Agency's Solution To TiVo: TV10, KSL Launches Short-Form Media Sales Unit

What costs 20 percent to 30 percent of the price of a 30-second TV commercial, is at least two-thirds as effective, and best of all, may prove relatively zap-proof to digital video recorders? The answer, says David Sklaver, president of East Coast operations at KSL Media, is a 10-second TV spot that represents a new opportunity for advertisers. It also represents a new business opportunity for KSL, one of the largest independent media buying shops, which has launched a new division that also makes it a seller of media time.

The new division, called TV10s, has been formed as a sales rep for the burgeoning market of 10-second ad units that have been created for sponsors of closed captioning of TV programs. Because the units appear "in-program" and before the regular commercial breaks begin, Sklaver says they are less likely to be zapped by DVR users--something he believes may make them even more valuable than conventional TV commercials, although they cost a fraction of the price.

TV10s is also part of an effort by KSL to expand its base of operations beyond conventional media planning and buying. The division is being overseen by Kal Liebowitz, founder of KSL, who took the company private in May 2003, buying itself back from Interpublic Group, which acquired it as part of its acquisition of True North Communications, which acquired KSL in 1999 (see related story in today's MediaDailyNews).

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While it is unusual for media buying agencies to also own media sales organizations, it is not unheard of. The practice is common in the Yellow Pages industry, where agencies act as "certified marketing representatives" that also sell space in Yellow Pages.

Sklaver said KSL got the idea when began discussing the concept with TV program producers who were looking for sponsorship deals to underwrite the cost of close-captioning their programs for the hearing-impaired. The format, while new, has become incredibly popular among major advertisers, including Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, and Unilever.

Even so, 10-second spots remain only a fraction of the TV advertising marketplace. Historically, the units were most common as promotional "IDs" used by game show producers, and they never amounted to more than a few tenths of a percentage point of national advertising time. Over the past several years, however, 10-second units have risen to about 1 percent of national ad time, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR data published by the Television Bureau of Advertising.

Sklaver expects the market to expand considerably for the 10-second units, given their cost efficiency and relative ad effectiveness (see data below). But the icing on the cake, he says, is their ability to circumvent commercial-zapping.

:10s Vs. :30s Effectiveness Research (Aided & Unaided Recall)


Year Of Study Brand Recall Index
Gallup/Robinson 1985 60
Mapes & Ross 1994 73
McCollum Spielman 2002 78
Average -- 70

Source: TV10s compilation
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