Some high-priced cable networks forced some traditional TV dollars into the hands of big digital video players this upfront. Speaking at the OMMA Ad Nets conference on Monday, Donnie Williams, executive vice president, chief digital officer for independent media agency Horizon Media, estimates some clients shifted 8% to 13% more dollars into premium digital platforms during the recent upfront sales. Williams did not mention specific cable networks or digital video platforms. Many senior broadcast and cable network executives forecast -- and then claimed big CPM increases for this upfront period, anywhere from 11% to 13%. But Williams notes that some networks collapse from certain price points, where the CPM gap between cable and premium digital video sites closed significantly. "Those [TV] guys drop their rates by an unbelievable amount," says Williams. "So if last year we were looking at CPMs in excess of $30 [for some demos], let's say they dropped their rates by 75%. It was a real land grab. As a result, tons of money went through our organization to digital channels." How much money? A lot. "We were writing deals 8%, 12% to 13% -- that's the increase spend on premium digital channels," says Williams. More importantly, he adds: "We weren't taking a hit on rates." Right now, Williams says, the marketplace for some specific premium digital video sites is solid. "There were guaranteed CPMs in the premium marketplace that sold for $10 -- that's guaranteed against audience," says Williams. These CPMs are for all viewers, persons 2 plus. He notes that the future looks bright for some digital video players. "It's not going to be very long that dollars are going to be re-shuffled and people start to exhaust channels they feel are more in line with the offline [TV] channels they are purchasing."
Jeep has launched a new national campaign to talk up the virtues of its Grand Cherokee SUV. Launching Monday, the print, broadcast and digital effort spotlights the vehicle for is array of media and industry endorsements, fuel economy, capability and the quality of its interior amenities, and appointments. The campaign, via AOR Southland, Mich.-based GlobalHue, sets the stage with a four-page insert in Monday's USA Today spotlighting the list of third-party endorsements and awards the vehicle has won over the year since it launched. Jeep, which says the vehicle is its most-awarded SUV ever, is citing the 30 or more such kudos in the piece. Jeep also has Lexus in the crosshairs in the effort, which puts special attention on the Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit model, the first time that Grand Cherokee variant has appeared in ads. The TV spot is about the Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit model, and how the company's testing of the vehicle's leather interior is better than that of the Lexus RX350. It also talks up the 500-mile-per-tank driving range, and how the vehicle has a better range than Honda Pilot EX. The TV effort comprises four TV ads. One talks about how one can drive from Pebble Beach to Los Angeles on a single tank. This humorous spot teases that even though your Jeep Grand Cherokee can make that long stretch without filling up, we're not sure that can be said about its owner. Another suggests that even if the urban landscape was a giant sandbox, the vehicle would navigate it easily with its Selec-Terrain Vehicle Management and Quadra Lift air-suspension technology, which lets the driver change the vertical distance of the chassis above the wheels for difficult terrain. Kim Adams House, head of Jeep advertising, tells Marketing Daily that while a lot of owners of the vehicle won't take it into the outback, "Off-road capability is a surrogate for real world safety." "When we first launched the 2011 Grand Cherokee almost a year ago to the day, we talked about quality and craftsmanship, that Grand Cherokee was a premiere vehicle not just for Jeep and Chrysler overall but within the industry. Now, the most-awarded [status] brings truth to that." She says the marketing launch cadence focused on different elements, "First and foremost quality and craftsmanship, then four-by-four capability." But she says the company hasn't spent much time enlightening consumers on the interior materials and design story. "Seventy-five percent of the ads speak to the third-party claims and all speak to either fuel economy or luxury." Adams House says the vehicle is appealing to a fairly broad consumer target, both domestics and imports. But she says the company isn't altering its core off-road-capability positioning to conquest the wine-tasting crowd. "Capability is our mainstay; that's who we are," she says. "For people looking for luxury SUVs, what put sets [Grand Cherokee] apart is both luxury, and also the capability story that not every luxury SUV can make claim to." Media placement elements include network and cable television teamed with a full digital and social media strategy and CRM efforts.
So-called "Over The Top" Internet-driven video services are causing bandwidth problems for telcos and IPTV services. Austin-Tx-based IMS Research estimates bandwidth use for telcos and IPTV services was at 44% capacity at the end of 2010. This will move up to 50% between 2010 and 2015. Growing OTT services -- video services that use an Internet/fiber-optic connection -- will total $32 billion in revenues over the next five years, and will be a major feature of IPTV services for pay TV content. "What we have now is a situation where the telcos are actively seeking solutions to optimize bandwidth," says analyst John Kendall in a release. "OTT is here to stay, and the telcos have accepted that." Paul Erickson, analyst with IMS Research's Consumer Electronics Group, adds: "These new devices are forecast to supplant game consoles as the dominant OTT video client over the next few years." IMS Research warns that bandwidth congestion challenges are greater in countries with lower broadband penetration. IMS Research expects Eastern European and Latin American DSL providers to struggle acutely with video-generated congestion issues. One key example: In 2010, France had peak potential bandwidth demand at just over 37% of network capacity. But it will rise to nearly 60% by 2015, mainly due to OTT and multiscreen video.
Regional fast food chain El Pollo Loco is aiming to be something more than excellent with its new marketing campaign. Beginning this month, the Costa Mesa, Calif. company's "Feel the Mexcellence" campaign showcases the restaurant's passion for flavor, preparation and in-store experience. Television commercials in the campaign show off the chain's signature citrus-marinated grilled chicken and other handmade items. "The big difference [between us and competitors] is we do so much by hand," Mark Hardison, the company's vice president of marketing, tells Marketing Daily. "We're getting in at 7 a.m. and marinating our chicken by hand. We're cooking food by hand. That's the biggest thing we're taking credit for and informing the marketplace of." The marketing campaign is part of a top-to-bottom marketing overhaul that includes new signage and displays following the "Mexcellence" theme, as well as other touches like offering receipts with customized messages referencing a customer's order (e.g., "We hope you enjoy your taquitos. We sure enjoyed making them." A commercial making its debut this month depicts the company's attempt at creating the world's largest hand-started fire. In June, the company brought together more than 50 of its employees from around the chain to operate a 25-foot bow drill (a device that moves a spindle back and forth, generating friction and an ember). Although the attempt didn't manage to set the record (flames were added to the commercial via CGI), the event was more about "bringing the brand together," Hardison says. Along those same lines, the company has also introduced a Facebook game through which users can operate a virtual bow drill (using the left and right arrow keys to move the bow and spindle), and pass the flame on to their friends for the chance to receive food coupons. The company is also engaging in a Twitter experiment trying to get 50 people each to use the hashtags #right and #left to receive coupons. "It puts fire making in the hands of the user," Hardison says. "It's a fun way to engage Facebook users and use Facebook the way it was intended, to interact with your friends."
American Family Insurance is launching a national ad campaign focused on the "often elusive and ever-changing American dream." The effort, from Ogilvy & Mather, includes TV, radio, print, online, digital, out-of-home, branded content, search, events, social and multicultural. TV breaks July 18 on high-profile network and cable shows with print ads breaking in the fall. The ads direct people to longliveourdreams.com, where they can enter their own perspectives, see a real-time measure of the overall results, and learn more about how they can protect their dreams. According to research conducted by AFI, the vast majority of American adults (93%) believe the American dream is alive; however, only half of them (46%) are actively pursuing their dream and only 14% are living their dream. And more than 8 in 10 (84%) agree -- the American dream is changing. The campaign does more than ask Americans to call for a quote or a policy, it aims to inspire Americans to dream again, says Telisa Yancy, advertising director at Madison, Wis.-based American Family Insurance. "We believe the American Dream is the ultimate common denominator for every American," Yancy tells Marketing Daily. "More specifically, American Family Insurance is in the business of protecting what's important in people's lives: their families, their homes, their businesses and their vehicles. And by protecting these things, we protect their dreams." This campaign drives home in an emotional and inspirational way what insurance is all about, Yancy adds. Yancy declined to reveal spending on the campaign. "We are making a significant and appropriate investment, and this campaign will be visible in our 19 states where we do business using a variety of media, including for the first time national cable," she says. "We will not spend as much as the big spenders. But we are utilizing broad exposure measures and have also developed richer messaging in passion point publications where consumers will definitely notice us." The site, longliveourdreams.com, originally was used for an introductory, unbranded digital effort in late June. It received more than 300,000 visits in three weeks. Consumers can continue to enter their own perspectives, see a real-time measure of the results, and learn more about protecting their personal dreams. The unbranded effort to gather information for the campaign also included a 60-second spot that ran in 204 theaters across 19 of AFI's operating states. A similar unbranded newsprint effort ran in 23 local newspapers, 12 Hispanic newspapers and 11 African-American newspapers. American Family was not overtly identified during that phase, but the roofline element of the company's registered trademark logo was visible in those spots.
A coalition looking to launch a national mobile program service will use "Dyle" as its consumer brand, even as its roots are slightly in the geek-sphere. "Dyle" apparently is derived from some marriage of decryption and live, referring to the ability to receive and stream broadcast content. The logo for the Mobile Content Venture resembles a mobile device with rabbit ears -- a blend of old and new. MCV includes 12 broadcast groups that are looking to deliver the service nationally, which would have live news and sports and other programming, but also on-demand opportunities. "When a consumer sees the Dyle logo on a box, they will know that the device has the technology required for live mobile TV, on-the-go, wherever they are," stated co-general managers of MCV Salil Dalvi and Erik Moreno. Station groups that are part of MCV are Gannett, Belo, Scripps and Meredith and several others that have formed Pearl Mobile, LLC. Fox, Ion and NBC are also members of MCV. The initial aim is to be live in 32 markets, covering half of the country. The dyle.tv Web site is not live yet.
At the end of the movie "The American President," Michael Douglas says of his opponent, "His problem isn't that he doesn't get it, his problem is that he can't sell it." We seem to have both problems today. There are 435 voting members of the House of Representatives, 100 Senators, and 1 president. They are our duly elected representatives and they are currently engaged in a great debate that, because of our 24/7 TV culture, has devolved into bad theater -- or, depending on your preferences, has become the best reality show on television. Of these 536 men and women, it is estimated that approximately 40% are lawyers. For the data types among us, this indexes to approximately 700 vs the U.S. working population. When was the last time you asked your lawyer for financial advice? I speak of the Great Debt Ceiling Show, starring President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Senator Reid and a supporting cast of too many to name. The flaw in the story line is that we know how it will end. This week (or possibly next, if either side feels their TV interviews are going particularly well), there will be an "agreement." You will please pardon the expression, as the outcome will be more of a hold your nose accommodation to political survival than any intent to agree, or to serve the country. It has become, on all sides, about positioning for elections -- and little more. What we, and the rest of the worldwide audience, are breathlessly witnessing is the Butterfly Effect, once again. To review from an earlier piece referencing the perfectly named Chaos Theory, when even small changes are made to complex systems (our politics and our economy for example), large, unintended effects often result. In our case, the metaphorical butterfly's wing is round-the-clock televising of our political discourse. Historians tell us that the first "TV President" was John F Kennedy. He just looked better than Nixon, and folks around the country became enamored when he said "cahr" and they had to figure out he meant automobile. Fast-forward to today, and we see that television has caused our most serious debates to be conducted in sound bites. Like the current one in which we hear, "Live within our means," and for the other side, "Everyone should pay their fair share." Is there anyone who believe this represents a useful discussion of a serious issue? Our Fed Chairman says the result of not raising the debt ceiling would be a "huge financial calamity." Thanks. There has been little substantive dialogue on this ongoing TV show of the impact of default on each citizen from the resulting 40% cutback in government payments, little mention of the higher cost of money as interest rates rise on credit cards and auto loans. And little reference to the resulting severe stock market decline, or the real impact of another cycle of recession. Maybe it's a disservice to say they don't get it. The stars of this show are intelligent. But I guarantee that neither side has been able to articulate and sell it, or we wouldn't be playing chicken at this point. In an earlier time we'd be hearing, after the fact, about the "backroom deal" that was struck. It's not an earlier time, and we should be happy about that. We have the means not only to practice advanced advertising today, but advanced citizenship. Let's use the MediaTech tools and channels we've created, and on which we practice our craft, to make our voices heard. Let's take charge of the outcome and cancel the show.
What are the first two words that come to mind when someone says "Charlie Sheen"? Anger? Management? Say what you will about Sheen. But Lionsgate's effort to star him in a sitcom titled "Anger Management," riffing off the 2003 theatrical movie starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, makes perfect popular culture sense. Even those who only tangentially know about Sheen's adventures earlier this year might have their ears perk up. I smiled a bit when I first heard about the new sitcom -- and that's the producers' point. What is the actual show about? We only know it is "loosely" based on the movie from Joe Roth's Revolution Studios that was distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The movie was about a calm businessman (Sandler) who mistakenly gets sent to an anger management coach (Nicholson). But will the TV show be funny? At this point, who cares? "We always look for series ideas that are noisy, accessible and relevant," Kevin Beggs, president of Lionsgate Television, told The Hollywood Reporter. Noisy? Yeah, we get it. The "anger" will no doubt be a tease for this entire show. We will wait patiently for Sheen to explode -- which will deliver a somewhat true picture of his crazy off-screen life over the first part of this year. Sheen will play the Nicholson role -- an anger management counselor who has had anger issues. A big question is whether the iron is still hot around Sheen. Another big question: How much of Sheen do we want to see in this way? What network will run this bit of Hollywood entertainment? Nothing has been released as yet. Lionsgate's Debmar-Mercury, the unit handling the Sheen project, has done recent deals with cable network TBS for Tyler Perry sitcoms, as well as distributing "Wendy Williams" and other shows in syndication. Expect a number of cable networks to take a chance here -- but perhaps not too many broadcast networks, including, obviously, Sheen's former place of employment, CBS. But also expect a different kind of Sheen -- at least early on. I imagine the first couple of episodes will have a demur low-key Sheen playing off viewers' expectations that they"ll see him do his anger stuff. My guess is that will come in episode three, with bigtime tune-in ads pushing viewers to "Watch this week's episode when [Sheen's character] gets 'emotional' or 'honest'." TV marketers -- and maybe even viewers -- are salivating.
In just about two months' time, on the tenth anniversary of the event that changed America, the Word Trade Center Memorial will open to the public. I had the opportunity to take a private tour of the site last week, and it was one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. To be honest, I wasn't sure -- and I'm still not sure -- that my visit was appropriate fodder for this column. I had trouble finding the words to describe my experience at the site, and I deliberated about whether I should even try. But in the end, I decided that the visit brought me a healthy moment of reflection, one that I hope I can share with my readers. Like many of us, I lost friends that day. One friend, Doug Gardner, the vice chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, was set to play with me on the U.S. Masters Basketball team at the 2001 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Another was Neil Levin, the executive director of the Port Authority at the time. With my office just below the World Trade Center then, I had an incredible view of my friends' offices but never really appreciated the towers' magnificence until last week. The memorial itself consists of two reflecting pools, each 200 feet square, occupying the exact footprints of the two towers. Water will flow continuously into each pool in a parabolic arc (water was in the pools but not flowing when I visited), creating a sense of intimacy despite the enormous scale of the site. The memorial is elegant, simple, and respectful. The architect, Michael Arad, called his design "Reflecting Absence," and that's exactly what the memorial does: It grants visitors the opportunity to reflect on the void left by the towers and those who perished within. The story of the memorial's origin and construction - from Arad's unlikely selection in a design competition to the multitude of bureaucratic challenges the project has faced - has been told many times. (To ensure his vision would be realized, leading architectural firm Davis Brody, with Steve Davis at the helm, was assigned to oversee the memorial's architectural team and design the museum.) To me, what's most striking about the memorial is the genuine, powerful feeling at its heart. It's this feeling - a somber but uplifting one, of resilience and community - that the architects channeled into their design, which pays respect to victims and their families but also celebrates the power of the American spirit. Intentionally or not, it also shines a bright light on the magnificence of American ingenuity. That feeling also derives from the authenticity of the experience of the memorial. The pools and imprints of the immense steel girders that remained after the towers' collapse inhabit the exact space that the towers once did. It would have been easier for engineers to relocate them elsewhere, but Mayor Bloomberg made it a priority to keep the site intact. I'm glad he did. In building the memorial, which has consumed more than half a billion dollars and the better part of a decade, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (the city agency overseeing the project) did a phenomenal job balancing many interests. What you don't see of the memorial is as incredible as what you do see. Powering the water cascades is a massive underground pump room containing 100 pumps. The trees surrounding the pools - eventually, they'll number 400 - are kept thriving atop five feet of soil by an irrigation system that captures and recycles rain run-off via barely noticeable gradations in the pavement. The reflecting pools themselves, which must be absolutely flat to function, were built so that as the site settles the welds can be broken and the pools re-leveled - an incredibly creative and sophisticated solution to a perennial engineering challenge. While the museum underneath the pools is awaiting completion of the memorial, I understand the Davis Brody design is incredible. And while I did descend all the way down to the bedrock, there were constant reminders of the tragedy - the lone surviving tree from the plaza, the original Vesey Street stairs (aka the "Survivor Stairs") that saved many lives, and the soaring, twisted girders. And surrounding the pools on a bronze plaque are the names of those we lost, carefully arranged in groupings based on a sophisticated algorithm. Connecting these individuals' names with the lives they lived will be interactive histories, available to visitors all the way down on the bedrock via a mainframe computer. If there is a message the memorial conveys to the world, I think it's about the perseverance and priorities of the American people. Ten years after the day that changed history, we're different but not diminished. We know who we are, and we know what we can and must do. The memorial itself embodies that spirit. As an entrepreneur, there are parallels I could draw from my visit to the state of the media industry today, about the ways in which technology has evolved in the last decade, the tenacity of the site's planners, and the engineering marvel they've produced. But at the end of the day, for me it's really all about who we are - as individuals and as Americans - and how we remember. The World Trade Center memorial will open to the public on 9/11/11. Visit for yourself, and pause to reflect - on the events of that day, the decade behind us, and the decades to come. In more ways than one, the memorial reminds us that while we have much to remember, we also have much to look forward to.