MILLENNIALS

Kind Of A Sad Story: Pessimism Increases Among Millennials, Gen Z

• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, Yesterday

So much for the joy of youth. Two new studies highlight the unique struggles of millennial and Gen Z consumers, both around the world and here in the U.S

Much of their pain stems from economics, with the findings from the Deloitte Global Millennial Study underscoring that due to a dismal coming-of-age job market, they are keenly aware of how few financial goals they’ve accomplished relative to other generations.

Meanwhile, a new report from the Hartman Group finds that stress and anxiety have taken over these two cohorts’ top health concern, booting the persistent problem of overweight from the No 1 spot.

The Deloitte research is based on more than 13,400 millennials in 42 countries and more than 3,000 Z-ers in 10 countries. It finds that among young people around the world, economic, social and political optimism is at record lows.

People are expressing a strong lack of faith in traditional societal institutions, including mass media, and don’t expect much progress. Both groups are disillusioned, expressing dissatisfaction with their money situation, jobs, government, the way their data is used — and their lives in general.

Only 26% expect economics in their homelands to get better in the year ahead. That’s not just a record low, but shockingly so. Deloitte says that stat has never fallen below 40%, and came in at 45% two years ago.

Traveling and seeing the world is their top ambition, at 57% for both groups, while fewer say they hope to have a family — just 39% of millennials and 45% of Gen Z.

Climate and the environment is the top concern, and these cohorts have little trust in the role of businesses to try and help improve that issue.

They’re paying closer attention to how brands behave, with 42% of millennials saying they have either started or deepened a business relationship because they think a company's products or services have a positive impact on society or the environment. Thirty-seven percent have ditched or diminished a relationship because of a company’s behavior.

Their love/hate relationship with social media is also growing, with 60% of millennials and 59% of Z-ers saying they’d be happier if they spent less time on social media, while 64% and 63%, respectively, think taking that step would make them physically healthier

The Hartman Group’s new report focuses on perceptions of physical health. And while anxiety now tops overweight among all age groups, it’s highest in younger consumers. The market research company finds that 63% of all respondents are taking steps to either treat or prevent anxiety or stress. That compares to 61% of consumers who say they are treating or preventing being overweight.

Gen Z is, by far, the most likely to name anxiety and stress as an issue, at 75%. Millennials are next, at 69%, followed by Gen X, 65% and baby boomers, 52%. Women of all ages are more likely to say it’s a problem, at 68%, compared to men, at 57%.

COMMENTARY

Is The Upfront's Future Mostly Digital?

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 22, 2019

The TV upfront advertising market is ready to go. But in three years, maybe five, it will be different. Advertisers will still want to buy things ahead of time -- but it will be a TV futures market in a strongly digital age.

At Walt Disney's investor day last month, Randy Freer, CEO of Hulu, said the digital video ad industryis expected to surpass $50 billion within the next three years.

Figure a couple of years after that, it could be a $70 billion market.

At that level, the digital video marketplace would be on par with where the total TV advertising market is now: $70 billion. (The digital video advertising market was $28 billion last year.)

When digital video equals total TV, at that point (most probably sometime before) we won’t be speaking about whether traditional TV will be taking back money from digital, or whether digital will be growing faster than traditional TV. Or whether TV is stronger "brand safety"-wise than digital.

Virtually all TV will be digitally distributed via broadband.

At a certain level, TV and media executives believe there will always be an upfront market -- where brands will secure, ahead of time, the content they want. No matter how many audience segments one can divvy up -- all to compete with digital media players -- there still needs to be scale to grab the most most-viewed and most engaged content.

What about addressable and/or auction-based TV buying systems? Sure -- but as a function to get ahead of your competition. AT&T will still need to compete against Verizon, and Toyota versus Honda, and Macy’s versus Kohl’s, even with the juggernaut Amazon.

Will similarly competing brands look at totally different segments of consumers? Not exactly.

The only question: Will those upfront after-parties remain for media executives? If not, perhaps we can go to parties virtually, with Google’s new augmented reality smart glasses headgear.

Only $999. Shrimp, cocktails and chummy conversation not included.

COMMENTARY

Facebook Engagement Dips, Forecast To Drop More

• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, 9 hours ago

In order to promote healthier viewing habits, Facebook began discouraging passive content consumption last year.

A year later, research shows the effort has had a real impact on engagement.

Domestically, average daily time spent on the platform fell by three minutes in 2018. eMarketer now expects that figure to remain unchanged throughout 2019.

This year, U.S. Facebook users will spend an average of 38 minutes per day on the platform -- across all devices -- down two minutes from eMarketer’s previous forecast.

By 2020, the research firm expects average daily time to drop to 37 minutes, Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at eMarketer.

“Facebook’s continued loss of younger adult users, along with its focus on down-ranking clickbait posts and videos in favor of those that create ‘time well spent,’ resulted in less daily time spent on the platform in 2018 than we had previously expected,” Williamson notes in a new report.

“Less time spent on Facebook translates into fewer chances for marketers to reach the network’s users,” Williamson added.

eMarketer finds engagement onSnapchat has essentially plateaued.

Rather than growing -- as eMarketer had previously projected -- time spent among Snapchat users fell slightly last year.

The research firm attributed the decline to lingering fallout from Snapchat’s failed redesign and competition from Instagram. Aho Williamson and her colleagues now expect time spent among Snapchat’s adult users to remain at 26 minutes per day through 2021.

The firm’s previous Snapchat forecast projected 28 minutes per day in 2019.

Over at Instagram, time spent still appears to be growing.

Among U.S. adults, average daily time on the Facebook-owned property will reach 27 minutes, this year, eMarketer expects. Better yet, time spent will increase by one minute every year through 2021, per Williamson. “Features like Stories, influencer content and video are all contributing to more engagement and a slow but steady uptick in time spent on Instagram.”

NBC Wins Season TV Ratings, But Broadcast Nets Lose Ground Overall

• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

NBC is nearing another seasonal TV ratings win among key 18-49 viewers -- even without the Super Bowl and Olympics of a year ago. This is its fifth win in six years.

At the same time, NBC was significantly lower in that measure -- as well as for total overall viewers -- versus the year before. It also lost ground in the mid-single-digit percentages -- as did other big networks -- when taking out live news and sports programming.

After 34 weeks -- with three days remaining in the 2018-2019 TV season -- NBC was down 27% versus the 2017-2018 TV season, averaging a Nielsen 1.6 prime-time 18-49 rating from the live program-plus-seven days of time-shifted viewing measure, combined with the live program-same-day time-shifted viewing metric for the most recent two weeks.

NBC averaged a 2.2 18-49 rating of a year ago, when it had the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics.

CBS and Fox tied for second place with a 1.5 rating -- both the same versus a year ago. CBS aired the Super Bowl this year. Also this year, Fox added 11 weeks worth of the big-rated NFL "Thursday Night Football" series.

ABC sank 20% to a 1.2 rating for 18-49 viewers, while The CW dropped 33% to a 0.4 number.
CBS leads all networks -- as it has done for 11 straight seasons -- in total viewers, virtually flat with a year ago at 8.94 million viewers (8.98 million in 2018).

NBC was next, down 19% to 7.2 million, while ABC lost 8% to 5.6 million. Fox was the lone broadcast network to gain, up 9% to 5.4 million. The CW was down 22% to 1.34 million.
Looking at a more even playing field -- taking out live news and sports programming -- NBC, CBS and ABC were down 6% to 8% for all their entertainment programming with CBS at 8.2 million viewers (falling 6%); NBC at 6.7 million (also dropping 6%); and ABC at 5.8 million (giving up 8%).

Fox was 6% higher to 4.2 million, growing partly as a result of high ratings from reality show “The Masked Singer.”

Commentary

Baby Boomers Spend More Than Millennials -- Yet Are Ignored By Advertisers

• by Glenn Geller , Columnist, 9 hours ago

Nobody likes to be ignored. Remember Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction”? So why do advertisers ignore boomers to focus on the “it” demos: millennials and Gen Z?

 
Although millennials officially outnumber boomers, let’s not forget the spending power wielded by boomers.

Age is just a number to boomers, who aren’t sitting at home wondering how to connect to the WiFi and counting the minutes until they take their next round of pills. Instead, they are traveling, spend time outdoors -- and, according to U.S. News & World Report, control 70% of the country’s disposable income and spend $3.2 trillion a year.

George Clooney, Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey, Jr., Lenny Kravitz, LL Cool J and Nicole Kidman are just a few AARP card carriers. Do they seem inactive to you?
Millennials and hot on their tail Gen Z may have some money to spend now — but boomers have it yesterday, today and tomorrow. Targeting boomers might not be as Instagrammable as a millennial demo, but it is instantly gratifying.

According to Total Retail Report, a mere 10% of marketing budgets is allocated to the boomer audience, while 50% goes to marketing to millennials. Odd — especially since  “Baby Boomers outspend every other generation by $400 billion annually, providing over 50 percent of U.S. consumption.”

A study by the National Venture Capital Association, Ernst & Young and AARP finds ad spend even lower, stating that “Baby Boomers spend the most across all product categories but are targeted by just 5-10 percent of marketing. There’s simply a lack of marketing, and that sometimes results in low awareness of cutting-edge solutions by many 50+ consumers.”

Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys Inc., told the New York Times that “while the millennials are sharing stuff, boomers are buying stuff. If you are a brand, you are in business to make money, and a tweet or share or laugh online doesn’t translate into actual bottom-line dollars. Boomers are an audience that’s worth pursuing in virtually every category.”

Not only should advertisers target boomers in nearly every ad category, they should also target boomers in all ad media — and that especially includes social media.

While it’s a safe bet you’ll reach the boomer audience advertising during the evening news broadcast or an episode of “NCIS,” toss the assumption that boomers are lacking in tech knowledge. Boomers are active on Instagram and good old-fashioned email marketing.

According to Nielsen, baby boomers are the second heaviest users of the internet and more than half of boomers are on Facebook.

Nielsen also found that “Boomers account for nearly $230 billion in sales for consumer-packaged goods.” The demo also spends close to $7 billion shopping ONLINE.

Lastly, Nielsen established that boomers spend almost $90 billion a year on cars -- nearly 30% more than other age groups. This last stat doesn’t surprise me much, given that many millennials wait to get their driver’s license, regularly use ride share services like Uber and Lyft and use alternative means of transportation -- think bicycles -- when possible. This doesn’t mean millennials aren’t buying cars. They are, but car ownership isn’t atop their priority list.

How and where are you targeting boomers?

Millennials And Gen Z-ers Distrust Businesses: Study

• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

Marketers attempting to sell to millennials and Gen Z-ers may have their work cut out for them.

Several surveys show that these cohorts like hearing from brands by email, and even more by social media. But a new study by Deloitte documents some grim findings.

For one, economic and social/political optimism are at record lows. Younger people have little faith in mass media and the possibility of social progress.

In addition, they are not very happy with their lives, their jobs, their finances and the way their data is used. And they are dissatisfied with government and business leaders. 

Furthermore, millennials are suspicious of business leaders' "impact on society, their commitment to improving the world, or their trustworthiness."

Only 55% of the groups now say business has a positive impact on the wider society, down from 61% in 2018 and the 70% total for the previous four years. Millennials largely feel that businesses are out only for profit.

And 73% are worried about the security of their personal data held by businesses, while 70% are concerned about their data held by governments.

As for the economy, only 26% of the millennials expect the economies of their countries to improve over the next year.

The study notes that this percentage has never dipped below 46% -- until now.

On the positive side, both age groups will support companies that reflect their values. On the negative side, many will jump when they disagree with a firm’s “business practices, values, or political leanings.”

But don’t think of them as lost generations, especially the Gen Z-ers. Of those surveyed, 45% are eager to start families, versus 39% of the millennials. In addition, 52% of the Gen Z-ers want to buy their own homes, compared with 49% of the millennials. Also, 56% want to earn high salaries, as do 52% of millennials 

The groups are about equal in their desire to travel and see the world (57% apiece) and to make a positive impact on society (47% of the Gen Z and 46% of the millennial respondents).  

Deloitte surveyed 13,416 millennials and 3,009 Gen Z-ers globally.

For media sales departments across the United States, Directors of Sales and GSMs of television and radio companies have scaled their differential advantage utilizing a market exclusive proposal development solution to generate new, long term, local-direct revenue. Managers of 506 stations reported utilizing the benefits of an academic approach to media marketing training platform for their sales teams called System 21 taught by Michael Guld of the Guld Resource Group. Sales and General Managers revealed the curriculum taught became their Kaizen Culture. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

COMMENTARY

Why The Ad Industry Must Embrace Kaizen Culture

• by Jeff Tan , 7 hours ago

In Japanese business culture, there is a concept called kaizen, which means continuous improvement.

Coming out of WWII, Japanese manufacturers needed to compete on the world stage again. Toyota famously applied kaizen in its Toyota Way. Managers could run a seemingly perfect factory, perfect production line or perfect sales record, but would have the discipline to reflect upon ways to improve by 5%.

This focus on incremental gains led the Japanese manufacturing industry to be associated with quality and reliability.

Contrast this with today’s business environment, which prizes rapid speed and scale, with disruptive companies exploding from conception to multibillion-dollar IPOs in a few years. In an age of shortened attention spans, the word "improvement" doesn’t really grab headlines.

There is nothing wrong with disrupting one’s industry. We need to, or we’ll eventually become extinct. Our industry is facing multiple competitive threats: from clients in-housing specialists to the large media partners bypassing agencies to the threat of newer entrants, such as consulting firms.

In such a dynamic environment with multiple unknown variables, we should always be looking to future proof our businesses and our industry.

However, even with the perfect pitch, the perfect ad creative, or the perfect campaign result, there is always a way to embrace kaizen and improve by 5%. It could be as simple as taking the time to personally reflect on what went right or wrong. Or asking each team member for one thing to improve the process for next time. Or (gasp) humbly asking a client what they really think of your work and what can be done to make it better.

This won’t come easily to an ad industry that celebrates individualism and big personality. After all, we have an industry-wide tendency to continually promote one’s achievements while brushing over and ignoring weaknesses. Further, in America (and my home country of Australia) the attitude of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” encourages complacency and the status quo.

This is a fallacy.

Encyclopedia Britannica had this attitude in the 1990s. Same with the automotive industry in the 2000s. I could go on…Borders, Blockbuster, et al. Is the advertising media industry traveling these same roads into 2020?

With the luxury of hindsight, one could argue that a disruptive mind-set is what was needed to save these companies from despair, not incremental improvement.

But it’s actually a kaizen culture that would have prevented these companies from becoming redundant. A kaizen culture continuously tests new innovations and allocates resources to successful enterprises. It prioritizes listening to customers and their needs/hopes/desires, over lecturing them on what companies think they need. A kaizen culture is disciplined in taking these insights to improve the innovations being tested.

For our industry to embrace kaizen and remain relevant in the future, we need to adopt an attitude of curiosity and eternal learning. For leaders, this means asking the right questions and challenging assumptions. It means deliberately putting oneself out there to be open to feedback. This takes humility and admitting that one is not perfect. These are traits that may not come naturally to industry leaders, but frankly, they don’t have a choice.

The days of the flashy presentation saving the day are numbered, an era of constant improvement through innovation is at hand. This is good for clients, for businesses and the talent that fuels our industry.

Investigating how System 21 can be your Kaizen Culture for 2020 might be your revenue solution. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

COMMENTARY

As Premium Content Changes, Lines May Blur Between Broadcast, Cable, Streaming

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 8 hours ago

Big finales, with record ratings for HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” mean consumers still love big TV events. That’s a common denominator.

But looking deeper, can you explain, with old-school labels, what is different? Consider tags that include "adult," "Family programming," or "FCC safe." 

Think about this when considering new OTT platforms for premium TV shows. With all major traditional media companies looking to expand with new digital platforms -- ad-free and ad-supported -- one needs to ask questions that might have been asked in 1993.

Any profanity, sexually explicit or other family-oriented programming coming our way when considering buying into one specific channel? Seems like it doesn’t matter. Newfangled electronic program guides on digital platforms tell all. And consumers can read.

For many, previously there were issues about programs running on an ad-supported channel versus an ad-free (premium) cable?

When marketing to modern media consumers now, the only real concern when thinking about ad-supported (lower or no-consumer fees) services or advertising-free (with consumer fees) platforms is price.

Does this mean the lines are blurred between what was assumed to be racy premium cable content -- HBO, Showtime, and Epix -- and what you might see on CBS, the CW, or Hallmark Channel?

Broadcast networks and local TV stations still need to abide by FCC rules. But cable, OTT and digital? Nope.

Even then, for a long time, ad-supported cable TV networks, tended to shy away from heavy racy/”adult-situations” content that in the early '90s you could only get on HBO or Showtime.

Why? Because ad-supported cable networks want those big broadcast network-like advertising dollars.

Now there is much more melding of content. So much so that John Stankey, CEO WarnerMedia, wants to significantly increase the number of top quality programs that HBO has produced over the last few years for a wider audience.

Some might say this will water down the product. But maybe it’s more complicated.

In the past, viewers could distinguish between, say, a show on HBO and one on TNT. Now, not so much. Blame Netflix for this.

Netflix’s popular shows include “Friends” and “The Office” -- both originated on ad-supported TV networks. You can call those shows “ad-friendly content." But at the same time, Netflix also airs edgier original drama and comedies, with non-broadcast language and stronger sexual content.

Some might assume that ad-supported TV shows -- broadcast or cable -- are not HBO caliber. The cabler typically garners hundreds of Emmy awards every year.

Going forward, this may not be an issue, either for consumers, TV producers, or TV business executives. Producing as many “premium” TV shows as possible is the goal. The marketplace will take care of the rest.

Looking for more bangs -- big, little or otherwise -- with no regard to thrones.

What we do matters”: Local broadcasters optimistic about the future of local media

“What we do matters”: Local broadcasters optimistic about the future of local media

May 14, 2019 11:00

Though less optimistic than five years ago, local broadcast companies and news directors are overwhelmingly confident in the future of local radio and TV, including local news.

The latest RTDNA/Lawrence Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra University newsroom survey, conducted for the past 25 years by Emeritus Distinguished Professor Bob Papper, shows that local news directors believe in the importance of local news and the unique position of local broadcasters to provide news and information the community needs.

88.1% of TV news directors say their companies are optimistic about the future of local TV, and 81.2% are personally optimistic about the future of local news.

In radio, 80% of news directors’ stations are positive about radio’s future, and 76.3% are personally optimistic about local radio news’s future, including 82.2% of public radio news directors.

Survey respondents cite continued high levels of trust in local news, even as trust in media overall declines, and the opportunity to innovate thanks to new technology as reasons to be optimistic about local news.

The challenge to innovate, changing business models and aging audiences were all cited as challenges facing the local broadcast industry, along with the need to provide local value and relevance with limited resources.
 

 

  


  

 


  

Linear TV Ads Remain Most 'Relevant' To Viewers

• by Wayne Friedman , 7 hours ago

Although there has been much discussion and effort surrounding targeted, audience-based TV advertising, one study says linear TV video advertising is still more “relevant” to viewers than other forms of digital media -- including video from streaming platforms.

The study says 49% of respondents believe TV will show advertising that is the most relevant to them -- slightly up from 48% in 2018.

Streaming video is at 12% -- up from 8% in 2018.

The best-performing advertising message from digital media is social media -- 35% versus 28% the year before. Next comes web banner advertising at 14%, versus 16% in 2018).

The analysis was written about in an eMarketer report from an Adobe Ad study, which also says consumer sentiment reveals that overall advertising is becoming more relevant.

eMarketer projects that $29.24 billion will be spent on programmatic video ads —  81.2% of digital video ad spend. For TV, just 4% of ad spending in the U.S. will be programmatic -- roughly $70 billion from other estimates.

TV media sellers and buyers both insist that targeted, audience-based TV buying will be key to the future. But only around a third of all marketers believe the entire industry is doing it effectively.

Nielsen Expands Local Media Cross-Platform Planning Tool To 19 Markets

• by Wayne Friedman , 7 hours ago

Nielsen’s local media cross-platform planning tool -- Local Media Impact -- will be expanded to 19 markets.

Local Media Impact, where marketers can plan media against many advanced audience segments, can now be used in 44 markets -- 25 local people meter and now 19 TV set meter markets.

Some of those markets include: Austin, Hartford, Las Vegas, Nashville, Cincinnati, Memphis, Providence, San Diego, San Antonio and Indianapolis.

The platform allows cross-platform analyses for local TV and radio, both separately and together.  

Key for growing cross-platform media planners: It can be used with Nielsen Scarborough local consumer insights to offer more granular advanced audience segments.

In November, Nielsen expanded the Nielsen Media Impact tool to include radio, so it can be compared to other national media. That allows advertisers/agencies to see custom dayparts,radio formats, owner groups and RADAR Networks.

Radio data comes from Nielsen’s National Regional Database, which consists of its Portable People Meter platform and diary data.

Nielsen Media Impact gets its data from Nielsen’s Total Media Fusion, which includes TV, radio, VOD, SVOD, mobile, tablet, desktop, print, cinema and digital place-based media.

The 19 new markets are: Austin, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, North Carolina; Hartford & New Haven, Connecticut; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Las Vegas, Nevada; Memphis, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Virginia; Providence, Rhode Island-New Bedford, Massachusetts; Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville), North Carolina; San Diego, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Antonio, Texas; and West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida.