Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
- Although traditional TV platforms will decline this year, local TV stations' digital efforts will make some gains.
- Google search advocate Daniel Waisberg categorizes various types of website organic traffic declines and explains the concept in a post.
- In an appeal to the MRC, the VAB says Nielsen violated at least five minimum standards that are "still creating material negative impact into July 2021."
- Consumers crave community and social interaction. Data collected about the telehealth industry shows consumers want convenience, but also in-person personalized experiences.
- Among the top 22 market-share holders in skincare, 17 are publishers or informational websites -- capturing 62.34% of available search traffic.
- Thanks to highly contested state and local races for the U.S. Senate, house and governor seats, the 2022 U.S. political advertising cycle will approach the $9.02 billion set during the 2020 election cycle, which included the presidential election too, according to just-released projections from AdImpact. The main beneficiary will be broadcast TV, which will actually surpass 2020 spending levels, though cable TV, CTV, radio and digital will all benefit at near record levels too (see chart below).
- Many of the ad industry's biggest media suppliers increasingly are deemed a "priority buy" by U.S. ad executives, according to findings of a new "reputation report" of big media suppliers released today by Advertiser Perceptions. The study shows that Amazon has ranked as the No. 1 priority among the greatest percentage of respondents at least since February 2020 when Advertiser Perceptions benchmarked the question, and it has consistently risen in the two studies that have followed it with more than half of all ad execs deeming it a priority buy.
- As a result of so many programs on so many platforms, and the fact that everybody doesn't have access to everything anymore, television viewing has become much more splintered than even just a few years ago. So, it is possible, even likely, that any list of "best" TV shows will have several that many readers have not seen, or perhaps even heard of. If you are among those who have not yet discovered Amazon original series "Bosch," you are missing out on one of the very best series on any platform. The seventh season dropped this June, and there are now 68 episodes that you can binge at your leisure. In this week's edition, I make a strong case why, if you don't subscribe to Amazon Prime, you should, if only to view "Bosch" alone.
- The U.S. ad economy continues to rebound from the COVID-19 recession, but the rate of expansion began to temper in June, according to the latest data from Standard Media Index.
- Thanks in part to surging demand for prime-time network TV advertising inventory in the recently concluded 2021-22 broadcast upfront, the average prime-time CPM (cost-per-thousand) for cable TV networks fell to less than half of the broadcast networks for the first time in recent history.
- Despite some big question marks about attendance, fan enthusiasm and athletic performance for the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, Kantar on Thursday forecast it will set a new record for U.S. TV ad sales at $2.25 billion.
- Marketing budgets as a percentage of revenue fell to their lowest level in recent history, as CMOs continue to reprioritize channels, programs and resources.
- Dentsu today significantly upgraded its ad spending growth estimates, but not all media are moving in a positive direction. While the worldwide ad growth outlooks have improved for digital, linear TV, radio and print media vs. what Dentsu has previously forecasted in January, out-of-home and cinema ad spending now are expected to see slower growth this year.
- Exactly how bad was the 2020 global ad recession for key ad category growth? According to Dentsu's revised ad outlook, it various by category, but all are back into positive growth in 2021, albeit many on a deflated base. Roughly half of the top 12 categories will still be under water relative to their 2019 pre-pandemic baselines, including automotive, retail, media/entertainment, and travel, the worst hit of all the majors.
- A Samsung Ads analysis of data from its 45-million-plus U.S. smart TVs and third-party data shows that allocating at least 40% of TV budgets to AVOD and the rest to linear achieves an optimal reach balance between viewers who are mostly streamers and those who are mostly linear watchers.
- Over the past month or so, the trade press -- including MediaPost -- reported how the major broadcast networks have completed "record" and/or "best ever" upfront advertising sales for the 2021-22 broadcast season. While that may or may not comes as a positive leading indicator for Madison Avenue's ad spending recovering coming out of the COVID-19 ad recession (and one of the worst upfronts ever last year), a new analysis from GroupM Business Intelligence chief Brian Wieser suggests upfront ad spending volume claims may not be as representative of actual full-year network TV ad billings as some might think.
- Advertising's share of company revenues hasn't changed much in recent years, and on average, represents a relatively small share among most major advertisers marketing in mature categories. That's the finding of a GroupM analysis of aggregate data for the major consumer advertising categories, which shows an average of only 2.4% of company revenues are allocated to advertising.
- Despite irrefutable video evidence, there was real and justifiable concern among many observers that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin would be acquitted of murdering George Floyd and escape justice. Juries have traditionally given police officers the benefit of the doubt. Convictions, even with seemingly obvious wrongdoing, have been few and far between. While I am certainly not claiming that television is the main culprit here, there is no question that more than 70 years of police portrayals on highly viewed scripted dramas have contributed to public perception of police as the good guys who often need to do whatever it takes to bring the bad guys to justice. In this week's issue, I explain how, for the first time, networks and producers seem willing (and financially motivated) to make changes. Whether they are simply cosmetic and temporary remains to be seen.
- The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) has named John Lynch Jr. executive director for 2022-23.
- Cinema advertising network National CineMedia (NCM) has named Manu Singh senior vice president of strategic insight & analytics, succeeding long-time media industry researcher Doug Pulick, who retired last month.
- Thanks to indelible jingles and incessant frequency, insurance brands Farmer's, State Farm and Liberty Mutual were among the top 10 sonic brands of 2021, according to just released data from Veritonic's audio logo index. The index, which assigns scores to hundreds of leading sonic brands based on Veritronic's proprietary intelligence platform, utilizing a panel of abut 3,700 consumers in the U.S. and U.K. (Data in the chart above reflect the top 10 in the U.S.)
- According to a recent survey of marketers conducted by the DMA, two out of five businesses (41%) are currently recruiting for data or marketing roles. Among those who said they are offering job opportunities in these fields, 45% work for a large business, 29% for a medium-sized enterprise and 25% for either a micro or a small company. Unfortunately, a similar proportion (45%) do not have any opportunities available for those keen to find new data or marketing roles. This is especially true for small businesses, which constitute 60% of the total number of organizations that are not currently recruiting for such roles.
- In this week's analysis of Bombora's Company Surge data, "real-time personalization," "brand voice," and "content personalization" were among the top five trending topics among the MediaPost 500.
- Molson Coors created a lighthearted commercial that viewers could "see" while sleeping.
- Consumer and advertiser surveys for The Trade Desk's latest 'Future of TV' report add more evidence of CTV's growing importance to consumers and advertisers.
- Captioned videos are more likely to be watched on TVs and computers, as well as on mobile phones, finds a new poll.
- Marketing and media research giant Kantar has reached outside the industry for a new CEO, naming Chris Jansen to fill the spot, which has been vacant since Alexis Nasard stepped down in April, after just four months on the job.
- Just as important, a significant percentage of consumers are coming back to experience live marketing experiences.
- Asked about intent to cancel, 39% cited Showtime, while HBO Max and Netflix were at just 11% and 12%.
- Cruise and airline spending is down 58% in 2021 compared to 2019, per MediaRadar.
