Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
- In addition, nearly 30% of all occupied U.S. homes did not subscribe to a multichannel video programming distributor service as of Q2, reports Kagan.
- Nielsen has shut down its 12-year-old place-based video networks measurement service, as many place-based media venues face challenges due to shutdowns or sparse attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Retailers are the primary generator of overstuffed inboxes, with daily deals the most prevalent, SmarterHQ reports.
- MediaRadar projects first-half 2020 programmatic advertising growth of 36% despite a slump in April. Perhaps this is why the Google CEO pledged $10 billion to India's digital future. Looking at the 100 programmatic advertisers year-to-date, MediaRadar found that Tech Firms, Financial Services and Retail brands comprised more than half of the roster.
- My mother-in-law hasn't watched the Emmy Awards in five or six years. The main reason, as she puts it, "none of the shows I watch get nominated anymore." Now, I'm sure the networks aren't particularly concerned about the 75-plus crowd, but they do seem intent on driving away generations of people who grew up watching the Emmys without doing much to bring in younger viewers. I also know a fair number of 45-plus viewers that no longer watch the Emmys. The Emmys continues to award TV series that most people haven't seen, which only serves to depress ratings. In this week's edition, I explain how to fix this.
- Americans trust their employers more than any other institution to do what is right in response to systemic racism and racial injustice in America, according to findings of a special report from the Edelman Trust Barometer. The report, "The Fight For Racial Justice In America," found 71% trust their current employer, vs. only 56% who trust the media, 50% who trust businesses at large, or 36% who trust the government.
- Researcher: "In times of uncertainty, people are less likely to go out on a fashion limb as they express themselves."
- "Good is the New Cool" author Afdhel Aziz said pressure on companies "to not just talk the talk but walk the walk" drives them to step up to the plate.
- The French company, the parent of email service Mailify, plans to continue investing in R&D.
- Steuer will develop new cross-media platform measurement -- a "currency-grade transaction-ready TV dataset" for media buyers and sellers, delivery providers and other vendors -- in the new position.
- Mobile and cloud gaming -- and subscriptions -- will drive growth, even as revenue from stand-alone game purchases declines, says Juniper Research.
- Months into nationwide protests over racial injustice, a majority of American consumers continue to believe brands should speak out publicly about systemic racism and racial injustice, according to a special report released this morning by the Edelman Trust Barometer. The report, "The Fight For Racial Justice In America," shows that 54% of a national sample of U.S. adults surveyed Aug. 31 agreed with the statement about brands playing a role. That's up from 51% when Edelman fielded a similar survey Aug. 21, but down from 60% when it researched it June 7.
- The trend toward in-house ad agencies has been accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to findings of the just-released "Global Trends In Creative In-Housing" report from the World Federation of Advertisers. The report, which is based on a survey of WFA member companies conducted in June, also found that half of those in-house agencies provide at least some form of media service function, with digital media planning and buying being the dominant one, followed by overall media strategy, and traditional media planning and buying.
- How much can you trust Google to lead you down the correct path? Google and DeepMind researchers explain how they use data and machine-learning models to predict traffic flows.
- PwC estimates a 7.3% decline to $660.6 billion in total media/entertainment revenues for this year in the U.S.
- Brands find it hard to scale multilocation marketing and maintain brand consistency, Forrester reports.
- Microsoft's partnership with the AI Foundation makes the tools available to organizations involved in the news process and political campaigns.
- With 3.011 billion gross minutes viewed, the launch of the second season of Netflix original series "The Umbrella Academy" was by far the most-watched program on subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, according to a new weekly "Top 10" ranking released by Nielsen today. While Nielsen has long provided top tens for conventional TV series, the new service reflects the growing importance of SVOD services as an extension of the medium.
- Many people have saved their government stimulus payments, but are open to email offers, Epsilon reports.
- As of early August, advertisers and agency executives responsible for setting ad budgets projected the U.S. ad economy would decline 8.0% this year, but would rebound 5.3% in 2021. That's the finding of the sixth in a series of buy-side surveys fielded by the Interactive Advertising Bureau to track the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the IAB did not report scenarios for ad spending by medium in 2021, the respondents said that during 2020 digital media ad spending would actually rise 6%, while "traditional" media ad spending would decline 30% (see separate story for more details).
- Google is introducing the gender intent of the searcher for certain keywords without consumers adding a gender-based term in their query. Searchmetrics has suggestions for how to approach the challenge.
- Standard Media Index continues to grow its management ranks with the appointment of Jason Keown as vp, marketing, a new position where he will focus on expanding business in North America. In July, SMI hired hired Ben Tatta, former president and co-founder of analytics company 605, as president of SMI's U.S. market.
- U.S. ad spending is now expected to decline 8% vs. 2019, according to a survey of "buy-side" executives at advertisers and agencies surveyed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau in recent weeks. The study also shows that "digital" ad spending will actually expand 6% this year, while "traditional" media advertising will decline 30%, indicating digital's market share is growing as a result of the pandemic.
- The Democratic party may have won the ratings war, but when it comes to the emotional impact of the speeches, Republicans won the sentiment battle. That's the finding of an in-depth sentiment analysis of every major speech delivered during the presidential conventions by WPP's SJR unit. The analysis shows the incumbent President generating the highest overall sentiment -- and index of 81 -- followed by five other GOP speakers (Dan Crenshaw, Ivanka Trump, Kim Reynolds, Kristi Noem and Mike Pence) before a DNC speaker ranks: Gabrielle Giffords with a sentiment index of 70.
- In comparison, in 2018, 69% reported subscribing to Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu, reports Leichtman Research Group. And 40% of U.S. adults now stream an SVOD daily.
- Forty-three percent of consumers polled said their use of streaming platforms "stayed the same" for the week of July 22-28, research company Resonate found.
- A majority of brands are using defined journey maps or building them. And email is the most effective touchpoint, Ascend2 reports.
- The Nielsen universe continues to expand, albeit modestly, with U.S. TV households rising 0.3% to 121.0 million, according to Nielsen's official 2020-21 TV season estimates. The number of persons represented by the TV universe grew at an even more moderate rate, rising 0.1% to 307.9 million persons two years or older.
- The volatile nature of the current political climate -- especially the erratic policies of big digital platforms -- is creating a corresponding uncertainty for political marketing agencies and consultants to achieve their marketing objectives, finds a survey of 65 "progressive, conservative and non-partisan" specialists surveyed by digital media-buying processor Centro in April.
- The network TV audience for the final night of the Republican National Convention was the highest-rated of the week, but nonetheless failed to match the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention by 3.3%. The four-night average audience for the RNC (19.4 million viewers) was 10.2% lower than the four-night DNC average (21.6 million).
