In a move that is part of a bigger trend suppressing the flow of public data about advertising sales results, the Radio Advertising Bureau Monday said it would discontinue reporting national and local radio advertising sales estimates on a monthly basis, and would begin reporting them quarterly effective with 2007. The change follows moves by the broadcast networks to discontinue reporting quarterly figures at all, and follows a post Sarbanes Oxley passage that has led to the suppression of other important advertising financial metrics by publicly traded companies, including estimated advertising billings by major ad agencies. The RAB said it would continue to report monthly ad sales percentage changes via its www.RAB.com Web site, but that the dollar totals would only be released quarterly. The RAB said it is making the change in reporting frequency to "provide more disclosure of the actual data, allow for more meaningful analysis of emerging trends, and be in line with the majority of media revenue reporting practices and schedules." However, it was unclear from the announcement how the new schedule would provide greater insights about radio advertising sales. Generally, most major media industry sectors do reporter quarterly, not monthly. While the major publicly held newspapers continue to release monthly advertising sales statistics, most other media either report quarterly, or not at all. Over the past several years, some of the industry's best ad sales disclosure data has been either suppressed or discontinued. The Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association, for example, stopped reporting monthly cable ad sales several years ago due to pressure from the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau. The CAB also has discontinued regularly reporting cable advertising sales totals. Earlier this year, the BCFM also discontinued reporting quarterly estimates for the Big 3 broadcast networks' advertising sales. In lieu of some of the public advertising sales data, syndicated research suppliers including Nielsen Monitor-Plus, TNS Media Intelligence, and SQAD and its NetCosts service, are trying to fill the gap. "We are in a fast-changing media environment and too often short-term variances in business month-to-month have not provided a proper perspective on where radio is headed," Jeff Haley, the recently installed new president-CEO of the RAB, stated in the bureau's announcement. "Our purpose is to give the marketplace a solid foundation on which to analyze radio," he added. "Quarterly reporting will stabilize the perspective on radio revenue. Disclosure of the dollar amounts will align radio with the other media's reporting practices and demonstrate the industry's position as a formidable player in the wireless media arena."
A veteran media planner, and the former head of print services at both Zenith Media and Initiative, has a new gig that brings together the worlds of media and marketing, calling this the future of the business. Steven Greenberger, a fixture of Madison Avenue print media buying, is leaving DJG Marketing after just over a year to join SLG Advertising as executive vice president and media director. Although he only hinted at what's to come in an interview Monday, he promised big developments in the New Year. With this move, according to Greenberger, "I've joined an advertising agency that believes media and marketing work hand in hand, much more so than I've observed with the very large advertising agencies." As part of this approach, "we're going to take event marketing, promotion, database and other areas that might be more peripheral to a traditional media agency and bring them together with day-to-day media planning to create a great synergistic approach to how media is selected." Although the details will have to wait for the New Year, Greenberger said he expected the new approach would yield greater efficiency in "how the assets of larger companies are utilized and how we execute media in general." This includes improved accountability, he added: "We're working on a variety of different ROI analyses." Greenberger promised "there will be significantly less wasted dollars" through melding media and marketing. Over the last 25 years, Greenberger has earned a name as one of the media industry's most influential executives. In addition to his latest role at DJG, Greenberger served as executive vice president of convergence and print media at Initiative Media, director of print media at Mediacom, and senior vice president of print services at Zenith Media. He also served as director of marketing and research for New York magazine and associate publisher of Rolling Stone.
Chase is launching an interactive ad campaign on EchoStar's Dish Network in which it will be able to track which consumers--as specific as the household level--take advantage of opt-in, click-through options. Under what Chase refers to as an iTV "experiment," traditional ads it runs on avails that Dish owns will offer graphics, or "triggers," that encourage viewers to click away from the program they are watching and opt to pursue more information about the Chase Freedom credit card--either via a long-form video or entry to an interface that resembles a Web page (called a "TV microsite"). The effort will provide Chase with considerable info about consumer response at the demo/household level--culled anonymously from set-top boxes in the homes of some 12 million Dish customers--such as how many people are willing to leave a show for more ad content, and which kind of creative prompts them to do so. That's due, in part, to Chase switching up the options on the creative. So, traditional ads in the regular commercial mix will vary. And sometimes the trigger will encourage viewers to check out a longer-form video, while other times it will point them to the microsite. The microsite, in turn, offers three more click-through options with the remote: Two give the chance to learn more about the card, and the third allows a viewer to request that direct mail be sent to the home. Manning Field, senior vice president-branding and advertising for Chase Card Services, said the "the ability for engagement with more detailed messaging is a brand- and communications-learning imperative." The campaign is a short one, running only through Jan. 7. Viewers who go right to the microsite will also be exposed to the longer-form video as it runs in a top quarter of the screen. Those who go directly to the video will have the option at the end to enter the microsite. One of the most intriguing questions Chase could gain insight into is why someone would risk missing a portion of a show for essentially extended advertising. But Marc Lumpkin, a spokesman for The Media Group (which sold the program to Chase and will provide the response info through an agreement with Dish), said people won't necessarily miss show content, since the time during which they are viewing the extra Chase content could only take them away from other commercials in a pod. Even so, Lumpkin said viewers like the easy-to-use aspect of not having to go to an Internet site or make a phone call if interested in a product. And he said evidence backs that up: A Media Group (TMG, formerly Turner Media Group) campaign for an undisclosed automaker prompted 30,000 requests for brochures to be mailed to homes, while the same video on the Internet drew only 1,000 requests during the same time period. "TMG has delivered to Chase a full service platform for an iTV advertising campaign that lets Chase engage and educate TV viewers nationwide about Chase Freedom in an entertaining and convenient manner," said Mitch Oscar, executive vice president-Carat Digital, who helped facilitate the campaign by working with Chase and TMG. New York agency T3 did the creative for the campaign.
Another cable channel devoted to independent movies has taken on a liquor brand to sponsor programming. Southern Comfort is backing a series of short-films called "Start the Music Up" on the Independent Film Channel, which focuses on the personal stories of New Orleans area musicians. Starting today, the network will air the films over the next three months on IFC TV and its Web site, IFC.com. The effort was designed to raise money for the Southern Comfort Music fund, which supports the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund and New Orleans Area Habitat For Humanity. The liquor maker will get brand and messaging signage in a music festival-type environment, says the cable network. IFC has done other deals of this type with clients such as Acura, Heineken, L'Oreal and Target. Last year, the Sundance Channel and Grey Goose Entertainment produced a series called "Iconoclasts," which had famous celebrities interviewing actors, journalists, and musicians. Liquor brands have increasingly made major inroads in sponsoring TV shows over the last several years--especially on cable networks. A 50-year-old voluntary ban, however, still exists on the broadcast networks--although in 2001 NBC did a short-lived advertising deal with Diaego's Smirnoff vodka, running commercials on "Saturday Night Live."
CBS finally got a Sunday night win, but showed that its "Survivor" franchise, now in its 13th edition, isn't what it used to be. "Survivor: Cook Islands" grabbed a 5.9 rating/14 share in adults 18-49--a number that in the past would be considered a solid regular season number. But this was a finale, and that rating was down a big 23% versus the previous December finale, "Survivor: Guatemala," which took in a 7.7 rating. The number was also 5% below "Survivor: Panama" of last May. Still, considering other finales scheduled after the blitz of the big November sweep period--NBC's "The Biggest Loser" and CBS's own "Amazing Race"--"Survivor" came out well ahead of those reality efforts. CBS finished the night with a 4.7/12. Fox came in second, but--just as in previous weeks--it got major help from an NFL game overrun. A big 7 rating from the New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles game helped out big-time. Fox held steady with sitcoms "Family Guy," with a 4.5/10, and "The Simpsons," with a 4.4/11 in viewers 18-49. NBC was next, with a 4.3/11 for the night. Its "Sunday Night Football" came in with a 5.6/14--the second-best-performing show of the night. ABC was farther down the charts with a 3.6/9 for the evening. ABC went seasonal. First, with "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and a 2.8 rating, and then with the Tim Allen film "Santa Clause 2," which pulled in a 4.6/11. Next was Univision, with a 1.3/3 for its two movies "Madrecita" and "Sor Tequila." The CW mustered a 1.1 for an hour of "Reba," but it drifted lower with two-hour repeats of "America's Next Top Model" at a 0.4 for each showing. It ended the night with a 0.6 rating.
In the second episode of WE network's new reality show, "Dirty Dancing," one of the contestants spontaneously (at least seemingly), recites this snappy jingle in perfect rhythm: "Maybe it's Maybelline." No need to put any lip gloss on this one: This is branded entertainment gold. At a time when the Golden Age of Ad Jingles has long since passed and there are few memorable, reflexive marketing ditties in circulation, Maybelline's stands out both for its longevity and share of mind. The cosmetics brand has stayed with it since 1991. Some perspective: In 48 months, it will have run longer than the Army stuck with "Be All You Can Be." No doubt on the marketing front--as Christy Turlington has gone and returned as a spokesmodel and the brand had been acquired by L'Oreal during the last decade and a half--the tagline/jingle is Maybelline New York's most valuable asset. So, when an "everyday woman" competing on a dance competition show offers up a rendition, it serves as publicity that's hard to buy. The message: Sure it's advertising, but consumers don't necessarily view it that way--or at least if they do, they like it--so much so, it can quickly move to their front burner. Never mind that most consumers don't always remember the first part--it runs in full "Maybe She's Born With It, Maybe It's Maybelline"--which makes it somewhat oxymoronic. That becomes clear on the pilot episode of WE's "Dirty Dancing" (an attempt to morph the 1987 hit movie into the endless parade of reality/competition series) when Maybelline's celebrity makeup artist, Chuck Hezekiah, explains what the company feels is behind the tagline. He says Maybelline isn't in the makeover business, just taking a woman's natural beauty and allowing it to emerge, "hopefully supplying products that just enhance her a little bit." But that's seemingly contradicted in the tagline which offers up the possibility that it may be natural beauty enhanced when a woman looks her best, but then again maybe it's the Maybelline powder and blush. But Hezekiah's explanation comes on the Dec. 6 pilot--the home run comes a week later when the contestant Allyson Lockhart, a 28-year-old dance instructor from Washington state, offers up that spot-on jingle herself after being blown away by a makeover she's received courtesy of Maybelline. (On the pilot/premiere episode, Hezekiah also answers questions from the contestants about makeup artistry and Maybelline's strengths--his role was one of the top-ranked product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX.) Maybelline, along with sister brand Garnier, is a major sponsor of the show. Make that ubiquitous. At a time when brand integration agreements on some reality shows are probably longer than "War and Peace," this one may be longer. Maybelline's deal includes a presence in tune-in promotions, billboards during the show, exclusive sponsorship on the show's Web site and VOD stream, 30-second vignettes with makeup tips in the episodes and a presence in off-air marketing--Maybelline merchandise is even available at WE's new online store. But the "face" of the integration is Maybelline's role in preparing the contestants for the competitions on each episode before they hit the stage to face off. That's when Allyson found hers so impressive she launched into the jingle. The makeovers occur in a Maybelline New York studio with signage and product shots a constant presence. And they're shown during two-minute clips in the middle of the show, reaching a crescendo with "before and after" side-by-side photos. But the "before and after" shots are indicative of why the ultimate benefit Maybelline may get from its presence on the show is debatable. At times, the show feels like an infomercial for the marketer (Lockhart's singing aside). That's due to its near-constant presence, including frequent testimonials from the makeup artists, Hezekiah and the contestants. The show's production quality doesn't help. It feels as if WE opted for a shoestring budget which only enhances the infomercial vibe. Then again, it can be argued that all advertising is addressable. Females who enjoy watching TV makeovers, and feel they can learn from makeup tips or may be Maybelline devotees, could very well believe that what could be interpreted as Maybelline marketing overkill actually kills (to borrow a term from comedians who feel they've just wowed a crowd). But that's probably the minority opinion. Most viewers are likely to feel the Maybelline presence is too heavily applied. Still, they aren't likely to forget the jingle.
ProductShowQ-Ratio Covergirl America's Next Top Model 11.468 Maybelline Dirty Dancing 3.144 Battleship My Boys 1.966 Monopoly The King of Queens 0.996 Peanut Butter Captain Crunch Gilmore Girls 0.874 Click here to view these placements. Data and analysis provided by iTVX.