The U.S. advertising business slowed down at the end of 2011, and although MagnaGlobal expects growth to improve in 2012 -- up 3.7% -- it could be viewed as a weak performance. Much of the 2012 gain comes from the usual suspects -- a big political advertising year, as well as the marketing for the Summer Olympics. The media agency unit predicts U.S. advertising will land at $152.9 billion for 2012. Taking out political and Olympic advertising, MagnaGlobal says core media advertising revenues will climb by 2.0% in 2012, to $149.8 billion. That would be a slowdown compared to 2011’s core media growth of 4.5%. Advertising growth for the third quarter of 2011 was 2.3%, and slowed to 1.1% in the fourth quarter. This came after a robust 4.3% gain in the first six months of the year. Looking at core media revenues for 2011 -- but not direct marketing -- marketers' existing business was up 2.9% in 2011 to $147.4 billion. This is still 13% below pre-recession levels in 2007 when the business topped out at $168.7 billion. The biggest category -- broadcast television -- will gain from political and Olympic advertising, up 8.5% for the year. Total television -- cable, syndication, broadcast and local -- will grow by 6.8% to $62.4 billion. The biggest gainers in 2011 will also be the biggest in 2012: Internet marketing/advertising -- with a 10.9% gain in 2012, says MagnaGlobal. But this is down from the growth in 2011 of 21.4%. Specifically, paid search will grow 12.6%; online video, 22.4%; and mobile, 44.2%. Outdoor media will climb 4.0%. Declining categories for 2012 include: newspapers, off 6.0%; magazines, down 5.2%; and radio, losing a bit, 0.8%. Also on the losing end is direct marketing: directories' revenues will decline 19.1% and direct mail, 1.9%.
Lexus will debut its first-ever Super Bowl commercial for Super Bowl XLVI. The automaker will use its buy to tout its 2013 GS car and talk about its raft of products to come this year. The 30-second ad, via San Francisco-based Attik (whose main task for the automaker is the Scion division), will run during the first half of the game. The launch campaign for the GS, which goes on sale next month, will be handled by AOR El Segundo, Calif.-based Team One. The automaker is also doing a lead-up social media campaign called TweetDrive Engineered by Lexus during NFL playoffs. The game, on NBCSports.com, lets players earn yardage, move a virtual “team” down the field and score a touchdown during the actual playoff games and throughout the week. The idea is to gain enough yards to score a touchdown, with yardage accumulated by tweeting correct answers to trivia and predictive gaming questions using #LexusTweetDrive. The grand prize is a trip for two to an NBC Sports Premium Event. NBC Sports, and Lexus social media outlets and NBCSports.com is promoting the game during the playoffs. Brian Smith, VP marketing at the Torrance, Calif.-based automaker, tells Marketing Daily that the ad, while it will only run on the Super Bowl, sets the tone for a new creative direction for the company, "The GS is the focus of the spot, but it is the beginning of a change for the Lexus brand, with more exciting and dynamic products,” Smith says. “While we are going to continue to be leaders in product quality and ownership experience, we are adding more 'emotional' and performance products. The Super Bowl is the beginning, and a great time to get that message out. The ad will surprise a lot of people that it's Lexus." The 30-second commercial is scheduled to run during the first half of the game, with a 15-second sneak peek of the commercial on Lexus social media channels, including Facebook.com/Lexus and YouTube.com/Lexus. While the GS will be the only vehicle in the spot, the ad will hint at things to come, Smith says. "There is a plan in place for a teaser ad,” he says. “We have already gotten lots of coverage about it; our goal is to build up maximum anticipation and excitement."
News Corp. and Colombian broadcaster RCN Television Group will create a new Spanish-language broadcast network: MundoFox.The network will look to compete with the two big existing networks: Univision and Comcast Corp.'s Telemundo. MundoFox expects to launch in the fall, reaching 75% of Hispanic TV homes. There are 50-plus million homes of Hispanic or Latino origin."There is an increasing demand for quality Spanish-language content in the U.S. from both viewers and advertisers,” Hernan Lopez, president/CEO of Fox International Channels, stated. The 2010 census says 16.3% of the U.S. is of Latino or Hispanic origin. In a couple of decades, estimates are that this number will grow to over 50%.The network's name and business are an outgrowth of Fox's Latin American video-on-demand service, mundofox.com.Lopez added that News Corp. saw similar audience dynamics in play 25 years ago, when it launched the Fox network. In that case, it was primarily targeting younger TV viewers.Other contributing programmers come from mostly in-house News Corp. channels/sources including Fox International, Fox Deportes (a Latino-focused cable sports channel), and Shine Group.Univision is the top Hispanic network -- well ahead of Comcast Corp.'s Telemundo. In specific periods during the year, Univision beats some English-language networks -- specifically in summer.
Nielsen research indicates that stations can use their Web sites to notably expand reach of their news content, helping drive cross-platform sales. The data, which looked at the ABC affiliates in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, shows that by using one metric, each received at least a 3% bump in the 25-to-54 demo in the May 2011 sweeps period. Nielsen took the late-news performance on weekdays for the two stations, then added in reach via each station’s Web site over the full week. For KOMO in Seattle, late-news reach was 22.9% among 25- to-54-year-olds, while Web site traffic (to komonews.com) added an additional 3%. At KATU in Portland, the lift was more significant. The station’s late newscast had a 27.6% reach in the 25-to-54 demo. Traffic to KATU.com added an additional 4.6%. Perhaps unexpectedly, in Portland the bump in the younger 18-to-34 demo (2.4%) was less than in the 25-to-54 segment. In Seattle, however, the increase in the younger demo (3.9%) was higher. Also, Web sites may be able to help stations reach more males. In Seattle, late local news viewership skewed 71% female. Yet a majority 53% of komonews.com users were male. Both the Seattle and Portland stations are owned by Fisher Communications, which joined Nielsen in the research. In its report, Nielsen said Fisher wanted a stronger grasp of its on-air and online audiences “in order to better leverage content and advertising inventory through a group metric.” Late news was used on the TV side, since that offers the largest share of ad dollars. For years, stations have been trying to mount challenges to local newspaper sites, hoping the promotional power of their on-air reach and ability to offer more video would provide an advantage. Nielsen, for its part, is looking to expand use of its cross-platform service intended to measure TV and online usage into local markets, where it is available in 25 of them. Data shows a large portion of late news viewers in Seattle and Portland live in homes with incomes above $100,000. The bulk of news viewers also live in homes with a computer. Usage of the Web site at both stations was highest toward the end of the workday, if not slightly after. In Seattle, it peaked between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., while in Portland between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. However, there were other spikes in both markets in prime time. Increasingly, people are said to be watching TV and using a second device simultaneously.
With the goal of transforming the way people watch, interact with, and perhaps most importantly, share the way they experience television, the founders of New York-based digital agency Circ.us are spinning off a new “social TV” platform that will enable viewers to experience their favorite shows as if they were “live events” that can be shared with friends or other random viewers. The new platform, dubbed TV Dinner, is the brainchild of virtual and augmented reality expert John Swords, who co-founded Circ.us with digital agency vet Adam Broitman to apply those cutting-edge technologies to transform the way consumers experience brands. Now they’re doing it for the way they watch TV. Backed with a $400,000 round of seed capital, Swords and Broitman have teamed up with Edward Babbage, former CEO of electronic music company Resonant Vibes, to launch TV Dinner, whose initial application, not surprisingly, has been created for the iPad, but which will be adapted to other consumer electronic interfaces that people use in conjunction with their TV viewing. Swords says he got the idea for TV Dinner while working on a virtual reality application for CBS’ “CSI: New York” in 2008, and realized that a simplified version that did not utilize avatars would lower “barriers to entry” for average TV viewers. “When the iPad came out, I knew it was perfect for this,” he says. While so-called “social TV” applications are anything but new, Swords says most of them focus on leveraging stand-alone applications such as “check-in” features that let your friends know when you are watching a show they might want to share, or apps that enable you to use your iPad or other device like a TV remote control. TV Dinner, Swords says, is based on the logic of a massively multiplayer online game that enables users to seamlessly share conversations about the shows they are watching in “real-time,” while interacting with “self- expression tools” and “gaming elements” that come from the gaming and virtual reality industries. Swords says the initial version being launched for the iPad is the "first of many “iterations” that will expand to incorporate other elements and features that change and enhance the way TV viewers watch their favorite programs. Swords and Broitman, coincidentally, are guest editors of the upcoming “Screens” issue of MEDIA magazine, which is published by MediaPost.
The new NBCUniversal has moved to increase resources for its 10 NBC stations to compensate for underfunding by previous management, a top company executive said. “The company took away investments in those stations,” said Ted Harbert, the chairman of the NBC broadcasting business. Harbert said the Comcast-led leadership put $20 million into the business to hire more than 100 new employees and purchase news helicopters in New York and Los Angeles. Harbert also said one of the smartest hires he’s ever made was Valerie Staab, who now runs the stations. At the NATPE event, he said there have been certain ratings improvements in New York and Washington and a more aggressive approach to news. Harbert also said previous management did not focus on the daytime business as much as it should have. The station group has made commitments to pick up new syndicated shows with Jeff Probst and Steve Harvey for the fall. (It opted not to pick up Katie Couric’s forthcoming show.) “What I really like is we’re out there doing something,” Harbert said. At the NBC network, Harbert said among its troubles is low audience levels, it can’t promote its shows, making it difficult for even a strong creative effort to break through. “'Prime Suspect' wasn’t as bad a show as a 1 rating and ‘The Firm’ is not as bad a show as (the rating it is getting),” he said. He said the network is counting on help from other NBCU assets, including cable channels, to promote the coming season two of “The Voice” and launch of “Smash.”
Revenue generated from companies across the U.S. television ecosystem in 2012 will reach about $165 billion, estimates Needham & Co Analyst Laura Martin. The recently published research points to estimates from PricewaterhouseCoopers suggesting that contributions to subscription and license fees paid to cable, satellite and telephone companies will reach $85 billion, along with approximately $80 billion from TV advertising. Martin writes that the rollout of "TV Everywhere" technology -- the ability to see live TV on mobile and other devices from companies, such as Time Warner and Disney -- during the next 3 to 5 years could contribute $12 billion of revenue annually to the U.S. television market. Even at billions, the dollars dwarf any near-term revenue streams from aggregated digital platforms such as Hulu and YouTube. Broaden the view of the traditional definition of TV Everywhere, adding content from preprogrammed channels on video sites like YouTube, and that revenue number continues to expand. Interest in video content will continue to grow. We'll see it in display ads and search engine queries. Brands not only want to monetize pre-recorded content for channels on YouTube and other video sites, but to stream live programming effortlessly from their YouTube Channels to mobile devices. It appears this will become Google's unofficial long-term strategy. While at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this month, several company execs, including Louisa Shipnuck, director of marketing and strategy at Verizon, mentioned wanting to learn more about Google's TV strategy supporting network partnerships, original content and user-generated content from brands and YouTubers. Marketers must think of video as social content and understand the types of keywords that will return their videos in Google and Bing results. aimClear founder Marty Weintraub said informational searches, among other intent-type of searches, tend to return videos. "For obvious reasons. buy-intent queries don't return videos as often," he said. "Showing videos could distract from lucrative paid-search ads. With this information, title and tag YouTube videos with keywords are more likely to gain results in Google." Buying Promoted Videos and other YouTube Ad units also works when it comes to optimizing videos for Google.com search results. Weintraub suggests that marketers overlay ads to drive users to their home Web site, and always think of video as social. Be aware that the video's title acts similar to an "ad," because it will appear in both YouTube and Google and Bing search results pages, according to Weintraub. He also recommends keeping videos short and staying in touch with analytics in terms of how users behave. If users bail after 20 seconds, this should be a clue to marketers that four minutes of video is way too long. Finally, disable the public's ability to view analytics for your videos. There is no reason to give your competition insight into what works and what doesn't. Marketers should also study publicly visible analytics for competitors. Weintraub said there is no need to reinvent the wheel and make mistakes that others have proven. Search marketers should also avoid viewing social marketing as someone else's responsibility. Last week, during Google's Q4 2011 earnings, Nikesh Arora, chief business officer and SVP at Google, said advertisers like Ford, General Motors, Electronic Arts, L'Oreal and their agencies continue to see the efficiency of online branding in the Google Display Network and YouTube. He gave the example of L'Oreal demonstrating that online advertising is far more efficient than television -- partly by testing YouTube's TrueView in-stream, in-slate and in-search ad. The formats returned "significant reach" for the company's branding campaigns with millions of impressions supporting positive click- through rates. Susan Wojcicki, VP of advertising at Google, added that TrueView ads in general typically garner between 15% and 45% view rates.
In the long term, place your bets on TV content. Hulu is glomming ad dollars and YouTube has traffic and now more original content. But according to a new research note from Needham’s analyst Laura Martin, those are small potatoes compared to the ad money TV media will bring with its content across platforms. “We estimate that the rollout of TV Everywhere over the next 3-5 years could add approximately $12 billion of revenue annually to the U.S. television ecosystem,” says Martin. Not only will this scale “dwarf” current digital entities like Hulu and YouTube, but she sees this revenue as low risk and additive rather than cannibalistic of the TV business. The lion’s share of this new revenue will be realized in advertising -- up to $10 billion a year, as content owners sell across TV, Web, smartphone and tablets. She also sees more revenue coming through the pipes, with the cable, satellite and telco delivery systems that could have the capability of charging for added value. “We believe that TV Everywhere will be one of the primary drivers of valuation growth for today’s TV ecosystem over the next five years,” says the report. Martin also says that research shows viewers of VOD content are much less likely to skip standard ad spots than are DVR users. This bodes well for monetizing TV Everywhere content with standard TV ad loads, pricing and monitoring. I can’t say I am sure that standard ad loads will survive the journey off of the TV. Sure, some of us are getting used to watching entire TV episodes on our smartphones or tablets, but two-minute breaks? That might be pushing it. The less-discussed aspects of a TV Everywhere model that relies as much on devices as on the Web involve how it affects the mobile marketing ecosystem, After all, when you have the serious money TV advertising represents making its way onto time-shifted viewing on mobile, you have enormous incentives to push that content. How about mobile banners on Monday morning asking if you missed "60 Minutes" last night, which can actually push you directly to the episode? Even if a smartphone user isn’t ready to lean-back for a 30- or 60-minute episode right then and there, the mobile phone becomes a remarkable time-shift scheduler. My phone should be empowered to push that "60 Minutes" episode to my screen of choice for later viewing. Once our phones can reliably manage TV content around DVRs, set-top boxes, Web and connected TVs, then the mobile device doesn’t even have to be the viewing screen to be a powerful part of the media consumption funnel that advertisers will want to touch. Whether as a remote control, a second-screen experience, as a personal media scheduler, or as an alternative location for straight consumption, mobile platforms are destined to be integrally involved in TV’s future -- here, there and everywhere.
For some, there is a fine line between sampling and piracy. For others, the goal posts keep moving. Where does marketing end and stealing start? If you go to a disreputable website and get CBS' "Two and a Half Men" episode a day early, are you stealing? Yes, more than likely. But if you go to an honorable website, say Hulu or XfinityTV, and get the premiere of NBC’s new show "Smash" early, it’s not thievery, just marketing. All entertainment marketers want us to eventually screen their products the correct way -- have consumers pay a fee, visit the proper digital areas, or pay those who support a piece of entertainment. And yes, there is also outright big-time theft -- bandwidth stealers for scores of movies and other content are causing headaches to big broadband access services. Getting Warner Bros.’ "Batman 9" movie months early from a website is a pretty obvious theft activity. But what if those early leaks somehow build strong positive buzz? Some might say, "That wasn't the original intention. And it's wrong to being with." I always had mixed feelings about the movie marketing practice of offering a free late-night theater ticket to, say, an unadvertised movie starring Angelina Jolie. After all, they call it a "sneak." Increasingly, broadcast network executives want to offer "free" stuff as a tease or marketing ploy for new shows. It’s something cable networks have done for years to grab attention and create buzz. Now, viewer erosion has put broadcasters on more even ground with cable and forced them to make marketing changes. So everyone can now offer one free episode of a series, say the premiere. All this is harder to do with film (or with music). There are long movie trailers, of course -- though more than one consumer has opined that those rare four-minute movie clips released occasionally are no tease. For consumers, it seems like they have "seen the movie. Napster and the Internet are still to blame for some of this, by creating an additive habit. Obviously, many still believe plenty of entertainment can be found free on the Internet -- and that it's their right to access it. In recent years, research says that those who once used illicit file-sharing sites -- now older consumers -- have become paying consumers. How many times have you forwarded an article -- or some other bit of copyrighted content -- to someone? Maybe that's okay with, say, The New York Times. (Still, as an unpaying customer, the newspaper always reminds me how many articles I have left out of my allotted 20 per month.) TV networks encourage viewers to forward trailers, previews and other content of new shows to friends. What does that feel like -- versus viewers who are actually stealing?