are able to use multiple devices in the car like the radio, smartphones, mp3 players, and in-car infotainment systems.

How does this affect advertisers? Consumers want music, and they want it their way. Whether it’s from their preferred radio station, favorite playlist, new CD, or online streaming, people are going to access the music. Therefore, advertisers will need to really understand their customer and be able to reach them on various music platforms at the same time. There is no need to pull money out of traditional radio; listeners are still listening. Instead, online streaming vendors may need to be evaluated as a radio station and included in the overall buy in order to reach the desired audience.

Cinema advertising network to roll out new consumer interactive products in 2013

National CineMedia (NCM) has changed up a few advertising tactics in order to increase total revenue spend according to MediaPost.

As one of the largest cinema advertising networks in America, the vendor has begun the process of phasing out the Fathom Business Events operations. With events revenue fading out, NCM will invest in new products in order to increase total revenue.

One new product will be an interactive video display called a “Monster Wall.” The wall will be approximately 8 feet by 10 feet and encourage people to interact with it by way of game and entertainment content. “Monster Wall” will also house interactive advertising content for moviegoers, which will give advertisers another way of reaching potential consumers. So far, it’s being tested in large markets. Should it be deemed successful, it will be dispersed across the network’s other theaters.

Another initiative rolling out later this year is FirstLook Sync, which is a second-screen capability with smartphones. The idea is to have movie audiences interact with the movie content through this technology.

With all of the upcoming changes this year, NCM is estimating a 1-4% increase in total revenue compared to 2012. 

Half of online video shares happen within the first three weeks of publishing

As advertisers are more regularly running video advertisements online, it leads to the question, how will an advertiser know if this is successful? At this point, there is a two-pronged answer. The first is recording how often the video is watched in its entirety, versus being skipped. The second is watching to see if the video goes viral with social-sharing. Unruly Media Inc., a video technology company, recently researched the process of video sharing on social websites worldwide.

According to e-Marketer, the top categories that received the most shares were entertainment and fast-moving consumer goods and consumer products category. The smallest amount of shares was from the finance category.

Research also discovered the timeline in which most shares were performed. Unruly Media pulled information from the top 200 most shared videos in 2012. It found that:

10% of shares happened on the second day the video was available

25% of shares happened within the first three days

50% of shares happened over the first three weeks

66% of shares happened within the first three months

Overall, this can show advertisers the importance of making video available to the masses and making it relevant enough to share.