March 1st, 2010
Cable TV providers were panicked initially by the popularity of Hulu.com, an online video viewing service that allows consumers to watch the same TV shows they get on cable, anytime, for free.
Why would viewers continue to pay for their cable membership, the logic goes, if they can get those shows online? Comcast Corp. recently tried to get in on the action by launching a test program that will ask current subscribers to use their account information to access the same shows they enjoy on the boob tube on the Internet instead.
They will not be offering those shows online for free at all; only subscribers will be able to view them. They’re hoping this will incentivize more people to sign up for subscriptions, instead of the current trend in which online options seem to be encouraging current subscribers to cut one more item from their budget.
The eventual goal is for cable networks not to provide their shows for free anymore on channels like Hulu, ad revenue or no ad revenue, though executives say that it’s possible the two can learn to co-exist in some way.
Old shows that are no longer shown on cable may still be available, for example, or cable networks may agree to allow old seasons of current shows to be posted in hopes that viewers will get hooked and start subscribing to see the latest aired show.
If the networks all band together, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to get a lock on online TV show viewers and make illegal uploading of TV shows as dangerous as music sharing became after Napster.
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January 11th, 2010
Most companies right now are clamping down on their marketing budgets, trying to trim the fat where it’s not necessary.
For General Mills, that strategy was counterintuitive; they need consumers to consider their products perfect for the burgeoning recession, and they ramped up their marketing spending by 16%. Their reward? An 8% increase in revenue, with 14.7 billion in sales, and a consumer base that thought the company’s products were the perfect comfort foods for these difficult times.
General Mills provides a lot of supermarket staples, including soup, cereal, baking goods, instant mixes, and other such homey comforts. Granted, they’re in an industry that naturally endears them to budget strapped Americans. Hamburger Helper, for instance, has improved their sales astronomically, due in no small part to its association with low budgets.
The comfort factor cannot be denied, though. Many of General Mills’ products are sold in similar forms by other companies – the different being that General Mills spent their marketing money hard and fast at the beginning of the recession.
While other companies were unsure whether they were willing to take the risk to put in more marketing money, General Mills had already sewn up consumer loyalty. They had officially become the most comforting brands for the recession.
This isn’t to say that they didn’t put in some new strategies too. The Betty Crocker products, for example, now have a wide and expanding base of recipe-seekers in a spanking-new online forum. But sometimes it’s best to stick with tried and true in uncertain times – a message General Mills managed to drive home to consumers just when they needed to hear it most.
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November 30th, 2009
Traditionally, local businesses have taken advantage of local media outlets to advertise their products and services.
They spend money on ads in the Yellow Pages and the local alt-weekly as well as the major local newspaper and the local magazine publications. As everyone tightens budgets, local outlets are beginning to follow the national companies’ lead in shifting their marketing dollars toward online advertising instead.
This is probably a sound strategy, since studies are showing an increased likelihood that online and digital formats are where their customers will be looking for them. Mobile searches for local services are expected to go up from 27.8% to 35.1% in the next five years, and ad revenue for local searches is expected to improve by 5.8%.
Media outlets are making the shift as well, including putting the Yellow Pages online and launching geo-targeting services that delivers ads based on the mobile user’s zip codes to help them find new businesses in their area. Mobile offers some of the best strategies for local businesses, since simply having a cell phone number implies certain things about your location.
Social media is also on the rise as local businesses put their attention into developing personal relationships with their customers. Always one of the advantages of local businesses has been their personal intimacy, and social media is a great way to let those qualities shine out beyond the people who actually set foot in the store.
Tags: media outlets, social media
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October 20th, 2009
A new study on consumer response to mobile marketing suggests that the market may not be ready for the new technique, even if the technology is. While mobile marketing is definitely going to be a part of the future of marketing techniques, it may not be wise to put all your eggs in that basket while consumer spending is still way down.
The recession is going to make mobile marketing much more difficult for several reasons, one of the most important being that it’s going to be hard to judge the effectiveness of a campaign when consumers don’t have money to spend, period.
A campaign that might be very effective when consumers are doing a little better may tank when they don’t have extra cash to spend on luxuries, and that misinformation is going to mean bad money thrown after good.
Keep it simple
The best strategy for the moment, the study concludes, is to keep it small and convenient without breaking the bank. Make sure your website is mobile-optimized and get included in mobile searches, but campaigns like mobile video are best left on the back burner until the economy takes a turn for the better.
Tags: media buying, mobile advertising
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September 29th, 2009
We all know that the newspaper industry has been taking a major hit, with declining subscriptions contributing to lower print ad revenues. Newspapers have tried to adapt by going online, but the ad revenue they receive there is nowhere near enough to keep the highly-trained investigative personnel they need to perform.
One of the strategies newspapers haven’t yet considered is a fundamental change in the way they use their online platforms. The most successful online businesses are easy-to-use compilations of information – Google, iTunes, Etsy, Amazon.com. The strategy means that they can give consumers exactly the information they require in a single place.
Much of newspapers are similarly aggregators. They contain real estate ads, retail promotions, and classified sections selling everything from automobiles to new jobs. By using those naturally compiled sections of the paper, there may be a way to make newspapers valuable in a way that makes money for investigative journalism to continue and thrive.
Is it possible that by becoming an aggregate in select portions of the paper like classifieds, newspapers might just find their niche online – and that ad revenue they so desperately need?
Tags: media buying, print media
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July 14th, 2009
Facebook is signing up nearly a million new members every day, has over 70% of its users overseas, and is a favorite time-killer for everyone from soccer moms to tweens to working professionals to college kids to the elderly.
It links people in ways that were never conceived of before, and it targets advertising so precisely that buyers are seriously getting their money’s worth. So it’s doing great, right?
Maybe not.
Facebook started as a tool for college kids. Indeed, initially to sign up you had to have an email address with an educational institution’s .edu. As it’s expanded, Facebook has been trying to keep up with the needs of tech-savvy youth as well as the seriously not-tech-savvy older generation – and it’s losing people at both ends of the spectrum.
Facebook may find some restitution in being useful as opposed to being trendy. Twitter is already becoming tiresome to many, but Facebook has continued to grow and expand as it helps families keep in touch, business entrepreneurs interact and even connects people who have been far-flung by major events such as the Holocaust.
We’ll see if being useful will keep Facebook afloat while the next trends come and go.
Tags: social marketing
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June 4th, 2009
Most experts agree: this is the worst economic downturn in decades.
Predictions that things will get worse before getting better has some media buyers believing that the recession will work to their advantage. They will be looking for price rollbacks and much more flexible terms to keep the network time spots filled.
But others are not so sure.
Right now, the networks aren’t indicating plans to implement flex time or any other concession to buyers. CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, however, is the only network executive at this point willing to discuss possible pricing changes for his network. He has also indicated that CBS will be selling fewer inventories upfront in 2009.
Sellers at other networks say they have no idea how pricing will turn out this year in the upfront market. They say things could remain uncertain even longer – especially if media buyers come with unrealistic expectations, it could take longer.
According to Media.com North American CEO Doug Checkeris, the big question many advertisers have is, “Why go long now?” The obvious answer seems to be more attractive pricing. Will the pricing issue become between Networks and media buyers become ugly? Checkeris’ response: “If it’s not ugly, then we haven’t done our jobs.”
Tags: media buying, media pricing
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May 3rd, 2009
The retail industry is using e-mail to personalize its messages to consumers.
“It’s not just putting the consumers name in the subject line. We want to speak to the customer in a more intelligent way,” said Ryan Phelan, director of email marketing for Sears Holding Corp.
Marketing additional services
More companies are realizing the value of integrating the personalized message through all channels of communications. Retail marketers create an individual customer profile based on customer purchases.
For example, if a customer buys a new flat-screen television, a mobile message containing information about how to sign up for a warranty could follow.
Sears’ coupon campaign
Sears took steps to promote its new e-mail program by running a coupon campaign offering customers who signed up for the program a coupon for 10 dollars off their purchase. Since starting the promotion last June, Sears has experienced 50 percent increased participation in its e-mail list.
The takeaway from this trend is that there are many effective, newer means of reaching target markets in a highly relevant, personalized and cost-effective way.
Tags: email marketing
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March 27th, 2009
Last year Black Friday managed to provide both online and in-store retailers some welcomed relief, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) report.
Turns out that 172 million shoppers visited stores; that’s up from147 billion last year. Total spending for Black Friday came in at around four billion dollars, averaging out to be about $327.57 per shopper. That is an increase of 7.2 percent from last year.
The driving force
So what’s behind the increases? “Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season’s hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend,” explained Tracy Mullin, NRF president and CEO. Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it’s encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again.”
Black Friday turned out to be the busiest of the weekend, resulting in 73.6 million shoppers at stores by early morning in an effort to snag the best deals. Beyond that weekend, American’s have slightly increased shopping for the holidays, up 3.3 percent from last year’s 36.4 percent.
Sales are up
Where are shoppers spending their money? Over half of Black Friday’s shoppers turned up at discount stores; 43 percent at department stores; 36 percent at specialty stores and 34 percent shopped online.
Even though the NRF report is encouraging, the overall forecast for this holiday is modest at best. NRF predicts holiday sales this year will rise 2.2 percent, making this the slowest season since 2002.
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December 16th, 2008
On its 30-year anniversary “microsite,” AdWeek tracks ad spending from 1978-2008.
Here’s what we can see:
• Television has had its ups and downs but is decidedly up over 30 years (about 7 ½ times up)
• Newspapers up and down, and up about 3 times overall, but down for sure in recent years (over the past decade)
• Magazines just slightly higher than flat over the entire 30-year period
• Internet tracked only since 1998 and only one direction (up) with the exception of a dip in the 2002-2003 period
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