Keep Your Eyes Peeled In a recent Ziff-Davis article entitled Smart Business, research findings were able to precipitate an outline of things to consider in web presentations. But of more importance, to the research community in support of advertising in today's fickle market, is the methodology by which the findings were developed. Here's the outline based on eye scans, or a TM term: GazeTraces, which follows the tester's line of sight and the length of time spent searching, to determine what they look at first -- and what holds their attention when they shop on the Web. …

Reach Out and Grab Someone Excite News carried a recent Reuters report that shows that major advertisers are using the power of interactive TV to target finely-tuned audiences. New technology, however, such as personal video recorders, also enables viewers to skip commercials. But from an advertisers' perspective iTV, can provide vital information about consumer preferences. As a mass market medium that reaches millions of viewers, advertisers have traditionally never been sure whether consumers are watching ads or going to the kitchen or bathroom. As a result, the primary goal of an advertisement has been to blitz viewers with …

Viral Marketing - is it spreading? Successful 'word of mouth' marketing campaigns that sell themselves have the potential to reach millions, build brands, and possibly improve performance of marketing dollars. The Center for Media Research will publish the firsthand, full report to all of our readers, upon completion, of a new study on Viral Marketing by IMT Strategies, and would like to include your responses in this timely work. You can complete this survey at http://www.imtstrategies.com/forms/ViralMkt_entry.html Though some demographic information is requested by IMT in order to take the survey, all information provided will be used …

Let's Get It Right Many of our readers have noted disparities in reported data from reputable sources and questioned the reliability. Seen from different perspectives, each has been correct, but perhaps misleading if misunderstood. Though we try to report an unbiased review of information available, we heartily endorse standards for research that will make this information even more reliable and comparable. Perhaps more than you want to know, but an important background both in developing research and internalizing the results of research. Though conducted almost 2 years ago, the Future of Advertising Stakeholders (FAST) Summit developed Principles of …

Casting Your Net Audibly A special report to Interactive Week, posted on November 17th, provides some interesting insights into the survival of the radio as an important medium after television in the '50's, the VCR, the Walkman and the MP3. "Broadcast radio claims 10 hours of total listening time per week, compared with one hour for the Net," says Forrester Research analyst Jeremy Schwartz in the report, The Self-serve Audio Evolution, issued in May. Schwartz says 80 percent of stations have plans to take their signals online to compete for listeners directly with music-file-download sites and Internet-only …

Collecting data from experience and studies from several research firms, Boldfish (a developer of email solutions) has created an informative “marketing note” that describes many ways and reasons marketers are using e-mail as an effective medium to meet their strategic goals. Though subliminally commercial in content, the report contains some useful reminders for buyers and planners. Included is a summary from a Forrester Research report showing how companies are using outbound e-mail: Promotions and discounts 66% Newsletters 48% Product Releases 34% Advertising/marketing 28% Alerts/reminders 24% Market research 8% Other 4% Examples, included in …

But wait, there's more... Here's a medium not frequently covered by research statistics. For those of you whose message is delivered with a gift, Incentive Magazine released a study in September showing how companies are using premiums and promotions as part of their campaigns. Aside from the variety of methodologies, it appears that the internet was not nearly so successful for these respondents as conventional media! Included are some of the statistics gathered from readership respondents... +---------------------------------+------+ | OBJECTIVE OF THE PROMOTION | | +---------------------------------+------+ | Increase Sales | 88% | | Build customer …

Who's Talkin' to the Customers? Magazine Publishers of America released advertising figures through PIB for the month of October, and year-to-date on November 9th, for 1400 magazines from more than 240 publishing companies proving that print still makes the world go 'round. Nina Link, CEO of MPA, said that the month of October demonstrated that success in categories such as Technology, Media & Advertising and Apparel underscores the power of magazines as a strong advertising medium to reach consumers. We are not intending to preach to the choir, but rather serve up the latest measurement of who's in …

Comparison Shoppers Traditional retailers should take heart based on a new shopping study conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International, for SuperPages.com as reported by Internet News. But they have to be value oriented competitors! The October study shows that although many consumers go online, they use the Web to window-shop, conduct research and make comparisons, but its their local brick-and-mortar merchants who they buy from. According to the study: - 21 % of respondents characterize their shopping behavior as researching online and buying locally. - 65 % are sticking with researching and buying at a local retailer. …

Fair Warning A release from Reuters, as reported in excite.com news, says that growth rates are forecasted to slow and unemployment seen rising as seen by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. In its quarterly Survey of Professionals, the Philadelphia Fed said gross domestic product (GDP) would average 3.3 percent in 2001. This is a decline from the 5.2 percent growth rate forecasters expect for this year. Along with the slowdown in growth, the economists said the nation's jobless rate would average 4.2 % in 2001 vs. a 30-year low of 3.9 % now. Forecasters said the …