Havas, the Paris-based advertising holding company, reported that first-quarter revenues totaled approximately $511 million, up 7.2%. Organic growth -- which excludes acquisitions and currency fluctuations -- was lower, coming in at 3.5%, the company said. By comparison, crosstown rival Publicis Groupe reported revenue growth of 13% to $1.9 billion for the same period, with organic growth of 4.1%. Havas CEO David Jones said one highlight for the quarter was the company’s ability to achieve more than 5% revenue growth in France, where the total was $106 million, “given what remains an uncertain economic environment in Europe.” Indeed, revenues were down 2.8% throughout the rest of the Continent to $91 million. Business was also down slightly in the UK (reported separately from Europe) where revenues totaled about $58 million, versus roughly $57 million a year ago. The numbers were better in North America, where the company achieved a 9.1% revenue spurt to $180 million, with organic growth of 3.6%. The company also achieved higher growth on a percentage basis throughout much of the rest of the world, albeit from a lower revenue base. In Latin America, for example, organic revenue growth jumped 12.4% to $41 million. In Asia-Pacific and Africa, revenues totaled $36 million with organic growth of 12.2%. For the quarter, net new business was up nearly 58% to $800 million compared to the first quarter of 2011. Wins included Sony PlayStation for the Americas, and HBO and Burger King for the UK. “All disciplines contributed to our performance, including a continued acceleration in digital,” said Jones.
Procter & Gamble has rejiggered its media assignments in China -- where it spends a hefty $500 million a year on ads -- after a three-month evaluation, according to sources. The client’s two main incumbents -- WPP’s MediaCom and Publicis Groupe’s Starcom -- remain in place, with slightly altered marching orders. Starcom will now handle all media buying for P&G in the market -- adding about $100 million in print, outdoor and digital to its existing $400 million TV buying assignment, according to sources familiar with the situation. Those non-TV buying duties had previously been handled by MediaCom. On the planning side, P&G shifted several hair care products, including Head & Shoulders and Rejoice from Starcom to MediaCom, consolidating the planning for the hair care and beauty categories with the latter. The planning shifts, covering about $100 million of ad spend, give MediaCom more than half of the client’s planning assignment in the country, including products under the Gillette brand. Sources said the shifts were designed to improve both buying efficiencies and knowledge and planning insights without going through the disruption of a full-blown media review. For MediaCom, the added planning duties in China come about eight months after P&G consolidated its estimated $400 million planning assignment for Japan with the agency. Last fall the agency also won the client’s estimated $350 million media assignment for five Southeast Asia markets after a review, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Continuing to lose face among marketers, new research shows that clicks and total impressions are far from the best way to measure online conversions. Rather, new findings from comScore and Pretarget -- both of which market ad targeting services -- show a stronger correlation between ad “viewability” and hover time, and conversion rates. The findings indicate that the traditional way of buying mass impressions and hoping for conversions, i.e., “spray and pray,” is not the most effective approach, according to Kirby Winfield, senior vice president, corporate development at comScore. “It once again demonstrates the perils of relying on click-throughs for measuring the performance of display ad campaigns, with this metric showing virtually zero correlation with total conversions,” Winfield said. To arrive at these initial findings, the “intent targeting” specialists at Pretarget analyzed 263 million impressions over nine months across 18 advertisers in numerous verticals. Pretarget then used comScore validated Campaign Essentials to collect “viewability,” and hover data and a DSP to collect click and cookie-based conversion data. Pretarget performed a Pearson correlation analysis of the data, including gross impressions, “views” -- 75% of ad within screen, either above the fold or after scrolling -- time in-view, hover/engagements and total hover/engagement time, clicks and conversions. “This study shows why other non-click metrics of engagement, such as interaction or hovering, may be much more important in evaluating campaign performance than the click ever was,” Winfield added. “It’s time to start measuring the impact of campaigns using metrics that really matter, not just the ones that are most easily measured.” According to Winfield, traditional display ad impression measurement and reporting simply verifies the number of ads that were sent by an ad server to a user’s browser. For a variety of reasons, this way of counting impressions does not ensure that the ad was ever rendered within a browser. In addition, ads can load below the fold, which means that most users will probably never see the ad unless they scroll down. In the worst cases, some ads load within 1x1 pixels and therefore never render as viewable impressions. The results showed that ad hover/interaction (correlation = 0.49) and viewable impressions (correlation = 0.35) had the highest correlation with conversion, while gross impressions (correlation = 0.17) was significantly lower. Perhaps most interestingly, clicks (correlation = 0.01) had the lowest correlation with conversion, far under-performing all other metrics analyzed in the study. These findings suggest that advertisers and media planners ought to break their addiction to clicks and instead look to more meaningful metrics for evaluating campaign performance. The Pretarget analysis supports several third-party studies with consistent conclusions, Winfield noted. MediaMind “2009 Benchmark Report” released in July 2010 found that “on average, increasing Dwell [hover] from 5% to 15%, increases conversion rate by 45%, from 0.4% to 0.6%.” Also of note, Casale Media’s 2011 “Ad Visibility Report,” found that “ads appearing above the fold were 6.7x more effective at generating conversions than those appearing below the fold.” Pretarget previously found that approximately 89% of display ads on its network load above the fold or appear after a user scrolls down, creating an opportunity for a user to see the banner.
TV incentive social media programs seem to be gaining ground. In revealing some results of its social TV rewards app, ACTV8.me -- which has deals with Fox Broadcasting (for "New Girl"), Mark Burnett Productions, Oxygen TV, Virgin Produced -- says early data shows heavy usage and rewards for viewers with "digital currency." Though it didn't offer specifics concerning programs or networks, the company says early data shows users of the app are interacting an average of 10 times per episode and accepting over two offers per episode. ACTV8.me says a typical episode like NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice," a Mark Burnett Production, could equate to big rewards. The show has been averaging around 10 million total viewers. Digital currency is intended to be a major promotion incentive. Early trials have tied into mass marketing campaigns with Walgreens, General Motors and Kraft Foods. Now, ACTV8.me is partnering with Tango Card, which offers digital gift cards and rewards for online, social and gaming applications and online channels. Early this year, another TV rewards/social media effort began -- Viggle -- where viewers who check into their favorite TV shows get rewards such as movie tickets, music and gift cards.
Fox News has re-signed Bill O’Reilly to a multi-year deal, keeping “The O’Reilly Factor” host on the network he has been with since its 1996 launch. The show took its title when it moved to prime time in 1998. Fox News said the show has drawn the largest audience on cable news for 125 straight months, passing “Larry King Live” in 2000. O’Reilly stated his show “takes pride in holding people accountable and I especially look forward to the exciting news cycle ahead.” Fox News relishes the publicity O’Reilly often stirs, saying he “continues to be one of the most controversial and frequently discussed television news commentators today.” O’Reilly was the anchor of “Inside Edition” for six years before joining Fox. He has also authored a liberal number of books (including multiple bestsellers) and gone on tour with Glenn Beck, who has left Fox News, and is currently conducting one with Dennis Miller. Fox News did not release terms of O’Reilly’s contract.
New digital video services should be permitted to operate on a level playing field with broadcasters and other traditional programming services, says former TV and movie studio executive Barry Diller. In speaking to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Diller, the chairman/CEO of IAC and investor in Aereo, a new digital video service, said: “It will take vigilance to make sure that Net neutrality is to be safeguarded." This includes Internet services such as Aereo. Aereo is a new digital video service delivered over the Internet to individual virtual "antennas" for consumers. Because it uses “antennas,” it is akin to what consumers do with their TV antennas to get a “broadcast” station. In that regard, the company claims, it should not be subject to making retrans deals with TV stations. Broadcasters have filed lawsuits against Aereo. Diller, a proponent of the Internet service, believes the Communications Act of 1996 needs to be changed -- to now include Internet services that didn’t exist when the act was passed into law. He says some 15% of U.S. TV homes used over-the-air signals, but the quality is poor. Aereo provides clearer signals. “By making over-the-air signal digitals useful to consumers, Aereo is bringing the very reality Congress sought.” Diller added that Aereo is just one of many companies/services looking to make progress by using the Internet to send TV/video to consumers. While he didn’t name others, Diller did say some current TV distributors should have less power. “If intermediaries have less control, creators could reach consumers more directly, and will not have to sign over so many rights to distributors. In the question-and-answer section, Diller said: “What online can offer is more a la carte programming… The Internet gives the ability to offer the narrowest of narrowcasting. There is no closed pipe.” That said, he didn’t think video on the Internet would overrun traditional TV systems: “It’s not going to replace pay television.”
Hershey plans to increase global ad spend by a low double-digit percentage this year, partly to support new campaigns for Jolly Rancher and Rolo. Dollars should also back the new Hershey’s Simple Pleasures, which the company is launching in three flavors and says has 30% less fat than some milk chocolate products. On an earnings call, the company touted its continued sponsorship of NCAA March Madness as helping in the first quarter. This summer, it has a Twizzlers promotion in conjunction with the new “Spider-Man” film on tap and a joint initiative between Reese’s and Coke. CEO John P. Bilbrey said “we’re confident that our innovation, advertising and in-store execution will continue to drive top-line growth” for the remainder of the year. In the first quarter, which included much of March Madness, ad spending was up 14% as net sales rose about 11% to $1.73 billion. Increased pricing was a factor. Easter also came earlier this year, which could have helped. “Macroeconomic challenges still exist … (but) we feel good about the prospects as confectionary has proved to be resilient, given the impulse nature of the category and the continued investment in the category in the form of innovation and advertising,” Bilbrey said.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people (LGBT) have ceased to be a mostly urban subculture and are now largely integrated into mainstream American society and culture, according to a new “LGBTid Study” done by Starcom MediaVest Group and Logo as part of SMG’s “Beyond Demographics” surveys of minority populations. The SMG-Logo study, which included a survey of over 1,000 LGBT individuals, identified eight distinct subgroups within the LGBT community -- one of which is straight. The four largest LGBT groups together make up 67% of the total LGBT population. They include “Out & Proud,” for whom sexuality remains a key part of their public identity; “Beyond The Alphabet,” typically younger LGBT individuals who are more skeptical about the need to subscribe to fixed sexual preferences as part of their identities, described by SMG as the “embodiment of the future”; “Initiators,” who are politically involved; and “Just Who I Am,” for whom sexuality is just one component of daily life among many. In many ways, the “Just Who I Am” subgroup best typifies the survey’s finding that LGBT life is increasingly integrated into the American mainstream. Indeed, 53% of all respondents said they do not try to hide their sexuality or make a big deal out of it, while only 30% said they preferred living in and socializing LGBT-dominant communities. Other aspects of LGBT integration range from economics to cultural tastes to family life. Thus, 49% of the LGBT individuals surveyed said they are married, in a relationship, or living with a partner, compared to 51% of all U.S. adults in marriages, according to the Pew Research Center. (Of course, not all LGBT people can or want to marry, and the latter figure doesn’t include U.S. adults in long-term relationships.) Despite cultural biases against LGBT behavior in some ethnic groups, LGBT individuals are also ethnically diverse, according to the SMG-Logo study, with over 40% of the sample reporting themselves as “non-white”; that compares to 36.3% in the 2010 U.S. Census.
People are still using lighters, so no doubt Zippo Manufacturing Co., the Bradford, Pa.-based maker of the now-retro-cool Zippo, is hoping that people are still flicking them on at rock concerts to signal their devotion (or nascent pyromania). The company has launched a musical event, sweepstakes, giveaway, social media and online marketing program with retail tie-in called “Zippo Encore.” The effort, with the tag “Rock On,” aims to boost sales and increase Zippo’s social media presence and product awareness among males 18 to 35. The campaign, via East Aurora, N.Y.-based Cenergy, encompasses three national, active rock music tours in succession. The “Avalanche” tour runs now through April 25 and includes 21 performances in 17 states -- from California to Rhode Island -- at each of which Zippo will be the largest, and presenting sponsor. The feature act is Shinedown. Next is the “Mayhem” tour, featuring Slipknot, which will include 26 performances in 23 states -- Washington to Georgia -- between June 30 and Aug. 5. Finally, the “Uproar” tour, with venues and acts still to be determined, will extend from late summer into early fall. At each of the approximately 80+ performances, Zippo will have a flame-themed, metal kiosk staffed by t-shirted brand ambassadors who will encourage audience participation in the Zippo promotions, as well as vend Zippo lighters. Concertgoers will be invited to enter the “Tweet & Greet Tweetstakes” by sending a tweet on “why Zippo rocks” to @ZippoEncore, hashtag #zipporocks. At each concert, two randomly selected tweeters will be invited backstage, with a guest, to meet the featured band. All attendees will be offered up to 10 free music downloads with the online activation code printed on handout cards, of which Zippo says it expects to give out around 30,000. A new website, www.ZippoEncore.com, also designed by Cenergy, will be a hub for all tour, Tweetstakes and musician info. Additional content includes streaming tunes and videos, and ongoing “roadie” tour blogs by different Zippo ambassadors. There is also a link to Zippo’s existing e-retail site. Colleen Aungst, director of the Zippo account at Cenergy, says the tours were the sweet spot for Zippo, as the focus for all three is straight ahead rock. "These three tours are a bull’s eye for them," she says. "All three have a similar look and feel, similar music -- hard rock." She says the tours are different in size. The Avalanche tour, wrapping up this week is smaller, filling House of Blues-sized venues. The Mayhem and Uproar tours are in amphitheaters, and are all-day festivals. Zippo will have retail spaces at the concerts and will -- of course -- sell concert-branded lighters. Aungst says the Twitter element has vastly increased Zippo's following on the social platform. "They weren't doing much with their Twitter handle so we launched it with the tour, and it's just skyrocketed," she says, adding that numbers of visitors to ZippoEncore.com have also spiked over the past month.
Some months ago I moved house. Among all the attendant trials and tribulations, my family and I acquired an array of new possessions while simultaneously discarding others. It’s all part of the chaos and pain of the process. We also acquired a fistful of new utility suppliers –- among them our sparkly new MSO. Which meant a new program guide. Now you may say that a program guide is a program guide. While I’d agree that among MSOs they may not differ that much, a handful of subtle differences in design and functionality can be enough to make a profound difference to the user experience. In the good old days (and yes, you can already see which way this article is going), accessing my DVR was as easy as pressing the obviously marked “My DVR” button that was prominently displayed on my remote. From there, navigating the different functions -- record, playback etc. -- was easy. It took no thought. Here was a company that actually seemed to want you to use the function. All well and good. Fast-forward to the present day and more than six months after signing on with my new MSO, I still have to work hard to remember where in God’s name my DVR is. Indeed, so counterintuitive is this interface, that it took us as a family 10 days to work out how to record programs and another two weeks before we could find them in order to enjoy the relative luxury of actually watching them! All this with an 11-year-old in the house, which normally means such issues are resolved in about 30 seconds. Now instead of the long-lamented “My DVR” button, I am mysteriously required to press the yellow button. Exactly why yellow is felt to signify DVR I’ve no idea, but I’m sure somebody somewhere has an incredibly good explanation. It just happens to fly over the head of mere mortals (subscribers), without any kind of textual indication (maybe something like “press here for DVR”). Having pressed yellow -– which we only did in a fit of frustrated and random frenzy of button pushing -– we were then taken to a curious and disjointed list of functions ranging from Parental Controls to the all-too-appropriate Help menu (which, incidentally, didn’t). Only when we spotted something along the bottom of the page did we realize that we had to drop down to another menu, scroll sideways two or three times, click again to reveal the holy grail -- the long lost programs we had been hoping we’d recorded. You can only imagine our joy. At that point, I wanted to write this article but felt it was unfair to do so. No doubt this would become a familiar process and ultimately become easy and familiar as past experiences. Well six months later, I can affirm that is not the case. To use a bit of technical user experience jargon, this sucks mightily. I still defer to others when trying to use the DVR and regard the whole interface as an abomination. Trying to sort through VOD content -- free or otherwise -- is equally difficult, and I’m convinced there are whole sections of programming inventory that I’ve never found. A kind of mythical VOD graveyard where programs die from never being watched. While this may not be the case with every MSO, I find it incredible that one of the larger players can still provide this kind of service. If this is the kind of user experience that stands to greet the age of enhanced TV and that will support the promise of return path data and transactions, I fear there will much disappointment ahead.