Direct-to-the-prospect is no less a medium in the strategic media planner's quiver than the various other print and electronic media, but we seem to be inundated with hype and facts about the internet. An important factor in the new millennium marketing, to be sure, but in deference to a balanced plan, here's some info about direct marketers' anticipations for this year. In a 2000 survey, conducted by DIRECT's parent company Intertec, preliminary results show more emphasis will be placed on prospecting. Direct marketers say they allot just over 60% for customer acquisition and 40% for retention, vs. 50% for …

In a Harris Poll, released in July by Harris Interactive, they report that reading and TV watching are the two most popular adult leisure pastimes. And, they find that the time spent working (50-51 hours a week), and the time spent in leisure activities (19-20 hours a week) has varied very little in the past 7 years. Humphrey Taylor, Chairman of The Harris Poll, says that there is no evidence that time spent working or playing is changing, although other research has reported that we do some things faster and sometimes do two or more things at the same time. …

African-Americans Using the Net More To advertisers, understanding cultural and ethnic habits and trends in the use of any media is important, and we'll try to identify studies that report this diversity as they become available. In a new Pew Internet and American Life Report, as summarized by eMarketer, the percentage of blacks online has increased by 13% in two years -- a greater increase than the number of whites online, which rose by only 8% in the same period. In absolute values, 36% of African-Americans are now online, compared to 50% of the white population, and that …

African-Americans Using the Net More To advertisers, understanding cultural and ethnic habits and trends in the use of any media is important, and we'll try to identify studies that report this diversity as they become available. In a new Pew Internet and American Life Report, as summarized by eMarketer, the percentage of blacks online has increased by 13% in two years -- a greater increase than the number of whites online, which rose by only 8% in the same period. In absolute values, 36% of African-Americans are now online, compared to 50% of the white population, and that …

Who Do You Trust? Several readers have suggested research probing the question(s) of which data can you believe. What results are accurate? What methodology will generate the most believable response? How come the (supposedly) identical information is conflicting? We intend to collect relevant material to address these issues in a future report, but in the meantime, here's an article that explores some variances in online polling techniques and anticipated results. From an article in the Online Journalism Review, and a University of Southern California study, here are some excerpts… Michael Traugott, President of the American Association for Public …

"Surveying the Digital Future" is a new study by UCLA to gather reliable information on the impact of digital PC/Internet technology on our society for policy makers, business leaders and academics. The data and analysis that will come from this study is expected to strongly govern how companies will make basic business and marketing decisions from the beginning of the project through much of the 21st century. Surveying 2096 representative households throughout America, the study is available in its entirety in PDF format for complete review. Excerpts from the Executive Study are included here… - More than 2/3 of Americans …

In an article from the Industry Standard, Diane Anderson illustrates the concept of personalized e-mail by describing the fact that in early 1999, MotherNature.com advertised mostly through banners and spent around $400 to acquire each customer. Then, in fourth-quarter 1999, the online retailer of health supplements and vitamins changed its focus to e-mail – and its customer-acquisition cost dropped to $20. She points out that E-commerce companies love e-mail… production costs are low; results are immediate. And an eMarketer study reports that e-mail advertising expenditures in the U.S. will jump from $97 million in 1999 to $2 billion by …

Who’s Making an Impression Second quarter online advertising figures, released in a report analyzing the top 200 advertisers by AdRelevance, indicate that dot.com advertisers represent the largest number of companies and the biggest share of ad impressions… outnumbering traditional advertisers two to one. "Dot com advertisers account for 68 percent of companies and 77 percent of ad impressions among the Top 200 Online Advertisers," said Charlie Buchwalter, vice president of media research for the AdRelevance division of Media Metrix. "When compared to traditional advertisers, the average dot com appears to be spending more aggressively, typically even outspending traditional …

This little piece of information has been laying on the desk for a couple of weeks looking for a home! In a way, it’s research in that it serves up "data." But it’s the utility of that data that’s been questioned in serving the media markets. But wait… what if planners spot an opportunity? So here goes… In early October, Jupiter Research released a report that shows that within 5 years, 40% of US Households will use the web for banking like ATM’s are being used now. 43.5 million households will be making financial transactions on the Web by …

How Long is a Banner? That is to say, how long does it last? According to a study by MediaMetrix in August, in a release by AdRelevance, the majority of online ad banners run an average of three weeks or less. Some of the significant findings are: • The average banner runs for five and a half weeks. • The automotive industry schedules online ads to run the longest, an average of 7.8 weeks. • The average banner duration for a hardware and electronics ad typically lasts 4.1 weeks • An overwhelming majority of …