INSIDERADIO
August 26, 2015
As radio aims for the $1 billion in political dollars expected to be spent on the medium in the 2015-2016 election cycle, a story in Politico suggests now’s the time to be pitching campaigns in a number of key states. As Republicans work to retain control of the U.S. Senate, the air war between the GOP and the Democratic party is well underway in New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania with Republicans outspending Democrats by significant margins. In New Hampshire, five Republican outside groups have already spent a whopping $2.5 million pounding Gov. Maggie Hassan, according to Politico. Hassan isn’t even a Senate candidate yet – it’s a pre-emptive strike. Meanwhile, only one Democratic group has done any meaningful ad spending in the Granite State at just $255,000. Republicans, meanwhile have already spent $1.9 million on the Senate contest in Pennsylvania. "To keep the Senate majority, Republicans plan to leverage what’s expected to be a huge money advantage, led by a hodgepodge of big-spending outside groups, to bloody Democratic challengers taking on a string of vulnerable GOP incumbents in pivotal swing states," the Politico article states. With 24 Republican incumbents trying to keep their seats, the Senate map for Republicans looks daunting. Nationwide, GOP groups have already poured more than $12 million into TV and radio spending compared to only $2.5 million from Democrats, Politico reports. Compare that to this point in the 2012 election, when groups representing both parties had spent about $2 million apiece. The key for radio will be fighting for its fair share. "There’s no reason radio shouldn’t be 10%-15% of the total media mix," says Will Feltus, a renowned researcher and planner at Republican communications company National Media. "That’s what we recommend."
How Radio Stacks Up With Back To School Retailers. With back to school shopping in full swing, radio stations are often a top destination for retailers looking to leverage what is often the last media that consumers touch before the point of purchase. Turns out some of the heaviest radio advertisers are also consumers’ go-to retailers this season. CVS/Walgreens, Walmart, Macys and Staples — all major radio advertisers — are among the top 10 retailers that shoppers plan to frequent for back to school needs, according to research firm Brand Keys. CVS/Walgreens ranked as the no. 3 advertiser on radio during the first half of the year, while Macy’s was no. 8, according Media Monitors, which tracks the play count of spots on stations it monitors. Office supply giant Staples ranked as the no. 23 heaviest radio advertiser, while Walmart was no. 68. Sears is another top 10 retailer for 2015 back-to-school, and ranks as the no. 168 radio advertiser on the Media Monitors list. The remaining five brands on Brand Keys list — Target, BestBuy, TJ Maxx, Footlocker and Apple’s retail stores — were not top 300 radio advertisers in terms of spot volume in the first half of the year. Overall, back to school spending is expected to be flat compared to last year, with shoppers ponying up an average of $650 per household, according to Brand Keys. That’s off slightly from 2014’s average of $652
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Political TV Advertising Still Big For 2016 - But Expect More Annoying Noise
- by Wayne Friedman, Yesterday, 4:03 PM
You can understand digital media’s optimism this political season. But the reality is that this and next year’s political advertising extravaganza will still be on TV.
According to Borrell Associate, some $5.5 billion will be spent on national political TV advertising, with around $1.08 billion spent on political digital media.
TV stations will be licking their collective chops. TV still has power and widespread appeal to handle all candidates’ advertising -- as well as the still-growing dollars of political action committees.
Countering efforts that digital media will make inroads, Steve Lanzano, president/chief executive officer of the Television Bureau of Advertising, said in a press release: “People ages 18-64 spend almost five hours with TV a day, compared to three minutes viewing online video.” And taking a swipe -- somewhat deserved -- he added: “Digital advertising is still subject to significant viewability and fraud issues.”
Rumor has it President Obama did well in the last two elections because of his team’s savvy approach to social media and all stuff digital. Actually it was more about his media team buying TV early to get the primo advertising positions. Republican opponents won’t make the same mistake this time around.
Let’s go back to that expected TV spend of $5.5 billion. Is there room for all that political advertising? TV stations will tell you, no problem. But increasing political noise and nastiness would seem to create problems for viewers and counteract effectiveness at some point.
Viewers might one day just turn off or fast-forward past most of the political blather. What can a candidate do? Get exclusivity in TV commercial pod for a political candidate or political issues? Don’t think so. By law, TV stations have obligation to get all political advertising on the air -- as well as provide commercial time at the lowest rate possible.
Some says it’ll all come down to “creative” in those political spots -- to stand out from the crowd. Others might say some of the better, less-strident creative will be on digital platforms.
Only one thing then to hope for from consumers in regards to engaging political media preferences: Vote early, vote often.
According to Borrell Associate, some $5.5 billion will be spent on national political TV advertising, with around $1.08 billion spent on political digital media.
TV stations will be licking their collective chops. TV still has power and widespread appeal to handle all candidates’ advertising -- as well as the still-growing dollars of political action committees.
Countering efforts that digital media will make inroads, Steve Lanzano, president/chief executive officer of the Television Bureau of Advertising, said in a press release: “People ages 18-64 spend almost five hours with TV a day, compared to three minutes viewing online video.” And taking a swipe -- somewhat deserved -- he added: “Digital advertising is still subject to significant viewability and fraud issues.”
Rumor has it President Obama did well in the last two elections because of his team’s savvy approach to social media and all stuff digital. Actually it was more about his media team buying TV early to get the primo advertising positions. Republican opponents won’t make the same mistake this time around.
Let’s go back to that expected TV spend of $5.5 billion. Is there room for all that political advertising? TV stations will tell you, no problem. But increasing political noise and nastiness would seem to create problems for viewers and counteract effectiveness at some point.
Viewers might one day just turn off or fast-forward past most of the political blather. What can a candidate do? Get exclusivity in TV commercial pod for a political candidate or political issues? Don’t think so. By law, TV stations have obligation to get all political advertising on the air -- as well as provide commercial time at the lowest rate possible.
Some says it’ll all come down to “creative” in those political spots -- to stand out from the crowd. Others might say some of the better, less-strident creative will be on digital platforms.
Only one thing then to hope for from consumers in regards to engaging political media preferences: Vote early, vote often.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
A first peek at holiday spending: Jolly
Media economy
Indeed, the annual gift-giving season is forecast to be robust....so go after all the local-direct in your market that's not on the air now. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D. CA
August 25, 2015
A big stock selloff on Wall Street has sparked fears over the state of the economy.But the first round of spending projections for the holiday season would seem to dismiss those fears.
Right now it looks as though it’s going to be quite a jolly holiday, both for retailers and ad sellers.
That’s according to a new report from eMarketer, which projects spending on holiday gifts will be up 5.7 percent this year, to $885.70 billion, marking the best year-to-year gain since 2011.
That’s a big improvement over an earlier forecast from the ad tracking firm, which predicted a 3.2 percent rise in holiday spending this year.
And it should result in a healthy bump in advertising, too, as retailers compete to lure in shoppers after a slow first half of the year.
Credit lower gas prices for a good part of the rosier outlook.
“This forecast is driven primarily by the fact that gas station sales, which make up roughly 12 percent of overall retail sales, dropped rather dramatically in late 2014,” says Monica Peart, an eMarketer analyst.
“Increases in real income from wages, further decreases in unemployment and an increased willingness to spend in traditional retail categories that missed out on the windfall in gas prices earlier on in the year should also drive growth.”
So far this year has not been great for retailers. In June retail spending was even to the previous year, and it rose a mere 0.6 percent in July, according to the Commerce Department.
But signs for fall are promising. Gas is well below $3 a gallon, with crude oil selling at a six-year low. That should free up money in people’s wallets for holiday spending.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has stayed steady while wages are going up for employees at Wal-Mart and many fast food restaurants.
That should result in stronger holiday ad spending.
Retailers such as Wal-Mart and Macy’s have struggled this year, and they want to draw people into their stores to get a share of the increased holiday spending.
This may also mean a big bump in mobile advertising, as eMarketer is predicting a significant increase in mobile buying.
A quarter of online sales will be made via smartphones and tablets.
“As US consumers become more comfortable with conducting a litany of activities with their smartphones, fewer people are putting down the phone to make a purchase using another device,” Peart says.
“Consumers are opting to complete their transaction with the same device they began the shopping journey with, and that is increasingly with a smartphone.”
Big Bump Forecast for Holiday Retail Sales
INSIDERADIO
August 25, 2015
Good news for radio sales departments aiming to increase retail ad dollars for the crucial November-December shopping season. Retail holiday sales are forecast to grow 5.7% this year, compared to 2014, reaching $885.70 billion. That’s the biggest bump since the 6.3% rise in 2011. In a new outlook, eMarketer has nearly doubled the 3.2% holiday sales growth rate it predicted earlier this year. Why the upward revision? "Gas station sales, which make up roughly 12% of overall retail sales, dropped rather dramatically in late 2014," said eMarketer analyst Monica Peart. "Increases in real income from wages, further decreases in unemployment and an increased willingness to spend in traditional retail categories that missed out on the windfall in gas prices earlier on in the year should also drive growth." Holiday retail sales have been rising steadily for the past four years, from $786.57 billion in 2012. The percent of fourth quarter retail sales they represent has remained largely steady, forecast to account for 68.3% of Q4 retail sales this year. Retail ecommerce holiday sales have been growing at a faster double-digit clip and are on track to increase 13.9% this year. But they’re expected to make up just 9% of total retail holiday season sales in 2015. Mobile will play a part in ecommerce growth this holiday season, with eMarketer calling for a 32.2% increase in full-year 2015—more than double the 14.2% increase forecast for retail ecommerce sales as a whole. The biggest growth will come in smartphone retail mcommerce. By the end of 2016, 25% of all retail ecommerce sales in the U.S. will take place via mobile devices, according to eMarketer.
Looks like radio is the star performer for quick serve restaurants (QSR). Here's proof:
QSRs Super-Size Their Radio Order. Whether it’s targeting consumers taking end of summer vacations or heading back to school, quick-serve restaurants gorged themselves on radio advertising last week. McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and Subway were among the top 35 highest volume radio users. Burger King, in particular, super-sized its radio order. With 25,872 spots airing on stations tracked by Media Monitors, McDonald’s was at the front of the line, ranking No. 6 among overall radio advertisers for the week of August 17-23. That’s in line with the 26,819 the Golden Arches ran the week before. McD’s had plenty of company on the airwaves. Burger King ranked 10th with 21,674 commercials after not placing in the top 100 one week earlier. Burger King recently spiced up its menu offering with the Extra Long Jalapeño Cheeseburger and Fiery Chicken Fries. Wendy’s was close behind at No. 11 with 19,950 spots. Wendy’s went heavier on CHR listeners where it ranked third overall at the format. Both McDonalds’ and Wendy’s total radio spot counts were in line with the previous week. Further down the tally are Taco Bell at No. 28 with 12,651 (close to the 13,377 it placed the previous week) and Subway at No. 33. With 11,591 play counts, Subway was down from 16,244 one week earlier. Further back at No. 55 were Jimmy John’s (6,251), Jack in the Box at No. 69 (5,480) and Dunkin Donuts at No. 87 (4,756).    | ||
Political TV Advertising Still Big For 2016 - But Expect More Annoying Noise
A media critique by Wayne Friedman Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015
You can understand digital media’s optimism this political season. But the reality is that this and next year’s political advertising extravaganza will still be on TV.
According to Borrell Associate, some $5.5 billion will be spent on national political TV advertising, with around $1.08 billion spent on political digital media.
TV stations will be licking their collective chops. TV still has power and widespread appeal to handle all candidates’ advertising -- as well as the still-growing dollars of political action committees.
Countering efforts that digital media will make inroads, Steve Lanzano, president/chief executive officer of the Television Bureau of Advertising, said in a press release: “People ages 18-64 spend almost five hours with TV a day, compared to three minutes viewing online video.” And taking a swipe -- somewhat deserved -- he added: “Digital advertising is still subject to significant viewability and fraud issues.”
Rumor has it President Obama did well in the last two elections because of his team’s savvy approach to social media and all stuff digital. Actually it was more about his media team buying TV early to get the primo advertising positions. Republican opponents won’t make the same mistake this time around.
Let’s go back to that expected TV spend of $5.5 billion. Is there room for all that political advertising? TV stations will tell you, no problem. But increasing political noise and nastiness would seem to create problems for viewers and counteract effectiveness at some point.
Viewers might one day just turn off or fast-forward past most of the political blather. What can a candidate do? Get exclusivity in TV commercial pod for a political candidate or political issues? Don’t think so. By law, TV stations have obligation to get all political advertising on the air -- as well as provide commercial time at the lowest rate possible.
Some says it’ll all come down to “creative” in those political spots -- to stand out from the crowd. Others might say some of the better, less-strident creative will be on digital platforms.
Only one thing then to hope for from consumers in regards to engaging political media preferences: Vote early, vote often.
|
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Saving The TV Business Model
Commentary
- by Charlene Weisler, August 13, 2015, 5:00 PM
As the upfront finishes, we see not only flat and declining sales, but also how this impacts media stock values. While I am no longer a TV network executive, I am an informed advocate of the industry as well as an investor in many media companies. So I have a vested interest in the health of the business and in the success of those working hard to make their companies profitable.
So with the greatest respect, I say to my friends in the industry: I can’t help but feel frustrated by your slow pace implementing solutions to the changing media environment.
There are many reasons why this stagnation occurs. Internal office environments can sometimes foster fear of change, luddite-ism, risk-aversion and myopia. Competitive external business forces can sometimes discourage collaboration across corporations. And so we tread water until we either swim or drown.
The current marketplace demands that we take more concrete action. Here are some suggestions on ways to invigorate the business model:
Agree to universal program and ad IDs. Measuring audiences across all possible platforms in a fail-safe, accurate manner is pivotal to maximizing revenue. But it is taking far too long to reach a consensus on standard universal content recognition IDs for programs and ads. Once we can all agree and apply these codes, we can truly maximize the value of all content across all possible and potential platforms.
“We need to make an honest and compelling case for what we need and stop accepting subpar workarounds as the best we can do,” says Janice Finkel-Greene, executive vice president, buying analytics, Initiative MAGNA, and a strong advocate of universal codes. “Systems that were once facilitators have become impediments, but it’s a situation that goes largely unrecognized because it has evolved so slowly. Now it’s something we live with like a morning traffic jam.” But she warns, “The universal codes are only the first big step in the process. Once they exist, we will have to capture and report them by media outlet for verification and audience analysis.”
Stop negotiating and selling on age and gender proxies. There is nothing more frustrating to me than the continued use of the current proxies of age and gender to transact on television. Not only are they arbitrary breaks, (who came up with Adults 18-49 anyway?) they hardly reflect actual spending habits (which are based on lifestyle more than age). They also terribly undervalue inventory by discrediting and ignoring some of the biggest spenders of certain consumer goods, which are often Adults 50+.
On the front lines of this issue is Hanna Gryncwajg, senior vice president, sales, for RLTV, whose network targets Adults 50+ (which now includes the first wave of Gen Xers). She says, “I believe audience-based buying, driven through purchase and behavior data, would be a win-win for marketers and consumers.”
Compensating for declines by increasing the ad load only makes it worse. How many times do we “solve” for under-delivery by increasing the ad load? While it might be a short-term fix, it can soon become a vicious cycle that only denigrates content quality, encourages more ad skipping, and further erodes overall delivery.
There are probably many solutions to this problem. A few years ago, I advocated for pod curation: higher-performing ads could be rewarded with better pod position. Pod lengths could be calculated more scientifically – perhaps by program genre. Neuroscience precepts could be used to improve promo performance in the “A” position and rank ads more effectively. Taking these steps might even help slow ad-skipping.
Steve Sternberg, former senior vice president, research, at ION Media, and author of The Sternberg Report, has conducted extensive pod research. He says, "Part of the problem is that Nielsen's C3 measurement does not measure commercials, commercial pods, or DVR fast-forwarding. It is really a pretense at measuring commercials. C3 was designed as a one-year band-aid until exact commercials or commercial pods could be measured by industry post-buy systems. That was eight years ago.
“We know that the first minute in a pod over-delivers C3 by 20-30% while every other commercial minute within the pod under-delivers C3. So adding additional commercials to a pod should result in further rating declines."
It used to be easy to kick the can down the road and leave the solutions to the next generation of television executives. However, at this business tipping point, we need to act courageously now to ensure that there is a successful next generation.
So with the greatest respect, I say to my friends in the industry: I can’t help but feel frustrated by your slow pace implementing solutions to the changing media environment.
There are many reasons why this stagnation occurs. Internal office environments can sometimes foster fear of change, luddite-ism, risk-aversion and myopia. Competitive external business forces can sometimes discourage collaboration across corporations. And so we tread water until we either swim or drown.
The current marketplace demands that we take more concrete action. Here are some suggestions on ways to invigorate the business model:
Agree to universal program and ad IDs. Measuring audiences across all possible platforms in a fail-safe, accurate manner is pivotal to maximizing revenue. But it is taking far too long to reach a consensus on standard universal content recognition IDs for programs and ads. Once we can all agree and apply these codes, we can truly maximize the value of all content across all possible and potential platforms.
“We need to make an honest and compelling case for what we need and stop accepting subpar workarounds as the best we can do,” says Janice Finkel-Greene, executive vice president, buying analytics, Initiative MAGNA, and a strong advocate of universal codes. “Systems that were once facilitators have become impediments, but it’s a situation that goes largely unrecognized because it has evolved so slowly. Now it’s something we live with like a morning traffic jam.” But she warns, “The universal codes are only the first big step in the process. Once they exist, we will have to capture and report them by media outlet for verification and audience analysis.”
Stop negotiating and selling on age and gender proxies. There is nothing more frustrating to me than the continued use of the current proxies of age and gender to transact on television. Not only are they arbitrary breaks, (who came up with Adults 18-49 anyway?) they hardly reflect actual spending habits (which are based on lifestyle more than age). They also terribly undervalue inventory by discrediting and ignoring some of the biggest spenders of certain consumer goods, which are often Adults 50+.
On the front lines of this issue is Hanna Gryncwajg, senior vice president, sales, for RLTV, whose network targets Adults 50+ (which now includes the first wave of Gen Xers). She says, “I believe audience-based buying, driven through purchase and behavior data, would be a win-win for marketers and consumers.”
Compensating for declines by increasing the ad load only makes it worse. How many times do we “solve” for under-delivery by increasing the ad load? While it might be a short-term fix, it can soon become a vicious cycle that only denigrates content quality, encourages more ad skipping, and further erodes overall delivery.
There are probably many solutions to this problem. A few years ago, I advocated for pod curation: higher-performing ads could be rewarded with better pod position. Pod lengths could be calculated more scientifically – perhaps by program genre. Neuroscience precepts could be used to improve promo performance in the “A” position and rank ads more effectively. Taking these steps might even help slow ad-skipping.
Steve Sternberg, former senior vice president, research, at ION Media, and author of The Sternberg Report, has conducted extensive pod research. He says, "Part of the problem is that Nielsen's C3 measurement does not measure commercials, commercial pods, or DVR fast-forwarding. It is really a pretense at measuring commercials. C3 was designed as a one-year band-aid until exact commercials or commercial pods could be measured by industry post-buy systems. That was eight years ago.
“We know that the first minute in a pod over-delivers C3 by 20-30% while every other commercial minute within the pod under-delivers C3. So adding additional commercials to a pod should result in further rating declines."
It used to be easy to kick the can down the road and leave the solutions to the next generation of television executives. However, at this business tipping point, we need to act courageously now to ensure that there is a successful next generation.
Ad Execs Need Lesson On Radio Reach—Survey.
INSIDERADIO
August 19, 2015
The radio industry has been taking a victory lap ever since new Nielsen data showed its audience reach is as pervasive as ever—despite an onslaught of digital competitors. But new research shows a wide gulf between the reality of radio’s huge number and the way advertisers perceive it. More than a dozen radio companies commissioned Advertiser Perceptions to survey advertisers and agencies about radio’s audience—and that of its digital audio rivals. Conducted from May 11-May 14, results from the study of 327 advertising decision-makers underscore radio’s perception problem when the view from Madison Ave. is compared with audience metrics from Nielsen and Edison Research. Advertisers surveyed estimated that 64% of Americans are reached by AM/FM. Nielsen shows radio’s actual weekly reach to be 93%. Another disconnect surfaced when advertising execs were asked about the share of audio time spent with radio and streaming music services. They perceived the share of time spent with Pandora and Spotify to be nearly the same as AM/FM. However, AM/FM’s share of audio time is nine times greater than Pandora and 17 times greater than Spotify, according to Edison’s Share Of Ear study conducted in the second quarter. Similarly, advertisers and agencies that participated in the survey said they believed Pandora and Spotify reach 27% and 20% of Americans, respectively. In reality, Pandora reaches 15% of Americans and Spotify 5%, per Edison.
Radio Must "Aggressively Market" Reach Success. Industry leaders have long said that radio has a perception problem, not an audience problem. A new study of agencies and advertisers from Advertiser Perceptions substantiates that claim. Commissioned by Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Alpha Media, Beasley Media Group, CBS Radio, Cox Media Group and seven other radio companies, the perception vs. reality study is earning high marks from group executives. "Advertisers and agencies drastically underestimate the reach of AM/FM radio," commented Lew Dickey, CEO of Cumulus and Westwood One. "This study is the first conclusive evidence of the major gap in actual and imagined performance of AM/FM and streaming outlets." Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, said the new research "makes it clear that while TV and new forms of media may get more attention, they don’t come near the reach of radio; radio is truly the mass reach mobile media." "Radio’s reach has remained consistent despite new forms of audio programming and an increasingly fragmented media landscape," said Andre Fernandez, president of CBS Radio. "Streaming has proven to be a popular platform, but not at the expense of radio’s growing total audience." Research showing a wide chasm between radio’s actual penetration and advertiser assessments is only half the battle, according to an executive who allocates ad dollars for major brands. "As a marketer, I’ve always found radio to be a medium that effectively and efficiently delivers reach over an extended period of time, while driving ROI within the total communications plan," said Mark A. Kaline, a former head of media at Ford Motor Company and Kimberly-Clark who now operates his own consultancy. "But radio has been too low profile with brands, especially in light of other advancements in technology. Radio needs to be more aggressively marketing their story as the leading mass reach media."
Advances In Data-Driven TV Opening Doors Both Big And Small
- by Tyler Loechner @mp_tyler, Yesterday, 1:13 PM
New doors are opening in the TV space thanks to data-driven ad tech. Rex Briggs, founder and CEO of Marketing Evolution, believes programmatic TV tech -- which may be better termed “data-driven TV” -- is growing the pool of people that can participate.Briggs was speaking on the data-driven TV panel at the Programmatic Insider Summit in Tahoe on Tuesday morning.
To put this “growing pool” in perspective, panel moderator and MediaPost Editor-in-Chief Joe Mandese noted that in the 80’s, only about 200 brands were buying national TV spots. By the end of the 80’s, as more audience data became available, there were 4,000 brands advertising nationally. Today, some estimates put the number of brands using digital advertising (not just TV) to reach national audiences at over three million.
As Big Data gets bigger, new opportunities are born. And that’s what happening in the programmatic TV space, as the tech is "unlocking" new doors, such as local spots at scale or video on demand inventory.
“In addition to some of those smaller advertisers that are going to be buying more TV … I’m excited for some of the bigger advertisers to have more options,” said Bruce Kiernan, managing partner of performance marketing at MEC.
“With more data and insights, we’ll focus more on audience and user," Kiernan added. "So having other options to target that user [in a way that] might be more cost-effective is a huge opportunity for big advertisers as well, and as an agency we will look at the data and insights and make recommendations about not just who we should buy, but where.”
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Radio’s Hot In Election Money Polls—Borrell.
INSIDERADIO
August 18, 2015
The political party conventions for Election Day 2016 may still be a year away but the party has already started. National elections will draw the lion’s share of attention, but almost half of election dollars will be spent at the local level, according to a report issued Tuesday by Borrell Associates. Of the total $1.186 billion forecast to be spent on radio from 2015-16, two-thirds ($787.77 million) will come from state and local contests and one-third ($399.04 million) from national contests. Broadcast TV won’t be nearly as dominant in state and local political contests the way it is for national races. "Newspapers, out-of-home, radio and telemarketing all have healthy shares," the report says. But with only three governors to be elected in 2015, the majority of the local action for radio and other local media this year will come at the state level or lower—races for state assembly seats, mayors and city councils, school boards, county offices and ballot issues. "Local politicians who once spent most of their time choosing colors and slogans for lawn signs are now scripting radio and TV spots," the firm says in the report, adding that radio and even TV time are now viable options for many local candidates. At $111.08 million, ballot issues will account for the largest amount of state and local political ad dollars earmarked for radio this year, followed by city/local races ($71.09 million) and state assembly races ($70.79 million). But with 77% more contests in 2016—and more money being spent on each one—local political ad spending in 2016 will double 2015 levels, per Borrell. Radio is forecast to grab 10.1% of those ad dollars with the largest amount once again coming from local ballot issues ($184.33 million), city/local elections ($161.61 million) and state assembly matches ($159.93 million).
Brands Love The Sound Of Radio In Co-op Deals. Co-op advertising programs in North America will total $36 billion this year, potentially affecting about 12% of all ad spending. Yet despite the rapid growth in digital media, co-op programs still heavily favor traditional media. And more than seven in ten brand managers use radio as part of their co-op programs, according to new research from Borrell Associates. The survey showed that 71% of managers of big national brands said their offerings include radio, putting radio in a second-place tie with direct mail among 12 media surveyed. Newspapers came in first at 82%, while digital marketing co-op ranked fourth at 69%. Offered by most large brand advertisers to their local business partners, co-op programs split the costs of advertising between the local retailer or distributor and the brand manufacturer. Although large brands still favor traditional mediums, a majority of local businesses (61%) prioritize digital advertising over newspaper (56%), direct mail (53%), radio (45%) and cable TV (35%). But local co-op is a growing line for radio. The number of local businesses surveyed who said they use radio in their co-op programs grew from 36% in 2012 to 45% in 2015. The numbers are part of a new white paper from Borrell and technology company Netsertive, which culled numbers from online surveys of brand managers and local business owners, along with telephone interviews and an analysis of advertising data.
With Updates, AM May No Longer Be Band On the Run. Efforts to revitalize AM radio may soon be moving off the back burner at the Federal Communications Commission. In a recent blog post, commission chairman Tom Wheeler said he would recommend that the agency adopt "several proposals" first discussed in a 2013 AM Radio Revitalization proposed rulemaking that "will further enhance the viability of the AM broadcast service." Wheeler didn’t provide any specifics but he added, "This comprehensive set of actions modernize our rules to keep them in line with the public interest in an ever-changing marketplace, and will help to ensure the continued vitality of AM radio." Broadcasters are anxious to see exactly what Wheeler has in mind. At the NAB Show in April, he effectively took the wind out of the effort’s sails by sidelining a proposal widely supported among the radio industry to give AM owners their own window for a shot at securing FM translators. But last month, Reps. Pete Olson (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) asked Wheeler to "promptly advance" the AM revitalization proceeding, including the opening of an AM-only window for FM translators. In his blog post yesterday, Wheeler said he would formally ask about further suggested updates to the revitalization effort. He gave a shout-out to commissioner Ajit Pai, who has made improving AM radio a top priority, and former acting chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, who got the ball rolling in 2013. The original 2013 proposals also included a modification to the daytime and nighttime community coverage standards, elimination of the so-called ratchet rule and new AM antenna efficiency standards. It also floated the idea of allowing stations to use new technologies designed to reduce AM operating expenses.
With Agency Deal, More Sales On Horizon. In what could be a win for radio advertising, independent ad agency Horizon Media is launching a new shop with Korean automaker Hyundai, a big radio buyer in many markets, as a marquee client. Canvas Worldwide, a separate, independent agency, will be a joint venture with Hyundai-backed agency Innocan, according to a report in AdAge.com. Signing Hyundai, with its $700 million in U.S. business, gets Canvas off to a strong start. It’s not a stretch to expect the new agency to use radio in its buying plans, as Horizon CEO Bill Koenigsberg is among the most radio-friendly executives in the ad industry. Horizon invests heavily in radio advertising for many of its clients, including a major upfront-style, $100 million deal last year with iHeartMedia for Horizon clients to advertise across the company’s radio, digital, out-of-home and events assets. At the time, Koenigsberg said he expected clients to be clamoring to secure the iHeart inventory. As brands look for new ways to maximize their ad spending, other radio companies could offer similar multiplatform deals. Horizon’s launch of Canvas comes at a tumultuous time in the advertising industry. Some of the world’s biggest brands, including Proctor & Gamble, Unilever and Johnson & Johnson, are reviewing their ad spending, and about $26 billion in marketing budgets is on the line. Creating Canvas amid the reviews gives Horizon, the last standalone shop, a chance to win a larger share of business, or, at least, bring new accounts into the family. "Marketers are looking for a clean slate, new opportunity for invention, new creativity," Koenigsberg told AdAge.com. "I believe that with the success I’ve had with Horizon I can build another entity with a strong global partner to create two of the best-in-class agencies in the world."
News Corp. Revs Dip On Newspaper Declines
- by Erik Sass @eriksass1, August 13, 2015, 11:06 AM
Now entering its third year as an independent company, following its spinoff from Fox in June 2013, News Corporation is still struggling with the same long-term decline in print revenues affecting other newspaper publishers. However, the company also noted positive trends in its digital real estate and book publishing businesses.News Corp.’s total revenues fell 2% from $2.19 billion in the second quarter of 2014 to $2.14 billion in the second quarter of 2015 (the fourth quarter of its fiscal year). When the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations is excluded, total revenues were down 1%, due to the continuing drop in newspaper advertising and circulation revenues.
The company’s newspaper publishing revenues fell 10% from $1.56 billion to $1.4 billion over this period, as ad revenues tumbled 13% and circ slipped 5%; when the impact of currency fluctuations are excluded, total revenues were down 2%.
The newspaper slump was partially offset by growth in other areas, with bright spots including digital real estate revenue, which jumped 67% to $190 million, powered by the acquisition of Move. Book publishing revenues were also up 8% to $390 million, due principally to the acquisition of Harlequin.
Move’s traffic in the second quarter increased 42% year-over-year to around 45 million, powered by an 80% increase in mobile users.
As noted, other big newspaper publishers have recently posted similar quarterly results. The New York Times Co. saw total revenues fall 1.55% to $383 million in the second quarter. Tribune’s total revenues fell 4.7% to $410 million, McClatchy Co.’s fell 8.7% to $262.4 million, and Gannett’s also fell 8.7% to $727.1 million.
Mobile Ad Revs Soar Globally
by Gavin O'Malley @mp_gavin, August 13, 2015, 12:17 PM
Worldwide, mobile ad revenue swelled 64.8% from $19.3 billion in 2013 to $31.9 billion in 2014, according to fresh findings from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
The IAB attributed the robust growth to continued shifts in consumer usage patterns and industry innovations.
“Mobile devices are at the center of consumers’ lives across the globe and these numbers reflect brands’ increasing recognition that this medium holds great power,” said Anna Bager, SVP at the IAB, in the new report.
Showing stronger growth than any other region, North America saw a 76.8% increase in m
obile ad spending during the period.
Overtaking search as the dominant segment, mobile display advertising showed the highest growth at 88.1% during the period. Overall, display represented 47.4% of the total global mobile advertising revenue in 2014 at just over $15 billion.
Still up a healthy 55.2%, mobile search followed with a 46.1% share -- or $14.7 billion.
Messaging grew 13% during the period, as users continued to migrate from operator-owned messaging services to app-based messaging platforms. As such, messaging took a 6.6% share -- or $2.1 billion.
Following North America, the Mideast and African region saw growth of 68.5% during the period.
Latin America came in third (66.1%), followed by Europe (58.6%), and the Asian-Pacific region (54.5%).
The Inevitable Happens. The World Is Stunned
- by Bob Garfield, Yesterday, 8:00 AM
The headline of the London Evening Standard on September 1, 1939 was:
GERMANS INVADE
AND BOMB POLAND
BRITAIN MOBILISES
As if it were a surprise. Years of denial, appeasement and naïve diplomacy had yielded exactly the aggression that had been inevitable and obvious since at least 1933. The Times of London could have, but alas did not, offer the competing headline:
NO SHIT.
The British mobilization was, to say the least, tardy. Perhaps y’all recognize the feeling. What brings this catastrophe to mind is not just the approaching anniversary of World War II's outbreak, but some headlines in this publication and elsewhere over the past couple of days. To wit:
Advertising Industry Losing Billions To Ad-Blocking Software
The Adobe/PageFair study quoted in the story predicts the financial toll will exceed $41 billion next year. Well, blow me down. Who could’ve seen that coming? Hahahahaha.
Of course, consumers are using ad blockers. And why? For the same reason dogs lick their privates: because they can. For all those wonderful analog centuries when readers couldn't eradicate print ads or fast-forward through Mr. Whipple, the advertising industry somehow let itself believe that it was cherished. Advertisers were captors who imagined themselves as hosts.
Sure, a few outliers like “Where’s the Beef?” and the fast-talking FedEx man amused their way into the pop culture. Yes, many other ads insinuated themselves in the mass consciousness through mere endless repetition (“Pepsi-Cola hits the spot! Twelve full ounces -- that’s a lot!”). And, yeah, Tony the (Sugar Pimp) Tiger made people applaud in a couple of Advertising Week parades.
But there is a difference between familiarity and affection. There is a difference between nostalgia and affection. There is a vast difference between resignation and affection. Face it: they never loved you. They. Never. Loved. You.
The very moment TiVo permitted commercial zapping, and spam filters emerged, and AdBlock Plus was released, they ran from you as fast as their software could carry them. They treated you like roaches and mice. They brought in exterminators.
I take no joy in reporting that, because exterminating advertising is something like exterminating bats and spiders. They trigger visceral disgust, but they perform a very valuable function in the ecosystem. We need a functioning advertising economy to underwrite the news and entertainment content that amuses the world, and not incidentally, undergirds our democracy. And no alternative revenue source -- not subscriptions, not micropayments, not affiliate links, not native, not data, not e-commerce -- has emerged, alone or altogether, to replace it.
That is the nub of the problem for marketing -- but mainly for the media economy. Yet in 2015 we continue to see industry-wide freakouts about ad-avoidance and fraud and CPM shrinkage and fragmentation and all of the other consequences of digital revolution that have been inevitable and obvious for more than a decade. It’s as if the whole lot of you fell in the thrall of Neville Chamberlain -- not because he made any sense, but because you wanted to believe you would have peace in your time. This despite the likes of Winston Churchill, who began warning Europe of its tragic destiny in 1930. Yes, he outlined the chaos scenario three years before Hitler even took power.
Not because he was clairvoyant. But because he was willing to open his eyes.
And you…you with your data and your technology and your Series C Rounds and your relentless optimism….well, you have mobilized too late.
GERMANS INVADE
AND BOMB POLAND
BRITAIN MOBILISES
As if it were a surprise. Years of denial, appeasement and naïve diplomacy had yielded exactly the aggression that had been inevitable and obvious since at least 1933. The Times of London could have, but alas did not, offer the competing headline:
NO SHIT.
The British mobilization was, to say the least, tardy. Perhaps y’all recognize the feeling. What brings this catastrophe to mind is not just the approaching anniversary of World War II's outbreak, but some headlines in this publication and elsewhere over the past couple of days. To wit:
Advertising Industry Losing Billions To Ad-Blocking Software
The Adobe/PageFair study quoted in the story predicts the financial toll will exceed $41 billion next year. Well, blow me down. Who could’ve seen that coming? Hahahahaha.
Of course, consumers are using ad blockers. And why? For the same reason dogs lick their privates: because they can. For all those wonderful analog centuries when readers couldn't eradicate print ads or fast-forward through Mr. Whipple, the advertising industry somehow let itself believe that it was cherished. Advertisers were captors who imagined themselves as hosts.
Sure, a few outliers like “Where’s the Beef?” and the fast-talking FedEx man amused their way into the pop culture. Yes, many other ads insinuated themselves in the mass consciousness through mere endless repetition (“Pepsi-Cola hits the spot! Twelve full ounces -- that’s a lot!”). And, yeah, Tony the (Sugar Pimp) Tiger made people applaud in a couple of Advertising Week parades.
But there is a difference between familiarity and affection. There is a difference between nostalgia and affection. There is a vast difference between resignation and affection. Face it: they never loved you. They. Never. Loved. You.
The very moment TiVo permitted commercial zapping, and spam filters emerged, and AdBlock Plus was released, they ran from you as fast as their software could carry them. They treated you like roaches and mice. They brought in exterminators.
I take no joy in reporting that, because exterminating advertising is something like exterminating bats and spiders. They trigger visceral disgust, but they perform a very valuable function in the ecosystem. We need a functioning advertising economy to underwrite the news and entertainment content that amuses the world, and not incidentally, undergirds our democracy. And no alternative revenue source -- not subscriptions, not micropayments, not affiliate links, not native, not data, not e-commerce -- has emerged, alone or altogether, to replace it.
That is the nub of the problem for marketing -- but mainly for the media economy. Yet in 2015 we continue to see industry-wide freakouts about ad-avoidance and fraud and CPM shrinkage and fragmentation and all of the other consequences of digital revolution that have been inevitable and obvious for more than a decade. It’s as if the whole lot of you fell in the thrall of Neville Chamberlain -- not because he made any sense, but because you wanted to believe you would have peace in your time. This despite the likes of Winston Churchill, who began warning Europe of its tragic destiny in 1930. Yes, he outlined the chaos scenario three years before Hitler even took power.
Not because he was clairvoyant. But because he was willing to open his eyes.
And you…you with your data and your technology and your Series C Rounds and your relentless optimism….well, you have mobilized too late.
Saving The TV Business Model
Commentary
by Charlene Weisler, August 13, 2015, 5:00 PM
As the upfront finishes, we see not only flat and declining sales, but also how this impacts media stock values. While I am no longer a TV network executive, I am an informed advocate of the industry as well as an investor in many media companies. So I have a vested interest in the health of the business and in the success of those working hard to make their companies profitable.
So with the greatest respect, I say to my friends in the industry: I can’t help but feel frustrated by your slow pace implementing solutions to the changing media environment.
There are many reasons why this stagnation occurs. Internal office environments can sometimes foster fear of change, luddite-ism, risk-aversion and myopia. Competitive external business forces can sometimes discourage collaboration across corporations. And so we tread water until we either swim or drown.
The current marketplace demands that we take more concrete action. Here are some suggestions on ways to invigorate the business model:
Agree to universal program and ad IDs. Measuring audiences across all possible platforms in a fail-safe, accurate manner is pivotal to maximizing revenue. But it is taking far too long to reach a consensus on standard universal content recognition IDs for programs and ads. Once we can all agree and apply these codes, we can truly maximize the value of all content across all possible and potential platforms.
“We need to make an honest and compelling case for what we need and stop accepting subpar workarounds as the best we can do,” says Janice Finkel-Greene, executive vice president, buying analytics, Initiative MAGNA, and a strong advocate of universal codes. “Systems that were once facilitators have become impediments, but it’s a situation that goes largely unrecognized because it has evolved so slowly. Now it’s something we live with like a morning traffic jam.” But she warns, “The universal codes are only the first big step in the process. Once they exist, we will have to capture and report them by media outlet for verification and audience analysis.”
Stop negotiating and selling on age and gender proxies. There is nothing more frustrating to me than the continued use of the current proxies of age and gender to transact on television. Not only are they arbitrary breaks, (who came up with Adults 18-49 anyway?) they hardly reflect actual spending habits (which are based on lifestyle more than age). They also terribly undervalue inventory by discrediting and ignoring some of the biggest spenders of certain consumer goods, which are often Adults 50+.
On the front lines of this issue is Hanna Gryncwajg, senior vice president, sales, for RLTV, whose network targets Adults 50+ (which now includes the first wave of Gen Xers). She says, “I believe audience-based buying, driven through purchase and behavior data, would be a win-win for marketers and consumers.”
Compensating for declines by increasing the ad load only makes it worse. How many times do we “solve” for under-delivery by increasing the ad load? While it might be a short-term fix, it can soon become a vicious cycle that only denigrates content quality, encourages more ad skipping, and further erodes overall delivery.
There are probably many solutions to this problem. A few years ago, I advocated for pod curation: higher-performing ads could be rewarded with better pod position. Pod lengths could be calculated more scientifically – perhaps by program genre. Neuroscience precepts could be used to improve promo performance in the “A” position and rank ads more effectively. Taking these steps might even help slow ad-skipping.
Steve Sternberg, former senior vice president, research, at ION Media, and author of The Sternberg Report, has conducted extensive pod research. He says, "Part of the problem is that Nielsen's C3 measurement does not measure commercials, commercial pods, or DVR fast-forwarding. It is really a pretense at measuring commercials. C3 was designed as a one-year band-aid until exact commercials or commercial pods could be measured by industry post-buy systems. That was eight years ago.
“We know that the first minute in a pod over-delivers C3 by 20-30% while every other commercial minute within the pod under-delivers C3. So adding additional commercials to a pod should result in further rating declines."
It used to be easy to kick the can down the road and leave the solutions to the next generation of television executives. However, at this business tipping point, we need to act courageously now to ensure that there is a successful next generation.
So with the greatest respect, I say to my friends in the industry: I can’t help but feel frustrated by your slow pace implementing solutions to the changing media environment.
There are many reasons why this stagnation occurs. Internal office environments can sometimes foster fear of change, luddite-ism, risk-aversion and myopia. Competitive external business forces can sometimes discourage collaboration across corporations. And so we tread water until we either swim or drown.
The current marketplace demands that we take more concrete action. Here are some suggestions on ways to invigorate the business model:
Agree to universal program and ad IDs. Measuring audiences across all possible platforms in a fail-safe, accurate manner is pivotal to maximizing revenue. But it is taking far too long to reach a consensus on standard universal content recognition IDs for programs and ads. Once we can all agree and apply these codes, we can truly maximize the value of all content across all possible and potential platforms.
“We need to make an honest and compelling case for what we need and stop accepting subpar workarounds as the best we can do,” says Janice Finkel-Greene, executive vice president, buying analytics, Initiative MAGNA, and a strong advocate of universal codes. “Systems that were once facilitators have become impediments, but it’s a situation that goes largely unrecognized because it has evolved so slowly. Now it’s something we live with like a morning traffic jam.” But she warns, “The universal codes are only the first big step in the process. Once they exist, we will have to capture and report them by media outlet for verification and audience analysis.”
Stop negotiating and selling on age and gender proxies. There is nothing more frustrating to me than the continued use of the current proxies of age and gender to transact on television. Not only are they arbitrary breaks, (who came up with Adults 18-49 anyway?) they hardly reflect actual spending habits (which are based on lifestyle more than age). They also terribly undervalue inventory by discrediting and ignoring some of the biggest spenders of certain consumer goods, which are often Adults 50+.
On the front lines of this issue is Hanna Gryncwajg, senior vice president, sales, for RLTV, whose network targets Adults 50+ (which now includes the first wave of Gen Xers). She says, “I believe audience-based buying, driven through purchase and behavior data, would be a win-win for marketers and consumers.”
Compensating for declines by increasing the ad load only makes it worse. How many times do we “solve” for under-delivery by increasing the ad load? While it might be a short-term fix, it can soon become a vicious cycle that only denigrates content quality, encourages more ad skipping, and further erodes overall delivery.
There are probably many solutions to this problem. A few years ago, I advocated for pod curation: higher-performing ads could be rewarded with better pod position. Pod lengths could be calculated more scientifically – perhaps by program genre. Neuroscience precepts could be used to improve promo performance in the “A” position and rank ads more effectively. Taking these steps might even help slow ad-skipping.
Steve Sternberg, former senior vice president, research, at ION Media, and author of The Sternberg Report, has conducted extensive pod research. He says, "Part of the problem is that Nielsen's C3 measurement does not measure commercials, commercial pods, or DVR fast-forwarding. It is really a pretense at measuring commercials. C3 was designed as a one-year band-aid until exact commercials or commercial pods could be measured by industry post-buy systems. That was eight years ago.
“We know that the first minute in a pod over-delivers C3 by 20-30% while every other commercial minute within the pod under-delivers C3. So adding additional commercials to a pod should result in further rating declines."
It used to be easy to kick the can down the road and leave the solutions to the next generation of television executives. However, at this business tipping point, we need to act courageously now to ensure that there is a successful next generation.
Engaging A Generation Of Visual Buyers
Keeping Up With The Millennials
by Thom Forbes, August 14, 2015, 12:33 PM
Susan Murphy figures she’s been doing content marketing since she was graduated from Marquette University with a degree in journalism 30 years ago and landed a job as an assistant account executive at Edelman Public Relations. Still, sitting in meetings lately with younger, tech-savvy associates, she has been wondering if everything has been moving faster than her ability to keep up through hands-on osmosis.
“My biggest fear is becoming a dinosaur,” she says. And so, when she saw an offer for a free trial of lynda.com, the online learning company acquired by LinkedIn in April for $1.5 billion, she signed up not only to learn new skills, but also to see if she really knew what she thought she did about posting, tweeting and brand vigilance, 24/7.
“The first day that I logged on and started taking notes about what courses I’d be inte
rested in, I came up with 32 of them,” she says. “Most are in areas related to content marketing.”
Over the years, Murphy has ghostwritten op-eds and letters to the editor, implemented internal and external communications plans as an in-house manager and freelance consultant, and developed scripts and speeches for the likes of General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt, Time Inc.’s Dick Parsons and America’s Walter Cronkite.
Not that emerging content platforms have escaped her attention. Murphy has long been a fervent personal networker on Facebook and LinkedIn. As senior vice president of public relations for the Ad Council in the late ’00s, Murphy was responsible for introducing social media programs into the mix of the organization's public service advertising campaigns.
“Content marketing is something I’ve always done naturally,” she says, “but I feel like it is becoming a specialty with certain formulas and best practices.” And that has made the formulaic press release about as relevant as the press agents of yore looking to get their clients a line or two of “ink” from a newspaper columnist.
“It’s all about delivering value now, because everyone is suffering from information overload and time poverty,” Murphy says.
There are several educational options open to mid-career professionals who want to keep up with digitally native Millennials, such as Marketing Profs, the Content Marketing Institute, and many events, including MediaPost summits.
Academia is getting into the act, too. The Newhouse School at Syracuse University, for example, has partnered with the social media platform company Hootsuite in a self-paced, 15-lesson “Advanced Social Media Strategy” course that takes most students 60 hours to complete and provides an “industry recognized” credential when they do.
Then again, there’s the time-honored technique of crying for help when you need it.
Last week Emma Siemasko posted about being asked to write a video script by the owner of a company for whom she had created “hundreds of blog posts, emails, and other marketing assets.” She had never done a script before, but quickly said “yes” — and then asked two colleagues in the know for some brainstorming help. She now has enough experience to pass along tips herself about the fastest-growing segment in content marketing.
Meanwhile, Murphy has so far taken three courses on lynda.com. Two were about Twitter, and mostly confirmed that she pretty much knows what’s what with 140-character branding messages, though she says she learned a few useful tips about photo use. But an offering about Google Analytics took her well beyond her basic understanding, enabling her to tailor future reporting to exactly what her clients need to know.
Murphy immediately signed on for a subscription to Lynda.com when her trial ended. Different packages range from $19.99 to S34.99 per month for unlimited access to all videos.
Besides the extensive course list, Murphy “loves” the way the information is presented (“I can hit pause and take notes”), the additional articles that are available on trending topics, and the overall cost, ease and convenience. “You know, I could learn anything on there,” she says -- with only a hint of incredulity. Online reviewers like PCMag.com’s Jill Duffy are similarly effusive.
On Monday Murphy is starting a new staff position as the director of communications for Friends of Recovery -- New York. It’s a cause she’s passionate about, so the expected long hours and heavy travel schedule don’t daunt her at all. But she has promised herself to make the time to complete at least one course a week on lynda.com, whether it’s something to do directly with content or finally learning HTML.
So, what are you doing to stay relevant?
“My biggest fear is becoming a dinosaur,” she says. And so, when she saw an offer for a free trial of lynda.com, the online learning company acquired by LinkedIn in April for $1.5 billion, she signed up not only to learn new skills, but also to see if she really knew what she thought she did about posting, tweeting and brand vigilance, 24/7.
“The first day that I logged on and started taking notes about what courses I’d be inte
rested in, I came up with 32 of them,” she says. “Most are in areas related to content marketing.”
Over the years, Murphy has ghostwritten op-eds and letters to the editor, implemented internal and external communications plans as an in-house manager and freelance consultant, and developed scripts and speeches for the likes of General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt, Time Inc.’s Dick Parsons and America’s Walter Cronkite.
Not that emerging content platforms have escaped her attention. Murphy has long been a fervent personal networker on Facebook and LinkedIn. As senior vice president of public relations for the Ad Council in the late ’00s, Murphy was responsible for introducing social media programs into the mix of the organization's public service advertising campaigns.
“Content marketing is something I’ve always done naturally,” she says, “but I feel like it is becoming a specialty with certain formulas and best practices.” And that has made the formulaic press release about as relevant as the press agents of yore looking to get their clients a line or two of “ink” from a newspaper columnist.
“It’s all about delivering value now, because everyone is suffering from information overload and time poverty,” Murphy says.
There are several educational options open to mid-career professionals who want to keep up with digitally native Millennials, such as Marketing Profs, the Content Marketing Institute, and many events, including MediaPost summits.
Academia is getting into the act, too. The Newhouse School at Syracuse University, for example, has partnered with the social media platform company Hootsuite in a self-paced, 15-lesson “Advanced Social Media Strategy” course that takes most students 60 hours to complete and provides an “industry recognized” credential when they do.
Then again, there’s the time-honored technique of crying for help when you need it.
Last week Emma Siemasko posted about being asked to write a video script by the owner of a company for whom she had created “hundreds of blog posts, emails, and other marketing assets.” She had never done a script before, but quickly said “yes” — and then asked two colleagues in the know for some brainstorming help. She now has enough experience to pass along tips herself about the fastest-growing segment in content marketing.
Meanwhile, Murphy has so far taken three courses on lynda.com. Two were about Twitter, and mostly confirmed that she pretty much knows what’s what with 140-character branding messages, though she says she learned a few useful tips about photo use. But an offering about Google Analytics took her well beyond her basic understanding, enabling her to tailor future reporting to exactly what her clients need to know.
Murphy immediately signed on for a subscription to Lynda.com when her trial ended. Different packages range from $19.99 to S34.99 per month for unlimited access to all videos.
Besides the extensive course list, Murphy “loves” the way the information is presented (“I can hit pause and take notes”), the additional articles that are available on trending topics, and the overall cost, ease and convenience. “You know, I could learn anything on there,” she says -- with only a hint of incredulity. Online reviewers like PCMag.com’s Jill Duffy are similarly effusive.
On Monday Murphy is starting a new staff position as the director of communications for Friends of Recovery -- New York. It’s a cause she’s passionate about, so the expected long hours and heavy travel schedule don’t daunt her at all. But she has promised herself to make the time to complete at least one course a week on lynda.com, whether it’s something to do directly with content or finally learning HTML.
So, what are you doing to stay relevant?
Saturday, August 1, 2015
'Newsmen' Williams, Stewart Poised To Make Headlines In August
by Adam Buckman, July 28, 2015, 12:24 PM
It seems like it was only yesterday …To be specific, it was an action-packed week back in February -- the week of Feb. 9-13 -- when Jon Stewart surprised us all by announcing he would call it quits this summer and, at around the same time, NBC was sentencing wayward news anchor Brian Williams to a six-month suspension without pay following his infamous tall-tale scandal.
Well, here we are on the threshold of August and both of these legendary newsmen are poised to make headlines in the same month yet again. (I know I just casually described Stewart as a “legendary newsman” and then just let it sit there. I promise you more on that farther down.)
Stewart will soon leave. And Williams will return, but in what appears on the surface to be a diminished role at NBC News.
On the other hand, the relative significance of Williams' new role -- “breaking news” anchor on MSNBC -- depends on what NBC News brass under division chief Andy Lack has in store for MSNBC. The rumors are that the low-rated cable channel will jettison a chunk of its talk shows (particularly the ones that air in the daytime) in favor of a harder news approach that will position the network as more of a cable adjunct of NBC News, instead of a destination for liberal talk shows that few people watch.
If MSNBC adopts a hard-news approach, then Williams might be resurrected as a very visible national news anchor once again. My advice: Keep him away from the late-night comedy shows or, for that matter, any environment where he might be tempted to go off-script again and tell stories embellishing his experiences covering various hot spots. The fact is, despite the New York Post's insistence on calling him “Lyin’ Brian” in every story the paper publishes about him, he stands a reasonable chance of resurrecting himself in the court of public opinion. Just look at A-Rod.
Speaking of late-night comedy, just in case you have not yet marked your calendar (do people still “mark calendars”?), Jon Stewart's last show as host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central is next Thursday, Aug. 6.
His final four shows (next Monday through Thursday) will be closely watched and widely covered, especially his finale. Pundits will write about Stewart's contributions to the culture, particularly how he melded news and comedy until the two became indistinguishable, at least to his target audience of younger viewers and core followers who were said to have adopted “The Daily Show” as their principal source of nightly “news.”
The same was once said of Jay Leno's monologues on “The Tonight Show.” And it was true, to a degree: If you had not checked in on any news Web sites, watched any TV newscasts or tuned into any news on the radio that day, then it was highly likely that the first time you may have heard the day's headlines would have been during a setup for a late-night monologue joke.
Stewart's “Daily Show” went even further -- styling his show like a newscast in which he, as “news anchor,” presented news stories and then rolled his eyes over them, both literally and figuratively. So not only would viewers learn the day’s news (or at least a fraction of it), but they would then have an opportunity to form an opinion about the news based on Stewart's reactions. And since he was so funny and entertaining, it was easy to agree with Stewart's take -- which is why he emerged as such an influential opinion leader.
Airing opinions or otherwise revealing one's reaction to news stories is a privilege enjoyed by comedians -- not news anchors. “Real” newsmen are supposed to report the news without inflections that reveal how they personally feel about it.
Before his career was derailed by scandal (at least temporarily), Williams seemed hopeful of breaking out of TV news and breaking into the comedy business. He apparently loved appearing on late-night comedy shows so much that he was rumored to have explored the idea of promoting himself as a possible replacement for either Leno or David Letterman.
Now he is due to return to TV in a hard-news capacity that will hopefully leave him little room for either commentary or comedy. And that's a good thing. My advice (given here for the second time in this blog post, and not solicited by Williams or anybody else): Leave the comedy to the late-night comedians.
Radio Too Strong To Be ‘Under-Monetized’—iHeart Exec.
INSIDERADIO
Recent Nielsen data showing radio surpassed TV in the first quarter as the nation’s top reach medium is likely to be a talking point during second-quarter earnings season. Rich Bressler, president, COO & CFO of iHeartMedia, used that finding during the company’s results call yesterday as evidence that radio is "under-monetized as a medium." The new info, along with a Nielsen study from last year that showed radio delivered a 6-to-1 return on investment, was cited by Bressler as an important data point in demonstrating the medium’s power "as we continue to close the gap between radio’s consumer scale and engagement and its much lower share of advertising spend." Nieslen data shows two-thirds of radio listening occurs out-of-home, while 66% of mobile media is consumed in-home, stats Bressler used to reinforce radio’s position as the "original mobile medium" at a time when marketers continue to shift dollars to mobile. Bressler also said the company is talking to advertisers about the power of sound. "Consumers are becoming increasingly mobile and we continue to take this message out to advertisers to help them understand why radio should become a bigger part of their media mix and why they should be asking themselves what is our company’s sound strategy?"
Second-Year Spend Crucial For Success—Nielsen. Anyone in radio sales looking for a good stat to suggest the advantage of a long-term contract received a gift that keeps on giving from Nielsen. According to a new research report, successful growing brands are the ones that maintain 94% of their year-one media spend into the second year—a crucial stat compared to brands that don’t. In the report, Nielsen asserts that sales for 55% of all new products start to slide as they enter the second year in the market and by year three, 69% of all new products experience declines. The measuring giant’s new "How to Succeed In Years Two and Three" study also says that among businesses that start to falter, the majority see sales decline of 30% or more following year one. The way to prevent that? Keep your year-two media spend just about what it was in year one, when new businesses usually spend the most. Brands that decline tend to cut their budgets 80% in year-two, on average. The ones that don’t maintain that year-one growth, leading Nielsen to further suggest that it might be better to delay second-year product launches to spend the money making sure the original product line gets solid year-two support. The research is based on 600 case studies.
Proactive Study Suggests Radio’s Role in Online Purchasing Power. A customer may be buying skin care products online, but that doesn’t mean online deserves all the credit for setting up the sale. This comes according to new analysis of skin care product line Proactiv by AdAge, which suggests radio and TV play an important role as an online purchase table setter. The numbers indicated that traditional media advertising is vital to online shopping. Proactiv, owned by Guthy-Renker, is a heavy direct marketer and uses online, TV and radio to promote its sales. With both direct marketing and traditional product advertising, conventional wisdom often says that the last medium to deliver an advertising message can drive a sale. That concept of recency has long been one of radio’s major selling points, particularly given its ability to reach listeners in their cars on their way to stores. In online advertising, the equivalent is clicking through on a search ad, or "last-click attribution," which gets credit as the driving force for an online sale. Skeptics have long argued that online purchasing decisions are much more complicated, akin to the salesman who does all the work with one customer, only to see another salesman swoop in to get the final sales commission. A look at Proactiv’s online sales by Facebook’s Atlas ad serving and analytics unit, published in AdAge, suggests the theory isn’t quite so cut and dry. Atlas found that while 43% of online sales came directly from clicks on a display ad, with 41% coming straight from search ads, another 16% of sales came from a mix of the two, meaning the buyer searched for a product after first getting the idea from a separate display ad. First Responder: See how radio’s ad influence might fit into this mix at insideradio.com
Second-Year Spend Crucial For Success—Nielsen. Anyone in radio sales looking for a good stat to suggest the advantage of a long-term contract received a gift that keeps on giving from Nielsen. According to a new research report, successful growing brands are the ones that maintain 94% of their year-one media spend into the second year—a crucial stat compared to brands that don’t. In the report, Nielsen asserts that sales for 55% of all new products start to slide as they enter the second year in the market and by year three, 69% of all new products experience declines. The measuring giant’s new "How to Succeed In Years Two and Three" study also says that among businesses that start to falter, the majority see sales decline of 30% or more following year one. The way to prevent that? Keep your year-two media spend just about what it was in year one, when new businesses usually spend the most. Brands that decline tend to cut their budgets 80% in year-two, on average. The ones that don’t maintain that year-one growth, leading Nielsen to further suggest that it might be better to delay second-year product launches to spend the money making sure the original product line gets solid year-two support. The research is based on 600 case studies.
Location Tracking Is The New Attribution Engine
by Steve Smith @popeyesm, July 30, 2015, 11:14 AM
Mobile technology has had a direct impact on the way marketers can conceive and measure the idea of place. Leveraging a number of different methods and metrics, analytics startups have used LBS capabilities to profile locations, track user activities within spaces, and even tie that activity back to ad exposure.
The potential here for attribution modeling is vast. Digital advertisers have been looking every which way to “close the loop” still separating digital activity and in-store behavior and spend.
Among the providers that have captured agency attention, Placed has been using its large panel-based location tracking to make these connections. It already has a popular attribution product that connects mobile ad spend to store visits.
This week, the company expands that capability with the promise of tying ad exposures to purchase rate and even consumer spending level. According to CEO David Shim, Placed Revenue, the panel of double-opted in consumers constitutes “1 in 450” U.S. adults. The Placed app tracks not only panel members’ movements and ad experiences but can also send surveys to assess what the consumers actually spent.
“In addition to this first party data set, Placed has been working with a handful of retailers and restaurants to tune its data against their internal sales metrics,” he tells Mobile Marketing Daily.
To show off some of its capabilities, Placed has already tracked and polled over 2 million consumers to create indexes the purchase rate and average spend of store visitors. 99 Cents Only, Dollar Tree and Dollar General top the purchase rate index — meaning that they have the highest rates of converting store visitors to buyers.
While the bargain pricing clearly drives conversion rates at dollar stores, the big box and wholesale providers lead in average spend. Placed’s average spend index finds Costco, Best Buy and B.J.’s indexing at over twice the industry average.
Being able to tie mobile ad spend to retail conversions and even spend conceivably helps to fill in one of the persistent blind spots in mobile. We know intuitively that mobile plays a role in driving people towards purchase decisions that they consummate either on the desktop Web or at retail.
Connecting the mobile user to their desktop behaviors has proven to be an attribution challenge all it sown. Attributing retail behaviors to mobile exposures has been even tougher.
The accuracy of self-reported behaviors is always problematic. Shim tells us that they are working on that piece. “In addition to this first party data set, Placed has been working with a handful of retailers and restaurants to tune its data against their internal sales metrics,” he says. The consumers are surveyed 6 to 18 hours after the visit, so as not to intrude on the shopping trip itself. Shim says that they run test questions to identify “bad actors” who seem to be responding falsely.
The real hat trick of attribution is tying mobile exposures to Web and other ad exposures to get a more holistic sense of how with weight mobile advertising in the larger marketing mix. Placed is connected with cross-screen platforms like Drawbridge, distillery and Tapad, among others, to connect the dots, or, users.
Using combinations of location tracking, surveying and even local store sales lift metrics are among the things that companies like Placed and 4Info are using to try to target and attribute mobile advertising with sales. The ultimate aim is tracking individual user IDs from ad exposure to connected in-store sales operation that can attribute ad impact on a one to one basis across multiple connected media.
Until then, mobile and location tracking of consumers will continue to be new tools in the attribution box.
By the way, attribution has become such a focus of marketer attention that we are launching our first show dedicated to the topic at Advertising Week. OMMA Attribution on Sept. 29 in New York will look especially at analysts lurching towards solutions that measure ad impact across online and offline media.
The potential here for attribution modeling is vast. Digital advertisers have been looking every which way to “close the loop” still separating digital activity and in-store behavior and spend.
Among the providers that have captured agency attention, Placed has been using its large panel-based location tracking to make these connections. It already has a popular attribution product that connects mobile ad spend to store visits.
This week, the company expands that capability with the promise of tying ad exposures to purchase rate and even consumer spending level. According to CEO David Shim, Placed Revenue, the panel of double-opted in consumers constitutes “1 in 450” U.S. adults. The Placed app tracks not only panel members’ movements and ad experiences but can also send surveys to assess what the consumers actually spent.
“In addition to this first party data set, Placed has been working with a handful of retailers and restaurants to tune its data against their internal sales metrics,” he tells Mobile Marketing Daily.
To show off some of its capabilities, Placed has already tracked and polled over 2 million consumers to create indexes the purchase rate and average spend of store visitors. 99 Cents Only, Dollar Tree and Dollar General top the purchase rate index — meaning that they have the highest rates of converting store visitors to buyers.
While the bargain pricing clearly drives conversion rates at dollar stores, the big box and wholesale providers lead in average spend. Placed’s average spend index finds Costco, Best Buy and B.J.’s indexing at over twice the industry average.
Being able to tie mobile ad spend to retail conversions and even spend conceivably helps to fill in one of the persistent blind spots in mobile. We know intuitively that mobile plays a role in driving people towards purchase decisions that they consummate either on the desktop Web or at retail.
Connecting the mobile user to their desktop behaviors has proven to be an attribution challenge all it sown. Attributing retail behaviors to mobile exposures has been even tougher.
The accuracy of self-reported behaviors is always problematic. Shim tells us that they are working on that piece. “In addition to this first party data set, Placed has been working with a handful of retailers and restaurants to tune its data against their internal sales metrics,” he says. The consumers are surveyed 6 to 18 hours after the visit, so as not to intrude on the shopping trip itself. Shim says that they run test questions to identify “bad actors” who seem to be responding falsely.
The real hat trick of attribution is tying mobile exposures to Web and other ad exposures to get a more holistic sense of how with weight mobile advertising in the larger marketing mix. Placed is connected with cross-screen platforms like Drawbridge, distillery and Tapad, among others, to connect the dots, or, users.
Using combinations of location tracking, surveying and even local store sales lift metrics are among the things that companies like Placed and 4Info are using to try to target and attribute mobile advertising with sales. The ultimate aim is tracking individual user IDs from ad exposure to connected in-store sales operation that can attribute ad impact on a one to one basis across multiple connected media.
Until then, mobile and location tracking of consumers will continue to be new tools in the attribution box.
By the way, attribution has become such a focus of marketer attention that we are launching our first show dedicated to the topic at Advertising Week. OMMA Attribution on Sept. 29 in New York will look especially at analysts lurching towards solutions that measure ad impact across online and offline media.
Madison Avenue Shifts $2 Billion Out Of 'Traditional' Media In 9 Months
I've always been recommending each broadcast company train their reps on gaining a strong footprint with long-term local direct revenue to support and bolster the balance sheets against the coming shift in transactional business. Mature reps have consistently disregarded these warnings as did their managers and now we can see a beginning of a shift that will have major consequences affect the net margins of television and radio companies in the U.S. fr the foreseeable future. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D. CA
by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, July 30, 2015, 8:56 AM
In what likely is the first comprehensive analysis of actual data from big agency media buys of its kind, Madison Avenue’s major agency holding companies have boosted their spending in digital media by $3 billion during a nine-month period ending with June 2015, and most of it came at the expense of traditional media. The data, which was released Wednesday by Standard Media Index, looked at the those months, because they happen to coincide with the so-called “broadcast year,” which is the way TV networks and stations typically account for their advertising revenues. Not surprisingly, the biggest hit in Madison Avenue’s digital media shift is coming from their TV advertising budgets.
“The results show that digital is siphoning share away from other media, with the bulk of it coming from television,” explained SMI’s Bree Sutton, noting that national TV ad spending trends have been reflecting that.
“On the national TV front, the scatter market has clawed back about 35% of the ad revenue lost in the soft 14-15 upfront, however the remainder of those dollars have flowed into digital,” she pointed out.
What makes the analysis so significant is that it’s not based on third-party estimates, but is derived from actual media buys processed by big ad agencies representing about 80% of holding company billings. The analysis estimates only about $1 billion of the $3 billion in digital spending was “organic,” meaning it came from new budgets earmarked for digital media. The rest presumably came at the expense of other media.
While digital spending is up a total of 16% during the nine-month period, national TV spending fell by $1.1 billion, or about 4%. And total TV spending fell about $1.5 billion (about $5%).
While there are some macro factors driving those declines -- including comparisons with year-ago spending that included the World Cup Soccer tournament -- there clearly is a more secular shift going on too.
The SMI analysis estimates about $350 million of digital’s growth came at the expense of “print” media, and about $150 million came out of radio.
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