Brands, Consumers, Look To Balance Duality In Pandemic Life

• by Lisa Gearhart , 8 hours ago

We used to think life was complex because we had to continually try and balance the competing interests of home, work, play and all the thoughts, feelings and actions that went into them.

Now we know there was simplicity in the separation.

We are seeing light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. Six months ago, we didn’t know what to expect. One commonality for most of us was that home became our safe space 24/7.

While we have long thought home was the place we most wanted to be, we find ourselves stuck there amid a swirling sea of conflicted thoughts, colliding emotions and contradictory actions that have us in a constant state of questioning.

During the height of the pandemic, we asked millennials, Gen X-ers, and boomers to keep a digital diary of their thoughts, including pictures of how they were coping and what they were feeling.

Turns out, security, inspiration and peace of mind were top of mind. Their questions included: Should they stay home or risk going out; remain cautious or optimistic; quarantine alone or with family; buy only necessities or splurge on treats; shop online or in-store? More important, what hobby should they take up -- and does it need to involve sourdough bread?

This dueling reality is exhausting for consumers and brands alike.

Learning to live with duality is a new concept, and one one brands can help with. People have lost trust in nearly every resource, from government to nonprofits, and businesses have the opportunity and the responsibility to step up to the challenge.

The first thing brands must do is to recognize that duality is not a bad thing. It is actually necessary to have two opposing forces to create balance. Often those seemingly competing ideas are in fact complementary ones.

Next, brands must show people empathy for the conflicts they are facing. From this point of shared understanding, brands can start to offer solutions.

Those who participated in the pandemic diary project cited brands that addressed duality successfully, adding much-needed comfort and balance in their chaotic households. Among the oft-mentioned brands:

Escapism is much needed for many, so Netflix and Facebook were frequently noted. Even folks who rarely visit the social networking site are now using the platform to maintain contact with friends and see how they are handling the pandemic.

Huge support for local restaurants and businesses. When restaurants threw in paper towels and toilet paper with a pizza order, residents, giddy for the first time about toilet paper, ordered generously.

Geico and USAA discounted rates or issued refunds to car owners who aren’t driving much during COVID-19.

In finding the balance in duality, we have learned that consumers are looking for the five Cs:

Comfort: to feel safe shopping in clean environments or online, where they can find affordable products.
Confidence: to make decisions and control outcomes.
Clarity: of information, choices, structures.
Care: empathy, kindness and inclusion for employees, customers and the community.
Contribution: working for a higher calling and a greater cause.

How many Cs are your favorite brands addressing? How about your employer?

 Are you doing what you can to help boost your direct client's use of your stations benefits? Philip Jay LeNoble PhD

The Pandemic Draw: New Customers Poured In And Spent More From March Through June

• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 24, 2020

Online consumer purchasing rose dramatically from March through June, especially in the food and beverage and home delivery sectors. And email played a big role, pulling 166% more new customers than it did during the same period last year, according to a new study by Alliant.

What’s more, total order volume was up 175% for customers acquired by email, and there was with a 25% increase in average order amount per customer, with Food & Beverage contributing a large part of this lift.  

But the overall news is not as great as it seems: Despite the influx of new customers, the average order size is down in most verticals, showing that the newcomers are not spending as much as pre-pandemic customers, the study notes. 

Direct mail delivered  a 31% hike in new customer acquisition in April, and 53% in May. But there was a 9% decline in June, probably because firms were cutting back on mailings as their budgets were squeezed. 

Yet direct mail achieved growth in the average order size of 12% in March, 27% in April, 33% in May an 22% in June. 

An  the order size was 90% higher than it was for email offers, and 10% more than that achieved by online ads. 

Meanwhile, digital advertising drove 35% more customers than it did in 2019. What’s more, these shoppers spent 31% more and had and had an 8% average order amount. This area includes

TV supplied 82% more new customers from March through June with a 168% increase in total spend per buyer an 40% hike in average order size.  

Among verticals, the Food & Beverage category, including grocery delivery and subscription boxes, saw a 45% increase in new consumers from March through June, compared to the same time period in 2019. And there was a 28% increase in the average order per customer. 

Moreover, the new customers have an average age of 46, versus 44 I 2019, and income of $128,919 compared to $117,772. 

Crafts Merchandise saw a 118%  spike in new customers, but the average order size was down 13% despite the fact that the most recent shoppers had 16% higher income than those that came before.  

Children and Educational products score a 19% boost in new customers, with average order amount showing incremental change. The average income was 8% higher for these new buyers. 

DTC Subscription brands drew 43% more new customers than it did in the same period last year. 

Beauty Merchandise saw a 72% increase 

“While advertisers understandably have had to adjust marketing plans in these uncertain times, this data shows that many D2C brands can still find growth with smart, targeted marketing,” says JoAnne Monfradi Dunn, CEO of Alliant.

Monfradi Dunn adds, “Especially notable is that many marketers with home-oriented products and services delivered strong year-over-year growth across channels, including digital, television and direct mail.”

Alliant studied trends new customer acquisition and order size across its DataHub cooperative database. The DataHub gathers transactional data from over 700 product and brand categories, reflecting behavior by 250 Million US consumers.

 Take this one to your local direct clients: Philip Jay LeNoble PhD

The Yawning Gap: Index Shows Lapses In Email Performance By Retailers

• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 21, 2020

Retailers are doing a poor job of personalizing their email and sending behavioral triggers. 

Those are among the findings of Listrak’s first Revenue Gap Index (RGI), a quarterly analysis of the digital programs fielded by prospective clients. 

Based on a representative sample of 25 sample retailers, the RGI measures five areas, each of which has 20 possible points. The total score would be 100.

Few firms are anywhere near that. 

The aggregate score this time is 43.8 — a far cry from the 65-85 that most retailers generously award themselves. Yet this is a common range when the firm is talking to prospects. 

The overall score was 72, with a low of 30. Out of 25 retailers, only five scored 50 or higher. 

To put a positive spin on it, this shows there is “significant latent revenue opportunity for most retailer programs,” the study says. 

Moving down the list of variables, here are the average scores:

• Identification and Acquisition — 8.2 (slightly higher that what the firm sees from prospects on average.
• Broadcast Campaigns — 14.7. Most firms are doing fine, judging by this score. “For most retailers the recommendation is to strategically increase cadence and move on to other lower scoring areas,” the company states.
• Behavioral Triggers — 10.8. This area is a gold mine, but “most retailers aren’t as far along as they should be or think they are,” Listrak writes.
• Active Personalization — 6.6.  The study notes that “this might as well be 2002. Most retailers are swimming in customer data and yet no further ahead almost 20 years later.”
• Integration and Cross-Channel — at 3.4, the lowest score.

Of course, Listrak avows that it can produce higher scores for clients. 

Most retailers fall into one of the following profiles, or patterns.

• The Legacy Retailer —This is a business “still in the midst of its evolution from a store-based to digital-omnichannel mindset,” the study states. They rely heavily on broadcast campaigns, and have only basic triggers in place.
• Progress But Lacking — A company trying to catch up with rapid growth. The skill set? “Decent acquisition and broadcast efforts but very light on optimized triggers and personalization.”
• Brand In Transition — This type of firm seems to be doing well, but RGI analysis discerns “deliverability issues with broadcast campaigns that don’t render well on mobile, rudimentary behavioral triggers, and extremely limited personalization.”
• Typical Luxury — Selling premium merchandise is no sign of digital expertise. Typically, firms in this group have “diminished acquisition strategies and under-cadenced broadcast campaigns as well as basic, ineffective trigger campaigns.”
• IT-Driven Marketing — This is, in fact, another legacy profile. These firms often have their origins in catalogs or direct mail. Heavy IT involvement is focused more on project completion than sales results, leading to limited personalization and zero cross-channel expertise.
• Digital Hotshot — The winner is typically a “well-funded pure play that can afford to hire solid talent with an aggressive digital-first mindset.” They do most things right. 

COMMENTARY Upfront Deals May Not Be Sealed Until Q4

 Something about the Up Front that gives rise to having more local direct! Philip Jay LeNoble PhD

Upfront Deals May Not Be Sealed Until Q4

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 9 hours ago

With specific launch dates of prime-time network TV shows set  -- especially six of NBC’s returning dramas in November -- we can ask this pressing question again:

Is that the timeline for when the majority of TV upfront advertising deals will get done?

Until now, TV upfront activity has moved at a snail’s pace, with all the obvious question marks: When, what price, what volume, and at what increases in cost per thousand (CPM) viewers?

Right now, TV media buyers aren’t interested in any CPM increases. (Of course, they say that every year). But more specifically, they believe the market should offer a 5% decline in CPMs.

For their part, TV networks are hoping for flat pricing, according to sources. That said, with even more viewership erosion, lower overall revenue advertising volume would be the result. Whoa.

Even then -- given the still-iffy marketplace going forward, one where a vaccine deployed for all U.S. citizens could arrive by spring 2021 at the earliest -- it means massive hesitance on the part of consumers to buy stuff. Or for business owners to hire back more workers.

So if you are planning a multimillion-dollar upfront buy, what should you do?

Lots of focus remains on the near-term, month-to-month buying of the scatter market, where TV network media sales executives recently have termed that market “strong.”

The downside, of course, is that scatter unit pricing continues to be historically higher versus ad deals made during the upfront selling period.

SQAD says that during the first three months of this year, average scatter prime-time pricing for ABC, CBS and NBC was $144,584 per 30-second unit, with pricing on deals made during the upfront, $83,171.

In April, it was $108,952 (scatter); $84,734 (upfront).

True upfront market news will come in dribs and drabs -- with some networks talking about completion of their TV advertising deals, and some not talking at all.

At present, budgets are being registered. But when all it well and done, I’m thinking upfront deals will come with a nice bow attached. Surprise Thanksgiving or Christmas gift?

 

COMMENTARY

Let's Hold Ad Platforms 'Strictly Liable' When They Sell Fraudulent Ads

• by Dave Morgan , Featured Contributor, August 27, 2020

On Aug. 13, the Court of Appeals in the State of California ruled that Amazon could be held strictly liable for injuries suffered by someone who purchased a defective laptop battery on the Amazon site, even though it claimed it was merely acting as a neutral marketplace connecting buyers and sellers, and had satisfied its obligations by refunding the purchase price to the buyer.

Basically, the court’s ruling means that Amazon can now be held liable for products that it sells, under the same liability standards that retailers like Walmart, Krogers and Best Buy have always been held to: “strict liability,” where the seller of a defective good or service is responsible for damages it causes to buyers, whether or not the seller was negligent. If the seller sold it and it caused harm, then the seller is strictly responsible.

In the case, Amazon had argued it was a new kind of company, a neutral platform that was a mere service provider helping make a market, and was thus immune from the liability normally imposed on a retailer, manufacturer or reseller.

The Appeals Court said no. It noted that Amazon’s online platform connects buyers and sellers. Its systems set pricing. It handles all payments. It controls the supply chain. It monitors product quality and manages bad quality product out of its marketplace.

Thus, Amazon can’t pretend not to be liable for the product delivered to the buyer. If the laptop battery that caught fire and caused the consumer to spend two weeks in the hospital was defective, giving money back is not enough. Amazon could be held strictly liable for the injuries suffered, just as any retailer would be.

As someone who follows the ad industry closely, I couldn’t help but find parallels between Amazon’s issues and how so many digital ad platforms operate today. When issues of fraud and bots are raised, the platforms cry that they are just “neutral marketplaces” or “service providers” and cannot take responsibility for bad stuff that happens on their platforms.

Fraud in the digital ad business is big, growing and is super harmful to buyers and authentic publishers. Not only do fraudulent impressions waste advertisers’ money, but advertisers suffer lost opportunity and profits for ads that didn’t run, even if they are eventually refunded money for the fraudulent units.

Worse yet, authentic publishers lose money and suffer debilitating price deflation. Fraudulent impressions are basically free to their sellers, so putting them on programmatic ad platforms drives down prices of real impressions and prevents publishers from paying their journalists what they’re worth.

And it’s not just authentic media that is hurt, but authentic providers of data, too. (How do you know if the 500% premium paid to reach an “auto-intender” is real, or was actually based on a fake pixel?)

When fraud is discovered in the programmatic ad world, the platforms typically just require sellers to provide credits or money back to the buyers, and then it’s back to business as usual. Let’s stop that.

"Business as usual" would change a lot if programmatic ad platforms were held strictly liable for the injuries advertisers and authentic publishers suffered from the fraud. Those platforms would find ways to clean up their supply chains fast. The 40% fraud rates we read about in areas like digital video and CTV would go way down.

What do you think? Time to see if courts and old-fashioned product liability laws might be able to clean up our industry?

 

Amid A Postal Crisis, Biden Campaign Says It's Relying Heavily On Snail Mail

• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, 6 hours ago

At a time when the U.S. Postal Service has been under attack from the President and his Postmaster General, direct mail has emerged as the biggest paid media factor in the 2020 race.

That’s right -- good old-fashioned snail mail is the 2020 game-changer, Erica Monteith, senior vice president-paid media at GMMB, the agency responsible for the Biden Harris 2020 campaign’s media-buying, said Tuesday during a keynote conversation at MediaPost’s Data & Programmatic Insider Summit.

While Monteith did not address the impact of the administration’s steps to curtail postal service on the strategy, she said direct mail has emerged as an important factor because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Honestly, the biggest change this cycle has probably been because of COVID,” she said during a conversation with MediaPost events director Steve Smith, adding that while direct mail and feet-on-the-street canvassing traditionally are key to reaching potential voters, the latter is an anathema right now.

“During a pandemic you really don’t want strangers showing up at your house asking you what candidate you’re voting for,” she explained, adding: “We know people are opening their mail. Direct mail is something we’ve seen is effective.”

Beyond that wrinkle, Monteith said the other big difference in 2020 is a much greater reliance on connected TV (CTV) than in 2016. She said this was mainly due to the fact that the medium is much more developed and there is greater inventory available for targeting and reaching voters now as compared to 2016.

Another factor driving the use of CTV is the fact that much of the digital media that campaigns had utilized in the past is not available in 2020, including Twitter, Spotify, TikTok and Twitch, none of which accept political advertising.

She also said that Google has made it much more difficult to utilize custom campaign lists, driving political media buyers to alternatives such as demand-side platform The Trade Desk.

“We have to get even more creative about how we reach them,” she said, because paid media isn’t as available to political operatives, forcing them to focus much more on their “organic” presence.

As a result, she said the optimum 2020 mix is a combination of direct mail and online paid media buys, which can be coordinated to reach voters and follow up with reinforcing messages as well.

“You have that offline and online and you have a more holistic view of what’s happening and create your own little echo chamber and make sure people are seeing our message more than once,” she said.

 

COMMENTARY

Upfront Ad Market Awaits: Place Your TV Bets

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

We hear the national TV ad market is coming back big -- per recent earnings calls of TV network groups. Is the market really seeing a sharp turn?

--Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal: “While the advertising market was hit hard, it is coming back more rapidly than we anticipated.”

--Ed Carroll, COO of AMC Networks, said the scatter market has been “relatively healthy.”

--David Zaslav, president/CEO of Discovery Inc: “We have seen a noticeable return of advertisers spending money against the TV marketplace, where economies have increasingly begun to open, particularly in Europe.”

Yes, we get the promise of media-selling executives doing their thing, talking up business. We sense that in lieu of making many long-term national TV advertising deals, vis-a-vis the upfront, many advertisers are slowly feeling their way around this market. After all, the fall season is full of uncertainty, including:

*Will there be enough traditional TV linear impressions to buy starting in the fourth quarter?
*Will TV networks find their way in getting new TV productions and content on the air?
*Will the lone, still high-rated NFL programming be a bigger attraction to a wider range of marketers, including female-targeted advertisers?
*What happens if there is -- as anticipated -- a major fall/winter spike of Covid-19 cases?
*How many more dramatic musical-chair moves will occur among senior TV/media executives?

TV marketers understand ad pullbacks are common in periods like this. But no one wants to be off-air at the precise and unpredictable moment the marketplace takes a sharp turn higher.

While no one wants to be forgotten, traditional TV marketers still need to come to terms with even more linear TV audience erosion in pandemic times, even as live, linear TV still has a sizable chunk of all TV-video impressions.

Marketers are no doubt buying scatter in the near term -- on a week-to-week, or month-to-month basis.
But -- going back to that moment of a sharp marketplace rise -- answer this question: When does it really make sense to buy long-term upfront premium inventory for the traditional September-to-August TV season?

Right now, TV budgets are slowly getting registered with TV networks. This doesn’t say much. Buying in this road-kill marketplace highway feels much more like gambling on research-weak instincts. Who’s feeling lucky?

 

COMMENTARY

Our Mental Health Is Deteriorating. How Brands Can Help

• by Whitney Fishman Zember , August 21, 2020

In a matter of months, the world and our behaviors have dramatically changed. In the midst of a pandemic and protests in our streets, our physical and mental health is a top priority: maintaining it, protecting it and (for the physically infected and emotionally affected) rebuilding it.

The restrictions, isolation and emotional turmoil bring the potential for those already struggling with mental health issues to have an even harder time — while also impacting those who previously have not suffered from mental health issues.

While true that mental health is an ongoing struggle and not a one-size-fits all-solution, marketers have an opportunity to provide  offerings to support those in need during this time. Still, marketers wading into these waters need to understand what mental health is and the ways in which brands can provide meaningful support beyond virtue signaling.

Provide utility.  It doesn’t matter what type of product you are; every brand is now, or needs to be, a service offering. We are now, as marketers, all in the service industry when it comes to what we deliver to consumers via our marketing and media tactics.

Join the conversation, but enlist experts to help. Mental health is no longer an untouchable topic, and brands can be a part of the conversation. The more that we talk about mental health and wellness, the more comfortable these conversations become.

While nobody expects brands to be mental health experts, they will expect brands to enlist those experts who offer proper understanding of the nuances and range of needs, and the spectrum of coping mechanisms. Enlisting the right partner to help navigate these difficult conversations is the core of any successful strategy.

Educate and inspire. By embracing emotional intelligence -- the ability to understand, manage and use emotions in positive, forward-moving ways -- brands can help educate and empower people who struggle to find proactive, productive ways of managing their mental health.

For example, to support those in need of mental and emotional release during this tough time, LooksLikeYouNeedIceland.com lets site visitors release their pandemic-driven screams -- and then broadcasts those screams from speakers into the picturesque Icelandic wilderness, keeping the country top of mind while providing a fresh outlet.

Jansport, known for its backpacks, launched #LightenTheLoad, a Gen Z-focused campaign providing critical resources to manage the impact COVID-19 has had on their lives, with a focus on mental health support.

Sesame Workshop partnered with meditation app Headspace to launch Monster Meditations, a YouTube series featuring “Sesame Street” characters learning how to deal with stressful situations to help kids learn how to recognize and manage feelings.

Start by actively listening and applying consumer feedback to your marketing initiatives and campaigns. And, most importantly, commit to supporting your consumers throughout their struggles and providing tangible support and solutions to help them live better, healthier lives.

 

How Curbside Pickup Became Retail’s Lifeline in the Era of COVID-19

By Hilary George-Parkin

HILARY GEORGE-PARKIN

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Sign advertising Contactless Curbside Pickup at retail store parking lot

CREDIT: F ARMSTRONG PHOTO - STOCK.ADOBE.

In just a few months, COVID-19 has transformed curbside pickup from a nice-to-have service to an essential survival tool for retailers.

With many shoppers still reluctant to go into physical stores — and with social distancing protocols limiting the number of those inside at any given time — click-and-collect has emerged as a lifeline. Consumers’ growing interest in the channel has accelerated adoption among retailers who didn’t previously offer the service, or who were still testing it in limited markets.

According to an August 2020 analysis by Coresight Research, 38 of the top 50 store-based U.S. retailers now offer a curbside pickup option, and the advisory firm expects this share to continue to grow. Depending on the course the virus takes in the coming months, analysts say curbside is likely to be a key channel for holiday shopping, given that consumers are now accustomed to using it and have generally been impressed by its efficiency.

In a spring survey by the National Retail Federation, over 90 percent of respondents who had tried curbside said it was convenient. An Adobe survey in early June found that 23% of U.S. online shoppers reported preferring curbside or buy online, pick-up in store (BOPIS) over delivery.

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Among the retailers to implement a curbside offering was DSW, which rolled out the service first to select locations in March and then across all of its 550 stores the following month. It had previously beta tested curbside in a single location, but rushed to make it accessible to all customers when it was forced to temporarily close stores.

“Within weeks we got things up and running because we were able to get focused,” Designer Brands CEO Roger Rawlins told FN. “We were able to leverage a very small team on a few very important initiatives and turn things around in an [accelerated] time period [so] that what used to take months got done in days.”

Target, an early adopter of curbside, said in an earnings call last week that its Drive Up parking-lot pickup service grew 730% year-over-year last quarter. The expansion was driven in part by the retailer’s decision to add fresh and frozen grocery items to its curbside offerings at 1,500 stores. This fall, it plans to bolster the service by handing out surprise school bags to Drive Up customers, and expanding grocery and alcohol offerings in hundreds of locations