Commentary

Is Advertising Obsolete?

• by Steven Rosenbaum , Featured Contributor, February 25, 2019

The media ecosystem is changing. We can feel it. TV used to be “free,” over the air and advertising-supported. But now it’s increasingly by subscription, and even the NBC shows on Hulu are a mix of ad-supported and subscription.

But what if there’s a new media ecosystem on the horizon — one that doesn’t rely on advertising at all?

As the internet weaves its way into every part of our lives, the old methods of broadcast advertising that demand attention are turning off audiences, millennials, and their younger friends.

Why? Because audiences don’t want to be lectured, sold to, preached at, and overwhelmed. The old idea of dominating with brand voice doesn’t work in the world of conversational marketing and social engagement.  And platforms like Facebook and YouTube are finding that selling brand advertisers spots adjacent to the wild West of the open web doesn’t work, either. AT&T, Nestle, Disney, and Hasbro are pulling ads off YouTube due to objectionable content in the comments section next to videos of young children.

In a post on The Conversation, Ramsi Woodcock, an assistant professor of law at the University of Kentucky, goes so far as to ask the question that puts gasoline on the fire: “Is Advertising Obsolete?”
“Herein lies the paradox of all advertising in the information age, online or otherwise. If there is one thing that the internet has made it easy for consumers to access without the help of advertising, it is information – and especially information about products,” writes Woodcock.

Woodcock bases his argument on his reading of antitrust laws. He poses it this way: Imagine a world wiped clean of advertising of all kinds -- from sponsored Google search to Facebook’s sponsored posts as well as TV commercials and billboards in the offline world. Would you still be able to find all the information you could ever want about products in this alternative world? Of course you would.

As sociologist Emily Fogg Mead wrote a century ago: "Ads are a “subtle, persistent, unavoidable presence that creeps into the reader’s inner consciousness. A mechanical association is formed and may frequently result in an involuntary purchase.”

And Woodcock agrees: “Advertising remains so common today not because it informs but because it persuades.”

Which brings us to his antitrust argument: "Commercial advertising can put companies selling products that consumers might actually prefer, but are less well advertised, at a competitive disadvantage” says Woodcock. "That gives the Federal Trade Commission, which is charged with enforcing the nation’s antitrust laws, a legal basis for going beyond current limits on advertising that is false or aimed at children, to sue to put an end to all advertising.”

So if advertising is obsolete, what replaces it? What if brands, services organizations, and associations don’t really want to sell things? What if instead, they want to share stories, invite action, and reward readers/viewers who embrace their story and share it?  Is endorsement and amplification as important a measurable outcome as ringing the register for organizations with social rather than economic goals?

As consumers begin to consider, and then demand, control over their personal data, the power to register preferences puts users back in control of what they buy, and how their preferences are inculcated in user data. Which could well lead to user- controlled AI and interaction with chatbots.
Chatbots have significant advantages over advertising. Deep learning and predictive analytics allow them to have data-driven relationships with users. They are adaptable — more than an ad campaign can ever be. The more you share with a bot, the more it can fine-tune its response and the offers it shares with you, driven by your past-purchase history and behaviors.

Advertising is information. Information is either controlled by the platform or by the user. Today, Facebook and Google are “free,” but we pay these platforms with our data. And advertisers pay the platforms to target us with an endless flow of offers and come-ons. But Woodcock and others think the time has come to no longer make users into the “product” and instead once again make users the customer.

Using emerging tools like blockchain, user preferences and behaviors may once again be the property of users, shared knowingly, and in ways that benefit users rather than put them in the line of fire for a barrage of poorly targeted ad campaigns. Much as junk mail is now managed by increasingly capable fillers, junk advertising may be the next recipient of smart filters and engaged consumers.
Are ads obsolete? It may be time to find out.

Commentary

Pay TV Services: Cord-Cutting Data Isn't Cutting It

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

We keep hearing about growing cord-cutting. But even assuming the worse, what really changes over the next five years? Very little. Then again, millennials may disagree. You can take that to the bank.
Even with the a 3% to 4% decline per year, traditional pay TV services still have the lion’s share of business -- some 90 million subscribers. Those internet-delivery pay TV services -- like Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, and DirecTV Now -- are around 7.5 million.
And two of those just mentioned -- Sling TV and DirecTV Now -- are owned by Dish Network and AT&T, which have traditional satellite delivered businesses that are declining faster than other pay TV.

Right now, adding in all current U.S. pay TV businesses -- traditional and virtual growth -- the numbers are slowing down. There was a 1% decline in all U.S. pay TV services in 2018.

Now, that may not be much. But it might say what many have been thinking for some time. There is still not enough flexibility for consumers -- especially those who want to pick and choose individual OTT services (you might called them "networks") they desire.

Older media consumers are probably not in this category. But younger consumers -- on the move, needing fewer commitments, perhaps with less financial wherewithal? That’s possible.

Some believe new technology companies -- Roku, Apple and smart TV manufacturers -- have a role to play in this transition. That is, “if they unify the content and improve the ease of use in accessing that content,” according to Concentric, a simulation software company.

Unify? Is that what the modern consumer really wants?  Not necessarily. (They want ease of use and accessing content -- which remains a challenge.)

What about brand loyalty? Older customers have it. But millennials? They aren’t even loyal to specific banks.

Research from Marqeta say only one out of six millennials (17%) said they couldn’t imagine ever wanting to change from their current banking partner. That means a lot of shifting going on.
Banks seems a more serious decision than deciding on a monthly cable/entertainment or Netflix deal. So for these consumers, that can’t be stable news for media companies.

Commentary

Category-Driven Purchase Behavior: Swinging Between Extremes

• by Rebecca Brooks , Columnist, 2 hours ago

The linear path to purchase model has been losing relevance for some time now. It has become clear to marketers that purchase journeys no longer take a straight line from awareness to familiarity to consideration to purchase.

 
 Instead, consumers are looking for connections, fulfilling an ever-changing set of needs and contextual circumstances with every purchase that they make. As we continue to navigate this landscape and try to predict and influence consumer behavior, another twist has become clear: The journey is also changing drastically based on brand category.

Consumers attitudes, plus technological advancements in shopping toward the entire category, can dramatically affect purchase behavior and brand perceptions, driving consumers to swing between extremes.

Automated purchases
At one end of the spectrum sits “automatic” purchases. This behavior can mostly be applied to what we think of as everyday brands, like toilet paper or dish soap, pet supplies or beauty products.

This automated purchase movement is evidenced by things like the Subscribe and Save feature on Amazon, which allows users to “receive recurring deliveries of the household goods you use the most at a price that's slightly discounted.” This approach to buying products encourages shoppers to think about a purchase once, and then never again.

How can challenger or newcomer brands entering this kind of category capture the attention of their target audience? They must find ways to overcome the automated purchase of an existing brand and create opportunities for trial and purchase.

This means changing everything from the questions they ask during the marketing research process, all the way to how they bring the product to market.

Enriched purchases
At the other end of the category spectrum lie brands that are moving the purchase experience into the center of the customer relationship. The rise of custom products, like Sene.com's bespoke fashion line, put the user directly into the creation of the product — customizing according to their measurements, their fabrics and colors — as well as creating personal experiences in an online marketplace.

Brands in these highly engaged categories will need to keep finding new ways to connect with their target audiences. Experiential or engagement marketing invites consumers to interact with a brand on a highly personal level, usually using some kind of real-world, hands-on approach.

Where subscribe-and-save features eliminate the purchase experience, some luxury car brands are taking the buying experience to the extreme. Companies like BMW and Volvo are providing tailored travel packages where car buyers travel to their manufacturers’ home country,  where they pick up their new cars and embark on a driving vacation.

 While this is an extreme example of the upper echelon of the shopping experience, it shows how far a brand may be willing to go to engage its audience. It’s important to remember that these techniques need to remain authentic to the brand promise and demonstrate a deep understanding of consumers and their needs.

As technology continues to change the way we shop, we are going to find more and more unique paths to how consumers make purchase decisions. Marketers need to first understand which path their client's customers are on and then how best to uncover insights that will affect growth.

Commentary

Is Advertising Obsolete?

• by Steven Rosenbaum , Featured Contributor, 3 hours ago

The media ecosystem is changing. We can feel it. TV used to be “free,” over the air and advertising-supported. But now it’s increasingly by subscription, and even the NBC shows on Hulu are a mix of ad-supported and subscription.

But what if there’s a new media ecosystem on the horizon — one that doesn’t rely on advertising at all?

As the internet weaves its way into every part of our lives, the old methods of broadcast advertising that demand attention are turning off audiences, millennials, and their younger friends.

Why? Because audiences don’t want to be lectured, sold to, preached at, and overwhelmed. The old idea of dominating with brand voice doesn’t work in the world of conversational marketing and social engagement.  And platforms like Facebook and YouTube are finding that selling brand advertisers spots adjacent to the wild West of the open web doesn’t work, either. AT&T, Nestle, Disney, and Hasbro are pulling ads off YouTube due to objectionable content in the comments section next to videos of young children.

In a post on The Conversation, Ramsi Woodcock, an assistant professor of law at the University of Kentucky, goes so far as to ask the question that puts gasoline on the fire: “Is Advertising Obsolete?”
“Herein lies the paradox of all advertising in the information age, online or otherwise. If there is one thing that the internet has made it easy for consumers to access without the help of advertising, it is information – and especially information about products,” writes Woodcock.

Woodcock bases his argument on his reading of antitrust laws. He poses it this way: Imagine a world wiped clean of advertising of all kinds -- from sponsored Google search to Facebook’s sponsored posts as well as TV commercials and billboards in the offline world. Would you still be able to find all the information you could ever want about products in this alternative world? Of course you would.

As sociologist Emily Fogg Mead wrote a century ago: "Ads are a “subtle, persistent, unavoidable presence that creeps into the reader’s inner consciousness. A mechanical association is formed and may frequently result in an involuntary purchase.”

And Woodcock agrees: “Advertising remains so common today not because it informs but because it persuades.”

Which brings us to his antitrust argument: "Commercial advertising can put companies selling products that consumers might actually prefer, but are less well advertised, at a competitive disadvantage” says Woodcock. "That gives the Federal Trade Commission, which is charged with enforcing the nation’s antitrust laws, a legal basis for going beyond current limits on advertising that is false or aimed at children, to sue to put an end to all advertising.”

So if advertising is obsolete, what replaces it? What if brands, services organizations, and associations don’t really want to sell things? What if instead, they want to share stories, invite action, and reward readers/viewers who embrace their story and share it?  Is endorsement and amplification as important a measurable outcome as ringing the register for organizations with social rather than economic goals?

As consumers begin to consider, and then demand, control over their personal data, the power to register preferences puts users back in control of what they buy, and how their preferences are inculcated in user data. Which could well lead to user- controlled AI and interaction with chatbots.
Chatbots have significant advantages over advertising. Deep learning and predictive analytics allow them to have data-driven relationships with users. They are adaptable — more than an ad campaign can ever be. The more you share with a bot, the more it can fine-tune its response and the offers it shares with you, driven by your past-purchase history and behaviors.

Advertising is information. Information is either controlled by the platform or by the user. Today, Facebook and Google are “free,” but we pay these platforms with our data. And advertisers pay the platforms to target us with an endless flow of offers and come-ons. But Woodcock and others think the time has come to no longer make users into the “product” and instead once again make users the customer.

Using emerging tools like blockchain, user preferences and behaviors may once again be the property of users, shared knowingly, and in ways that benefit users rather than put them in the line of fire for a barrage of poorly targeted ad campaigns. Much as junk mail is now managed by increasingly capable fillers, junk advertising may be the next recipient of smart filters and engaged consumers.
Are ads obsolete? It may be time to find out.

*Rasmi Woodcock will be at SXSW, on a panel with Tracie Lee, product design director of The New York Times, and myself. The panel will be moderated by commentator and comedian Baratunde Thurston. It’s March 8 at 11 a.m. You can learn more about the panel here.

U.S. PAY TV SERVICES SINK 3% IN 2018

U.S. Pay TV Services Sink 3% In 2018

• by Wayne Friedman , 5 hours ago

Top traditional U.S. pay TV services lost 3% -- a total of 2,568,100 TV subscribers -- in 2018.

Dish Network and DirecTV were the biggest losers. These services lost 2.36 million subscribers, according to the Multiscreen Index.

At the same time, those two companies' respective internet-based pay TV services gained 649,000 subscribers over the year. Dish’s Sling TV ended the year with 2.42 million subscribers, DirecTV Now, 1.53 million.

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U.S. pay TV companies lost many customers in the fourth quarter of 2018. The top 10 service providers dropped 1.1 million TV subscribers, with the two satellites losing 784,000 subscribers.

DirecTV lost 403,000 satellite subscribers in the period, ending the year with 19.22 million. Dish Network lost 381,000 subscribers, dropping just below 10 million.

There were a total of 52.84 million traditional cable pay TV subscribers at the end of the year. Comcast Corp. was just below 21 million, with Charter Communications at 16.1 million and Altice USA at 3.31 million. The results do not include subscriber numbers from Cox Communications.

In the fourth quarter, Verizon lost 46,000 Fios subscribers; AT&T’s U-verse added 12,000. In total, for the year, the two had 118,000 fewer subscribers than in 2018. In that year,  they had a collective.13 million telco subscribers.

The top 10 traditional pay TV services now have 81.6 million subscribers -- just over 68% of television homes.

Nobody Hosted the Oscars. And They Did a Fine Job of It.

The New York Times

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK

Nobody Hosted the Oscars. And They Did a Fine Job of It.

This year the best moments didn’t come from the host, but from the award winners like Spike Lee, left, who upon winning his first competitive Oscar for the “BlacKkKlansman” adapted screenplay, leaped into the arms of Samuel L. Jackson.CreditChris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated Press

This year the best moments didn’t come from the host, but from the award winners like Spike Lee, left, who upon winning his first competitive Oscar for the “BlacKkKlansman” adapted screenplay, leaped into the arms of Samuel L. Jackson.CreditCreditChris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated Press

By James Poniewozik

·       Feb. 24, 2019

And the Oscar for best Academy Awards host goes to … nobody!

The original plan, of course, was for the comedian Kevin Hart to preside over Sunday night’s awards, until he was dropped for his history of homophobic tweets. So instead of a comedian delivering a monologue, there was a mini-medley from Queen — whose original singer, Freddie Mercury, was celebrated in “Bohemian Rhapsody” fronted by the former “American Idol” contestant Adam Lambert.

So began this hostless, in-a-hurry Oscars, itself a longtime institution moving forward and putting on a show without the public face it started with.

And as it turns out, Hart — or whoever might have replaced him — was hardly missed.

That the Oscars managed a watchable show, much less the brisk, entertaining one we got, was a surprise. The Academy spent months stumbling down a red carpet lined with rakes, deftly stepping on each one. Besides the Hart fiasco, it announced a new category for best popular picture, then retracted it. It shunted four awards to the commercial breaks, then un-shunted them.

 

The awards show was so in flux until the last minute that, when Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph took the stage — which was shaped, for some reason, like the cross-section of a baked alaska — it seemed that the Oscars might have pulled off a cloak-and-dagger feat, hiring a troika of surprise hosts.

“We are not your hosts,” Fey joked, “but we’re going to stand here a little too long so the people who get USA Today tomorrow will think that we hosted.”

No one got to stand anywhere too long at this Oscars, whose production Marie Kondo-ed the show to keep it to its allotted three hours for a change. (It still went a smidgen long.)

This Oscars marched at double-time, hustling from one segment to the next. It was like eating off a conveyor belt: Some delicious moments went past quick, but if the next bite wasn’t to your taste, another bite would be coming soon.

 

 A good Oscars host — Chris Rock, say — can puncture the bubble of rich-people self-congratulation. But the need for a host to “run” the show may be overrated. Most years, the hosts vanish for long stretches after the monologue, and the performance feels like stand-up interruptus.

 

Cox Enterprises to sell majority stake in TV stations to Apollo

AjC

 

Cox Enterprises to sell majority stake in TV stations to Apollo

Updated Feb 15, 2019

By ·       J. Scott Trubey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cox Enterprises on Friday announced a deal to sell a majority stake in its portfolio of 14 television stations, including WSB-TV/Channel 2 Action News, to an international investment firm. The TV properties will become part of a new media company headquartered in Atlanta. 

Investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management will hold the controlling interest in the Cox Media Group television properties, as well as Cox’s newspapers and radio stations in Ohio. Cox, a privately held broadband, automotive services and media company based in Sandy Springs, will remain a minority owner of the new company. 

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Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, which could take about six months. 

Apollo plans to combine the Cox stations with future media purchases to help create a national broadcast television giant, and will lean on Cox Media Group’s leadership team to run the new company.

In July, Cox said it would explore strategic options for its television properties, and at the time said that could include partnering or merging its stations into a larger company. 

The regional television industry has seen a wave of consolidation, with stations competing with streaming services for viewers. Much like the newspaper and radio industries, the broadcast TV business also has battled a shift in advertising dollars to internet rivals, including Google and Facebook.  

But fees stations collect from cable operators remain potent sources of revenue. 

Cox’s stations are among the best-performing in the industry. TV operators, clamoring for scale amid expected changes in regulatory conditions, coveted the Cox portfolio. Some 11 bidders, which Cox declined to name, expressed interest in the stations.  

“These stations have decades of experience breaking barriers and delivering the news and information their communities need daily,” Alex Taylor, president and CEO of Cox Enterprises, said in a news release. “We wanted to find a company that is committed to investing in broadcast television now and in the future, and we found that in Apollo.” 

Apollo is a new entrant into the local broadcast television business. A recent Reuters report said Apollo is bidding for some stations from Nexstar Media Group and has an agreement to purchase stations from Northwest Broadcasting, an operator of local TV stations in the Pacific Northwest region. 

Cox owns or has interest in stations in some of the nation’s top local television markets, including in Seattle, Boston, Charlotte, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Jacksonville, Tulsa and Dayton, Ohio. The stations, which include WSOC-TV in Charlotte, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh and KIRO-TV in Seattle, reach more than 31 million viewers nationwide. 

 

Cadillac Get Flirty with Competitors

With the Cadillac dealers across the country...trying to enhance their flirtyness....perhaps you can add some fun with your Caddy dealer based on the action we picked up from what they're saying to their competition: See what you can do to life the fun up a bit in your DMA...Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Cadillac Gets Flirty With Competitors For V-Day

• by Tanya Gazdik  @TanyaGazdik, February  2019

Who says flirting is only for humans? 

Cadillac took to social media Thursday afternoon with love letters for its biggest competitors, and several played along. 

Spreading positivity and some cheekiness, Cadillac via its creative agency Rokkan, posted multiple tweets with targeted pick-up lines to its biggest competitors like Mercedes Benz, Lexus, BMW, Audi, Tesla and others. 

Some of the brands, like BMW (“That’s because our angel eyes are out of this world!”), Lexus (Aren’t you a bit old for us? *swipe left*) and Jaguar (“Should we Escalade this to the next level?”) joined in on the fun with some clever comebacks. 

Who knew there were so many car-related ways to flirt?  Jaguar responded, “Power-sliding into the DMs” in response to Cadillac’s flirty “Just don’t leave scratch marks.”

Cadillac direct-messaged: "Dear @Audi, Say Escalade with that beautiful German accent,"  "Dear @Lexus, We don't care what anyone says. We think your big grille is really attractive" and "Dear @MercedesBenzUSA , Long distance can be difficult, but we can make it work."

The Twitterverse responded as well with comical comments like “Get a Garage!” and “Jaguar and Cadillac over here sexting and I can’t even get a text back.” 

Subaru Plays Up Safety, Technology In Forester Campaign

Get over to your Subaru dealer and let them be first in pitching the all new Forrester for 2019 plus other goodies. There are 3 spots you can get to make the commercial more relevant and your client dealer can be the tag....You may also want to add anything to the commercial your client may want to add...Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D. Here's the poop on it....

Subaru of America is debuting a campaign for its all-new 2019 Forester that focuses on the SUV's safety features, as well as its durability and versatility. 

Three spots from agency of record Carmichael Lynch give viewers an intimate look into the lives of three different Forester owners.

“For All You Love” shows how consumers have made good use of their SUV. The stylized commercial shows everything a young family has ever carried inside their 10-year-old Forester. Their aging family dog takes the viewer on an emotional tour through the vast trail of gear, milestones, and memories that their Forester helped make possible.

Every Subaru model is built to last, and quality and longevity are important purchase consideration drivers for shoppers in this segment, says Brian Cavallucci, national advertising manager for Subaru of America.

“A Parent’s Imagination” shows how parents of teenage drivers tend to imagine the worst, especially with all of the new distractions facing young drivers today. This dreamlike commercial portrays the most unusual accidents that concerned parents could imagine, and introduces new Subaru DriverFocus Alerts as the advanced technology that could have prevented them.

“We wanted to have a story that parents can relate to, and show them how this new Forester can help them worry a little less,” Cavallucci says.

In “Call of the Road,” a young African-American city couple ponders what they should do first in their new Subaru Forester. Inspired, they embark on a road trip filled with off-road adventures, unusual encounters with the locals and a bowl of dangerously hot diablo chili.

“Subaru wants to be inclusive to all people, and we work to equally represent everyone,” Cavallucci says. “Since we tell owner stories, we try to have the unique owner’s voices spread across the body of work.”

The new spots are meant to work together to connect with the different consumers in this segment, he says. 

“We also realize that car buying is an emotional event, and that buyers want to have an emotional connection to the brand,” Cavallucci says.

The tagline, “Most Adventurous Forester Ever,” aims to convey how the vehicle has been enhanced in almost every way with new technology and engineering to its already high capability, he adds.

Along with the broadcast spots the media plan includes online, short-form video content in 15-second and 6-second formats. 

“This content is as entertaining as it is informative, and worked very well when we launched the all-new Ascent,” Cavallucci says. “We also partner with relevant media outlets to create unique content, as well.”

Commentary

2019 Affluent Outlook: What A Difference A Year Makes

• by Michael Baer , Columnist, 5 hours ago

Each January for the past 10 years, we’ve reached out to our affluent  respondents with a questionnaire designed to gauge their optimism about the future. Last years’ data came on the heels of another year of surging equity markets, and strong job growth, just after Congress enacted a large tax cut bill expected to benefit the well-off, resulting in the highest economic optimism levels we’ve seen to date.

 
In comparison, this years’ responses come just after the 2018 midterm elections and in the context of a newly volatile stock market and a 35-day government shutdown.

You can be sure those dynamics shaped this year’s data and the significant differences we see.
Overall, economic storm clouds appeared in late Q4 ‘18 and clearly provided a darker context around the data. At the same time, a midterm election that put more balance into the political landscape seems to be mitigating some of the negativity we saw last year among women, with women’s optimism up significantly from year ago.

For affluents, agreement that the past year was good for them falls below last year’s measures on three key measures: good for them personally, for their career/finances, and for their family. And the perception that the past 12 months were good for the economy declined significantly, from 67% to 51%.

In addition, there is even greater polarity than last year between those who say the country is headed in the right direction and those who say it’s going the wrong way. Last year, the split was 48% saying wrong direction and 44% saying right one. This year it has grown to 53% agreeing we’re on the wrong track, and just 33% on the right one. But again, remember the study was fielded while the government was shut down.

Last year, the differences between men and women were stark, with women more pessimistic about the U.S. economy and America. They were much less likely to report  that their careers, finances and families prospered in the past year. This year, the same or more women say 2018 was good for them across all three measures,  while significantly fewer men stated the same -- bringing the results across gender much closer in line. In fact, women score equal to or higher than men on all three measures, the opposite of last year.

In addition, each year we observe a phenomenon we call “affluent insulation”: when affluents have high expectations the coming year will be good for them, their finances and their family, but report the broader U.S. economy may experience some bumps ahead. In other words, affluents are personally optimistic, but less encouraged by the economy and country’s situation, though they still believe they’ll be insulated from any hiccups.

We clearly see that this year, coming on the heels of Q4 ’18 stock market volatility, threats of trade wars and other geopolitical dynamics, affluents’ overall view of the state of the U.S. economy for 2019 is significantly worse than 2018. Just 43% say that 2019 will be a good year for the U.S. economy, a decline of 13 percentage points from year ago. Nevertheless, a full 71% of affluents say that it will be a good year personally, and 78% say it will be a good year for their families.
Where we start to see holes poked in “affluent insulation” is with seniors (aged 72+).  Seniors were by far the least likely to say that 2018 was good for them personally and are similarly less positive that it was a good year for their finances. It’s likely that seniors, with their fixed incomes, larger nest eggs, and fewer years left to recover from economic downturns, are the generation most adversely affected by more challenging economic factors and stock market fluctuations.

And unfortunately, financial worries on the horizon are clouding seniors’ views on 2019 more strongly than other generations as well. They have the dimmest view of the U.S. economy, with only 37% saying it will be a good year. And they’re the least likely to say it will be a good year for them personally, for their finances, and even for their family than any other generation.

Now you can go to your luxury local direct retailers and share this vital message for their marketing strategies. Proper programming is important for luxury items that match upscale consumers in order to best initiate acquisition and engagement for local direct clients. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Commentary

The Yin-Yang Of Luxury As Marketing Opportunity

• by Michael Baer , Columnist, 2 hours ago

Like nearly all categories, the luxury category is evolving, driven by demographic shifts, long-term socioeconomic trends and technology, which has increased accessibility as well as redefined what is considered luxury to begin with.

As the luxury landscape changes, it’s important for marketers to understand the complex new dimensions of the category in order to fully optimize potential opportunities.

Luxury purchasing is on the increase, Ipsos Affluent Intelligence’s latest research from Q4 2018 found, with nearly three-quarters of affluent consumers (73%) reporting having bought luxury goods in the past year — an increase of 9 points from 64% in Q4 2016.

With affluent consumers indicating they anticipate spending more on luxury in the coming year (15% in Q4 2018, compared to just 9% in Q4 2016), successful marketers will need to understand both the rational and emotional elements driving their behavior.

Unsurprisingly, when asked to define what both the terms “luxury” and “premium” means to them, affluent consumers put “high quality” and “cost” at the top of both lists. But that’s where the similarities end.

Our research uncovered a distinct dividing line between emotive and rational drivers in affluent perceptions of these two terms. While affluent consumers see luxury as something that makes them feel and experience something, they tend to view premium as a more general reference to the high end of a product category -- something that offers more but isn’t always elegant. 

Luxury is a feeling. To affluent consumers, the term has an aspirational quality that drives their desire to purchase. A large majority (69%) agreed luxury should beabout making a consumer feel special, and the terms indulgence (31%) and exclusivity (31%) were two elements they used to define the term luxury.

Striving for a sense of prestige offered beyond inherent functionality also serves as a strong motivator and a key element of a luxury experience.

Affluent consumers view the term premium as much more tangible. It is something that’s measurably better, that fulfills benefits and needs and encompasses attributes you can dimensionalize.

However, that doesn’t necessarily make it uncommon or luxe. Consumers cited excellent design (40%), long-lasting (39%) and excellent reputation (38%) as key associated terms. To them, the word serves as an indicator that a premium cost is justified by something providing more features.

Another key element to consider in marketing within the current luxury landscape is the mixed emotions seen of those purchasing luxury goods. While affluent consumers absolutely enjoy being able to access an exclusive experience, this joy is often paired with a sense of guilt. And that guilt is most often expressed by female and millennial consumers.

Our research revealed 60% of affluent females feel guilty when making a luxury purchase, compared to just 49% of affluent males. Looking closely at the demographic breakdown, 67% of millennials report feeling this guilt compared to 55% of those aged 35-49 and 42% of those over the age of 50. These consumers are most caught in the yin-yang duality of luxury purchasing.

This duality and guilt associated with luxury is a key reason the term isn’t always viewed as a positive. In fact, just 33% of affluents view the word luxury positively, compared to 51% who view the term premium in a positive way. And a whopping 16% say they are “not at all positive” towards the term luxury -- vs. only 8% saying that for the term premium.

This bias can be seen in open-ended answers these consumers provided describing what luxury means to them personally. Luxury was described as “opulence that is almost over the top,” with respondents citing words like abundance, extravagance and indulgence.

However, affluent consumers also recognize the high levels of craftsmanship and extra attention to detail and comfort that luxury offers in comparison to what "mass" means -- a dichotomy that provides a messaging opportunity for luxury marketers.

Offsetting that guilt is a key to marketing luxury. Combining feelings of joy with ideas like empowerment, reward and deserved-ness put luxury in the best light, and can help marketers position their brand, experiences or goods positively in the minds of these consumers.

Lincoln Debuts Grammy's Spot Featuring Serena Williams

Here's an opportunity for you to go to your Lincoln dealer in your market and get them to tag this commercial with a now showing at our dealership. Come take a test drive on the future of Lincoln. For radio...capture the essence of the TV spot and recreate a spec spot and take it to your Lincoln client. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Lincoln Debuts Grammy's Spot Featuring Serena Williams

• by Tanya Gazdik  @TanyaGazdik, February 10, 2019

Lincoln Motor Company will debut a spot on Sunday during the Grammy Awards showing tennis icon Serena Williams inside a Lincoln Navigator SUV.

A 60-second spot, “Sanctuary,” shows the new mom relaxing in the vehicle’s comfortable cabin during a rainstorm. She turns on the audio system and we hear Sarah Vaughn’s rendition of “Make Yourself Comfortable.” As the track plays, Williams seemingly takes direction from the song and begins to recline her seat, engage the massage feature and enjoy the music and the percussive notes of the rain bouncing off the vehicle.

While the interior of the vehicle is a focus, the music Williams plays is relevant, the company notes. Vaughn is Grammy royalty, having been nominated nine times, winning the lifetime achievement award in 1989 and inducted into the Grammy’s Hall of Fame a decade later. Lincoln also has a history of launching notable creative on music’s biggest night.

The spot is supported with digital through NBCU and Billboard online, as well as on Lincoln’s own brand/social channels.

Williams is one of Lincoln’s “authentic brand ambassadors,” according to the Ford Motor Co. luxury brand. She first appeared on behalf of the brand via digital content in support of the Navigator launch where she talks about her first Navigator, which she named Ginger.

Lincoln will also use the Grammy platform to celebrate its heritage and recognize the brand’s namesake, President Abraham Lincoln, days before his birthday on Feb. 12 . A previously digital-only campaign, “Namesake,” will make its broadcast debut on Sunday, again supported by digital on Lincoln’s brand/social channels.

“Airing both pieces of creative within a program as impactful as the Grammys is a tremendous opportunity for our brand,” Eric Peterson, Lincoln marketing communications manager tells Marketing Daily. “The connection to music, as well as our namesake’s birthday, creates an authentic connection between Lincoln and luxury buyers.”

Both spots are from AOR HudsonRouge.

Exclusive: Apollo nears $3 billion deal to buy Cox TV stations - sources

REUTERS  

Exclusive: Apollo nears $3 billion deal to buy Cox TV stations - sources

Liana B. Baker, Greg Roumeliotis FEBRUARY 10, 2019

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(Reuters) - Apollo Global Management LLC is nearing a roughly $3 billion agreement to acquire Cox Enterprises Inc’s 14 regional TV stations, the biggest in a series of deals the private equity firm is lining up to become a force in U.S. broadcasting, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Cox, a privately held media conglomerate whose holdings span automotive websites, newspapers and cable TV, has been seeking to exit the regional TV sector, which is going through a wave of consolidation. Operators are looking for scale to counter the rise of online streaming and the shift of advertising dollars to the internet. Cox and Apollo are also discussing some joint venture agreements for Cox’s broadcast station in Atlanta, where Cox is headquartered and also has radio stations, the sources said.

There may be other cities where the companies decide to have joint ventures, the sources added.

An agreement between Apollo and Cox could be announced later this week, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. As with any negotiations, talks could always fall apart at the last minute, the people cautioned.

Apollo is also a bidder for a portfolio of local TV stations worth about $1 billion that Nexstar Media Group Inc plans to shed following its $4.1 billion takeover of Tribune Media Co, the sources added. That process is expected to wrap up later this year. Should Apollo prevail in that auction, it would combine the assets with the Cox TV stations, the people said.

Apollo also has an agreement to acquire the assets of Northwest Broadcasting, which owns more than a dozen TV stations in mostly rural markets in the Pacific Northwest, and combine them with the Cox assets, the sources said.

Apollo and Cox declined to comment. Northwest Broadcasting and Nexstar could not be reached for comment.

Cox said last July it was exploring options for its 14-station portfolio. The stations are in nine states, including Florida and Georgia, and reach more than 31 million viewers in their markets.

The broadcast media sector has seen a flurry of merger talks amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission could relax restrictions on how many stations broadcasters can operate.

 

Private equity firms find broadcast TV stations appealing because of the cash-rich fees the stations generate from being carried by cable operators. Apollo would seek to use some of Northwest Broadcasting’s contracts, which have higher fees thanCox’s, to hike up fees from the cable operators, some of the sources said.

Apollo would also be able to cut costs at Cox’s TV stations, which have been family-controlled for many years.

Apollo tried unsuccessfully last year to acquire both Nexstar and Tribune Media, in separate attempts.

Reporting by Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Carl O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney

 

COMMENTARY

Podcasting Is The New Black

• by Molly Glover Gallatin , 4 hours ago

Everyone’s hosting a podcast these days — from high school students chatting about YouTube videos, to household brands like Walmart using them for everything from recruiting to enhancing consumer loyalty.

Podcasts have quickly become the preferred method for consuming information because we can take audio wherever we go (phones, laptops, or cars) and enjoy it passively while we’re doing something else. Listening is also a familiar way for humans to process information.

According to a 2017 study from Edison Research, 67 million Americans ages 12+ (which accounts for 20+% of the U.S. population), have listened to a podcast in the past month. The study also found that monthly podcast audiences are growing between 21% percent and 24% annually. And if they download, they listen to at least 80% of episodes downloaded.

Marketers need a podcasting strategy to connect with targeted buyer personas, extend their brand’s reach to new consumer segments/demographics ,and provide more value to loyal customers. But rushing a podcast launch simply to maximize its potential is a big mistake.

Here are four things to keep in mind before uploading your first podcast:

Choose the message and audience for each episode. Consumers have an abundance of choices when it comes to podcasts, but limited amounts of time to listen. Choose a message and build the content around your targeted audience. If you’re off-target, you may not get another chance to win them back.

Let frequency determine length. Build a schedule and stick to it for the frequency of podcasts, determining the optimal length of each episode. If you’re uploading daily, consider short-form episodes three to five minutes in length, weeklies from five to 10 minutes, and monthly episodes anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes.

Placement and promotion. Once you’ve recorded the podcast, determine where to place it and how to draw attention to it.  Building a separate landing page is a good idea, but if that’s too costly or time-consuming for your company, consider embedding the audio on your blog. Introduce it via a blog post on your website with a “tease” about the topic and/or guest.

Once the podcast is “live,” promote it with another post summarizing the contents and include:
-- A “Call to Action” (CTA) to subscribe/download the podcast on your host platform 
-- Links to any companies, individuals, or articles referenced
-- When appropriate, links to your guest’s websites and social media accounts, and a CTA to apply to be a guest or submit topics/questions for future episodes

Next, distribute an email to your contact list announcing the episode and summarizing its content. Follow up on that with a post on your social media channels that includes a hashtag(s) to help you engage with listeners.

If you decide to have guests (they will automatically multiply your audience size), give them promotional graphics and links to the podcast landing page/site and the blog posts associated with the podcast, for easy sharing with their audience.

Go easy on the polish. Consumers respond to authenticity, and anything overly slick is considered a major turn-off. Audio quality should be optimal and your host’s voice should strike a winning balance between soothing and enthusiastic. If you choose someone within your organization to host, he/she can compensate for any lack of expe