Chevrolet may have been licking its wounds last year, but it's back big-time now and out to prove the point at the Super Bowl next Sunday. The automaker will have six or more TV spots in the game, plus a post-game surprise -- which GM Global CMO Joel Ewanick and Chris Perry, VP of U.S. marketing, are keeping mum about for now. If buying big in the Bowl sounds like Hyundai Motor America's own "Big Voices in Big Places" strategy, it's probably because Ewanick and Perry developed that tactic of advertising against major-event broadcasts when they were running the marketing show at the Fountain Valley, Calif. automaker up until last September, when Perry headed for Detroit. And while Perry and Ewanick are in a sense competing against their past selves since Hyundai staked out a lot of game real estate at last year's upfront (Hyundai and Ford are both big in the pre-game) Chevrolet will be the big dog during the game: the automaker will tout Camaro, Cruze, Cruze Eco, Volt, and Silverado; it will introduce a new Facebook partnership with OnStar; the MVP of the game gets a Camaro convertible; Chevrolet will be launching redesigned traditional and mobile versions of Chevy.com in conjunction with the Super Bowl; and there's the post-game mystery. "Our plan was to own the day," says Ewanick. "Chris was still at Hyundai when we bought all this media. And I remember saying, 'Man, we'd better go buy media before Chris buys it all up and doesn't let us in! But we both understand the power of the Super Bowl. And at the end of the day we have a very similar philosophy: we don't need to be the funniest or most entertaining, the most profound or the most outrageous. We want to tell a story about Chevrolet that begins with the pre-game and ends with the special thing we have planned at the end of the day." Perry says accomplishing that goal means the new ads have to be focused on products versus last fall, when Chevrolet focused on establishing a new brand identity. "In the fall, we launched 'Chevy Runs Deep' and the Carbon Initiative, which is more about brand," says Perry. "In the Super Bowl, we have to be all about product. Not just 'here's a Camaro spot that's going to make you laugh.' We have a range of stuff that's funny, that's sincere -- but it's all about a specific attribute about that product." The new ads are humorous but not over-the-top, and almost all of them are designed to encase a central "I didn't know that" fact about the vehicles -- particularly where Volt and the new Cruze Eco are concerned. One spot for the Volt, for example, trumpets the fact that you can charge the car's electric motor via any three-prong outlet for a dollar and change. The ad for Cruze Eco is a kind of meta-commercial where a group of elderly -- and hard-of-hearing -- men and women are watching a TV spot for the Cruze Eco, but misunderstand that the vehicle can get 42 mpg. Thus, the pertinent facts are repeated humorously throughout the spot. The ad for Silverado shows the vehicle as "everyday hero" as Ewanick puts it, by having the owner use it to extricate his son from ever more ludicrous situations: a well, a cave, the belly of a whale, a volcano. "I didn't even know this town had a volcano," the guy says as he drives off in his Silverado to save his kid from the mountain, erupting in the background. And a spot for Camaro, teasing the vehicle's involvement in the Paramount feature "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," actually masquerades as precisely the kind of ad automakers (and just about everyone else) hates: a tacky tier-III "buy one get two free" type dealer spot. In the ad, the stereotypical dealer, Al's Chevrolet "Route 1, off Highway 5" shouts about his Super Bowl deal at his store with cheerleaders and balloons in the background. He wants to demonstrate how he's "smashing prices" by having a guy in a costume try to bash the hood of a Camaro with a mallet. Suddenly, the vehicle comes to life as the Transformer from the toy and movie franchise grabs the guy and hurls him across the parking lot, as guys with microphones and cameras, who are shooting the ad, run for cover. "Come Monday," says Ewanick, "What we really want to have happen is -- we want to make it difficult for people not to consider a Chevrolet for their next purchase. That's it."
Viamedia, a rep firm that sells on behalf of a collection of cable systems, will offer some of the inventory it controls for bidding on the Google TV Ads system. The rep firm said advertisers buying time through Google's auction-based system will be able to reach the 2 million homes it serves on 68 cable networks. The inventory will be up for bid later this year. In addition to several cable systems among the country's 25 largest -- such as WOW, RCN and Atlantic Broadband -- Viamedia also reps telco TV provider Verizon. It does not sell for the largest cable operators, which use NCC Media. Lexington, Kentucky-based Viamedia places ads in dozens of markets on behalf of 18 operators. Google TV Ads also offers inventory on Dish Network, Verizon and DirecTV. But DirecTV only allows TV Ads to offer space on 11 cable networks, so available inventory is different for the three. Google executive Mark Piesanen wrote in a blog post that TV Ads inventory now includes 37 million homes, while 1,200 GRPs and 1.5 billion impressions are available for purchase a week. Google TV Ads allows advertisers to place a bid on inventory to reach a highly targeted demographic. They receive detailed performance reports culled from second-by-second, set-top-box data not long after a spot runs.
The NFL isn't the only sport to crow about higher ratings and revenue -- the NHL has lifted its key business numbers, as well as its media dollars to TV partners. Over the past year, the NHL has either renewed or started a series of new league sponsorships. The list includes McDonald's, Geico, Starwood Hotels, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Cisco Systems, Honda, Bridgestone, Discover Card, Verizon, LG Electronics, Tim Hortons and Hershey's Canada. Through last season, NHL sponsorship and advertising revenue grew 66%. Over the last three years, the NHL has signed new sponsorship and advertising deals worth more than $330 million. NHL has about 20 partners in the U.S. and Canada. "We have the number one or two or three brands in all categories," says Keith Wachtel, senior vice president of corporate sales and marketing for the NHL. While all of that is important, of greater benefit to major TV partners, such as NBC and Versus, as well as regional sports networks and TV stations, is whether new league sponsorships will convert -- be activated -- into significant TV advertising. Wachtel says that has indeed been the case -- ever since the league started up after the 2004-2005 NHL season was canceled due to a lockout: "We need our partners to support the brand. That is vital to long-term growth." He also adds: "They see us taking risks." And that's good for business. For example, for its NHL All-Star weekend -- the first in two years because of the Winter Olympics -- the league added more marketing opportunities. Cisco Systems sponsors the "NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft" on Friday, January 28th. Then on January 29th, Honda Motors takes a key sponsor position for a skill competition -- the "Honda NHL SuperSkills" event. Another key example for growth is increasing TV prices that sponsors will pay for individual events. For example, for its NHL All-Star game, the league has added Discover Card as a presenting sponsor on the Versus telecast. It's the first time the league has had a "presenting sponsor" in more than a decade -- deals that usually command a hefty premium. Overall, the league is now up 4% to 5% in revenue to almost $2.9 billion. But it is anticipated that the NHL will grow by 14%, which the league says is an 85% climb over the last four years. Some new patina on the sport comes from visible, big talent -- Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Critics also give the NHL a lot of credit over the last couple of years with a special outdoor January 1 game, the "NHL Winter Classic." The game continues to grow. The most recent game yielded 4.5 million viewers on NBC, watching the Washington Capitals defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ratings grew by 22% over the year before, as well as posting the biggest regular-season game numbers in 36 years. Regular-season league game cable network Versus has seen ratings improve 6% through 29 telecasts to an average 301,000 viewers.
Thanks to digital spectrum and hardware, high-definition TV has been bringing a clearer picture to many local TV viewers. But when it came to planning media buys on local TV stations transmitting in HDTV, advertisers and agencies have had decidedly less clarity. Until today, that is. Effective today, media buyers can access a new planning tool on the Television Bureau of Advertising's TVB.org site giving them easy and up-to-date access to a list of stations transmitting programs and inserting advertising in HDTV. The new Web-based planning tool was created in response to a request from Peggy Green, the top television buyer at Publicis' Zenith Optimedia Group, which is also one of the largest buyers of TV advertising. Green made the request after the 2009 Super Bowl -- the first to be broadcast in HDTV -- because she was seeing more of her clients beginning to produce commercials in HDTV. And while it was relatively easy to determine if and when those spots were actually airing in HDTV at the network level, Green said the picture was a lot fuzzier on the local level, where HDTV coverage may be spotty due to the fact that stations need to invest in special equipment to insert and transmit HDTV ads. "It's like the chicken and the egg," Green says, noting that it may be difficult for some stations to justify the economics of making that investment, because there is no guarantee that they will be able to "monetize" the investment through higher ratings or more TV advertising dollars. Green declined to say whether agencies like Zenith Optimedia would explicitly move advertising budgets to stations broadcasting HDTV ads, but she did say it improves the value for advertisers who spent the money to produce them. The TVB has been developing the HDTV station planning tool for a while, says Vice President-Communications Gary Belis, but is making it live now as part of the relaunch of TVB.org. After previewing data on TV stations inserting HDTV ads, Zenith Optimedia's Green says there do not seem to be any consistent patterns among TV station groups. "It's all over the place," she says, noting that among the major broadcast network owned station groups, only Disney-owned ABC has made a significant commitment to HDTV commercials. "That makes sense given the skew of the ABC stations," she says. "Their stations tend to be in more affluent homes."
Audi will join the traffic jam of car ads in the Super Bowl with a spot looking to further position itself as a luxury brand. As always, it has a lot to live up to, with its 2008 "Godfather"-inspired spot garnering critical attention. Audi unveiled some details about its 60-second spot that will air during the game's first ad break when attention is high. Yet it did not detail what could be the crème de la crème: the "cameo" at the end. The automaker stated that the ad will "feature an irreverent, satirical overtone" with "well-dressed" inmates trying to escape a luxury prison. The concept is a redefinition of luxury with old luxury as a backdrop. The company has been running a lead-up spot during the NFL playoffs, inspired by the 1947 children's book "Goodnight Moon," backing the same new sedan to be touted in its Super Bowl ad looking for 100 million-plus viewers. San Francisco's Venables Bell & Partners is behind the spot as Audi is becoming a perennial Super Bowl advertiser. There are many other auto advertisers scheduled for this year's game as the industry recovers. The 2008 spot offered a send-up of the "Godfather" film with a message that other luxury automakers better watch their backs.
Allstate and American Family Insurance are taking different approaches to their marketing targeting Hispanic consumers. A spinoff of its national general market advertising campaign, "Mayhem," Allstate is introducing an effort with the antagonist "Mala Suerte," who represents unfortunate circumstances. The word "mayhem" has no literal translation in the Spanish language, which led Allstate to create "Mala Suerte" to resonate more directly with Hispanics. Meanwhile, a new 30-second spot from American Family Insurance, "Three Kids," is aimed at reaching both the Hispanic and general market. Part of the insurer's "Unique Families" campaign, the new TV executions find "global truths" among Hispanic and general market audiences, says Telisa Yancy, advertising director at American Family Insurance. "The concept tested very well in focus groups across the Hispanic and general markets and both audiences quickly identified with the message," Yancy says in a release. "It effectively communicates that American Family Insurance understands the insurance needs of individuals and/or families." Allstate's 30-second TV spot, created by Lapiz, aims to show the protection, value and peace of mind that Allstate provides when bad things happen. Consumer research showed that many Hispanic consumers blame fate or bad luck for an accident and are more likely to find fault with circumstances rather than a person who may have done something "wrong," says Georgina Flores, senior marketing manager for Allstate Insurance Company. "Mala Suerte" is introduced as a polished and confident-looking man. However, his mere presence creates a series of misfortunes that are intended to remind people of what can go wrong and the protection Allstate can provide when it does. He startles a window-washer, which causes a bucket to fall several stories and land on the hood of a car. The ad closes with the voiceover, "Dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like Allstate." Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate's TV spots will be supported with print, radio, online and social media. People can visit MiAllstate. com/MalaSuerte to play a card-reading game. "Mala Suerte" is also present on Facebook and Twitter -- fans can "like" Soy La Mala Suerte on Facebook and have messages in their newsfeed for ways he can mischievously cross your path. The American Family Insurance spot, created by The San Jose Group, focuses on the unique insurance needs of each family. The "Three Kids" television spots are about the busy life of the "total market" mom, featuring scenes of her driving her kids around town to take them to and from different activities. The universal sentiment in the spots is that every mom's life is hectic and a little chaotic, and each family has different needs. Along with Spanish and English television spots, the campaign also includes radio, print and online banner ads for the Hispanic market to complement the overall unique family branding message. "Three Kids" is the second spot for the Madison, Wis.-based insurer that transcends ethnicity. In 2010, after the creative concept for the Spanish spot, "Batazo," tested well in both Hispanic and general market focus groups, an English-language spot "Baseball" was developed for the general market.
Time Warner Cable registered big profit gains for its fourth quarter -- but continued fewer video subscribers. The second-biggest cable TV operator in the country improved its net profit 22.2% to $392 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, with revenues gaining 5.9% to $4.8 billion. But as has been the trend for many cable system operators, Time Warner lost basic video subscribers -- 141,000. Still, Time Warner continued to show strength in its newer products -- Internet and phone business, adding 94,000 data subscribers and 72,000 phone subscribers, respectively. Triple-play business -- packages containing video, data and phone -- improved 72,000. Multiple product sales to consumers totaled 8.5 million, which represents almost 60% of all Time Warner's customer relationships. Riding on the back of a resurgent local TV ad market, Time Warner said local ad sales increased 34% to $269 million -- much of this coming from improved political advertising dollars. This year looks good as well. Time Warner expects double-digit percentage gains in operating income. Concerning the prospect of "cord-cutting" -- continued defection by consumers to other newer digital technologies to get their TV programming -- many companies, including Time Warner, say there is little sign of wholesale, major transitions by consumers. Glenn Britt, chairman/president/CEO of Time Warner Cable, said on Thursday that although online video subscription services may have better user interfaces than traditional pay-TV services, these businesses depend on cable's broadband business to work well. In the future, he said, cable set-top boxes could be replaced by emerging technologies like Web-connected TVs and mobile devices. Britt stated: "We made great strides financially and operationally in 2010. We achieved record free cash flow and continued to deliver on our shareholder-oriented capital allocation strategy. At the same time, we enhanced our products and services, increased the sophistication of our marketing and accelerated the growth of our commercial business."
How does a new product differentiate itself in the extremely crowded cereal category? With its U.S. launch of Crunchy Nut -- which has been a favorite in the U.K. for three decades -- Kellogg is betting that adults bored with hearing about various nutrient and weight-control benefits will respond to messaging stressing tastiness. The campaign for Kellogg's Crunchy Nut, launching this week, is taglined "It's Morning Somewhere" -- the point being that adults will love the cereal's taste so much that they'll be looking for excuses to eat it not just for breakfast, but throughout the day. "We're kind of debunking the notion that only children want great-tasting cereal," says Derek Sherman, executive creative director for Kellogg's long-time creative agency, Leo Burnett. "This is definitely an adult, non-decadent breakfast cereal, but our message is that it's a joyful experience. We looked for a humorous way of conveying this to an adult audience that also fits with Kellogg's well-established positive, optimistic brand voice. Our solution was to poke fun at adults' guilt about eating cereal as a snack or dessert or meal other than breakfast -- a behavior that's quite common -- by giving them the 'It's Morning Somewhere' excuse." For instance, 30- and 60-second versions of a first television spot, to begin airing nationally later this week, show a young adult clearly craving Crunchy Nut while working in his apartment, but feeling uncomfortable about it because it's nighttime. He grabs the cereal box, takes a plane to an exotic destination, piggybacks on a motorcycle driven by a native to get over mountains and arrives at a beach in time to see the sun rising. As he eats his Crunchy Nut, he sees another guy who looks much like himself, in pajama bottoms, about to enjoy his own surfside bowl of Crunchy Nut. Another element in what Kellogg terms an "enormous" awareness-building campaign offers smartphone users the ability to snap QR codes on the cereal's packaging and, at any time of the day or night, see a video of a region where it's currently morning. Online and in-store advertising and a branded site and Facebook page are also in the mix. The campaign kicked off over this past weekend with a live, 24-hour event on Los Angeles's Hollywood Blvd. featuring the world's largest working cuckoo clock (Kellogg had an official Guinness World Records official there to verify). As each hour chimed and the cuckoo crowed, an actor emerged from the clock-each time dressed in a different costume reflecting the region where it was now morning, and each time delivering a humorous performance about what morning is like in that region. The event was hosted by celebrity Nick Cannon, and the script was written by Matt Walsh, co-founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe. The scale of the clock was also meant to symbolize the scale of the campaign, notes Yuvraj Arora, senior director, adult ready-to-eat cereal marketing for Kellogg. "This is an exciting product launch for Kellogg Company and we're committed to making it a big success," she said. "We're eager to bring this already hugely popular brand to U.S. consumers" and confident that they will display "a similar passion for it," she adds. The cereal, which is in some stores now and will be available nationwide in February, comes in two flavors: Golden Honey Nut (corn flakes drizzled with honey and topped with peanuts) and Roasted Nut and Honey (corn and oat O's topped with roasted peanuts and honey).
The Super Bowl may not be as super as a year ago -- in terms of viewers -- but what viewers it will get will be more interested in what marketers have to say. Some 68% of U.S. adults plan to watch Super Bowl XLV, a 3% point drop from 2010, according to branding firm Hanon McKendry, and pollster Harris Interactive. Last year's Super Bowl game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts hit a record of 106 million viewers -- the highest viewing ever for any television program. This was up from from 98.7 million in 2009. But the poll noted there was a 6% point gain to 54% of those polled who plan to tune in for the commercials as much as the game. And it's assumed that this demo will be somewhat likely to discuss commercials on social networks. This figure rose from 48% in 2010. Bill McKendry, founder and chief creative officer at Hanon McKendry, stated: "We're seeing the fusion of social media with broadcast media, broadcast events and live events everywhere in the communications and advertising industry." The study says far more women plan to watch the game than men -- especially for the commercials: 65% of females; 45% of male viewers. Hanon McKendry says women are two times more likely than men to watch exclusively or predominantly for the commercials: 25% of female viewers vs. 12% of male viewers. Harris Interactive fielded the study on behalf of Hanon McKendry between Jan. 11 and Jan. 13, 2011, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,026 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The sample included 975 men and 1,047 women.
With the big tax return selling season here, Turbo Tax decided to go big in getting awareness with one major effort: The software company will be the sole advertiser on NBC on Sunday night, January 30. Turbo Tax will take over as the lone advertiser for one night -- 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. --to get maximum exposure. Financials were not revealed -- though it is estimated NBC pulls in around $5 million to $6 million for those three hours of programming time for non-sports programming. Promoting the event -- and giving Turbo Tax media exposure -- nine different spots will air across seven NBC Universal properties. Extra long 75-second ads tie a particular NBCU talent or show to the TurboTax theme of "expert guidance." They air within the shows they reference. Programs that will air the commercials include NBC's "The Biggest Loser," syndicated magazine "Access Hollywood" and daytime soap "Days of our Lives," as well as sports programming and late night. Cable spots will air in Syfy's "Ghost Hunters International," Oxygen's "sToribook Weddings," Bravo's "Real Housewives" program and the Weather Channel. Each team travels to Los Angeles, racing through several famous locations. With the help of GPS systems, they search for clues, find hidden objects, and perform stunts. The "champion" will win more than $50,000 for their designated charity. Seth Greenberg, vice president of global media and digital marketing for Intuit, stated: "Working with NBC Universal, we've created something that has never been done -- taking over an entire night of network commercial time to convey just how easy TurboTax guides you to your maximum refund." Barbara Blangiardi, senior vice president of creative partnerships and innovation for NBC Universal, added: "The 'All-Star Celebrity Treasure Hunt' is the latest innovation in what has been a three-year showcase partnership with TurboTax, integrating their brand strategies into entertaining content that engages their consumers and reaches them across the many platforms within the NBCU portfolio."
Healthier messaging from big fast-food and confection companies is getting women to talk to each other. A six-month analysis from the Women at NBCU Brand Power Index shows that brands such as McDonald's, Nestle, and Frito-Lay are generating bigger online and offline buzz. McDonald's moved up 10 places on the NBC index to 15th place, stemming from a partnership with social game "FarmVille," which aligned the brand with fresh farm produce. A focus on four new salad options and "natural-cut" fries seasoned with sea salt moved Wendy's higher into 96th place. Domino's Pizza gained a large number of places -- 140 spots -- to 218th, from its advertising push that touted California farm-grown tomatoes and 100% real cheese. Commercials from Nestlé, which included products designed to prevent disease and improve health, help it gain 120 places to 153rd position. Frito-Lay made its first appearance on the list -- 361st place -- from two efforts, introducing its Artisan Recipes tortilla chips made with all-natural ingredients, then announcing that 50% of its products will be made with all-natural ingredients. The Women at NBC Index, which started up last year, says after six months, the brands women continue to talk about include: 1) Walmart 2) Target 3) Verizon 4) eBay 5) Ford 6) Coca-Cola 7) AT&T 8) iPhone 9) iPod 10) Pepsi 11) Honda 12) Amazon.com 13) Sears 14) McDonald's 15) Samsung 16) Toyota 17) Bank of America 18) Netflix 19) Kohl's 20) Sony 21) Sprint 22) Microsoft 23) Tylenol 24) Xbox and 25) Comcast. The Women at NBCU Brand Power Index is an analysis of 500 brands most talked about by women. It is based on online search data from Compete and social media buzz data from New Media Strategies, as well as person-to-person conversations tracked by Keller Fay Group.
A deal where Time Warner Cable serves as a sales rep for Verizon's FiOS service played at least a minor role in boosting the cable operator's ad sales near the end of 2010. TWC said its sales rose 18% in the fourth quarter, stripping out political revenues. Total dollars with political money included came in at $269 million, the most ever for a fourth quarter. About 35% ($95 million) of that came from just the auto and media categories. Political accounted for about 16%. TWC has been selling regional spots on behalf of Verizon in the New York, Los Angeles and Dallas markets. The cabler receives a percentage of the revenues under the recent deal. TWC could also benefit this year as NCC Media, a cable rep firm that it partly owns, begins selling DirecTV inventory in several markets. "We expect the FiOS deal and others like it will increasingly contribute to ad revenues in 2011," said TWC COO Robert Marcus on an earnings call. Marcus said the company anticipates that despite a lack of heavy political advertising this year, ad dollars will go up. For the full year 2010, the company posted a 26% increase in ad sales to $881 million. Dropping political dollars, the increase was 18%. Ad dollars account for about 5% of TWC total revenues, which were $18.9 billion in 2010. In the fourth quarter, TWC lost 141,000 video subscribers and now has 12.3 million. The bulk of the company's revenues come from its traditional TV supplier business -- which generated $11 billion in 2010, up 2%. Total company revenues increased 6%, helped by a 10% increase in broadband-subscriber dollars.
After TNT offered a NASCAR race in 3D last summer that aired on DirecTV, the satellite operator will carry two racing specials in 3D focusing on a different racing series. The hour-long shows will start Feb. 4 on DirecTV's dedicated 3D channel, n3D, which has Panasonic as a sponsor. In lieu of carrying a race live, DirecTV will offer some coverage, but also behind-the-scenes footage and interviews of the final race on the Formula DRIFT circuit in 2010. DirecTV and the racing circuit are co-producers. Indicating that an edited format may allow producers to better capitalize on 3D, DirecTV executive Chris Long stated that the emerging format on TV will "make every counter steer, plume of smoke and wreck feel like it is happening in the middle of your living room." The n3D network has offered the MLB All-Star Game and U.S. Open tennis event, as well as entertainment such as "Guitar Center Sessions." TNT carried a NASCAR race from the Daytona track last July that aired on DirecTV and several cable operators' systems and in an online version. ESPN will launch a 24/7 3D network in February and will likely offer some NASCAR car races this season. Also possible is the 100th Indianapolis 500 in May. The race will already be shot in 3D as an IMAX documentary is being made about this year's version that is scheduled to be released in the fall.
Akoo, which operates an interactive, digital out-of-home video network reaching college dining halls and mall food courts with "social TV," has expanded to a number of new college campuses across the U.S. -- including some of the nation's largest schools. The social TV network, which allows viewers to choose from music videos and other entertainment content, is now operating in dining halls at Ohio State University; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of North Florida; Tennessee Tech University; California State University, Stanislaus; Lindenwood University; Austin Peay State University; Morehead State University; the University of Pittsburgh; and California State University, Dominguez Hills. OSU's Columbus campus had a total of about 52,500 students enrolled in 2010; UCSB, about 22,000; UNF, about 16,000; Tennessee Tech, 8,200; CSU Stanislaus, about 8,800; Lindenwood, 15,000; APSY, 10,500; Morehead SU, 8,800; U of Pittsburgh, 26,000; and CSU Dominguez Hills, 13,000. While not all of these students may live on campus or eat in the college dining halls, this represents a potential audience of over 180,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the vast majority of whom are between the ages of 18 and 34. Akoo also released the results of a study describing the viewing habits and demographic characteristics of its college audience, based on a sample of 15 schools across the county. It found that students ages 18-34 watch Akoo programming for over 14 minutes on average, when they visit a dining hall or other location with Akoo programming (which also include rec centers and student unions). One in five watched for 21 minutes or more. 89% of on-campus viewers are between the ages of 18 and 24. Separately, the company claims to reach 90 million consumers per month through its DO network in mall food courts.
Long an also-ran on Thursday night, Fox has made up for it in the last two weeks -- big time. That little show "American Idol" has something to do with it, pulling perhaps the biggest number for any Thursday show in a while -- a Nielsen preliminary 7.6 rating/21 share among 18-49 viewers, just down a tick from a 7.8/22 of a week ago. That's two Thursday wins for Fox in a row -- very much expected. But the troubling news is that for the second week in a row, the "Idol" result show numbers were again down some 23% from the same episodes a year ago when they ran on Wednesday night. CBS had been the big network star of the night since the start of the season in September, all due to moving its surging "Big Bang Theory" into the big Thursday-night limelight. CBS fared okay in the first head-to-head matchup with "Bang," getting to a 4.2/12 against 7.0/19 for "Idol" in the 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. time period -- down just 5% from its most recent original episode. This week CBS decided to move more to the sidelines, putting "Bang" in a repeat mode. Still, for a rerun, "Bang" earned a decent 2.4/7, equaling ABC's "Winter Wipeout" numbers for second place in the 8 p.m. time period. (ABC went to reruns the rest of the night with "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice.") CBS was in reruns most of the night -- perhaps still waiting for a bigger February period. Only "$#*! My Dad Says" was active at 8:30 a.m. -- posting a 2.3/6, which is a series low, due to "Bang"'s weaker lead-in. A hidden benefit from "Idol" is the nice push it has been giving to Fox's longtime sturdy crime procedural "Bones" -- now up 11% to a 3.9 rating/8 share in adults 18-49 rating, its highest rating in nearly four years. It was up from another healthy 3.6/10 the week before -- "Idol" debut on Thursday. NBC's second week of running three hours of comedy on Thursday still didn't do much -- especially for its new show "Perfect Couples," which is down almost 20% to a 1.7/4 among 18-49 viewers at 8:30 p.m. At 9 p.m.,"The Office" slipped 11% to a 4.0/11; "Parks & Recreation" was down 6% to a 3.0/8; "30 Rock" at 10 p.m. gave up 11% to a 2.4/7 -- with "Outsourced", at 10:30 p.m., as the only NBC comedy improving, 6% more to a 1.9 rating/6. The overall numbers of the night had Fox at a 5.8/15; NBC, 2.5/7; CBS, 2.1/6; ABC, 1.6/4; Univision, 1.5/4; and CW, 1.3/4.
The City of Brotherly Love is hoping to boost tourism this year with an ad effort supported by some big out-of-home media buys this winter. The effort, "With Love, Philadelphia XOXO," via by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, also includes a consumer-engagement program to get people to come up with text for billboard advertising. The campaign launches this week with dominations in New York City and Washington, D.C., train stations, and with advertising on the CNN Airport Network. A 30-second TV spot is running for 12 weeks in airports in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. The marketing organization says it is the first advertiser to select individual airports through the CNN airport network. The spot will also play in 5,500 New York City taxicabs from Feb. 28 through March 30. In addition, New York City's ABC affiliate will run a half-hour special called "Destination Philadelphia" on March 12 and 13, making Philadelphia the first U.S. destination to do such a program. The special will be paired with print ads in magazines and newspapers, on billboards, in transit stations and online. The tourism agency will take over New York's Pennsylvania Station, which gets some six million commuters a month -- with "With Love, Philadelphia"-themed ads to run simultaneously on 225 Amtrak-level advertising displays, including posters, column wraps, banners, kiosk dioramas and a stair riser. Washington, D.C.'s Union Station will get the same treatment in March. The campaign will include onboard posters on Amtrak and Acela trains and advertorials in Arrive magazine. The agency is also doing joint marketing efforts with Philadelphia destinations like the Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Constitution Center, and the month-long Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts this spring. Philadelphia's tourism organization is also getting behind Philly's National Hockey League team, the Flyers. Cara Schneider, an agency spokesperson, says the effort is aimed at a major tourism feeder market for the city: Toronto. The agency has launched a Flyers contest at www.visitphilly.com/ hockey, called "The Ultimate Flyers VIP Sports Experience," dangling two round-trip tickets from Toronto, deluxe accommodations at a Center City hotel, Flyers merchandise, a private tour of the Wells Fargo Center and a pair of seats to the March 3 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. "One of the French Canadian Flyers taped a video inviting people to sign up," says Schneider. The group also held PIFA press events in New York, Toronto and Montreal.
President Obama's State of the Union address last week gave a big shout-out to entrepreneurs and innovation. As someone who served in Washington and has been an entrepreneur ever since -- minus a brief stint with a large media company -- I found that his message really resonated and was an important acknowledgment of the contribution we entrepreneurs have made and will continue to make in revitalizing our economy. Each time I've started a company, I've learned a little more about what it means to be an entrepreneur. I've also learned -- as those of you with a similar hankering for start-ups will agree -- that uncharted territory is just that: uncharted. And there is no hard and fast formula for success in an entrepreneurial life. But there is something I've come to think of as the Entrepreneur's Creed, which has helped me to navigate some fairly choppy waters. Here it is, for your edification and amusement: The Entrepreneur's Creed 1. Never say die. Never give up on your vision -- there's always a way to make it reality. Tenacity is the single most fundamental requirement for any aspiring entrepreneur. 2. Play to win; don't play not to lose. Successful entrepreneurs play to win, while big, entrenched, innovation-unfriendly companies play not to lose. Don't be afraid to make mistakes - as any investor worth his capital will tell you, we learn more from failure than we do from success. 3. Subscribe to the hourglass theory. Start out wide, with a number of possible go-to-market strategies. Then focus and execute. You can expand again when you have built up momentum with your customer base and established your credibility in the marketplace. 4. Expect to tack your way across the water. The path to success isn't always linear. Tack your way to goals by moving forward, feeling the marketplace, soliciting customer feedback, refining your offering, reacting to new competitors, and making course-corrections as needed. Many a large company stays in the harbor with its spit-shined yacht. Your boat may not look as pretty leaving the port, but at least you'll sail. 5. Always define the room as round. In any discussion, any negotiation, there's always a solution. Regardless of your relationship with the party on the other side of the table and the topic of conversation, as long as the room is round, you'll never get boxed into a corner, and neither will your partner. 6. People, people, people. In real estate, they say, only three things matter: "location, location, and location." When you're building a business, it's all about people. Find people who always show up ready to drive the business. You might have a grade-A idea, but try to execute with a B team and your idea will get demoted. On the other hand, match a B idea with an A team and you'll get grade-A results every time. 7. Hire people smarter than yourself. Recruit and retain a team of people who know more about what they do than you know. Business is like basketball: Every team member has must play well individually and together in order for the team to win. This applies to investors, board members, and advisors, too. 8. Use the R-U-N strategy to develop a customer-focused organization. Retain customers by providing excellent service; make an effort to Upsell existing customers; and keep building the business by bringing in New customers. (Many monopolies forget this last point, and just keep taking new orders from old customers.) 9. Work hard and play hard, but make sure you work in order to play. No matter how much of yourself you put into your work, always make time for family, friends, and outside interests. (One of my proudest moments? Building a treehouse with my two adolescent sons --12 feet off the ground, with a finished roof, porch, windows, bunk beds, and pulley systems - on time and under budget!) 10. It's not about the destination, but the journey. Remember Odysseus on his odyssey. He learned that hard way that while it's great to have goals, it's better to enjoy the ride. These guiding principles work for me now and have in the past. I'm sure many of you have your own creeds. But as my favorite former president, T-Rex, urged, "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena."
What happens with theatrical movies never seem to be a predictor for what happens to the rest of entertainment media. But when ticket prices continue to rise, you have to wonder -- what about the traditional financial model of supply and demand? Entertainment options are voluminous these days. So it's incredible that one of the older, more traditional entertainment platforms still finds a way to increase ticket prices 5%, to an average of $7.89. A large part of this comes from studios charging much more for those high-flying, in-your-face 3D movies. The 3D movies continue to wow consumers -- or at least a specific type of consumer. TV content owners see this as a positive sign, since they expect a rise in consumers who will pay for digital TV, either on a per-show or per-channel basis. Research suggests that young, somewhat less-financially equipped families have been talking about "cutting the cord" by dropping pricey $50-$100 monthly TV packages. Many are looking to satisfy their entertainment needs through cheaper "Over The Top" wireless TV services, Netflix, or rougher Internet-to-TV connections. Movie ticket prices, meanwhile, are driven in large part by theater-goers aged 12-34. Somehow, these young theater-goers -- many of whom still live with their parents -- need the social interaction found in a movie theater at least once in a while, maybe once a month. That face-time costs about $8 a visit -- which coincidentally is the monthly price of a Netflix "instant streaming" subscription. These two young groups of consumers -- TV viewers and movie-goers -- may not be exactly identical. That's for a media researcher to decode -- or are these consumers akin to openly devout dieters who praise their low-carb, low-protein, low-calorie food intake, only to sneak off once in a while for an extra large smoothie?
Gesture-based interfaces are the kind of cool technology that engages the user in specific circumstances, but still leaves us wondering about its general utility. Tom Cruise's in-air swiping maneuvers for navigating screens in Minority Report look neat as all get-out, but how long will most of us be able to keep our arms suspended in air all day just to move to the next screen. Gesture-based interfaces have a tendency to exchange engagement for gross inefficiencies. It is hard to beat the amount of virtual real estate you can cover with an inch of mouse movement. But engaging these interfaces are. In the little time I have spent with the Xbox Kinect, there is no denying that making a white water raft bounce and shift by jumping and leaning literally connects you to the content with an amazing level of focus. And that is what the video installation company Tronic had in mind with its latest project in the Yahoo offices. The multi-screen video wall is designed to catch the passerby's eye by mimicking their movement with an onscreen image -- in this case the Yahoo logo compiled of tile icons. This "attract mode" maps the logo to your body features so shifting hands or even shoulders will get a response. Once you are engaged, the on screen tiles respond to your movements so you can start interacting with the icons that represent different Yahoo features. Watch a demo here. The exercise in "brand learning" as Tronic calls it was in answer to agency Goodby Silverstein's requirement that the interactive display have no instructions. It has to capture your attention and communicate its interface without intrusive callouts or ponderous tutorials. Tronic says that in watching people at Yahoo interact with the technology they witnessed users evolve into the interface. They became more aggressive after a period of gentle interaction. As their movements became more pronounced, the user would trigger a "carousel mode" where they could interact with individual tiles and see information that was being fed into the informational features from the Yahoo portal itself. In other words, the experience moved you from Yahoo logo into the portal's actual feature set and a demo. For larger out-of-home installations, the Tronic project at Yahoo is an interesting exercise. We have to wonder what it might offer marketers who want to leverage more effectively the gesture based interfaces that now populate all three game consoles: Playstation 3, Xbox and Wii. By making the user the controller, animated content gives the user an unprecedented stake in the engagement between them and a content maker.
According to SideReel, an independent Web TV destination with a base of more than 10 million monthly unique users, 40% of respondents had connected their computer to their TV in the past month, a three-fold increase over last year's results. 60% of people connecting a device to a TV connect their computer, and 5% use a box like Roku, Boxee or Google TV. The survey was conducted to identify usage patterns in the areas of social media, Web TV, and the use of connected devices. The average user age in 2009 was 26, and in the 2010 results, 29, but the report notes that there is no correlation between age and time spent watching online. Average TV User Age (Winter 2010) Age Group20102009 18-34 68% 80% 8-24 44 60 Source: SideReel, January 2010 SideReel CEO, Roman Arzhintar, noted that "... for many, traditional TV watching is starting to supplement online watching, rather than the other way around." Time Spent Watching Online TVWatch/Week% of Respondents > 5 Hours 78% 5-20 Hours 54 Source: SideReel, January 2010 Social Media is important, but only for 25% of online TV watchers. While 29 % used Twitter, none of the check-in services including GetGlue, Miso, Clicker or Foursquare have significant usage among SideReel's TV watchers. Only 10% of users want to broadcast what they are watching or want to watch to their friends. Only 25% of SideReelers want to know what their friends are watching - down 50% from last year. 24% of SideReel visitors subscribe to Netflix. 70 % of users who stream video via the Internet to their TV do so using Netflix. 30% of users stream video other than Netflix to their TVs. Viewing and Connected Devices (% of Respondents; Previous Month):
Here's an American reality for you: We expect commercialization. Sponsorships make the wheels go 'round (just ask NASCAR). We're OK with this, as long as you leave certain sacred cows out of it. Elected officials would have to head that list. But I submit to you this: perhaps it's time to end this separation of consumer and state. I'm not suggesting out-and-out sponsorship of politicians. No, let's just leave that behind the invisible curtain of lobbyists. It doesn't have to be all that overt, nor should it line the pockets of the politicians themselves. What it would do is allow those impressions that are so valued by advertisers to translate directly into driving down the national deficit. Let's allow product placement in the State of the Union Address. For example, at a certain point in the speech, I fully expected President Obama to say "You know, Diet Dr Pepper really DOES taste just like regular Dr Pepper!" Or "It's time that we finally cleaned up Washington - which is now even easier with Kenmore's new multi-motion green technology of their Elite series of washing machines, available only at Sears." Other integrations wouldn't have to be quite as blatant as that. A box of Kleenex on Speaker John Boehner's desk would have to be interpreted as fairly organic. Or Michele Bachmann sipping Lipton - what could be more natural than that? Charlie Rangel sporting a 1-800-USLAWYERS t-shirt? Hey, you have to get direct response in there somewhere. Who better than someone whose troubles started with ignoring the rules of Congress for reaching out to your constituents (customers) on official government time? Wouldn't Nancy Pelosi been rock-solid for one of those "Wanna get away?" spots? Just superimpose the tagline over her during an uncomfortable portion of the address. We'll get it. So besides those Obama voiceovers, most of the placements could be done digitally, to avoid blurring the line of impropriety and implied kickbacks from sponsors. If they really want to be ambitious, they could always decide to appropriate funding for green-screen technology on the floor of the House of Representatives. How great would it be to see Congress taking on the important business of the country, all while enjoying a Carnival cruise? Besides providing a national service and financial windfall, this sponsorship plan would accomplish one other thing: It would force Nielsen to provide ratings for the telecast. Currently, Nielsen doesn't report viewership numbers for the speech, as it is non-advertised content. So we are forced to assume that the viewership of the commercial content that airs after the speech is a relatively accurate surrogate for the network's coverage of the speech itself. That's rather arrogant of the media, to assume that people are as interested in their spin-fest and commentary as they are the major address from the leader of the free world that preceded it. Different networks would be able to sell different packages, extending promotional opportunities. "Look, I can give you a package for a John Kerry/Rand Paul, but you'll have to take Harry Reid, too." "No, sorry, the NY market deal has to include Lieberman - you can't just get Schumer and Gillibrand. Not without premium Tier 1 pricing." The only catch is that the networks can't pocket the profits here, either. All revenues coming from this plan go directly towards paying down the national debt. But that's not to say that certain government agencies wouldn't take their cooperation into account during regulatory hearings for the next mega-merger of media properties, should something like that actually happen in this day and age. So in the spirit of free market capitalism that will win our future, let's hope that by January 2012 we'll be able to reasonably know which news organization's network delivered the most consumers to the "State of the Union Address," sponsored by Fidelity Investments -- "Get More For Less"; and by Dannon -- "Where High Quality Ingredients Create a High Quality Product." Or, in the words of the Majority Floor Services Chief and House Sergeant at Arms, "Mister Speaker, the President of the United States, brought to you by McDonald's -- I'm Lovin' It!"
Pushed around by the still-hot media commodity that is Netflix, the rumblings are that Hulu needs to step up its game by moving more strongly into a pay-TV model. No, Hulu Plus won't cut it. That is just a little sideline business and consumers can't really distinguish much between it and regular old Hulu. The Wall Street Journal cited sources saying that Hulu's owners want to make it a "virtual cable operator." You know who are the main Hulu owners ? News Corp., Walt Disney, and... oh, yes.. .Comcast, the new owner of NBCUniversal. Oh, by the way, doesn't that last company own cable systems? You know, the old-school variety, where someone might come to your home to hook up some wires, or now maybe a wireless device? From a broader prospective, the owners of Hulu want it to get more aggressive. Apparently, $250 million in annual advertising revenue isn't enough. Hulu now needs to move into the big time, into the arena where Netflix lives with $2.13 billion in annual revenue. Things move fast. Only a couple of years ago, Hulu's biggest problem seemed to be YouTube - both its dominant position among monthly unique users and its overall activity. Hulu did become a media darling, for a short time, because it was able to separate itself from the riff-raff of all those user-generated video pixels. Give Hulu credit. It virtually established the term "premium video" versus other lesser quality-Internet video content. Now, Hulu is back on the defensive. Right in Hulu's backyard, Netflix is making more aggressive deals for exclusive content with studios, including some of Hulu's owners. That's not all. Now Fox and ABC want to take back some free Hulu content, perhaps to sell it to.... you can guess. Making Hulu a total pay-video service seems to be the direction favored by executives like Chase Carey, president/chief operating officer of News Corp. But wouldn't that make Hulu a "virtual cable operator' -- offering channels and on-demand programming like traditional cable operators? And would Comcast have a issue with that? Even if you could distinguish between the two products -- traditional cable system TV packages and new Internet-delivered packages -- all this would seem to get a bit muddy. Especially for consumers. When new media products arrive at great speed, with seemingly great entropy, consumers tend to be confused -- and to take no action. You better have a good and big marketing plan here. It's no problem if Hulu executives have time to kill -- perhaps waiting to see if they can raise $2 billion in an IPO. But that's not the way things work in a fast-moving digital world. Welcoming NBCUniversal employees into Comcast at a Town Hall meeting on Thursday, Chairman/CEO Brian Roberts said that NBC is "the only major broadcast network with multiple entertainment channels and shame on us if we can't find a way to take advantage of that." Ooooh. Parental sounding guidance from a big media corporation always goes a long way in preventing disappointment with wayward children --- as well as soothing any sibling rivalry.
Television stations and the syndication industry continue to be a steady business partnership. But could it be better? Take Hearst Broadcasting's David Barrett. He says Hearst stations grab 40% of ad revenues from local news, 24-30% from network programming, and the rest from syndicated shows. Of course, each TV station situation varies. But I would guess that some stations might consider it lucky to have a steady 30%-30%-30% revenue breakdown (including associated digital content), providing a hedge when one or more of the revenue pieces fail to perform. The question becomes how this formula is changing. Many stations want to gain more control, by airing additional local programming -- news/magazine shows, multi-cast digital channels and micro-niche Internet news sites. One thing is for sure: the network part of this three-legged stool seems to be getting shorter. Forget about network compensation. Network executives are angling for a bigger piece of all those retransmission dollars. That leaves syndicated programming -- still a vibrant part of a TV station's revenue plans. The good news: first run shows seem to be getting cheaper to take on board. The bad news: prices for proven off-network sitcoms continue to climb. Many executives continue to believe in the long-term prospects of taking on syndicated programming. That's the good news -- but you wonder whether syndication has really missed the big media boat. Could executives be whispering this at the just-concluded NATPE meeting in Miami? With so many new TV/video platforms, you would think the traditional syndication formulas would have easily extended into other areas -- local multi-cast signals, Internet video sites, and mobile platforms. While content owners do "syndicate" content digitally, there is still little or no connection with the traditional and still-effective syndication business on TV stations. This could have put stations and those in the syndication business in a good place. Syndication might still be a steady part of the 30-30-30 formula for stations. But it seemingly could have been a lot more.
Is the hit MTV series "Jersey Shore" experiencing the same breakaway success online it enjoys on cable? Fuggedaboutit! MTV reports that after dropping two new episodes of the reality TV series on-air last week, the online video views went ballistic. More than 1.6 million unique visitors hit Snooki and friends in a single week, the best results ever for an MTV series. The viewers gobbled down streams like they were free canole, 15 million streams in a week. The next best week of streaming tied to an MTV show had been 12.3 million views off of the 2010 Video Music Awards. Just as "Jersey Shore" on TV is defying the usual reality show dynamics and growing rather than losing audience season-to-season, the Web performance is growing this year. MTV tells us that the streaming begins the next day after the premiere run and as soon as the episode is made available. They are seeing a 32% increase in streaming this year over the typical day-after metrics in the last season. Overall on a weekly average, the new Jersey Shore season is attracting 39% more unique users than last season and 52% more streams. MTV says it is leveraging that cross-platform success to extend not just repeat the on-air experience online. "Jersey Shore begins first on television and then moves to digital where we extend the experience well beyond full episode streaming to include co-viewing experiences, after shows, information on the music showcased in each episode and more. It's this symbiotic relationship between the content offerings that is driving such strong growth." But are advertisers coming along with Snooki, Jwoww and the whole drunken crew as they careen across platforms? Most of the clips we saw at the site were fronted by the recent Honda parade of pre-rolls they seem to be buying everywhere at a massive rate. For the full episodes, however, we spied a custom intro involving the" Jersey Shore" brand and the new "No Strings Attached" film from Paramount. According to Kristin Frank, General Manager, MTV/VH1 Digital, the ad clients are coming into the Jersey Shore phenom from a number of directions. Paramount's new film was the sponsor of a special 10 Minute New Year's Eve Sneak Peak. Sony's release of "The Roommate" sponsors the online poll. Are the bronzer manufacturers not interested in a piece of this?