Turn On, Tune Out, Click Here - WSJ.com

Complete episodes of about 90% of prime-time network television shows and roughly 20% of cable shows are now available online, according to Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey. There are still notable holdouts, such as Fox's "American Idol" and current seasons of HBO series like "Entourage."

Turn On, Tune Out, Click Here - WSJ.com

Here we go. Another conspiracy theory: When the economy tanks, consumers will cut cable and keep broadband. Most of their favorite shows are online already anyway. Besides, we can't survive without Facebook. Now here comes a far-fetched (but eminently possible) prediction -- once the bad economy doesn't let up, consumers cut broadband and keep their mobile contracts. Why? We can't survive without Facebook. But we've got it on our phones already anyway.

In sum, the bad economy will accelerate the convergence. Discuss.

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Tug of War - Creative vs. Media

In the continuing tug-of-war between what drives the train--creative or media--a top Unilever executive Thursday came out in favor of creative. While there is an argument that lackluster ads can still deliver a message with shrewd placement, Babs Rangaiah said if the creative does not drive demand, a strong media plan is not likely to save the day. Rangaiah, the director of global communications planning at Unilever, said if the creative appears banal, it's time to yank the media spend and use it somewhere else.

MediaPost Publications - Advertising Week: The Future Belongs To Creative - 09/26/2008

I firmly believe and will continue to believe that the new advertising era that has dawned requires that we embrace complexity, whereas the old advertising era that is lingering beyond its much ballyhooed demise worshiped at the altar of simplicity.

While a great, persuasive message must be "simple" in its singularity of focus and incisiveness, the act of developing that message and disseminating it across the mediasphere will only continue to befuddle and perplex those of us who don't ... again ... embrace complexity.

How each simplified meme is launched into that matrix; and how each grows on its own without negating its brethren in the chaos of an on-demand world, is the work of big brains and fearless intellects.

Ack ... I got on a soap box. Apologies.

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Porn passed over as Web users become social

Social networking sites are the hottest attraction on the Internet, dethroning pornography and highlighting a major change in how people communicate, according to a web guru.

Porn passed over as Web users become social: author | Technology | Internet | Reuters

Pop the cork and pass the bubbly. I suppose it's safe to say the Web 2.0 era has officially arrived. When they write the history books, Web 1.0 will be remembered for spam, porn and phishing schemes. Yuck. With social media taking the Web 2.0 crown, what does Web 3.0 portend? Video? *.* on Demand?

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How and Why Adults and Youth Share... | Reuters

Adults Depend on Email as Source of Shared Content; Younger Generation Embraces Instant Messaging, Social Networking, Video Sharing and Text Messaging

New Independent Study Highlights Differences in How and Why Adults and Youth Share... | Reuters

Okay. Now this is getting to be way too obvious. There IS a digital generation gap.

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Notes from the Digital Generation Gap - Mom X vs. Mom Y

A recent study conducted by NewMediaMetrics found a significant difference in the types of digital behavior embraced by the X and Y generations when it comes to child raising. Gen Y is much more attached to media that connects them to other moms (online communities, blogs, video-sharing sites, etc.), while Gen X moms are more likely to embrace the web for task-oriented activities like shopping online and uploading photos. The study concludes that this might signify a shift in the way that marketers should be targeting the next new generation of moms online.

Research Brief » Blog Archive » Y Moms Connect Through The Internet; X Moms Task

More evidence, if you will, for my theory of the new generation gap. The key point is it's all coming to pass very, very quickly. The changes in attitude, media behavior, shopper behavior and general worldview are quick and clearly defined.

What does this mean for marketers? We need to toss our assumptions about how interactive creative works. We need to recalibrate how we judge ideas in the early stages of planning and development. We can't fall back on yesterday's best practices, even though they still feel freshly minted.

And it means that the marketers who persist in clinging to the tried-and-true may find themselves scrambling for new structures as early as first quarter 2009. Could happen.

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Metrics Insider » Blog Archive » In Praise of Online Advertising

As we develop new ways to dedicate on-screen real estate to delivering captivating, engaging ads, whether via banner, rich media or emerging formats, I fully expect online display advertising to become an increasingly important component of the media mix. We don’t require a click-through from a magazine ad or a TV ad or a newspaper ad or a radio ad, and all these impressions are valued by advertisers. Impressions online should have at least the same value, wholly independent of the direct linkage to a click. The opportunity to generate that action online is a profound value-add, but let’s make sure that we properly value the ad before we overlay the value-add. Advertising can have immediate effect, but it can also have quantifiable mid-term effect, and profoundly valuable long-term branding effect. And that is as true for online advertising as for any other medium.

Metrics Insider » Blog Archive » In Praise of Online Advertising

Amen brother. Click to read this article; it's got loads of great references to various online advertising formats and how well they work for a variety of outcomes: brand awareness, offline sales boosts, etc.

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U.S. on Track to Top Mobile Web Market, Study Says

After years of lagging behind European countries, the U.S. is poised to take the top spot for mobile Web usage by month's end, according to data collected by technology firm Bango, which provides mobile Internet access platforms to 100,000 Web sites worldwide.

In July, Bango reported the U.K. was top ranked in mobile Web usage, accounting for almost 19.4 percent of the worldwide total, just ahead of the U.S., which collected about 18.9 percent of total usage. Rounding out the top five were India (10.8 percent), South Africa (8.8 percent) and Indonesia (4.1 percent).

U.S. on Track to Top Mobile Web Market, Study Says

But can we trust Bango's numbers?! Don't get me wrong, I really want to. In fact, I want to sing the mobile gospel in every meeting and brainstorm.

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Research Brief » Blog Archive » I Want It My Way

Ads delivered via mass media are preferred by 17% of U.S. adults, and an additional 17% of consumers are most interested in ads delivered in print. 32% of U.S. all adults are either disinterested in advertising delivered by any medium or they have not been exposed to a particular ad platform.

The 9% of U.S. adults who prefer "Ads on Emerging Media Vehicles" are far more likely than the average adult to agree with the following statements.

• A celebrity endorsement may influence me to consider or buy a product.
• I'm always one of the first of my friends to try new products or services.
• I follow the latest trends and fashions.
• Brand name is the best indication of quality.

Anne Marie Kelly, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning at MRI, says "Consumers who prefer advertising messages delivered through their mobile devices and product placement tend to be younger, pro-innovation, pro-celebrity and pro-fashion… this segmentation analysis helps them to target… consumers most receptive to their media plan."

Research Brief » Blog Archive » I Want It My Way

So, there's an 8 point gap between the "emerging media" consumers and the "mass media" troglodytes. How long before that gap evaporates? Hmm.

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Media Life Magazine - Flight of the young from gossip shows

These days younger viewers who might have watched these shows a decade ago are turning instead to the internet and sites like TMZ.com and Perez Hilton for their celebrity gossip, driving up the age of the remaining audience.

Media Life Magazine - Flight of the young from gossip shows

The new generation gap is upon us. This time it's not defined by the music, hair styles or fashion. Now it's media usage. The young use the Net. Their elders -- including pretty much everybody 35+ -- use TV and email. The evidence is everywhere. Viva la difference!

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MediaPost Publications - NBC's DealMeRss.com Explores Lead-Generation Rev Potential - 07/24/2008

NBC Universal's online offerings last week included a "Biggest Loser" cookbook, "Saturday Night Live" magnets and Hollywood studio tickets. Also on sale: a 70-inch HDTV for $28,000. Less costly were a laser printer and portable keyboard. "Heroes" T-shirts and "Friday Night Lights" DVDs? No-brainers. But NBCU challenging Best Buy?

While the products may be similar, NBCU has no such ambitions with its fledgling DealMeRss.com. The austere site--resembling e-commerce circa 1995--is an experiment by NBCU's emerging digital businesses group. It hopes to gain insight into how to capitalize on growing "lead generation" revenue opportunities online.

Over time, any conclusions could be applied to its current ventures--such as Petside.com and DriverTV--where ad revenues may be principal drivers, but other revenue streams would be welcome. With lead generation, site operators can collect a fee--perhaps up to 60 cents a pop--for directing consumers (or "qualified leads") to another site, where they might make a purchase.

MediaPost Publications - NBC's DealMeRss.com Explores Lead-Generation Rev Potential - 07/24/2008

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Quote of the Day

Generally speaking, the ad agencies continue to demonstrate an unconscionable level of ignorance toward the power of search. Yes, there are a few brave souls championing search as the linchpin of tomorrow’s marketing successes (several write for MediaPost), but they’re lonely voices in a wilderness whose inhabitants still speak in the outdated acronyms of Gross Rating Points and think that online advertising means banners that nobody clicks on.

Search Insider » Blog Archive » No Time For Gloom Or Doom!

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Nielsen: Shoppers Remember, Appreciate Mall Advertising

"Nearly half of mall shoppers (47 percent) viewed content provided on the Adspace Mall Network, and of those viewers, 34 percent had an average recall of specific ads they saw on the network, revealed a new Nielsen Media Research study commissioned by Adspace Networks.

The results show that shoppers viewed the Smart Screens an average of 3.3 times per visit with an average total viewing time of 1.9 minutes (or 114 seconds). During that time, the average length of each view is 34 seconds. With advertisements on the “Smart Screens” lasting 10-15 seconds, each shopper sees nearly three spots per view. By the end of their mall trip, viewers of the Smart Screens will have seen nearly 10 spots on the network."

Nielsen: Shoppers Remember, Appreciate Mall Advertising - Media Buyer Planner

Another example of how "mass media" is moving outside. Personal media will dominate the home and devices. Now, my beef with reports such as this is that they tend not to provide comparative metrics. Is 47 percent good or bad compared to standard mall media?

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The Great Escape Is No Longer The Silver Screen

Game-playing in all of its emerging digital forms appears to be the one media sector that could be impervious to economic malaise. It has even slowed the meteoric growth of online advertising and caused Google to miss some of its quarterly targets for the first time. As it turns out, video games have become the escapist elixir for hard times that moviegoing and television once were in a passive, analog world.

Diane Mermigas: On Media » Blog Archive » Money Spot: Video Games Are Having Banner Year

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Study: C-Level Execs Shift to Internet over Newspapers for Business Info

E&P reports on a study that shows C-level execs are reaching a tipping point in how they consumer news.

Study: C-Level Execs Shift to Internet over Newspapers for Business Info

A Forbes.com and Gartner Study has discovered a 37% increase in C-Level and senior management executives who choose the Internet over newspapers as their No. 1 source of business information.

Consumption of newspapers as the No. 1 source among this segment is down 36%.

Among the study’s findings:

The Internet continues to be the most influential and important source of business information for C-Level executives around the world, at 67%. This number has increased 37% since 2004.

Before starting the work day, C-Level executives prefer to access the Web rather than read the newspaper. The number of C-Level executives who prefer the Internet first thing in the morning has increased 22% since 2004, while those who prefer to read the newspaper first thing in the morning has declined 11% over the same time period.

C-Level executives consume media on the Web more than any other medium (TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers), at 41%.

“This study further underscores our belief that the highly desirable C-Level executive audience will continue to increase its use of the Internet as a primary source of business information, while newspaper consumption for business purposes will continue to decline,” Jim Spanfeller, CEO and President of Forbes.com, said in a statement.

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Traditional Media Not Dead Yet for Marketing, Study Says - TV Decoder - Media & Television - New York Times Blog

A study to be released on Wednesday finds that advertisements appearing in traditional media like television are still “much more likely” to have made a positive impression with consumers than ads running in digital media.

The study, called “When Advertising Works,” was conducted by Yankelovich in association with Sequent Partners. The Center for Media Design at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., provided assistance.

The study covered 16 types of media. Besides TV, the traditional kinds included billboards, magazines, newspapers, radio and movie theater commercials. The digital kinds included e-mail messages, Internet banner ads, social networking Web sites, video games and video-sharing Web sites like YouTube.

When asked what kind of an impression the ad made, 56 percent of survey respondents said traditional media ads made a positive impression, in contrast to 31 percent who said that about digital media ads. Thirteen percent reported a negative impression of traditional media ads versus 21 percent for digital media ads. Thirty-two percent said they had neither a positive nor a negative impression of traditional media ads, in contrast to 48 percent who said they had neither a good or bad impression of digital media ads.

Traditional Media Not Dead Yet for Marketing, Study Says - TV Decoder - Media & Television - New York Times Blog

On the other hand, advertising is NOT dead. It is NOT the end of advertising as we know it. Discuss.

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MediaPost Publications - Nielsen To Debut Out-Of-Home Viewing Data - 06/19/2008

Nielsen's long-awaited service to track out-of-home viewing, a co-venture, will begin yielding data later this summer. The system offers the tantalizing prospect of measuring viewing in bars, hotels and workout gyms--something networks have argued they don't receive credit for from advertisers.

What will be called the Nielsen Out-of-Home Report--a joint venture with Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI)--was announced in April 2007 with an expected launch that September. Then the debut was postponed until this past April, and now again until this summer. It will be the first time that Nielsen provides any out-of-home viewing data.

The data that covers viewing of national broadcast and cable networks will be culled from a panel of 4,700. Panelists will carry cell phones from AT&T that run the software that allows tracking of the exposure to programs (participants receive $50 a month).

In addition to the national service, Nielsen will begin offering out-of-home data in six local markets by the end of the third quarter, according to a presentation by Nielsen Senior Vice President Kevin Svenningsen at the Promax industry event Wednesday.

The six local markets--with 500 panelists each--to be tracked are New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Denver.

MediaPost Publications - Nielsen To Debut Out-Of-Home Viewing Data - 06/19/2008

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Thirty Countries Exceed 100% Per Capita Cell Phone Usage (But Not the USA)

By the first quarter of 2006, notes the report, thirty countries had already exceeded 100% per capita cell phone usage. In that same year, there were about 241 million mobile phone users in the US (roughly 80% per capita mobile phone penetration). The U.S. market is not expected to top 100% per capita penetration until the year 2013.

Included by the author is the Simmons New Media Study released in April 2008 comparing the usage of different mobile functions among consumers in the U.S. While 59% of people who have used a cell phone in the past 30 days have text messaged, and 49% have taken photos, less than 2% have shopped by mobile and less than 5% have used mobile GPS.

Research Brief » Blog Archive » Thirty Countries Exceed 100% Per Capita Cell Phone Usage

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Internet Advertising Revenues Up 18.2% YOY, $5.8 Billion for Q1 ’08, Second Highest Quarter Ever

“We continue to experience significant growth and vitality in interactive marketing, media and advertising,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “We expect growth to continue, as consumers spend more and more time online, and marketers find more – and more innovative – ways to reach them through digital media.”

Internet Advertising Revenues Up 18.2% YOY, $5.8 Billion for Q1 ’08, Second Highest Quarter Ever



Quietly. Slowly. This enormous industry has grown into a beast. This is an exciting time in the media space. However, it is volatile. Hang tight.

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Tracking Video: How Audience Behavior Measurement Works

How It Works
Our patent-pending data collection approach captures every video interaction in every video from every viewer, from play to pause to rewind to forward-to-a-friend and more. When you're planning online video marketing and advertising strategies, Visible Measures VisibleSuite provides precise performance measurements including how audiences find, view, interact with, and share each online video.

Tracking Video: How Audience Behavior Measurement Works

I may have blogged this before. The URL is cached in my Flock browser. So ... pardon the redundancy. But this company has new news. And they're the only one I've seen that promise (at least) to track the impact of online video beyond counting views.

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Habeas Study Confirms Strong, Ongoing Demand for Email in Direct Marketing, Mobile and Web 2.0 Applications

"Far from being eclipsed by Web 2.0 and other emerging communications methods, consumer expectations suggest that email will be the workhorse channel around which future online communications will revolve," Cahill continued. "This tells us that email will be as central to online commerce and communications in the future as it is today. Organizations that build trust with consumers by implementing forward-looking online reputation management strategies will differentiate themselves and gain a long-term competitive advantage by establishing themselves as a trusted online brand."

Habeas Study Confirms Strong, Ongoing Demand for Email in Direct Marketing, Mobile and Web 2.0 Applications

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