The 30-second spot is still tops, but agencies and media properties are already looking forward to replacing it. The season premiere of Fox’s 24 included an uninterrupted episode with Ford ads at the end of the show, although some Ford products were strategically placed throughout the program. MTV and clothing maker Aeropostale have been experimenting with short- and long-form spots. Scripps Networks has been running several types of nontraditional ads on its DIY, HGTV, Food Network and Fine Living. ESPN says it’s exploring opportunities in long-form advertising. Infomercials are being embraced by traditional advertisers eager to try direct response. And new technologies are blending content and advertising in interactive TV, personal video recorders and elsewhere. Yet the 15-second and 30-second spot still rule on networks and cable alike, and no one thinks that’s going to end anytime soon. Jon Swallen, senior vice president and director of media knowledge at Universal McCann, predicts it will be a while before the 30-second spot even starts to show signs of age. “Five years from now, even eight years from now, the 30-second spot will still be primary,” Swallen says. Even today, with the advertising possibilities of technologies like TiVo, Wink and interactive television, Swallen points out that 99% of television inventory is still in 15- and 30-second spots. Steve Gigliotti, SVP of advertising sales for Scripps Networks, points to his networks innovations on the DIY channel. In what Scripps calls a “kit,” a 30-second spot is married to a 60-second do-it-yourself brief. DIY took a relatively old concept – the 60-second short-form message that used to run in sports shows that told of great feats or games – and brought it up to date and into the context of its networks. This cross between a short-form program and a long-form commercial provides a quick course on home-improvement topic like repairing a window sill. The 60-second spot provides a brief overview of the project with directions to detailed instructions on a Web site. A company like Lowe’s sponsors both. Gigliotti says that part of the appeal of the DIY spots has to do with the fact that they’re related to and look like programming. “It’s not something that comes out of the blue. It’s endemic to what you’re watching on the program and the sponsor is endemic to the concept. When we match those things up, our advertisers get an enormous impact out of the 30-second spot and the connection to the 60-second spot,” says Gigliotti. Scripps’ newest network, Fine Living, has started to work with different forms of content and advertising. Tips, sponsored by an advertiser, appear during the breaks. “We’re creating segments within the show that are contextually linked to the show, but also contextually linked to an advertiser … It gives the advertiser more impact for its 30s,” Gigliotti says. Other shows are integrated, with no breaks between them and only a sponsor’s logo and picture integrated into the opening. They’ve also been accommodating to advertisers like BMW and Viking, recutting programs to be able to add a two- or three-minute long-form commercial. While technology is going to change the way we think about and carry out advertising, Swallen says it’s going to be subject to a lot of development and research. It’s not going to happen overnight, no matter what the predictions say. “The natural tendency is to think that it will fast forward,” he says. But Swallen says two realities – the rate of impact of new technology is invariably slower than forecast and the cumulative impact of multiple technologies – will slow acceptance. “Yes, they will have an impact on consumers and marketers but the timetable of that effect will be more drawn out,” he says. He says that product placement and sponsorship seen today are slight variations on the current advertising model. The successful future of advertising, Swallen says, is in the same formula for past and current success. It’s the byproduct of an effective marriage of content and context. “That has not changed in 50 years and it’s not likely to change in the next 50 years,” Swallen says.
By the end of the week, many Americans will be focused on their midsection. The Thanksgiving feeding frenzy can only help to sell weight loss titles like the magazine put out by the diet giant Weight Watchers. After buying back the magazine that carries its name two years ago, Weight Watchers magazine has seen its circulation balloon to 5.7 million and its ad pages are up 28% so far this year. When its most-read January/February issue hits newsstands next month, it will also have a new look aimed at attracting younger readers. In May 2000, Weight Watchers International reacquired the magazine that it started in 1968. It was four years earlier that the decision by then-owner H.J. Heinz to spin-off the title to Southern Progress Corporation was made. Its logic was that a company that was in the business to create magazines, not market weight loss clinics, could better handle the magazine. But by early 2000, the new European owners of Weight Watchers were not happy with the direction of the title. “They put out a beautiful magazine but in the view of people here at Weight Watchers headquarters, it didn’t seem to know who the target was. It was a beautiful book, very well done, great information, but the people in the meeting room didn’t see it as anything directed toward them,” says publisher Wayne Perra. So Weight Watchers bought back its magazine but Southern Living kept the subscriber list, converting readers to its own Cooking Light. Says Perra, “We thought because of the brand name and what we represent, we could get the audience back.” One way they’ve done that is by selling the magazine and subscriptions to the 800,000 people that attend the thousands of Weight Watchers meetings nationwide. “You’re reaching people who are in a weight loss frame of mind, and they might subscribe to the magazine to continue getting it after they know they’ll probably no longer be attending meetings that is the real dream part from a circulation director’s point of view.” Weight Watchers magazine targets women ages 25 to 54, many of whom have been dieting since their teenage years. Not surprisingly, it has historically had a higher rate of churn as readers went in and out of the diet mindset. Yet since Weight Watchers regained control of the title nearly three years ago that has been less the case, says Perra. “I don’t know if it’s a different perception of the brand of it is the quality of the magazine, but we’re seeing better renewal percentages, and a much longer percentage of two-year subscriptions.” Of course, there is seasonality to the magazine with its January/February issue by far out-selling the rest of the year. So when the Dutchess of York Sarah Furgeson glosses the cover of next month’s issue, Weight Watchers will debut a new look with several new editorial features. Its rate base will also post its second increase in six months, climbing from 750,000 to 1 million – quite a feat considering it had no subscriber list less than three years ago. It has also announced its first Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) demographic data in years, showing the Weight Watchers reader has better qualitative numbers than most other women’s service titles. The rapid rebirth of its magazine has all come with little or no money spent on marketing and without any celebrity covers. With each issue selling 250,000 copies at newsstands and at national retail outlets such as WalMart, 59% of its readers are not members of Weight Watchers. Yet far more copies are sold in church basements and classrooms around the country where Weight Watchers holds its weekly meetings, says Perra. “When people cross over that threshold to spend $12 a week to attend meetings, they’re certainly converted to your brand.” New advertisers in the new year will include Keebler, Bird’s Eye, Campbell’s Diet V8 Splash, and Viactiv. As its circulation has increased, Perra says more advertisers have tested the magazines. “We had to wait for the advertising market to come back and it has. Now that we’re declaring a one million rate base and the MRI numbers are out, we should really take off.” Also helping the magazine has been a push on the membership side of the company to expand its membership to younger women. “There are more young media planners that actually have experience with the program and that has helped keep the advertising going,” he adds. For as much as it has gained, Weight Watchers has had a difficult time breaking into cosmetic and fashion accounts, even though many of its readers are hoping to buy a whole new wardrobe of smaller sizes. One, JC Penny, has been exception, says Perra. “We will continue to approach that category. I would bet we would probably get more fashion than we’ll ever get cosmetics.” Those dollars, he says, are destined for beauty and fashion titles like Elle or Vogue. Other advertisers have expressed concern about advertising in a magazine that seemingly is a house organ. “I suspect there will be that perception at least for the near future,” concedes Perra. Yet he believes as more planners and buyers sample their product, they’ll be more open to advertising in its magazine. “It’s a very thin tight rope that we have to walk sometimes. We want to be as unbiased as possible and not seem like a house organ, but there is the underlying focus of healthy lifestyle that is a component of the Weight Watchers program that is certainly puts the editorial focus on nutrition, recipes, food and fitness.”
Goldman Sachs & Company, Harris Interactive, and Nielsen//NetRatings today revealed the first findings from the 2002 eSpending Report, showing that online shopping adoption continues, with customer satisfaction playing a key role in overall shopping for the second consecutive year. "The first findings of the survey provide strong supporting evidence of our long standing ecommerce thesis that as online satisfaction increases, ecommerce would begin to penetrate the mass market and see renewed secular growth," said Anthony Noto, Internet Analyst at Goldman Sachs. According to the report, 22% of those surveyed this past week rated customer satisfaction as better than their experience last year, helping to yield higher spending. Additionally, the average online shopper spent nearly $72 per person during the past week ending November 15, a 28% increase from the same time in 2001. "Boosted by higher customer satisfaction rates and a shorter shopping season, early indications show shoppers are spending more and earlier this year," said Lori Iventosch-James, director of ecommerce research at Harris Interactive. "With Thanksgiving scheduled one week later and Hanukkah beginning much sooner this year, consumers are battling against time and are taking advantage of special sales and promotions." Lisa Strand, Nielsen//NetRatings’ director and chief ecommerce analyst, added that even though Thanksgiving weekend traditionally jumpstarts the holiday shopping season, consumers had the gift of time in the past and with the shopping schedule compacted in a shorter span in 2002, many consumers have no choice but to start shopping and buying earlier this year." Another recent research report, however, points to a somewhat slower start: comScore Networks found that online spending for non-travel goods and services increased on a sequential basis, from $905 million the week ending Nov. 10 to $976 million the week ending Nov. 17. However, year-over-year growth in non-travel spending slowed from 34% to 16% over the same weeks. According to comScore, these data suggest that the 2002 online holiday shopping season is picking up steam but still is not fully underway yet.
For a generation or more, Jamaican culture and music have held a special place in the American imagination, conjuring a realm where life is funkier, where people really know how to kick back and party. Except for small niche markets, however, Red Stripe Beer, the island’s premier tropical lager, has remained a relatively specialized brand limited to aficionados. This summer Red Stripe, in conjunction with ad agency BBDO, set out to change all that. “We wanted to break out of niche limitations and connect with a wider market while keeping true to our core identity and not watering it down,” explains Andreas Combuechen, managing director and chief creative officer of Atmosphere BBDO. The goal, according to Combuechen, was to build on the beer’s association with Jamaican music and culture to engage a wider national mainstream audience. With this in mind, Red Stripe in July debuted a group of short, fresh new spots for TV and radio introducing the brand to young beer drinkers around the phrase “Hooray Beer!” The campaign, targeted at the primary beer market of males in their 20s and early 30s, plays on the concept of drinking Red Stripe as a celebratory ritual that liberates the “inner mojo” of young beer drinkers. Drawing on — as well as gently poking fun at — stereotypical images of Jamaica, the ads subtly mock (or “toast”) everything from Red Stripe’s “Short and Stubby” bottle to the gawkiness of geeky white men dancing to reggae music under the benign influence of Red Stripe. “The offline campaign established a very original look and feel that’s deliberately less slick and smooth than a standard-issue beer campaign,” observes Combuechen. “ It’s more offbeat and quirky, less conventional.” In the first TV spot, called “Find Your Inner You,” a well-dressed Jamaican “ambassador” in a suit and sash asks a bespectacled young American to describe his “inner you.” After an awkward silence followed by a sip of Red Stripe the young man is transformed into an old Jamaican woman. A spot called “Accept Who You Are” declares “There’s nothing wrong with being short and stubby” as the camera shows a close-up of a Red Stripe bottle, followed by a shot of a short and stubby American drinking a Red Stripe. Perhaps the funniest spot shows the Jamaican ambassador toasting Red Stripe’s 70-year-old tradition of “helping get white people to dance.” The next shot shows an American awkwardly but joyously dancing to reggae with a Red Stripe in his hand. Radio spots also aimed at young professional men play with the same theme of drinking Red Stripe as a way to cross cultural barriers. “Since Jamaica is a foreign country,” says one mock public service announcement, “drinking Red Stripe makes you international.” Another spot, called “Control Your Urges,” features the Jamaican ambassador admonishing a young American beer drinker to resist the inevitable urge, while drinking Red Stripe, to declare himself a rasta man. In a spot entitled “Finding Your Roots,” the ambassador advises his young American beer-drinking protegés that finding their roots doesn’t require a several-year-long commitment, as growing dreadlocks would, but rather just the simple step of drinking a Red Stripe. The TV and radio ads, which began to run in late July, have thus far been purchased on a spot basis in a variety of metropolitan markets and regions with a large multicultural population and lifestyle. These include large urban areas such as Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and San Francisco, as well as several smaller cities. Red Stripe intends to continue to experiment by placing ads in venues to reach the 18–34 male demographic, including music and sports cable channels; some TV network spots; and contemporary music radio formats including classic rock, contemporary hit radio, and urban hot radio. “The consumers we’re looking for are sophisticated, adventurous young professionals who have wide-ranging, open-minded tastes in their culture, their entertainment, and their beer drinking,” says Combuechen. “The goal is to make Red Stripe’s “Hooray Beer!” an idiomatic expression meaning fun among as many beer drinkers as possible.” While the broadcast ads are designed to bring the brand and its offbeat, irreverent image wider exposure among its target market, Red Stripe in late September unveiled a brand-new website designed to incorporate the “Hooray Beer!” tagline and the ambassador character in a more interactive community environment. As Combuechen explains it, “With some bigger brands — a Budweiser or a Miller — the online component can be somewhat autonomous, but for what we’re doing with Red Stripe the online piece needs to be completely continuous in tone with what was initiated offline. We are trying to engage new customers in a coherent story, to get them more intimately committed to the brand, and to do so it’s critical that all messages reinforce each other.” In addition to offering audio and video downloads of the TV and radio ads and outtakes “2 Hot for TV,” the website also offers visitors numerous other features. These include “Ambass With Me,” which invites visitors to send in descriptions and photographs of themselves declaring themselves to be ambassadors of whatever they wish. Entrants whose photos are featured on the site are awarded with a Red Stripe sash. Three participants each month will be selected for prizes including a Red Stripe Bar-B-Q grill, a hammock, and a Red Stripe cooler. The most ambitious section of the site from a marketing perspective, according to Combuechen, is devoted to custom online greeting cards, which visitors can send for special occasions, everyday communications, jokes, and gags, or just to turn a friend on to Red Stripe. Visitors can also sign up for a regular Red Stripe electronic newsletter and get recipes for Jamaican Jerk Chicken with instructions on how to throw a Red Stripe barbecue. “We want the website to be a way of getting the consumers we introduce the beer to through our offline ads to be able to spread the word outward on a peer-to-peer level,” explains Combuechen. “The online space,” he says, “will both constantly refer to and amplify our original advertising messages.” As TV and radio expose the brand, according to Combuechen, the website will give users the opportunity to immerse themselves in an imaginative world reflecting their images of Jamaican lifestyles associated with the brand. “Unlike traditional beer-and-babes-at-the-beach ads,” he says, “we’ve tried to be less predictable and to give the Red Stripe site a different, more authentic feel. We’ve worked hard at making the tone of the site evoke Kingston itself. It’s edgy, with hints of adventure, multicultural and wild.” Red Stripe is currently exploring options for advertising on portals, sports sites, music sites, and other online venues with strong appeal in the 18–34 male demographic. At present, however, consumers will be directed to the site through point-of-sale promotions of the URL on posters, and, especially, on every Red Stripe bottle cap. “Getting people to become aware of the beer is the first step. Once we get them to the store, the next step is to build traffic on the website, so that our drinkers become themselves our best marketing message. We believe a combined offline-online campaign gives us the right combination of mass exposure and more grassroots viral marketing to expand our reach, while keeping and strengthening loyalty of our traditional market.”