RECENT STUDY RESULTS: The DVR is an advertisers friend!

Ad Avoidance and The DVR : recent study results

One of the topics  looked at in a recent study with special interest was the whole issue of ad-avoidance, not least because half the sample have the technology to avoid ads altogether, via the DVR.

In fact, one overwhelming conclusion from this study is that the DVR is used to enhance program viewing, not to avoid commercials. As a range of studies conducted last year found that PVR owners actually watch more commercials at normal speed as a result of owning the DVR. This is because only 12 per cent of their viewing was to time-shifted material (much less for younger respondents) and around 40 per cent of the commercial breaks were watched without fast forwarding. At the same time, owning a DVR appears to increase broadcast TV viewing by around 15 per cent, mainly to commercial channels, resulting in an increase in the number of commercials viewed. It is counter intuitive, but it is true, and has been supported by studies from BARB, Sky and the London Business School. The DVR is an advertisers friend!

‘Skipping’, or fast forwarding, does occur, but even the households who claim to skip most of the time only skipped ads for a small proportion of their TV viewing. Whether it is because they are aware of the short length of some breaks, they just forget they are viewing in time-shifted mode, or because they want to see the ads (quite often people fast forwarding would rewind to watch an ad that caught their eye) there seems to be no massive desire to edit out the ads.

Decades before the DVR was a glint in the eye of the electronics companies, people would often claim to leave the room when the ad break started, to make a snack  or attend to some vital chore. In our study, several respondents claimed to always get up and do something else as soon as the program credits rolled. Again, the reality does not match their claims. Even the most adamant only left the room two or three times during the four hours of their that breaks we recorded and, in total, less than 5 per cent of breaks suffered.

Powerhouse USA creates Smell-a-Vision : now TV viewers will be able to watch and “smell” their favorite shows

ORLANDO, Fla.—April 1, 2012— Local advertising agency Powerhouse USA announces the creation of Smell-a-Vision. Now television viewers everywhere will not only be able to watch their favorite shows, but they‘ll be able to smell them. The invention is expected to revolutionize the digital TV world as we know it.

David “DP” Preschel, president of Powerhouse USA and creator of Smell-a-Vision, has been dedicated to the fields of advertising and marketing for over 20 years and has finally created the breakthrough that marketers have been striving to accomplish for decades. “We wanted to give viewers a more interactive way to learn about our clients’ products. We have now incorporated a third sense into the viewing experience; all that’s left is to literally put the product in consumers’ hands! We’re working on that next,” he explains.

Preschel has worked tirelessly with the team at Powerhouse USA every night for years until yesterday when he finally discovered the secret to the olfactory viewing experience. When asked for details of the technology behind Smell-a-Vision, he declined to explain the process as worldwide patents are still pending.

Since rumors have spread over the Internet, phones have been ringing off the hook at Powerhouse USA. Those who wish to implement Smell-a-Vision in their advertisements range from car dealers (who doesn’t love that new car smell?) to bakeries, and oddly enough, septic companies. But the most curious call of all has been from political campaigns. “Unfortunately, we’re having trouble developing the musk of Newt Gingrich,” Preschel laments.

Powerhouse USA is a full-service advertising, marketing and promotions agency in Orlando, Florida that has produced over 3,000 television commercials ranging from car dealerships to massage therapy. On April 1, 2012, they introduced Smell-a-Vision to media outlets and television viewers everywhere.

Creating a Well-Rounded Marketing Media Strategy

If you find yourself questioning the value of traditional media in your marketing strategy because:

• Digital investment is generating lots of clicks to your website,
• Your competition recently launched a web or mobile campaign,
• And your inbox is flooded with promises from digital media vendors to deliver engaged consumers, premium content and targeting technologies at an unbelievably low cost?

The digital age has had an unquestionable positive impact on the ability of advertisers to zero in on consumers fitting their ideal demographic, geographic and psychographic profiles, with the proficiency of a star athelete like Lebron James or Eli Manning to hit their respective targets. But, just as you can’t put Eli Manning on the basketball court or put Lebron James on a football field and get the same results, you can’t expect digital media alone to accomplish all of the media goals and objectives in your marketing media strategy.

The purchase cycle
Big ticket purchases like cars, furniture, jewelry, and medical services are some of the most important retail investments affecting individuals—and the consumer doesn’t want to make a mistake.

Digital marketing is great at attracting audiences concerned with making the best decisions—people who are proactive about their purchasing decisions. And often, those who are proactive about searching are also proactive about engaging. This likelihood to engage means digital should be a core component of any well-balanced media plan. But marketers have a long purchase cycle to consider, during which awareness, information, reassurance and loyalty must be established and sustained to help the consumer confidently choose to invest in your brand above all others offering similar services. That’s where traditional media shines.

A good media strategy takes all kinds
Traditional media and their digital counterparts are vital media engines, and through the basic mechanics of media mix theory¹, are inclined to fuel each other in the long purchase cycle.

Here’s a quick breakdown media mix theory, from Media Planning:

• To reach people not reached with the first medium.
• To provide additional repeat exposure in a less expensive, secondary medium after optimum reach is obtained in the first medium.
• To leverage the intrinsic values of a medium to extend the creative effectiveness of the campaign (such as sight and sound on TV, intimate conversation on radio, long copy in print media and precise targeting in digital mediums).
• Synergism, where an effect produced by the sum of the parts is greater than expected by adding together the individual components.

Traditional and digital media are equally and uniquely important in your media strategy mix and you build an effective media mix that contributes to profitable growth, that includes both traditional and digital media.

GM’s Super Bowl commercial helped Ford

Super Bowl Ad Aftermath: Ford Boosted By GM’s Fallout?

Playing dirty might be de rigeur in politics, but it seldom helps in selling products—even dusty pickups ravaged by the apocalypse.

That might end up being GM’s tough lesson from its Super Bowl XLVI ad which, to some, spoke less about the strengths of GM products than it did attack Ford’s reputation for durability and longevity.

GM’s Super Bowl commercial helped Ford

Based on traffic and visitor data collected by the shopping and pricing site Kelley Blue Book, more visitors browsed Fordafter the GM commercial—a lot more—even though Ford didn’t have a big Super Bowl ad. Whether looking at the controversy in the days surrounding, or specifically at the window of time during and after the ad aired, Fordappeared to benefit most, if an immediate browsing or shopping of new vehicles was the goal.

Full-size pickup truck visitors on Super Bowl Sunday, 2012 – Kelley Blue Book

KBB.com data shows consumer interest in the Silverado lifting during the commercial airing, leveling off after the commercial and declining after the game, as interest in the F-150 surged, curiously. Despite the Silverado’s lift during the game, Ford’s F-150 still drew a greater share of week-over-week attention from KBB.com consumers.

In comparing consumer interest on kbb.com among the Full-size truck segment, KBB analyst Akshay Anand noted that the share of visits to the F150 surged over 26-percent week-over-week, while the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 saw a 25-percent drop in traffic during the same period.

“Looking at the data for that whole day, Ford did see some lift, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” said Anand.

That leads to how some might have heard the commercial…something along the lines of this: What kind of truck do you drive to the impending apocalypse? If it’s a Ford, oh you sorry sap, you’re just not going to make it.

Advertising 101: Don’t make the competing product your punchline

And that hits hard at one very important factor: brand loyalty. To many, the commercial was less a declaration of the strengths of GM products than it was the buildup to an attack on Ford’s trucks. And it may have sent Ford loyalists to their laptops and tablets to search for reassurance about Ford’s reputation, as their GM counterparts gloated and stayed on the sofa.

“Truck owners tend to be more loyal than those in any other segment,” said Anand, and when a product with that level of loyalty is mentioned negatively in an ad, argued Anand, the response is likely to be one that’s on the defensive.

Other potential explanations: Ford was mentioned bluntly and clearly right near the end of the ad, so is that somehow the name that stuck with viewers? Or does the lesson to be learned really have more to do with etiquette?

It is, after all, one of the first commercials in some time to blatantly call out a competing product without mention of a number or metric as basis.

Brand Bowl 2012

This past Sunday, advertisers everywhere were tuned into the Olympics of Advertising, or what we call the Brand Bowl. Who came out victorious and who failed to impress? Here are some of the highlights if you missed it:

Which were your favorites?

See them all here 

Here are the latest online video advertising numbers

December 29, 2011

Though advertisers and agencies are often increasing their investments in digital video advertising at the expense of offline/traditional branding/advertising efforts, findings from DIGIDAY and Adap.tv suggest funding also comes at the expense of current display advertising budgets.

According to a November study, advertisers were more likely to fund their online video advertising efforts from offline channels such as print and broadcast TV than their agency counterparts. Advertisers most often planned to shift budget from print (41%), while 29% said they would take dollars from broadcast TV to fund their digital video advertising efforts. Just 24% planned to pull from display.

Agencies said boosts to online video budgets would most come at the expense of display (43%), indicating a general move away from less dynamic ad formats, such as banner ads, in favor of those with greater engagement potential.

In addition, 39% of agencies said they would fund video from broadcast TV budgets. Though findings appear to suggest advertisers and agencies are shifting budgets away from TV toward video ads, more than half (56%) of respondents viewed online video as a direct complement to—and not a replacement for—their TV ad programs. Just 11% looked to online video to replace their TV ads, reported eMarketer.

In the past year, both advertisers and agencies have shifted their primary video advertising objectives from brand awareness to brand engagement, perhaps suggesting marketers are moving away from viewing digital video as a mere extension of TV ads and moving toward embracing online video for its ability to more directly engage viewers in a dynamic way.

By enabling video ads with social sharing and other calls to action, marketers can use digital video as a springboard to additional online engagement on social networks, their website and even mobile apps.

Mobile is a growing area of interest for video advertisers, yet publisher offerings lag brand adoption. For example, 42% of advertisers and agencies have purchased iPhone-compatible video ads, yet only 35% of publishers supported such ads. Differences for Android video ads (31% vs. 28%, respectively) and iPad ads (41% vs. 35%) were similar.

Consumers still wary going into 2012

The Harris Poll has made its annual beginning-of-the-year assessment of the financial plans and sentiments of Americans, and it finds continued uneasiness. This is despite a recent spate of confidence polls that show at least mild improvement. However, a bright spot in the study is the finding that fewer consumers will be looking to decrease their household spending than last year.

The most general result concerned overall expectations for the economy in 2012. Almost half expect things to remain about the same – 47%, to be exact. Pessimists unfortunately outnumber optimists by a 29%-23% margin.

Looked at by age demographic, the older respondents were the most pessimistic. The mature 66+ crowd actually managed to be the most optimistic AND the most pessimistic. The chart below tells the tale. As a point of age reference, Echo Boomers are 18-34, Gen-Xers are 35-46, Boomers are 47-65 and Matures are 66+.

Expectations	Echo	GenX	Boomer	Mature	Total
Improve	23	22	23	28	23
Stay the same	55	51	42	38	47
Get worse	22	27	35	34	29
Source: The Harris Poll

One thing is clear from the survey – the economic collapse experienced in 2008 has had a lasting impact on consumer money-handling habits. Gone are the days when revolving credit accounts and home refinancing kept stock moving off of American retail shelves and out of American warehouses. Consumers are still more apt to pay off rather than incur debt, and accumulating savings is much more top-of-mind than it was before the fall of 2008.

“There has been plenty of reporting on Americans’ financial concerns for the past several years,” commented THP as it scanned the downward trends. “However, looking at Americans’ current expectations for both their own finances as well as for the state of the nation, it seems that the bad news may not be over yet.”

The number we particularly like to see in the latest Harris survey is 45% — that is the percentage of respondents looking to cut overall household spending in 2012. We’d like to see it much lower, but it still beats the 49% of thrift-oriented respondents from the 2010 survey and is much better than the 55% in 2009.
The percentage of respondents looking to pay down debt, invest more in savings, cut up a credit card (or two or three), sock money away for retirement and invest in home improvement have all been trending down over the three year period.

Harris did note that the decrease in houses looking to cut expenses was a positive sign.

Here are the three year trends in a number of fiscal categories:

Fiscal action	2009%	2010%	2011%
Cut household spending	55	49	45
Pay down debt	45	41	39
Save more	42	40	36
Drop credit card(s)	24	22	16
Save for retirement	21	22	16
Home improvements	14	13	11
Invest more safely	9	8	5
Refinance mortgage	5	6	5
Open home equity credit	2	2	1
Other	6	6	5
Nothing different	16	18	23
Source: The Harris Poll

The 2011 results from the chart above were also provided by age demo. It should not come as a surprise that the Mature group results can almost be tossed – if members of this group have not made a few investments into retirement by now, for example, there isn’t a whole lot of time left to catch up – and indeed, very few cited this as a 2012 priority, and in almost all categories, they were far below the national average.

The middle two groups are more likely to cut spending and eliminate debt, while the younger set is more interested in filling up savings accounts. Here are the full results:

Fiscal action	Echo	GenX	Boomer	Mature
Cut household spending	42	49	49	38
Pay down debt	35	49	44	24
Save more	47	38	34	18
Drop credit card(s)	13	16	21	12
Save for retirement	15	18	21	5
Home improvements	8	9	15	9
Invest more safely	4	7	6	4
Refinance mortgage	3	9	4	2
Open home equity credit	0	1	1	1
Other	6	5	4	2
Nothing different	21	17	21	39
Source: The Harris Poll

Harris summed up its results, saying, “Americans continue to face difficult economic times and the New Year may not provide a totally clean slate financially, but there are some bright spots when Americans discuss their expectations. Fewer U.S. adults now say that they will cut back their household spending in the year ahead. This is positive news for the millions who rely on the retail, dining and entertainment industries, and may be small sign that Americans are ready to move on from the harsh times of the past several years.”

Netflix 15th most-watched U.S. TV “network.” Service has “more than twice the viewer hours of CNN, Discovery, MSNBC and BET, would be No. 2 in homes that subscribe to Netflix — second only to CBS.

According to an analysis of newly released figures by BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield, Netflix would be the 15th most-watched U.S. TV “network.” The video streaming service has “more than twice the viewer hours of CNN, Discovery, MSNBC and BET,” said Greenfield, who added it would be No. 2 in homes that subscribe to Netflix — second only to CBS.

His data is based on recent news from Netflix that its subscribers streamed more than 2 billion hours of TV shows and movies in Q4.

“Netflix must be eating into traditional TV viewing time,” Greenfield said “Netflix streaming usage is exploding and is far, far bigger than traditional media executives give it credit for. Netflix is actually number 15 with 666 million hours monthly or 2 billion per quarter — our prior analysis estimated number 25.”

Looking at Nielsen data for TV networks, Greenfield highlighted that after the top 15 channels, monthly viewing hours are below 500 million. “With an estimated 667 million hours of viewership per month in October, Netflix would rank as the 15th most-watched ‘network’,” he said. “Netflix had more hours of viewing in October than FX, HGTV and History…pretty amazing, given that Netflix is only in 21 million homes.”

However, Greenfield also said that looking at aggregate TV viewing in the 100 million pay TV homes, Netflix represents only 2.4% of total time spent watching: “While Netflix may be very popular in Netflix homes, it is rather meaningless when put into the context of total television viewing.”

Universal Orlando and Legoland hit capacity yesterday; Islands of Adventure turns away customers again

So many people are in Central Florida to go to the theme parks this week that several hit capacity and closed their doors Wednesday to any more visitors.

WFTV’s Skywitness 9  flew over the parks, where crowds and lines of cars were visible. WFTV.com’s interactive traffic map showed heavy traffic over I-4 and other roads near Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal Studios.

Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all had to turn guests away because so many people were inside.

According to independent Disney World travel sitetouringplans.com, Wednesday’s crowd levels are in the top 10 percent of all days all year, with each park forecasted between 9.7 and 10 on a 10-point scale –with hour-plus waits at many of the most popular attractions.

Universal Orlando also had to refuse people from getting into Islands of Adventure, and the new Legoland in Winter Haven hit capacity as well, posting on their Facebook page, “In order to ensure guests of LEGOLAND Florida have an enjoyable day with their families, the park is no longer admitting additional guests.”

GOOD NEWS FOR BROADCAST TV

Big Four Networks are up in viewers

Adults 18-49 rating is up 2 percent for the new season

Dec 7, 2011

The Big Four networks are heading into January with a chance to do something they have not done in more than a decade: Grow their collective audience.

Season to date, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC’s combined rating among adults 18-49 is up very slightly over last year.

If the networks can hold onto those gains through May, it would mark the first time since the 1999-2000 season that their ratings have grown year to year.

Eleven weeks into the season the Big Four together are averaging a 12.1 rating, according to Nielsen, up 2 percent over an 11.9 at this point last year.

The bulk of those gains have come from Fox, which is tied for first place with CBS this fall with a 3.4 rating, 13 percent better than the same point last year.

CBS is also up 3 percent. ABC is even to last year with a 2.8, good for third place.

NBC is the only network to see ratings declines, and even with all its woes, it’s only down 7 percent, from a 2.8 to a 2.6.

Of course there are still five more months in this season, and there’s no guarantee the networks will be able to hold their current ratings.

NBC will drop come February, once “Sunday Night Football” goes off the air, but those losses could be offset somewhat by Fox, which usually surges once “American Idol” returns in January.

ABC and CBS have been steady all fall, and both have at least one highly anticipated drama slated for midseason, though buzz doesn’t always translate into ratings.

The last time Big Four ratings rose for the season, there was an obvious reason: The huge success of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” the smash hit that lifted ABC by 8 percent over the previous season.

This year it’s no one show that has pushed up ratings, though CBS’s “2 Broke Girls,” Fox’s “New Girl” and ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” are doing better than any of last year’s new shows.

Instead it’s strong ratings from the World Series and favorable comparisons to a weak fall 2010 that have led to the gains.

***
In broadcast ratings for the week ended Dec. 4:

Among adults 18-49, Fox was first for the week with a 3.0 average rating and an 8 share, followed by NBC at 2.3/6, CBS at 2.2/6, ABC at 1.8/5, Univision at 1.4/4, Telemundo and CW at 0.6/2, ION and TeleFutura at 0.3/1 and Azteca and Estrella at 0.1/0.

Top five English-language Big Five shows (18-49s): Tie-1. Fox’s “The OT” and NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” 7.4; 3. CBS’s “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” 4.6; 4. NBC’s “Football Night in America” 4.1; Tie-5. CBS’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and Fox’s “The Simpsons” 4.0.

Top five English-language Big Five shows (total viewers): 1. Fox’s “The OT” 19.39 million; 2. NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” 18.90 million; 3. CBS’s “NCIS” 13.37 million; 4. CBS’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” 12.64 million; 5. CBS’s “60 Minutes” 11.88 million.

Top five time-shifted English-language Big Five shows (18-49s, by Live+SD versus Live+7 playback, week ended Nov. 20): 1. ABC’s “Modern Family” 2.4 increase (up 42.9 percent); 2. Fox’s “House” 1.6 increase (up 64.0 percent); 3. CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” 1.5 increase (up 28.3 percent); 4. CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” 1.5 increase (up 27.8 percent); 5. Fox’s “New Girl” 1.5 increase (up 42.9 percent).

Show on the rise: Fox’s “The X Factor,” Wednesday 8 p.m. The episode averaged a 3.7 among 18-49s, up 15 percent from the previous week’s edition (which aired on Tuesday due to Thanksgiving).

Show on the decline: ABC’s “You Deserve It,” Monday 9 p.m. The limited-run game show posted a 1.4 in 18-49s, down 18 percent from a 1.7 the previous week.