In a move that would make the printed page digitally interactive, giving advertisers the potential to electronically measure readership not just of magazines, but also of individual pages within magazines, Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) today will announce plans to begin testing a promising new technology that can literally print an interactive microchip on a page. That technology, known as radio frequency identification (RFID), already is used in a wide variety of everyday applications such as the EZ Pass highway toll collection system. Using a process originally developed by the MIT Media Lab, MRI will begin testing whether RFID tags printed onto magazine pages can be used for magazine audience measurement. The initiative is part of a deal MRI struck with TagSense, a Cambridge, Mass.-based technology company that was incubated at the Media Lab, which has developed the means of relaying data between printed RFID tags and electronic "readers" stationed nearby. Those readers could be stationed in retail outlets that sell magazines, or to a panel of magazine readers to measure when, where and for how long they are exposed to magazines and pages within magazines. MRI executives caution that the technology is far from deployment and will need a considerable amount of lab work before it even begins an internal test among "friends and family," but the magazine audience research firm said it could implement a "large scale" market trial of the technology in as soon as 18 months. "We would hope to use the technology to measure exposure to individual magazine pages - not every page - but some individual pages," Jay Mattlin, vice president of new ventures at MRI. If successful, the technology promises to revolutionize the way magazine readership is measured in the same way that Arbitron's portable people meter system could alter the way radio, TV and potentially other media are measured. In its discussions with advertisers and agencies, Arbitron has indicated it might also incorporate RFID technology to measure print media as part of, or in conjunction with its PPM system, but MRI is the first research company to announce an explicit plan to do so. MRI's Mattlin notes there are a number of potential obstacles that may limit the ability of RFID tags to be used for audience measurement, including the fact that data transmissions can be impacted by other radio signals being emitted in the proximity of the tags. But he described the technology as a breakthrough that could potentially alter the way print media are measured. While RFID, like any electronic technology, requires electricity to operate, Mattlin said printed RFID tags could be "activated" via radio signals emitted by RFID readers they come in contact with. Aside from audience measurement, the application suggests that printed media might find other ways of transmitting and receiving data that could make them far more interactive than current paper-and-ink publishers might have imagined. While magazine and newspapers publishers are aggressively pursuing a variety of electronic publishing formats - ranging from Web pages to digital editions that can be sent via email - new technologies like RFID may make it feasible to do it with old-fashioned pulp and pigments.
After more than a decade of struggling to get to No. 1, CBS Wednesday night said goodbye to one of the shows that helped it get there, even as it previewed six new shows to media planners, buyers and advertisers it hopes will solidify its dominance. The six new series feature a mix of concepts and genres that rivals ABC and NBC are tapping--most notably the "aliens among us" series type and the "woman who can communicate with those beyond the grave to help set things right" species of TV program, which CBS tags as "paranormal drama with an emotional twist." Plus, there's another action series from Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who in addition to his past work on the network's top-rated "CSI" is also producing the freshman NBC series "E-Ring." In name, the new shows joining the CBS fall lineup are: "Threshold," (Carla Gugino, who was recently seen in the movie "Sin City," leads a team of government alien hunters); "Criminal Minds," (Tony Award winner Mandy Patinkin and Thomas Gibson, of "Dharma & Greg," head an FBI profiling unit that solves bizarre murders and kidnappings); "Ghost Whisperer," (Jennifer Love Hewitt stars in a role inspired by real-life medium James Van Praagh, as a young newlywed who not only sees dead people, but helps them seek earthly closure); "Close To Home," (which stars Jennifer Finnigan of CBS soap "The Bold and the Beautiful" as a prosecutor juggling family life and legal strife);"How I Met Your Mother," (an ensemble comedy featuring Alyson Hannigan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" the TV series and the "American Pie" movies and Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser fame helping a friend win over the women he will marry); and "Out Of Practice," (a comedy about a family of physicians starring Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler.) The lineup was introduced by Les Moonves, CBS' chairman, and Nina Tassler, CBS's entertainment president. But before they took the stage, four cast members from "Avenue Q"--the quirky Broadway musical comedy featuring foul-mouthed muppets--performed a song called "It Sucks To Be Me," with the muppets representing the four network chiefs, including one Aussie-accented muppet named "Rupert Monster." That was followed by Moonves digitally inserted into Hillary Swank's role in "Million Dollar Baby," where he trains to be a network champ by knocking a punching bag with NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker's face superimposed on it. When Moonves later handed the podium over to Tassler, he gave her a tip: "Jokes about Zucker are always funny." Clearly, Moonves relished his digs at NBC as he proceeded to count the ways that CBS is No. 1. (At one point, he stopped to play a clip of NBC's "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien saying the network is aiming for fifth place next year.) "What makes this season historic is that we are number one with adults 18-49--the demo the other guys used to say was the only one that counted," Moonves said, adding that CBS will win the 2004-2005 season by nearly three million viewers ahead of second-place ABC--the largest margin any network has held in 16 years. He and Tassler pointed out that CBS is also number one in adults 25-54 for the second consecutive year, and is number one in adults 18-49 with regularly scheduled programming for the first time in 30 years. CBS is also in a virtual tie with Fox for first in adults 18-49 with all programming, Moonves said. As to whether the new crop of shows can hold that momentum, media buyers were fairly positive that it could, despite the loss of "Everybody Loves Raymond." "They have 'Two and a Half Men,' which has a solid track record," noted Shari Ann Brill, vp/director of programming at Aegis Group's Carat USA. "They're in very good shape." Brill and others noted that "Ghost Whisperer," "Threshold," and "How I Met Your Mother" also seemed like strong bets for next season. One media buyer did note that "Threshold," which is scheduled to air Fridays at 9 p.m., could have difficulty because of the time slot. "'Threshold' is targeted to younger viewers, and they tend not to be available on Friday nights," said one media buyer. "Still, it's a good excuse to get a [Digital Video Recorder.]" In terms of the similar themes being run by the networks for the fall, John Rash, svp, director, broadcast negotiations with Campbell-Mithun, Minneapolis, said the networks are reaching for a zeitgeist that has been influenced by war and fears of terrorism. "The 'communicating with the dead' and 'alien invasion' themes that are popular this year reflect a strong escapist sentiment," Rash said. "Before, reality shows were the dominant escapist fare, but it doesn't deal head-on with the issues that people are universally concerned about. As for which show will do it best, it's hard to say without seeing the full pilot--but clearly, this is the direction television is going in."
The falling price of broadband drove to 8.2 million new high-speed Internet households last year, bringing the U.S. broadband population to 31.9 million households, a 35 percent increase over 2003, according to estimates released Thursday by Jupiter Research. In all, 43 percent of online households in the United States connected via broadband in 2004, according to JupiterResearch. The report, "Broadband Forecast, 2005 to 2010," predicted that up to 69 million households--78 percent of U.S. online homes--would have broadband by 2010, assuming that providers continue to lower the price. "Early broadband growth was restrained partly by the belief that it was a luxury," stated the report. "This is changing in consumers' minds, as lower pricing, compelling benefits, and greater familiarity from friends and neighbors with broadband all shift perceptions." Cable companies, which still account for 63 percent of the market, were responsible for slightly more than half of the growth in 2004, providing service to 4.4 million new broadband households. The other 3.7 million new broadband households connected via DSL, which is responsible for 35 percent of the market. Comcast had a far larger market share than any other provider, accounting for 22 percent of broadband households. SBC-Yahoo! came in second, with 13 percent, while Time Warner was responsible for 12 percent and Verizon had 10 percent. Other companies with notable market shares include Cox (8 percent), Bell South (6 percent), Charter (6 percent), Adelphia (4 percent), and Cablevision (4 percent).
Another major player is entering the market to develop and manage new digital TV data streams for advertisers and agencies, and this one already has some expertise doing the same thing for another digital medium: the Internet. Atlas, a unit of interactive agency holding company aQuantive that provides media planning and buying data for online media buys, Thursday announced plans to enter the video-on-demand TV data marketplace. The new unit, dubbed Atlas On Demand, will compete with a growing cadre of third-party processors such as Erin Media and Rentrak, which are vying to strike deals with cable and satellite operators to gain access to their subscriber databases. To date, TV operators have been loath to make such data widely available, despite strong demand from Madison Avenue. The TV industry has dragged its feet citing consumer privacy issues, as well as the lack of data standards. The American Association of Advertising Agencies' Advanced Television Committee issued a set of recommendations for measuring on-demand television in February 2004, but little progress was made until March, when cable giant Comcast announced a deal to make some of its VOD data available for processing via Rentrak. But after Comcast CEO Brian Roberts announced the deal, and the fact that Comcast now delivers 80 millions VOD subscribers per month, during the AAAA's Media Conference in New Orleans, a top media agency executive expressed some concerns about the potential for data overload. "It just seems like we're going to be overwhelmed with data," said Adam Gerber, senior vice president-group director of strategy and innovation at MediaVest. It is just such concerns that have prompted companies like Rentrak, Erin Media, and now Atlas to enter the market in an effort to make the information manageable and applicable for marketers and agencies to make media planning decisions with. To oversee Atlas' effort, the company named Scott Ferris senior vice president-general manager of the new unit. Ferris, a long-time interactive TV vet, previously worked on a number of major interactive TV test beds. Unlike Erin Media and Rentrak, which work for TV operators and content companies, Ferris said Atlas On Demand will be focused exclusively on servicing Madison Avenue. He declined to say which advertisers and agencies the company is working with for VOD data, but noted it already has relationships for online data with a number of major shops, including Doner, Mediaedge:cia, Euro RSCG, Hill Holliday, Avenue A/Razorfish, Camelot, ID Media, Initiative Media and OMD. Ferris also declined to say what, if any agreements Atlas On Demand has with cable or satellite TV operators, though he said the company is "having discussions with all of them."
As part of its deal with reality TV honcho Mark Burnett, MSN will create an official "Rock Star" Web site, complete with exclusive streaming video content filmed by a separate crew. The online portal will also host blogs and music files related to the show, said Conrad Riggs, who negotiated the agreement for Mark Burnett Productions. "Rock Star," which will air on CBS starting in July, features aspiring musicians competing for a spot as the lead singer of the 1980s pop band INXS. The show was filmed at a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, which housed the winners of open auditions held in January and February. "This is an opportunity to reach millions of engaged consumers in an entertaining way," said MSN Product Manager Karen Redetzki. "[The deal] is about utilizing the assets on MSN and bringing 'Rock Star' to life through those assets, and allowing consumers to experience things beyond the show." MSN also is rolling out a host of advertising opportunities associated with the show's site, including interstitial ads in the streaming video feeds, universal ad package display ads, and branding opportunities on MSN Messenger. Redetzki said that MSN hasn't yet received any commitments from advertisers. Negotiation for ad sales began on Tuesday. Riggs said Mark Burnett Productions selected MSN because the Web portal offered them a very high level of integration with the portal's relevant services like MSN Video and MSN Music. "They made us an unbelievable proposal as to how they would support the program online, content-wise, and how it would be cross-promoted though the MSN network," he said. Riggs cited MSN's music offering as a reason why they signed with MSN to promote the show. "We think ['Rock Star'] will tie in really well with MSN Music and all their plans to make inroads into this space," he said. "There will be a lot of musical tie-ins." Recently, Mark Burnett Productions also signed an extension to its deal with Yahoo! to promote their reality show, "The Apprentice." That deal has similar provisions, in which Yahoo! hosts original content from the show on its site. "Just like in the TV business, we like to work with more than one network. It's good for us to be in business with multiple portals," said Riggs. "Yahoo! and MSN are the current leaders in the content area, so that'd be another reason why we signed up with MSN."
A recent Travelocity placement featured their friendly, upbeat, and likeable little gnome as part of a reality show treasure hunt. To the manner born, the gnome joins the likes of Tony the Tiger, the California Raisins, and the Jolly Green Giant as a surrogate brand figure that can be used in a variety of ways to advance the brand message or communication. With all due respect to our little friend, is the Travelocity gnome 'iconic' enough to stand on his own? Would Travelocity and non-Travelocity users alike recognize him out of context in the midst of a reality television show? A similar situation occurred in the late 1940s in a Gene Kelly musical where Gene danced with an animated character. Originally, the producers asked Walt Disney to 'let' Mickey Mouse do it. Disney declined, saying that the appearance would, essentially, be detrimental to the Disney franchise. Ironically, the scene in the movie was an incredible success and greatly benefited the animated character's recognition. The problem was that the character was never established in the movie, and thus, today very few know who it is. The Changing Nature of Brand Communication If indeed the pundits are correct, consumers and viewers will be less and less likely to attend to traditional brand building gestures, such as TV commercials. This makes it all the more critical that the use of brand 'icons,' particularly in new or emerging categories of product or service, be adequately established and re-established in product placement efforts. Take a look at the Travelocity clip again, and note the lack of clarity in establishing the gnome and Travelocity in some places of the show. Imagine you came into the show in the middle - how long would it take for you to realize that this was the 'Travelocity' gnome? Would it be the same if it were Mickey Mouse? These seemingly subtle elements need to be addressed for effective product placements. It is no longer business as usual, but an unusual business where little things can have a big impact. Smart companies and their iconic brands will keep the creative fires alive, and make sure the viewer knows who and what is running on our TV shows and movie screens.