Will TV Become Web Video Before Web Video Becomes TV?

Online Spin

by Dave Morgan, Jul 18, 2013, 1:05 PM

    

Many in our industry -- me included -- believe that the future of TV will look something like video on the Web, and that the future of online video will look something like TV. However, exactly how those transitions occur will have an enormous impact on who wins, who loses and who ends up with the money. 

I just read an excellent report on the changing economics of content and the likely implications for the future of TV and online video, entitled the “Future of TV,” by Laura Martin and Dan Medina of Needham & Co. This is one of the best treatments I’ve seen to date on the topic, carefully analyzing the fundamental structures and economics of the television and online video ecosystems, mapping out the key drivers in the future for each, and drawing specific conclusions on who the likely winners will be -- and why.

Three points in the report really struck a chord with me. One, Martin and Medina view the TV and online video ecosystems as quite separate and independent from each other. Two, they highlighted the extraordinary power and leverage that the TV industry gets from bundling -- from the subscriber channel bundles to the bundling of shows together on networks, to the bundling of revenue-producing ads with the subscriber content, to the bundled “pre-financing” of shows’ production costs through upfront ad commitments (forcing advertisers to fund the “dogs” to get access to the “stars”). Finally, there’s the bundling of TV and online screens through TV Everywhere strategies.

The third point that I liked: the authors detailed two very significant emerging areas of growth for TV companies. One was a $10-billion-per-year opportunity in video-on-demand, potentially monetizing companies’ deep libraries of shows and movies better than Netflix or Amazon through subscription services and bundling ads with content. The other was a $5-billion-per-year opportunity selling more TV ads to Internet companies like Amazon, Google and Expedia as they become increasingly competitive with others in their category and seek the brand differentiation that TV delivers so well.

While many folks like to talk about the notion of online video eventually overtaking television as an absolute, long-term inevitability, Martin and Medina’s report shows a path through which TV companies can capture and bundle the best parts of online video before losing to the emerging on-demand, content-unbundling digital disruption that has taken away 60%-70% of newspaper companies’ revenues since 2000. Of course, they also point out that the TV industry faces some massive risks to its future: if TV’s channel bundle becomes undone, wholly or partially (a separate sports tier, for example), the industry could lose 20%-50% of its revenue from lost leverage; and the failure of TV companies to invest heavily in mobile content so far could mean that they will be on the outside looking in as mobile video continues its explosive growth.

How might the online video industry upset TV's apple cart and prevent itself from being consumed and subsumed as just another component of TVs bundle? Here are my thoughts on where it needs to step up:

If you want money from consumers and advertisers, spend more money on content. According to Martin and Medina, the U.S. TV industry spent $45 billion dollars on content in 2012, up $1.5 billion from the year before. Incredibly, that  annual increase was actually twice as big as the entire amount spent by online companies to produce original video content. Media consumers and advertisers certainly like user-generated content at times, but it’s not where they choose to spend their money.

Get serious about marketing Web shows.  Big audiences are needed to attract big ad dollars. Television networks and distributors spend billions of dollars per year marketing their shows, much of it in television advertising. Advertisers know that the networks have real skin in the game, and will push hard to make shows work, thus giving them more comfort making upfront commitments. When will the web video players do the same?

Find something valuable and scarce to bundle with. The television industry gets a lot of leverage from its bundles. Advertising complements TV shows. TV shows complement each other on a network. Multiple networks in a bundle add more value to others on the dial. Can Web video companies find something similar? Martin suggests in the report that maybe Google will find unique value bundling YouTube with its super high-speed Google Fiber project. Maybe we’ll see the same from TV device manufacturers? Time will tell.

TV will own the Web video world before Web video players can seriously challenge the core economics of the television ecosystem. My bet is that CBS is much more likely to own and distribute the highest value Web video content -- including on mobile devices -- than Google or Yahoo are likely to own or deliver the highest value TV shows. What do you think? Let Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D. author of LeNoble's Media Sales Insights know.

Simulmedia Calculator Helps Determine TV Campaign Efficiency

Media Daily News

by Wayne Friedman, Yesterday, 2:49 PM

   

Looking to help TV marketing executives take much of the guesswork out of evaluating TV program ad campaigns, TV audience-targeting company Simulmedia is offering a historical calculator that delivers promotion programming cost benchmarks.

Using historical TV rating analysis of some 500 programs over the last four years, Simulmedia has developed a "cost per converted viewer" calculator allowing TV marketers to evaluate efficiency of their paid-media schedule for a TV program.

“We are always hearing interest in benchmarks -- it’s not guesswork any more,” Dave Morgan, chief executive officer of Simulmedia, tells Media Daily News.

The cost per “converted viewer” (CPCV) calculates the total cost of media divided by the number of people who saw a TV program advertisement, then tuned in to the show live -- watching at least 6 minutes.

For example, using a broadcast network top-level paid TV campaign for a new drama with a $5 million budget for a fall launch has grabbed an average of 881,834 “converted” among adults 25-54 viewers. That has yielded a cost per converted viewer of $5.67. Looking at the launch for a new broadcast comedy with a $2 million budget, for example, has produced some 649,350 “converted” adults 25-54 -- a CPCV of $3.08 each.

A new cable drama with a $500,000 paid-media budget has pulled in, on average, 142,857 adults 25-54 with a CPCV of $3.50. The same budget for a cable reality show yielded 111,607 adults 25-54 with a cost of $4.48.

Among other media placements, broadcast and cable TV marketers typically buy TV media for their program promotion efforts on cable networks -- through local cable operators, cable sales reps, or cable networks themselves. The calculator uses historical media data from the two weeks leading up to the premiere. Only off-channel and off-sister network media is included. The adult 25-54 demo is used for all campaigns. Broadcast seasons are defined as: fall, August to December; midseason, January through April; and summer, May through mid-August.

Simulmedia says the historical data comes from more than four years of viewing data -- anonymously -- from 50 million set-top boxes, with pricing data from Kantar Media, Nielsen, and other data from the U.S. Census.

In a given year, some $6 billion is spent -- or placed in value -- for TV program promotion, estimates Morgan. About 80% comes from “in-house” network inventory. Around $1 billion comes from paid media (including some barter arrangements some networks -- mostly cable -- may have with each other). About $600 million is spent on TV.

Overall, Morgan continues to be a big proponent of TV, especially when it comes to TV program promotion. “It really bothers me that some TV marketing executives on resting the laurels of what worked in the 80s and 90s,” he says. “TV is so much more powerful today.”

Although there is a more fragmented TV-media market, Morgan says the good news is there is much more data for TV marketers and other general interest marketers to use to get better results.

Time Shifting Of Local TV: Looking For Middle Ground

TV Watch

 by Wayne Friedman Thursday, July 11, 2013

 

NBC Owned Stations has now joined the TVB in saying that live program plus same day ratings are “the most representative of the national C3 standard.” But is that close enough?

Stations no longer want to be paid on live-only ratings. They want some time-shifting impressions to be included, such as same-day ratings. They think that is only fair.

According to the TVB, live program plus same day time-shifted ratings are just 5% above the national C3 rating; by contrast, live-only program viewing data was 16% below C3 for the 2012-13 season. Does that mean media agencies should abandon their all-or-nothing live-only program ratings position?

For many, it would seem that all this needs to move beyond live program plus same day rating -- as well as perhaps beyond the national C3 currency. Media agencies don’t want to pay 5% more; Stations don’t want 16% fewer revenues.

Positioning is everything. So is some logic. No doubt there has been heavy time shifting for years-- and most time shifting probably comes in the same day, right after the initial broadcast of a show.

Media agencies can’t quite sell their clients on the idea of going backward -- that a change in local program ratings to other program ratings would be better. Also, media agencies might not be too convinced -- though national TV sellers will say otherwise -- that C3 should morph into C7 or C14 or C30. Instead, many are hopeful that all non-live viewing -- online, video-on-demand, and mobile – will get included.

Still, the situation isn’t improving. Steve Lanzano, president/CEO of the TVB, said, “This is a wider gap from last season, when live plus SD [same day time shifting] was 8.5% ahead of national C3 and live only was almost 11% behind C3 — and we expect the distance to continue to expand."

Lanzano added, “The argument for relying upon live [program] only as a reasonable local proxy for C3 becomes less feasible with each new season. The distinction will only become more apparent as more consumers adopt the convenience of time-shifted viewing.”

So is it good enough? Valerie Staab, president of NBC Owned Television Stations, said in a press release that live plus same day ratings “should be adopted as the minimum standard for local viewing measurement.” Does that mean NBC really wants live program plus three days of time-shifted ratings?

The national C3 currency was actually a compromise. Advertisers wanted commercial ratings; Sellers wanted some time shifting impressions beyond live viewing. A deal was struck.

Local sellers and buyers also need a business compromise. But it’s not clear what each side will get, and what that compromise will be, exactly.

2Q 2013 Spot Recap: Total, -7.2%; Core, +2.2%

TVNewsCheck, July 15, 2013 5:41 AM EDT

By Harry A. Jessell

That core increase was driven by auto spending, which was up 7% compared to the second quarter of 2012. Other high-growth categories in the quarter: telecommunications (+34.1%), non-alcoholic beverages (+26.5%) and home products (+14.3%).

Core spot TV revenue in the second quarter was up 2.2% over last year, driven largely by healthy gains in auto spending, non-alcoholic beverages, home products and telecommunications, according to Matrix Solutions.

Core revenue excludes political advertising, which drops off precipitously in odd-numbered years because of relatively scant political campaigning. Total revenue, which includes political, declined 7.2% in the quarter.

Compared to the second quarter of 2011, core in the second core of this year was up 8.6% and total was up 7.9%.

"The spot business still looks like it is going in the right direction," says Matrix President D.J. Cavanaugh. As the rush to buy TV stations underscores, he says, "people still believe in spot television."

Matrix is a Pittsburgh-based supplier of customer relations and sales management software. Its quarterly local TV sales report, exclusive to TVNewsCheck, is based on sales data from more than 400 client TV stations. It includes revenue from station-specific websites and digital subchannels.

"Auto seems to be bouncing back very strong, which should continue through the rest of the year and give some stability going into next year," Cavanaugh says, noting that it accounted for 26% of the revenue in the quarter.

Cavanaugh is not alarmed by the drop off in Tier 1 (factory) auto spending (see chart below). "My gut tells me it is one of two things: My customers might be mis-categorizing what's Tier 1 and Tier 2 (auto dealer associations), which is possible, or Tier 1 money might be going from factory to associations before it is being spent."

The positive numbers in furniture and home products, up 6.1% and up 14.3%, respectively, are a reflection of post-recession rebound of the housing market, Cavanaugh says. "The growth is really coming from local stores, which I thought was even more encouraging."

Another good story for broadcasters is telecommunications, which accounts for 5.3% of total spot receipts. The category was up 34.1% quarter-over-quarter, thanks in large measure to liberal spending by AT&T, says Cavanaugh. "It was up in most markets."

Comcast and Time Warner were also heavy spenders, he says. "The only one that was down was Verizon."

A sour note in the data is restaurants (comprising both casual and quick service), which ranks second in spot spending, accounting for 6.8% of the total. The category was down 3.5% in the quarter compared to 2012, down 9.2% compared to 2011.

 

After a Slow Start, Ad Outlook Brightens

Media Life

Forecast: National and local will see greater increases

By Toni Fitzgerald

July 16, 2013

The year hasn’t gotten off to a great start for advertising. Spending was up just 0.3 percent during the first half of the year.

 

But the pace will pick up, if modestly, in the second half, and if the U.S. economy continues to improve, gains will be much higher over the next three years.

A forecast from Pivotal Research Group predicts that ad spending in the final two quarters of this year will rise by 0.7 percent, driven by gains in national spending.

“The economy has to generally improve year over year at a faster pace in the second half than in the first half, which seems generally likely,” Brian Wieser, senior research analyst at Pivotal, tells Media Life.

National ad spending will be up 2.8 percent in third quarter and 2.7 percent in fourth, compared to gains of 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent to start the year.

Those increases will be driven by digital, the only category to see double-digit bumps, and television, still by far the largest dollar category.

Together they will account for more than $53.6 billion in spending in 2013, or 79 percent of all national ad dollars.

Local will struggle by comparison, hurt by continued declines in newspaper advertising, which will be down at least 8.7 percent each quarter.

Local ad spending will decline 1.3 percent in third quarter and 1.4 percent in fourth.
That’s in improvement over the first half, when spending slipped by 1.8 percent as advertisers held back on increasing their spending, waiting to see how the sequester and payroll tax increase would impact potential customers.

But instead of declining, consumer spending has actually risen throughout the first half of the year. The government measures didn’t seem to scare people into closing their purses.

The U.S. Department of Commerce released numbers Monday showing that total retail and food service sales in June, including gasoline stations, were up 0.4 percent month to month and 5.7 percent year to year.

Recent improvements in the housing market, with new home sales up to their highest level since the recession hit in 2008, and unemployment, with the U.S. adding an average 200,000 jobs per month over the past six months, have boosted overall confidence in the economy.

But there’s usually a lag period between when those improvements are seen and when local advertisers start to feel secure enough to increase their spending.

Overall, 2013 will be a year of moderate spending increases, due also in part to the tough comparisons to Olympic and political spending last year.

In 2014 through 2017, the gains will be more substantial. Ad spending will be up 2.5 percent in 2014, Pivotal predicts, 2.6 percent in 2015, 2.8 percent in 2016 (the next presidential election year), and 3 percent in 2017.

Beating Up On Obamacare? Ka-Ching For Stations!

TV Watch

by Wayne Friedman Tuesday, July 16, 2013

It may not be the $3 billion or so that TV stations get in ad revenues from political advertising in major election years, but ad revenues surrounding the Affordable Care Act – which becomes law in 2014 -- may generate some $500 million in the coming months, according to a survey from Kantar Media. Much of the advertising will be against the new law, known as Obamacare to many. Others will be advertising new business opportunities spurred by the law. Here’s one reason for all those ad dollars: A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in April found that 42% of Americans didn't know Obamacare was still going into effect. That represents a lot of advertising opportunity for stations -- for or against Obamacare. Though on a different scale, history seems to be repeating itself. Much criticism -- from politicians and others -- predicted that dire consequences would occur when Social Security was instituted in the 1930s; the same sentiment occurred when Medicare started in the 1960s. Like Obamacare, those programs had some hiccups in getting started. Now? It’s virtually impossible to get people to give up either Social Security or Medicate. Did advertising against Social Security appear on radio? Did anti-Medicate ads run on TV? In an off-year local TV season, with smaller political races and no Olympics, $500 million in fresh ad dollars is good news Efforts in support of the Affordable Care Act are well underway -- the Obama Administration is in the midst of spending some $50 million to tell people about the new law. On the state level, California alone is spending some $90 million to educate its citizens. Overall the local TV market is pacing down 7- 8% versus last year’s big political and Olympic adollars. A segment of the overall picture -- core advertising revenue from continuing year-to-year marketers -- is estimated to be up slightly, 2% or so. Some critics still believe it’s possible -- however slight -- that the Affordable Care Law might be repealed. Big-time political groups will continue to push that agenda.

A majority of stations in large and medium markets forgo local-direct clients who are with stations what could be for years and replace them for short-term political just when the local clients need media coverage the most. Then, when clients go to other media who promise to take better care of them...broadcast management begin to stress when budgets are not met and have to rebuild local-direct clients again....which historically, is a tough sell. Be careful not to sacrifice your local-direct accounts in favor of short-term political dollars just because its political season....you could find your recovery a major task. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Print/TV Synergy May Be Gone, But Other Synergies Survive

TVWatch A media critique by Wayne Friedman Friday, July 12, 2013 News Corp., Time Warner, and now Tribune Company have -- or are in the process of --saying goodbye to their print media businesses by spinning off those units. And many are ringing the death knell for synergy. Actually, only one kind of synergy is affected: the old kind. Back in the late ‘80s and well into the ‘90s, much was made about the ways media companies built on movies and TV could work together with print. Synergy was on every marketer’s lips. Did you want an Entertainment Weekly TV news show or segment? Why not? Could you take a Martha Stewart magazine and spin off some TV program? Sure. Back then, media executives would talk about all the print “content” that could help develop and grow TV and film businesses. Now many media executives talk about content only when it comes to TV or film -- in regards to what it can do for digital platforms. That’s where the new synergy comes in for TV and film: digital platforms, online, mobile, social media and traditional video-on-demand. Some critics may argue that online -- at least in its early days and even now for many websites -- is print-focused, not video-focused. The key is electronic/digital delivery of that content, which works hand and hand with the way TV and film have developed. In that regard, I don’t think that you’ll be seeing media companies spinning off their old traditional TV/film businesses from their newer digital businesses anytime soon. This is not to say print businesses aren’t finding their own synergistic way with the digital world. It’s just a different animal -- and for some a slow-moving animal. All this is interesting when it comes back to that all-important word “content.” Turns out not all content is all that valuable for some. This goes not just for traditional print platforms, but for all those opinion-only blog sites which might not be as useful as people once believed. Digital platforms have a new panache -- the ability to create new media platforms, like social media, that can hype TV and movies. Can print do that? In part. Synergy may be passe; now we call it cross-media, integrated media; 360-degree media; convergent media; or transformative media to name a few. A couple of decades from now, maybe we won’t even be calling it media. One Old strategy that lives on and is maintaining consumer interest is COMMERCIAL RADIO! Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Broadcast Ad Prices Drop. Cable Holds

Media Daily News by Wayne Friedman, 5 hours ago Sinking broadcast ratings and a mediocre scatter market caused broadcast prime-time commercial prices to sink by nearly 10% in the first quarter this year. The average prime-time broadcast 30-second commercial price sank 9% to $102,983 in the first three months of this year, down from $112,873 from the same period a year ago, according to media agency TargetCast tcm, using data from research firm SQAD’s NetCosts service. Fox was at the top for all networks -- $172,139; CBS at $116,122; ABC, $106,577; and NBC followed at $62,890. TargetCast say the sharp drop among broadcast networks breaks a nearly three-year span, when unit costs were either up or virtually flat. By contrast, ad-supported cable networks continue to be relatively flat -- with the average 30-second commercial of top 15 cable networks in prime time at $14,865. TargetCast said this was up very slightly versus the same period in 2012. ESPN was the top cable network, $38,943; TNT was next at $21,679. The flat pricing, says TargetCast, was also due to a weak scatter market -- a period when cable networks, generally, get a higher percentage of their revenues in scatter versus broadcast networks. Cable networks, like broadcast networks, continue to see more rating erosion -- but not as severe. In the fourth quarter, the top 15 networks’ adult 25-54 were down 2%. Growing fragmentation from small networks and overall cable network competition are the reasons.

It's Personal: 3 Brands Making Marketing A Personalized Experience

Media Post's Engage: Gen-Y (aka Millennials) By Mary Leigh Bliss Friday, July 12, 2013 As social media has lifted the barriers between brand and consumer, making one-on-one conversations not just possible but expected, marketing has begun to shift to beyond-niche levels. Smart brands are targeting consumers on a personal level, making marketing into a customized, exclusive experience that feels like it is just for them. Kleenex and Kotex were two brands at the forefront of the personalized marketing movement, both targeting small groups through Facebook and Pinterest, respectively, and sending care packages and personalized crafts to only a few hundred individuals. Each gained impressions far beyond the small number of people who were sent gifts, by making them feel they had a personal interaction with the brands that was unique enough to share (and re-share). Here are three more brands that have recently gotten personal with their marketing to get the attention of young consumers: 1. Wendy’s: Pretzel Love Songs Wendy’s is launching its Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger (a product aimed, of course, at Millennials) by spreading the pretzel love through song. Its Pretzel Love Songs aren’t just a jingle, though, but are composed to feature fans’ tweets about the new burger. After encouraging burger-lovers to use the hashtag #PretzelLoveSongs to post about the new item, Wendy’s staged a live event starring Nick Lachey crooning ballads featuring the pretzel love messages. A YouTube channel for the campaign features artist Eric Michaels singing the pretzel love songs at a white piano as each individual customer’s tweets are displayed on screen. The Personal Twist: Getting young fans involved and featuring them on an individual level by showcasing their creativity and encouraging conversation in a ridiculously humorous way. 2. Heineken: Departure Roulette As part of its adventure-themed “Voyage” campaign, which has included spots dropping young adventurers into the middle of nowhere, as well as a short film, Heineken is getting personal by bringing a travel challenge to JFK. Heineken’s Departure Roulette asks participants to abandon their own trips to go on an all-paid alternative trip, to a completely unknown destination. Those who accept the offer will be given a hotel room for two nights and $2,000 to cover expenses, plus a completely distinctive experience, which they will no doubt be talking about for some time. This week, the beer brand expects to send five to eight unsuspecting travellers on personalized adventures. The Personal Twist: Creating one-of-a-kind adventures for individuals in a way so unique that everyone else is talking about it. 3. Molson: Beer Fridge (for Canadians Only) Yes, it’s another beer brand, but Molson’s marketing gives a personal experience to a whole nation. Its recent "Beer Fridge" campaign played on national pride, making Molson beer available to Canadians only via very special vending machines. To celebrate last week’s Canada Day, Molson placed large red fridges throughout public places in European countries like France and the Netherlands, tempting passersby with bottles of beer trapped inside. The catch? Only individuals who had a Canadian passport to scan could unlock the fridges. Once opened by a Canadian, the booze could be shared with everyone. The campaign turned Canadian citizenship into a coveted conversation piece, all while featuring the individual Canadians and Molson’s home country. The Personal Twist: Making a personal characteristic (like nationality) into an all-access pass to an exclusive experience, and rewarding. How can you help your clients engage their brand to become more personal to their target consumers? Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

An Unexpected Dip in Auto Advertising

Media Life Magazine Manufacturers pull back on spending with fewer launches By Toni Fitzgerald July 2, 2013 Following report after report of robust auto sales to start the year, the first-quarter ad spending numbers were a bit of a surprise. Automotive spending, the biggest single advertising category, was down slightly to start the year. It declined 0.5 percent, according to data from Kantar Media, from $3.369 billion in January to March 2012 to $3.352 billion during the same period this year. Generally higher auto sales are tied to higher auto spending. But the reason for the dip, Kantar says, was the lack of new car launches during the first three months of the year. Money to promote those launches is usually spent at the manufacturer level, and manufacturers reduced their spending by 3.3 percent in first quarter. “There were fewer marketing launches in 2013 to provide impetus for higher budget levels,” Kantar notes in its report. Manufacturers account for roughly two-thirds of overall automotive ad dollars, and spending in the category went from $2.037 billion to $1.971 billion. General Motors, the top automotive ad spender, cut back its expenditures by 2.6 percent, to $362.9 million, ranking fifth among all advertisers during first quarter. Ford was the only domestic auto manufacturer to introduce major redesigns, spending heavily to advertise the new Escape and Fusion. It actually increased spending by 12.9 percent, to $280.3 million. At the dealer level, where advertising is tied closer to car sales, ad spending actually rose by 3.7 percent, from $1.331 billion to $1.381 billion. Dealers tend to pump up their ad dollars when sales are strong, in order to better compete for dealership foot traffic. During first quarter, auto sales match pre-recession rates for the first time in five years. Incentive spending has dipped to 10-year lows, according to TrueCar.com, meaning that car dealers are offering fewer rebates to get people to buy. Those rebates eat into their profits, but they were necessary during the recession, when annual car-buying rates dropped by roughly a third. Now, after so many people held off on buying a new car during the recession, many buyers are willing to spend whatever they have to in order to replace their old vehicles. Oft times when the economy recovers from a big dip, station management push their reps to jump on auto advertising which historically makes up much of the station's local ad dollars. Automotive thus becomes the mainstream revenue and even though we warn against such dependency, we get ignored until auto ad dollars begin to dry up causing budget shortfalls throughout the country and crises management. Be forewarned. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Millennial Groups Favor Specific TV Shows

Media Daily News by Wayne Friedman, 7 hours ago Not all millennials are created equal -- but more than half are happy with their current life. A new study reveals there are four distinct groups for those ages 18-34 -- from the “easygoing” to the "hardworking." The research came from Horizon Media and Fizziology, a social media research company, to learn more about how millennials use social media. The four groups include "Confident Connecteds," the largest group, representing 32%, who are “knowledgeable, sociable, and hardworking.” They watch TV shows like “Dateline,” syndicated talk shows like “Katie” and “Ellen,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “American Idol,” “CSI” and “The Walking Dead.” The next two groups, representing about 25% each of the 18-34 group, are “Indie Dreamers” and “Creatures of Comfort.” The Dreamers are “ambitious, creative, and individualistic” and tend to like TV shows such as “Glee,"“Big Bang Theory” and “The Mindy Project.” Creatures of Comfort can be described as wanting “the simple life, unmotivated and easygoing.” They like TV shows like “The Vampire Diaries”, “Glee” and “Downton Abbey.” And then comes “Youthful Pursuits,” representing the smallest part of millennials -- 18% -- who can be described as “image-seeking, live for now, embrace youth.” They are most identified with TV teen dramas like “The Vampire Diaries” and “Pretty Little Liars.” Horizon Media’s millennial study revealed about half are happy with their lives and more than half -- 57% -- believe they are empowered to change their lives. There are extremes for these groups. The negative for Creatures and Youthful Pursuits are that “there is little I can do to change my life,” according to the study. For Creatures of Comfort and Indie Dreamers, the concern comes with the description: “I’m unhappy with my standard of living.” Conversely, a more positive outlook for some in the biggest group Confident Connecteds and the smallest, Youth Pursuits -- can be identified with this statement: “I'm happy with my standard of living. The positive for Confident Connecteds and Indie Dreamers: “I can change my life when and if I want to.” Teach your clients the benefits of reaching Gen-Y or Millennials. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Why Marketers Need To Rethink Radio Audiences Now

Marketing Daily by Jeff Haley, 11 hours ago When Dunkin’ Donuts wanted to promote ticket giveaways for its “Caught Cold” concert series last summer -- which included acts such as Brad Paisley, CMF and Jason Aldean -- it reached out to listeners at a prominent country music station in Boston, owned by a privately held Massachusetts media company that owns 23 AM and FM radio stations in in Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Jersey. The promotion went far beyond radio spots. Two weeks prior to each concert, on-air announcements urged listeners to register at the CaughtCold Web site, where they could play a game that let them shoot down balloons attached to the latest array of Dunkin’s ice cold summer drinks. That entered them in a contest to win tickets to one of the five concerts. At the concert, the retailer gave away samples of its Caught Cold product line and ticket winners were photographed in front of an on-stage backdrop, which they could locate and download from an online photo album on the Web site or the station’s event page. Pre-roll promotional video, announcements via social media and call-to-action banner ads helped with the promotion. The result: 2,322 people played the online game to win tickets, with the Caught Cold Landing and Photo Album pages receiving some 4,483 unique page views. The nation’s largest coffee and baked good retailer clearly gets how to structure a multichannel promo campaign that engages its audience and enhances brand awareness. It also grasps the role that radio audiences can play in those promotions. A loyal bunch That’s something many other companies could learn from. Too many brands seem to be stuck in last-century thinking when it comes to radio, with the view that adding it to the marketing mix means simply running radio spots. Loyal radio station listeners are a valuable consumer asset, and too often marketers miss out on their full potential by keeping promotions in a silo marked “radio.” Each week, radio reaches 93.7% of 18- to-49-year-olds, the most sought-after consumer audience. And it reaches 94% of adults in the $75K+ household income bracket -- with daily tune-in times averaging 2 1/2 hours. Listeners also feel an emotional connection with their preferred stations and tend to be extremely loyal. And because ads can run frequently and listeners tend to stay tuned for long periods of time, a brand that is big in radio can create disproportionately large mindshare among listeners. Research has also shown that radio has a "multiplier effect" on other media, increasing recall of TV, newspaper, and Internet ads. Out and about But -- surprise -- valuable radio audiences aren’t just sitting glued to their radios. They move between media -- posting on Facebook or Twitter, checking email, uploading photos to Instagram or Pinterest, and using their cell phones. Brands that want to reach and engage them need to be all of these places. That’s what Boston bakery and café Au Bon Pain and a local soft rock station did in April 2012. To create awareness for the chain’s new sandwich line, it launched the Superior Sandwich Showdown, in which station DJs chose a favorite sandwich and asked listeners to vote for the choice they preferred. A dedicated site housed DJ videos, a sandwich menu, a contest for a workplace catered lunch and links to social media. Helping boost traffic were links on the station’s home and contest pages and an “eblast“ to over 45,000 station members. DJs talked up the promotion on their Facebook pages and the station ran Au Bon Pain ads and pre-roll video spots on its live stream. Street team members also passed out voting info in target areas and at point-of-sale; customers got flyers with QR Codes linking them to the voting site. Traffic for the campaign was healthy -- Au Bon Pain received 21,537 pre-roll video impressions and 63 click-throughs to the site. In addition to generating brand awareness, the campaign also affected the bottom line: Au Bon’s Boston outlets saw stronger sandwich sales off their new menu than at the rest of the chain’s top 10 markets. Au Bon Pain and Dunkin‘ Donuts did a great job of thinking about radio fans in a 360-degree fashion that incorporates streaming media, digital media and social media into the mix. Other brands should sit up and take notice.

Back-to-School Ad Campaigns Start Jarringly Early as Marketers Seek Tight Budgets

Advertising Age Not Long After the Bell Stops Ringing, Walmart And Apple Try to Jump-Start the $84 Billion Spending Season By: Natalie Zmuda July 08, 2013 Are you ready for back-to-school? Because retailers are. Walmart and Apple are already promoting school-related products, while others, including tween brand Justice, are touting steep discounts. School's out? Not at Walmart. "In seven and a half years, I've never once seen so much emphasis put on back-to-school before July 4," said National Retail Federation spokeswoman Kathy Grannis. Historically, most consumers begin shopping for back-to-school supplies three to four weeks before school starts. And retailers have typically followed their lead, beginning promotions in mid-to-late July. This year, however, they're trying to get a jump on people's spending. "It is one of the most competitive times of year for big retailers. They know consumers are on budgets, and they're vying for those dollars," Ms. Grannis said. A survey from BigInsight found that 37% of respondents expected to cut back-to-school spending this year because of the U.S. economy. In 2009, during the recession, 50% said they'd spend less overall. Back-to-school and back-to-college spending accounts for $84 billion in sales, making it the second-biggest season for retailers. Though that's a far cry from the winter holidays' $580 billion take, it handily exceeds Mother's Day, which is the next-biggest holiday-shopping period, with $21 billion in consumer spending. In the wake of the recession, the NRF has noted more consumers are attempting to space out expenditures, shopping early during the winter holidays. Then there's a lull, followed by a big push as Christmas approaches and discounts peak. Ms. Grannis speculated the same pattern could begin playing out during back-to-school, with some shoppers stocking up early but leaving apparel purchases and specific classroom requests for later. Not all retailers are pushing up their plans. Staples said it will begin setting up back-to-school displays in early July. Marketing for Target and JC Penney won't get under way until later in the month. And a message on Amazon's back-to-school landing page takes a humorous approach: "Shopping for back-to-school supplies already? We hate to tell you ... you're early." The page instructs shoppers to come back later in July. Time to start local-direct clients to start the planning sessions with you as you don't want to miss helping them use your media correctly and beneficially to begin the Back-To-School season or wait for the competition to start. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.