MetLife has signed a 25-year agreement with the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets to name the Meadowlands venue MetLife Stadium. More than two million fans attend events at the East Rutherford, N.J.-based stadium every year, and it will host Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014. As home to the Jets and Giants, like its predecessor, it is the only stadium that houses two NFL teams, both of which are ranked among the top five most valuable franchises in the league and have national fan bases. The agreement makes New York-based MetLife the official insurance company of the Jets, Giants and the stadium complex, and includes interior and exterior branding on the venue. It also includes naming rights to the stadium; 120,000 square feet of branded space at the main west entrance; four illuminated signs on the exterior of the building; four inner-bowl signs and TV, radio, print and online media opportunities. The stadium opened on April 10, 2010. At a construction cost of $1.6 billion, it is said to be the most expensive sports stadium ever built, and is the largest stadium in the NFL in terms of permanent seating capacity. The pact was first reported in June by Sports Business Journal to be worth about $18 million a year. MetLife previously had paid a reported $7 million for a "cornerstone" sponsorship promoting its brand in a corner of the stadium. The cornerstone sponsor concept provides four corporations their own branded zones, each of which serves as a main entrance to the stadium and offer integrated fan activities tailored for each organization. As the first cornerstone sponsor in 2010, MetLife was able to sign up 30,000 football fans for contests and promotions with prizes like free tickets and a fantasy football camp with the players. The cornerstone sponsorship vacated by MetLife is now available, according to stadium officials. The other cornerstone sponsors are Pepsi, Bud Light and Verizon. MetLife plans to expand its fan-focused sponsorship approach. The company provided hundreds of fans with one-of-a-kind opportunities in 2010. As the stadium sponsor, the financial services company plans to do even more this year, with unique experiences including tickets to big games, the opportunity to play on MetLife Stadium turf, face-to-face meetings with star players, field passes, trips to away games and signed memorabilia. Beth Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer for MetLife, said the company was attracted to the diversity of audiences for the stadium's non-football events, such as international soccer games and concerts. "Hundreds of millions of people will experience events at MetLife Stadium either in person or via broadcasts from the venue," she says in a release. This Friday, Aug. 26, Jets and Giants players will gather in New York's Bryant Park to celebrate with fans. The event will include game ticket giveaways and fan interaction opportunities. Attendees will include Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan with players Mark Sanchez and Darrelle Revis, and Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin with players Eli Manning and Justin Tuck. The event will be hosted by broadcast personality Mike Golic. Allianz, a German-based financial services company previously expressed interest in purchasing naming rights to the stadium. The proposal was for a period of up to 30 years, and was estimated to be valued at somewhere between $20 million and $30 million USD. However, it sparked protests from New York's Jewish community and the Anti-Defamation League, which opposed the deal due to ties in the past between Allianz and the government of Nazi Germany during World War II. No agreement was reached, and talks between Allianz and the teams ended in September 2008.
Jack Daniel's and the Zac Brown Band (ZBB) have announced a partnership spanning events, TV, in-store and other elements. This is the distillery's first formal sponsorship of a band in more than a decade. There is significant affinity and overlap between Jack Daniel's and Zac Brown Band fans -- both embrace authentic values, music and spirits, summed up Jack Daniel's master distiller Jeff Arnett. ZBB's first album ("The Foundation") went double-platinum and was one of Billboard's top 20 albums of 2009, and its second ("You Get What You Give") was recently certified platinum. The sponsorship will kick off at ZBB's upcoming concerts on September 5th and 6th at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colo. While the brand's activities will vary from venue to venue, they will include stage signage, some kind of beverage presence, ticket giveaways, Jack Daniel's' "Lynchburg on Wheels" traveling distillery experience, and a presence at ZBB's pre-concert "Eat & Greets" for VIP attendees. (Brown and band members are foodies who travel with a chef, who also prepares treats for the guests from a cooking trailer.) Two TV spots featuring the band will be aired beginning during the 2011 holiday season and into spring 2012, according to Jack Daniel's PR manager, Andrea Duvall. One aspect of the partnership is launching and promoting a responsible drinking campaign, and one of the TV spots focuses on this messaging. The other will be more music- and tour-related, says Duvall. Social media and in-store promotions will also drive awareness. In addition, a JD commemorative bottle program will support Camp Southern Ground, Brown's camp for children with special needs.
More consumers with cable, satellite or telco TV services have downgraded their services in the last year -- and more are on the way. Dallas-based researcher Parks Associates says 13% of consumers who have broadband connections have made cutbacks within the last 12 months -- with another 9% to come. The study says this includes some 3.9 million people who regularly watch Internet video. These "downgraders" or "cord shavers," who typically spend $20 or less on monthly video services, are heavy TV users. They watch, on average, 4.2 hours of Internet video on their TV each week. Parks Associates says the growth of downgraders is more closely linked to the growth of broadband adoption than watching more Internet video. It recommends that providers of pay TV improve their video on demand selections -- especially to compete with Netflix and Redbox. The study says 22% of all broadband households now use the Netflix Watch Instantly service. It was also suggested that set-top box distributors find a way to include YouTube, the digital video service, which is already being included in many Internet-connected TVs on the market. The reports says "TV Everywhere will be an ineffective retention tool." The data suggests that 11% of all pay-TV households, or 6.5 million homes, would pay an extra $15 a month. Many consumers view TV Everywhere as a "premium package." The study suggests that "TV Everywhere" providers will see gains if many offer no-frill packages. Park Associates notes that nearly 50% of all flat-panel TVs sold in 2011 will be Internet-connectable and about two-thirds of U.S. broadband households will have a video-game console connected to the Internet. Consumer sales of Internet-connectable TV devices will climb to nearly 350 million units worldwide by 2015. In terms of overall pay TV provider, the study ranked DirecTV the highest in overall TV viewing experience satisfaction, and AT&T in second place.
Summertime gives kids more freedom to play -- and to play with media. One reason: kids using more media/digital devices. Almost half of parents said they allowed children to consume "more" television, at 49%, and 46% for video games, in the summer. When asked whether they allow kids to consume "much more," those results rang up a 23% number for some parents; and 24% when it came to video games. This information was tallied from a Adweek/Harris Poll survey. Parents look to keep kids occupied when school is out. And while going to the beach, playing outside and doing formal sports is a big piece of the action, so is extra media time. But there are also parents who push children in another direction: 16% have their kids watch less TV in the summer; 13% spend less time with video games; and 13% are interacting less with the Internet. And 14% of parents have their kids spend less time with movies. What about media rules? About one-quarter of parents say they do not loosen media consumption rules in the summer. Some 17% say they have no rules at all when it come to their children's media consumption. Much of the increase in media activity comes from kids having their own digital devices. Seventy percent of parents of children 17 or younger living at home say their child has a handheld gaming device; 59% say their child has a television in their bedroom; and 52% say their child has their own personal computer. The survey polled almost 3,000 U.S. adults online between August 5 and 9, 2011 by Harris Interactive.
Chase Card Services is launching a multimedia ad campaign to support the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which is offering additional points for certain purchases. The new enhancement offers cardmembers two points per dollar spent on travel and dining purchases, in addition to existing benefits, including no foreign transaction fees and dedicated, immediate live customer service. Chase Sapphire Preferred, which debuted two years ago, is Chase's premiere affluent rewards card. Cardmembers have redeemed billions of Ultimate Rewards points for hundreds of thousands of trips, said Sean O'Reilly, general manager, Chase Card Services. "Chase Sapphire Preferred is designed for affluent cardmembers who are looking for unique experiences, not just more stuff," O'Reilly tells Marketing Daily. "When we spoke with cardmembers, there was a common theme of travel and dining as their passion points. These changes allow Chase Sapphire Preferred to reward them for what they love to do." To support the new enhancement, Chase is launching a multimedia advertising campaign entitled "A Card of A Different Color," which challenged the preconceived notion that something the color of "gold" is more valuable, putting claim to substance over status. The card is an indirect slam at its competitors, such as American Express, whose "gold" card is well known. TV broke Aug. 22 and is running on channels including ABC, NBC, Fox, Food Network, AMC, E!, Discovery, CNN, ESPN, History, Travel and FX. The first spot will run through early September, with additional spots running through the end of the year. Print is running in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The New York Times. Online ads will run on multiple websites including TripAdvisor, Expedia, AOL, CNN, Facebook, MSN, NYMag,com, NY Times, Hulu, Discovery, OpenTable, JetSetter, National Geographic, Pandora, CondeNast, TastingTable and Yahoo. In the first of four TV spots, Chase asks "if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more?" The "Card of A Different Color" campaign includes broadcast, digital and print components that challenge the "value of gold," showcasing the range of travel options -- from bullet train to airplane, and dining options -- from fork to spork, on which cardmembers will earn double points. Travel-related purchases include air, hotel, car, trains, travel agencies and taxis. Dining purchases can be from fast food and coffee shops to fine dining. Points earned never expire and cardmembers can collect a 7% Annual Points Dividend each calendar year, even on points already redeemed. The card's $95 annual fee is waived the first year. All current Chase Sapphire Preferred cardmembers will automatically receive the new enhancement. New Chase Sapphire Preferred cardmembers will receive a one-time 50,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first three months. "Another benefit of Chase Sapphire Preferred is that is takes 20% fewer points to redeem for travel through Ultimate Rewards," O'Reilly says. "For example, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardmembers can redeem a 50,000-point flight using only 40,000 points (20% fewer) when booking on Chase's Ultimate Rewards redemption site."
Nielsen's TV measurement service in Puerto Rico has received accreditation by the Media Rating Council following its April 2010 launch. Nielsen said the three principal stations in the U.S. territory and some agencies solicited it to launch a ratings service two years ago. Nielsen uses its UNITAM metering system in Puerto Rico (and other markets outside the U.S.) which relies on sampling methodology deployed in the U.S., audio signature tracking technology and infrared detection. A 500-home sample in Puerto Rico allows for overnight ratings with demographic information attached. Nielsen says it has 22 clients across six regions in the U.S. territory. The MRC accreditation process involves an audit of a system to gauge its reliability and effectiveness. "An exciting development and an important endorsement" is how Victor Vazquez, who oversees Nielsen's Puerto Rican operations, described the MRC result. Stations in Puerto Rico include NBC Universal-owned WKAQ and three Univision-owned outlets. The Caribbean Broadcasting Network owns ABC, CW and Fox outlets. Pay-TV systems include a cable company owned by Liberty Global, which serves 81,000 homes, and satellite TV through DirecTV's Latin American operation and Dish Network. The island has about 4 million residents.
Future digital TV/video consumption will shift to tablets from PCs. Scottsdale, Ar.-based media researcher In-Stat says 65% of the U.S. population will own a smartphone and/or tablet by 2015 -- that comes to over 200 million people in total. The survey says this estimate will have an impact on how video entertainment is acquired and consumed. Other surveys suggest that laptops and PC business have already taken a hit because of new portable tablets. The In-Stat survey says 86% of smartphone/tablet users will view video on their mobile devices -- and that 60% of smartphone/tablet owners will also be viewing so-called over-the-top (OTT) video services at home. The survey also says there will be nearly two smartphone/tablet owners per OTT household. The dominant brand in homes in this context: Apple. The average Apple household will have four Apple devices, while the average Google Android household will have over two Android devices. Keith Nissen, research director of In-Stat, stated that the company's study, the U.S. Multiscreen Video Database, "quantifies consumption and interaction with video entertainment on mobile devices both outside and inside the home." He added that this complements its other entertainment database products, which track the online/pay-TV video market.
Media General's station group is syndicating a NASCAR-related special produced by its station in the mid-size Johnson City, Tenn. market and has signed up 80-plus stations. The hour-long show celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Bristol Motor Speedway located in the market. Stations in Phoenix, Orlando and San Antonio have signed on to air it. The Johnson City station, CBS affiliate WJHL, is set to broadcast this week. The Johnson City market -- which straddles Tennessee and Virginia and is known as the Tri-Cities -- is an important one for Media General, since it also operates a daily newspaper there. Media General said several national advertisers bought time in the production "Bristol Turns 50: Half Century Half Mile," which takes place as the track hosts a NASCAR race Saturday night on ABC. "Almost half of the households in the United States will have access to this program," stated Jack D. Dempsey, general manager of WJHL. Even as NASCAR has dropped races in many small markets in favor of Dallas and Chicago, it still holds two races a year in the Tri-Cities area, the country's 91st-largest DMA. The market did move up two places on the Nielsen rankings this year and now has 337,000 households. The special includes interviews with NASCAR greats Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace and current luminaries Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch.
NBC Universal said it has hired a former executive at the ABC-owned stations to lead marketing at its group of 10 owned stations. Therese A. Gamba becomes senior vice president of marketing for the group. Gamba had served in marketing roles at the ABC stations in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She will report to Valari Staab, the new president of the NBC group. Staab joined from ABC-owned KGO in San Francisco in April, where she overlapped with Gamba several years ago. Gamba will serve as an "in-house consultant" for the NBC stations, helping them "define and develop their unique brand strategies," NBCU said. The company is making an effort to decentralize control of the stations and allow each to carve out a stronger individual brand in its market. Staab changed the name of the division from NBC Local Media to the NBC Owned Television Stations. Staab stated that Gamba is "one of the most talented, creative and results-driven marketing professionals I've ever worked with." After leaving the ABC stations, Gamba was a consultant working with clients such as Warner Bros. syndication group.
Will the two-screen experience crush the future of digital television? I heard this question posed earlier last week, and it's possible the idea has merit. It's taken a while for digital TV to really come of age, and in that time Apple launched the wildly successful iPad and created the tablet market. Consumers have flocked to the idea of watching television either with or on the iPad, and in doing so they have circumvented the need for a more interactive digital television experience. This doesn't mean that digital TV -- or TV in any form, for that matter -- is not still important. It just means that the bells and whistles of an interactive digital experience on your cable box may not be as necessary or desirable in the eyes of the consumer. Consumers watch TV a lot. That's not going to change, but in recent years we've seen more instances of consumers watching TV with a laptop or tablet in front of them, effectively multitasking. We also see more consumers watching their favorite shows online, detracting from the cable box itself, and creating a more seamless interactive experience on their Internet-connected devices. Lots of TV manufacturers are working apps into the TV experience, but after the initial wave of excitement, I haven't seen much additional consumer interest. Social media is what consumers are using while watching TV, and that experience is better on a tablet, laptop or smartphone. It's not an experience consumers are shifting to on a TV, and I don't know that they ever will. TV gets expensive very quickly because the cable companies nickel and dime you for every possible addition. When I moved recently, it took many hours to set up cable service at my new home -- and that was before I even got my cable operator on the phone. The permutations of services are endless, so just imagine what it will be like when they offer fully integrated digital services? I can imagine a world with messaging fees attached to my TV, but I don't think consumers are going to be willing to pay for additional services when they already have them on a different device. It just doesn't make sense. If consumers are watching TV on their computers and tablets, then digital TV (in the industry sense of the term) just isn't necessary. There will be a portion of the audience that simply doesn't want it, and they are more than happy watching TV and toggling between shows and social media. That experience is all they need. Digital television has been promised for 15 years now, and it's starting to feel a little like mobile: always 2-3 years away from being viable. As with mobile, it relies on consumer adoption, penetration of the devices, and the integration of the platforms into regular programming that engages the consumer and makes the experience interesting! It's very possible that digital TV may have missed the boat. What do you think? Is there a future here, or has the future already passed by? Let me know on the Spin Board!
Mike McGuirre, VP MSA Media, and Eric Bartko, Senior Marketing Research Manager Business Analysis, MSA Media, work in a unique and pivotal part of the media contract fulfillment industry. Mike is a 20-year veteran of MSA, with expertise in the post buy auditing area. Recently his work has taken him into data analysis and analytics to help better inform clients. Eric's expertise started with CPG clients examining media mix modeling and has extended into STB and C3 analytics with network clients. In this interview, Mike and Eric talk about MSA and work in commercial analytics, addressable advertising and some upcoming industry trends. Below is a short excerpt of some of the video interview. Direct links to the full interview videos can be found here. CW: Mike, addressable advertising appears to be coming into its own. From your perspective and from your part of the business at MSA, what do you see addressable advertising going? MMc: I would say that it will take a little while before it becomes widespread. It will grow continuously over the next several years. But I think that while it is great to talk about segmenting your target and targeting your ads specifically to those groups, you still need to have some broad-based messaging to keep your brand name out there. What is the right balance between a very heavily targeted message among high loyals or light switchers versus a more broad based campaign to try and get someone to buy or even consider your product who are not currently aware of it or who may, as their life evolves, might consider purchasing your product. So I think there is still a lot to learn about the balance of addressability and traditional broad-based advertising. In the way advertising is bought and sold today on a national media basis, you buy a spot and it runs to all potential viewers of that network. When you think of carving up your inventory, the more the way the internet is bought and sold today, how you price that becomes an interesting question. If the spots are still going to be sold the way they are today as opposed to a more auction-driven model like the internet spots are bought and sold, I would think that networks and agencies would need some relatively powerful tools to find out what increase over the average cpm should they be paying when they are targeting a segment of the population. On the network side - what premium or discount should we charge versus what is going to be left for me to sell. I think that is one of the reasons why its going to take a little while to adopt addressable advertising on a mass basis. Those business models that are driving $70 billion in tv sales are sometimes slow to change or evolve and addressable is a relatively drastic change. I am curious as to how early adopters such as Invidi and other companies that are starting to segment their populations based on advertising requests are going to figure out how much to charge for all the segmented parts and any remnant inventory. CW: Eric, can you talk about what MSA does in the area of measuring commercial pods? EB: We work primarily with the Nielsen data for networks doing copy impact analysis, which is measuring the impact that certain copy has on audience delivery and flow. If delivery levels during a commercial pod have a bowl shape - the highest deliveries are in the beginning and at the end - our analysis can help improve the delivery in the middle of the pod. There may be particular ad copy that performs well no matter where it is in the commercial pod. What impact does this particular brand, copy, ad etc bring to the entire pod? CW: So you are saying that some brands have a halo effect on the commercial pod or is it driven by a particular creative for the spot? EB: It is a combination of both. In our results, we found particular brands having good and bad copy. Some of it is obviously driven by wear-out, airing a particular copy too much. That can impact a brand. But there are specific brands that seem, no matter what the copy or creative is, always do well.
One guy in my gym keeps pulling the plug of the TV set out of the wall in the men's locker room, according to the club manager. No one knows why. Maybe he's read that report saying television can cut years off one's estimated lifespan. So after doing his workout -- which should add years to his life -- he's only even. But I'm wondering about the health of the TV industry. Are CNN, CNBC, Fox News or other networks upset that around the country similar stuff and more are going on. Those networks were maybe missing key viewers in my gym who probably would have wanted to know there was a 5.9 earthquake in Virginia or that the Dow Jones rocketed back by adding some 320 points. It's not just a matter of access. Even with a TV set in place, out-of-home television ratings points can still be elusive. This fall, even if the big TV networks' NFL and college football games get shown in bars, restaurants and other places, they won't really get credit. Future NFL watchers might scan their tablets and smartphones in bars and other places, enabling some new technology to, in theory, count those viewers. Right now advertisers are still not fully compensating networks for out-of-home viewing -- even when the networks have worked out special or custom rating arrangements. Arbitron has done some custom work with its portable people meters that can pick up viewing by detecting audio if it is coded in content. NBC used Arbitron for such out-of-home viewing measurement of the 2010 Olympics. Still, Arbitron and others want to start a more regular service -- which can bring more regular interest and credibility for advertisers. Right now, I'm just looking for any news service -- CNN, Fox News, CNBC,or otherwise. -- to watch while putting on my workout gloves. I'll even consider carefully examining advertising offers to buy gold, admission to a vocational school, or rent some office furniture.
@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Just so you don't misunderstand me, let me start with the disclaimer that I love the idea of Internet-connected TVs. If the future is to have most things connected to the Internet, such as your toaster, refrigerator and washing machine, the TV is not a bad place to start. Earlier this year, ConnectedTVs were rechristened SmartTVs, probably as a way to draw some of the reflected light from the growing popularity of smartphones. For the first time in Q4, 2010, smartphone shipments exceeded PC shipments globally, and by 2012 smartphone shipments are predicted to surpass feature phone shipments in the U.S., according to InStat. This is a long journey for smartphones that were until very recently simply the purview of enterprise and business users. The term "smart" in the context of devices or gadgets alludes to advanced and rich in features or something that is elegant to use in functionality. The inflexion point in smartphone adoption happened with the iPhone. It immediately redefined the category of smartphones from a business work horse to the coolest, most fun gadget you could have with an online connection (and a mobile one to boot). The rest, as we all know, is history. Who could then resist the lucre of being in the smartphone business? The game is on with Android following suit, Microsoft waking from its slumber, RIM bearing the major brunt of this tectonic shift, Nokia losing its mantle as the leading smartphone platform and eventually discarding Symbian, and Palm getting acquired by HP. History is being written, folks, and the smartphone will forever change how we do things. Location based services being used for commercial applications, such as local promotions; finding friends and building spontaneous social networks; checking into venues; and all sorts of other seemingly useful and useless things are nevertheless transformational in what we do and how we do it. And this is just the start. Expect a lot more from the smartphone when we're out shopping, looking for things to do, using virtual reality to enhance our experiences of places we're visiting, using QR codes to get more information instantly and interact with advertising and such on the go, and the list goes on. Truly, calling these devices smart is appropriate nomenclature. Phones are first and foremost a communications and productivity tool. Despite all the fun stuff that is available for smartphones -- gaming and video included -- one cannot deny that the tremendous utility of the platform, applications, and location awareness is an important driver of productivity and connectedness. The TV, on the other hand, has mainly been an entertainment device. As the programming has evolved, so has the role of TV in our lives. We don't hear the term anymore, but for the longest time the lowly television was called the idiot box. Everyone can relate to Bruce Springsteen's lament of '57 channels and nothing on', at least until the arrival of DVRs. Even then, by the time the fall season ends, the TiVo library starts getting sparse. The TV has been credited as a contributor to the general dumbing down of how we spend our time. Whatever smart things could be done on a TV set in the past never took off. I am referring to things such as WebTV and Microsoft Media Center PCs. I am sure some of the rationale for that was consumer choice -- although those products coming from Microsoft may have had some bearing on it too, if you know what I mean. The smartest things connected to our TVs today are game consoles, and therein lies the dilemma of calling the TVs smart as well. GoogleTV still has a pulse, but just about, and AppleTV - well, that was dumbed down as well. So forgive me if the use of the term smartTV is going to take a little more getting used to compared to the smartphone. ConnectedTVs was an appropriate name - they are after all now connected to the thing that we all want to be connected to - namely the Internet. However, making the qualitative distinction that the TV is going to do smart things for us, or actually help us do smart things is yet to be seen. I am definitely in the camp that wants smart utility merged with the TV, but (despite being a marketer) I need it to be more than a marketing term before I can subscribe to it.
I wrote something several months ago about Peter Rabar, an agency legend I had the privilege to work for, and to learn from. It was called "In Peter We Trust." The piece, on one level, talked about the nature of the client-agency relationship -- that is, what it takes to achieve a long-term, productive one. And it questioned whether we were talking ourselves out of the notion that such a quaint concept can apply today, with so much more specialization, technology and pace. Of course it can. In fact, it is needed more today than ever. If we need to debate that idea, perhaps we can do it another day. There was another lesson Peter taught me, which happened on a very busy winter day. I mentioned that he was the former secretary to the agency's founder, and had become over time the head of its largest and most profitable account -- a position he held, brilliantly, for three decades. He ran this account with one assistant for all those years, and for a few of them, I was that assistant. We were working on our key, first-quarter member solicitation campaign. It involved the integration of television, print and mail, with the kind of complex test vs control plans that direct marketers routinely execute. This was just on a major scale. One of the key components of the campaign was tens of millions of preprinted newspaper inserts. They were to be supported by the TV buy and provide a supplement to the mail, to build up a critical penetration level in each market. We were really busy when we got the call. One of the trucks carrying several million of the inserts was late with its delivery. After a few more phone calls, we discovered there was a massive snowstorm on this route, and no one could assure us when the delivery would be made, or if it would be made. This was our key campaign of the year. As John Belushi might have said, millions of dollars and thousands of lives (or maybe the other way around) were at stake. Several hours later we got another call. The truck was found. It had slid off the side of the road and lost its cargo. We were frantic. Production directors were calling printers, media directors were calling publications and TV stations, and we were all trying to figure out what to tell the client about the status of the campaign. We gathered in Peter's office to review the options. After allowing us to vent and pretend to have a plan, he sat back in his chair, removed his ever-present cigar and asked, "How's the driver?" No one else had asked that question. We looked at each other, understood that we had lost sight of the important stuff, and left his office to find out. The driver was OK. The inserts were lost. We reprinted them and everything else fell into place, delay and all. It always does. I think of Peter often when things get a bit frenetic. And I thank him for reminding me of the important stuff.
On June 24, location-based social network Foursquare trumpeted an infusion of $50 million in VC capital -- a piece of news that deservedly received the attention of hundreds of news outlets. The day earlier, however, Foursquare announced a myriad of strategic alliances, which included one with American Express, allowing users of the Foursquare mobile app to receive credits applied directly to their Amex cards when purchasing goods (after checking in) from participating Foursquare-tagged locations. The $50 million announcement quickly overshadowed the prior day's release -- but in hindsight, the Amex news will likely have much more historic value. Having now seen and tested the Foursquare / American Express process firsthand, I can honestly report that Foursquare has bridged the complexity of couponing in one of the most seamless ways imaginable. And I'm excited about the implications this will have on TV advertising, direct response, and home shopping content. First, let's be clear -- there are some pretty cool "ease of purchase" apps out there. Let's take the Starbucks app, for example. Load a Starbucks gift card with $25+, register the unique card number within the Starbucks app on your smart phone, and you can pretty much leave your card at home. Visit any of the hundreds of Starbucks enabled with their special scanning technology, open the Starbucks app on your phone, hold up the special QR code it displays as you confirm your purchase, and the total is instantly deducted from your gift card balance. Seconds later, your phone reflects the reduced balance on your physical (and virtual) card. This is good stuff; elegant, fast, and slick. But the Starbucks experience is primarily confined to, and within, the Starbucks environment. The location needs to have the enabling hardware installed, the consumer has to display the app's QR code to the cashier as part of the payment process, and the cashier must hold the scanner up to the phone to scan the code, in order to complete the transaction. Training and retraining staff (and newly hired staff) adds another, hidden burden to the app's overhead. By way of comparison, what Foursquare has accomplished is more complex in the background, yet provides consumers and retailers with an even more seamless, less labor-intensive experience than the Starbucks example. Since we're using coffee shops as illustrations, let's look at Dunkin' Donuts. By visiting participating Dunkin' Donuts, and then "checking in" using Foursquare, you'll see a special offer on your phone's display (at least in the Tampa Bay markets), offering $2 off any purchase of $10 or more, during the month of August. The caveat: the purchase must be made using your American Express card. Once you link your Amex card to your Foursquare account, there's really nothing else you need to do, other than spend the requisite minimum using your American Express card. Here's the cool part: At the retail level, the cashier does nothing out of the ordinary. There are no codes to scan, no text messages to verify, no coupons to tear out, deduct, and mail in to redeem, and no end-of-day accounting needed to balance out the account. No training is necessary; in fact, the cashier and management appear to be completely unaware of anything special going on. At the consumer level, once you check in using Foursquare, you behave as you would with any other transaction Select the food, get a total, and give the cashier the Amex card. Done. I checked in recently via Foursquare, saw the offer, bought three Turkey Bacon and Cheddar flatbreads, and placed the charge on my American Express card. Viola. I remember thinking that some form of digital receipt would have been helpful, but quickly acknowledged, mentally, that this would require a massive amount of coordination, and would have required involvement by the retail outlet. Seconds later, my iPhone chirped as this new message arrived: "Congratulations! You just saved $2.00 off your purchase of $11.20 at Dunkin' Donuts by using your Amex Card. Expect a statement credit in 2-3 business days." I'm completely blown away. I can only imagine how sophisticated this infrastructure must be, to allow five parties -- American Express, Dunkin' Donuts Corporate, a local Dunkin' Donuts outlet, Foursquare, and a consumer -- to transact "direct credit coupons" without burdening either the consumer or the retail outlet. So, you might be asking, what does this have to do with TV? Let's imagine, for a moment, another transaction between multiple parties. The currency: consumer attention. The parties include the advertiser, the cable or broadcast network, the MSO or Satellite service provider, Foursquare, American Express, and the consumer. Current ITV technology, and upcoming SmartTV technology, all still require considerable levels of cooperation between devices, MSOs, networks, and advertisers. Set-top boxes and even more capable SmartTVs struggle with version control, application conflicts, scale, and mass adoption. The Foursquare technology and American Express alliance provides the framework within which a consumer can now watch a commercial, "check in" using a combination of QR code and Foursquare's location-based technology, which can then load a special (even demographically targeted) promotion, tied to the advertised product and retailer, directly onto the consumer's phone: in real time, or during time-shifted viewing. While they're at it, the advertiser/retailer could ask a question that proves the consumer paid attention to the ad (NOTE: shameless plug for our patented CRAVE process) as a condition of being rewarded with the promotion or discount. Instructions, QR codes, and the actual interaction can completely bypass most of the hardware, though STBs and SmartTV's can enable or ease the process. And just like the Dunkin' Donuts cashier, the content and MSO / satellite networks can do what they already do, without being burdened -- or tolling the gate.
Product placement in the political process? Who knew this was a ripe area for entertainment marketing? This is where Stephen Colbert, comedian/host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," comes in. Starting a real-life Political Action Committee (PAC) , Colbert looks to build on earlier marketing spin related to the fun of politics -- and then some. Inserting himself -- and the Colbert brand -- into the real-life political process kind of puts branded entertainment into the political marketing arena. Backing the PAC, Comedy Central has started a website -- naturally - and is running commercials on Iowa TV stations. One spot looked to have fun at the expense of newly announced Presidential candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry, by asking voters to write in a candidate of a slightly different name, "Rick Parry," in the Iowa straw poll. Nearly 170,000 people have registered for Colbert's new effort. Still, some believe this product placement is causing confusion. One of three Des Moines, Iowa TV stations didn't want to air Colbert's SuperPAC commercial because it might confuse viewers/voters. Colbert SuperPAC, Citizens for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, is real. But not necessarily to get voters. It's more to get viewers, of course. Whetting the appetites of viewers with comedy in a very serious political process is a great angle. No doubt that is why political cartoons have always worked well in newspapers. Colbert's stuff riffs off his other seriously fun critiques of the political scene -- as well as that of his Comedy Central partner-in-crime, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show." Colbert and Stewart upped their brand association into the political scene when they held their own political rallies in Washington, D.C. a year ago: "The March To Keep Fear Alive" and "The Rally To Restore Sanity." Ratings effect? Both Colbert and Stewart did show some ratings gains earlier this year. But it is hard to say all this came from their extra-curricular political marketing efforts. Comedy Central surely also runs more mainstream-looking marketing for the shows. One thing is for sure: Stuff like this is only the beginning of efforts to gain comedy -- and promotional -- fodder.
While more than $135 billion was spent in the last year on brand advertising in the U.S., marketers only allocated 3% of the budget to digital campaigns, which includes programs that leverage a promising mobile market. However, the latest industry stats reveal that advertisers will be dedicating $50 billion over the next five years to reach consumers through social channels, signifying a tremendous opportunity to interact with a target audience in new ways.To effectively reach consumers in the new social environment, brand managers need to learn how to translate their budgets into the digital realm, which also means understanding the advantages that digital can provide over television advertising. Here are five "Vs" to help guide the way as you shift your vision from television to digital.1. Opt-in video. Great brands are great storytellers. However, too many brands create compelling video without a captive audience to watch it. In other words, they have no idea how to tell who's actually paying attention. While commercials interrupt consumers' enjoyment of a TV program, social media allows video to enter the conversation between friends in a non-intrusive way with an opt-in choice. Brands such as Microsoft, American Express and Unilever are among the many advertisers who are mastering how to pick the right moments online to tell their story, and in turn, are able to gauge the attention levels of their target audience. By empowering consumers to choose when and with whom they would like to engage, brands are more likely to reach people who will embrace their message. Recent studies show consumers average over 60 seconds of engagement with brands when they willingly opt-in to a video ad experience.2. Value exchange. Consumers value their personal time and are loyal to those companies that make their lives more productive. Brands gaining some of the biggest successes in social media are engaging with millions of consumers through value exchange. By offering consumers something relevant to their online experience in return for their time and attention, value-exchange advertising is crucial to gaining a consumer's active attention in a mutually beneficial way. Broadcast television and radio pioneered the original media value-exchange model as networks provided consumers with free content in exchange for listening to a word from the sponsor. The digital media uprising has allowed the model to pivot, making value exchange, and its corresponding ROI, now possible on a 1-to-1 level. And now, with virtual currency (perhaps worth its own "V"!), moms seeking Facebook Credits to build their Zynga farms, office workers trying to read an article buried behind a paywall, or travelers trying to access WiFi at an airport can all be helped with value-exchange advertising - allowing brands to provide instant gratification.3. Virality. In the "old days" (as in, less than 10 years ago), a television commercial earned additional buzz at the water cooler. Today, these same conversations take place on Twitter and Facebook, creating the water cooler gossip of thousands. This distinction is important because 24% of all viewers now have a second screen open while they watch TV, whether it's a tablet, a PC or a smart phone. Clever brands like Kia and Best Buy are synchronizing their TV spend with social media ad engagements to speed the virality of their message. This synchronicity should be given special heed: consumers who share a brand's message as part of an engagement campaign typically share it with an average of 130 friends online. Earned media by way of the online water cooler is a vast multiplier of digital dollars spent, and greatly increases a brand's effective reach and conversion down the sales funnel. 4. Validity. Millions have been spent over the last half-century on research to justify the value of TV advertising. What social media may lack in 50 years of studies, it is making up in concrete and measureable results. According to a recent OTX Research study, about two-thirds of people use information they find through social media to influence their buying decisions, and over 60% trust information they find through social media more than traditional advertisements-pointing to the effectiveness of social media campaigns to change consumer behavior. Moreover, as social media migrates to the mobile environment, marketers will be able to track consumers' purchases at physical store locations, and social ROI will have irrefutable validity - making the current industry standard of 0.1% for display ad CTRs shameful and baseless. 5. Vision. What's really holding back billions of brand dollars from digital advertising? Vision. Most CMOs who are giving speeches about the power of social aren't backing up those words with budgets and smart execution plans. For brand dollars to migrate from TV to digital, brand managers are going to have to lead the way and prove the strength of this next generation of marketing. Those with the Vision today will quickly become the CMOs of tomorrow.