A new IAG Research study of Lexus ads suggests that marketers could be overlooking a useful sales platform in video on demand. For eight months, IAG analyzed the ads in VOD programming and quizzed viewers about their recall of the ads and the brand. The findings: viewers were 68% percent more likely to recall a spot, and 83% more likely to identify the brand in an on-demand context than they would on linear TV. "In VOD, we're able to break through the clutter, because there isn't a lot of other messaging to compete against. It's wide open, …

The best estimates about billboard viewership typically come from foot traffic counts or highway reports that tally how many people pass by. A new generation of billboards is more accurate. They have tiny cameras that gather details about passers-by, including gender, age and how long they looked at the outdoor ad. A central database collects the information. Privacy becomes an obvious question. Startup companies say the new tech does not store the images of people, but rather software analyzes the person's face to establish sex, age ad race. The goal is to tailor a digital billboard display to the …

Consumers' intent to buy products escalates when they see an ad on TV and in other media compared to seeing ads on TV alone, per market research firm Advertiser Perceptions. Respondents in a April study of 25,000 consumers expressed a greater intention to buy consumer electronics, apparel, automobiles, beer and toiletries if they were exposed to a combination of media than if they were exposed to only one medium. Online and TV viewers were 27% more likely to intend to buy beer than those who viewed TV alone. Also, intent to buy Abercrombie & Fitch clothes shot up …

In an extreme example of how event marketing is blending with TV advertising, Honda recently ran an ad that consisted of live footage of 19 skydivers in action. The jumpers created formations spelling out the letters H, O, N, D and A before deploying their parachutes. The jump was broadcast in Britain last Thursday, during a three-minute commercial break in a reality television program. Honda's live skydiving ad went far beyond other live ads that consist of comics in a TV studio or similar set-ups. Designed to grab the attention of viewers who use digital video recorders to skip ads, …

The Washington Times published its last Saturday print edition last weekend in a shift toward becoming a cross-platform news source. Going forward, print subscribers will be able to receive an electronic version of what would have been included in the Saturday print edition. The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church, commonly known as Moonies, founded the Times in 1982. The paper has a following among conservatives for its editorial philosophy. The Times' average daily circulation for six months ending March 31 was down 6.5% compared to last year; Saturday had the lowest readership of …

In an unprecedented takeover by female viewers, "Sex and the City" grossed an estimated $55.7 million--racking up the best opening ever for an R-rated comedy, and beating holdover "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" for the weekend. No romantic comedy of any rating has opened to such numbers, prompting immediate talk of a sequel. The film's unexpected performance stunned Hollywood and shattered "the decades-old thinking that older females can't fuel the sort of big opening" often enjoyed by a male-driven event pic or a family movie. On Friday, a "whopping" 85% of the "Sex" audience …