Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
- COVID-19 has impacted the short- to mid-term marketing spend for marketers, but the long-term impact is much less certain, according to The State of Data report published by the IAB Programmatic + Data Center of Excellence and Winterberry Group.
- It's well known that stay-at-home has driven video consumption rates upward, but a new report shows this has contributed to even higher video engagement rates.
- Conventional pay TV services (cable, satellite, telcos) no longer are the default source Americans tune to -- online is. That's the tipping point finding from an annual survey of TV viewers by Hub Entertainment Research.
- Viewer "attention" decreased by 3.7% during daytime hours, TVision research found, while TV set usage grew 77% from mid-March through the end of April. "Viewability" decreased 1.5% amidst TV commercial wear-out and viewer attention to COVID-19-related brand advertising decreased by 13% from March 1- May 17, while "attention" to OTT programming increased 20%.
- That's the finding of a new national survey from Privitar, which shows nearly half (45%) of consumers say they would never share their data with brands in any category for more personalized experiences. The finding, part of Privitar's 2020 "Consumer Trust and Data Privacy Report," finds healthcare not surprisingly is the category consumers are most apt to share more of their data with (32% of respondents citing), but retail surprisingly ranked No. 2 (19%).
- The new NBCU survey shows consumers want brands to advertise at about the same level as before the COVID-19 pandemic, but with messaging that acknowledges current events, and says about 81% are more likely to buy from and use brands that "help others when it's needed most."
- Halfway through the Republican National Convention, broadcast and cable TV news networks appear to be devoting a disproportionate share of live coverage to the GOP's vs. The Democratic National Convention. That's the finding of a Media Matters analysis of live coverage of each party's conventions. The analysis shows that after two days, the networks have devoted half again as much coverage to the RNC (19 hours and 37 minutes) as the DNC (12 hours and 39 minutes).
- "Improved transparency" is the main factor driving programmatic trading models among the world's biggest marketers, according to findings of a new report from the World Federation of Advertisers. Other top factors include "data strategy," "ease of control," and "flexibility."
- Contributions in research, science, data, analytics, and empathy embraced by Greg Lyons and his Pepsi team are cornerstones to establish great brands. Josh Chasin, chief measurability officer, VideoAmp, was recognized with the Erwin Ephron Demystification Award by Leslie Wood, CRO, NCSolutions, who also interviewed him as part of the same ARF Great Minds Event.
- Ratings for the Republican National Convention's first night trailed the Democratic National Convention's first night by 14%, according to estimates for the common tv network coverage, but the DNC had a greater falloff than the RNC from the first night of their 2016 convention ratings.
- This year's list was dramatically changed by the pandemic, politics and protests, says Brand Keys' Robert Passikoff.
- A Gartner research reported that global smartphone sales dipped 20.4% in the second quarter, and that's on top of a 20% decline in Q1.
- Microsoft provides data and details how marketers can successfully connect with consumers who are age 65 and older.
- Roughly 16 different initiatives are currently underway to find the industry's Holy Grail: true cross-platform measurement.
- Diisney+ and Hulu will drive Disney D2C revenue of $11.2 billion this year, estimates Macquarie Research -- far exceeding streaming's contribution to total revenues for other big entertainment players--except Lions Gate.
- Seventeen auto brands are posting downturns in scores, year over year, according to data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
- Search volume is a strong indicator of what people think and do, and several companies are tracking progress through Google Search. Volume is leaning toward out-of-home activities, although many keywords are trending down from the prior week, according to Robert W. Baird Analyst Colin Sebastian, who has been keeping an eye on trending keywords in Google search.
- Six of 41 broadcast network prime-time TV series have shown viewing gains through 12 weeks this summer. "America's Got Talent" remains the top performer overall.
- An August poll found 71% of college students are "absolutely certain" they will vote. Yet students lack confidence in the legitimacy of this election.
- An ESOMAR webinar featured some of the best pollsters currently examining the U.S. in the weird and wacky world of Trump and his regime, where we can always expect the unexpected.
- Given the question mark over new fall TV shows -- as well as the regular high viewing of regular-season NFL games -- the answer might be obvious. It isn't.
- People who consistently watch multiple hours of streamed content each week also watch many hours of broadcast and basic cable. But brands seeking mass-market reach these days may need to put AVODs in the mix, says TV data company Alphonso.
- Research by Adobe shows that marketers in the Asia Pacific region have changed their long-term marketing strategy in response to disruptions caused by COVID-19. More than half have changed visuals and language in campaigns.
- As agencies and brands determine how to survive in today's new landscape, lead management is key for agencies and brands. The digital world has been a lifeline for sales teams during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, for most businesses, it has been one of the only ways forward. Among the top 10 search topics with the largest discrepancy among brands and agencies, according to this week's Bombora search topics? Lead Management, Lead to Account Matching and Lead Scoring all ranked highly.
- The erosion of U.S. ad spending continues to moderate, falling at its lowest rate of decline in July since the economic effects of the pandemic began to manifest earlier this year. Ad volume declined 13.9% vs. July 2019, according to the just-updated U.S. Ad Market Tracker, a collaboration of MediaPost and Standard Media Index.
- The smallest businesses appear to be the strongest, according to a GoDaddy study of the impact of COVID-19 on about 5,265 of the world's tiniest businesses located in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Philippines, Spain, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S. The research was conducted by Savanta in June 2020, with 91% of respondents having 10 or less employees.
- Thirty four percent said having space -- empty seats between occupied movie theater seats -- is key to returning.
- The world's biggest advertisers have largely embraced programmatic media-buying and as they increasingly shift to independent and/or in-house trading models, the primary effect is greater transparency in terms of the actual cost of acquiring inventory. That's the finding of a just-released survey of member of the World Federation of Advertisers, the fourth in a series of studies first benchmarked in 2013.
- In this new position, Bucher will head up all marketing efforts and research at the network as well as Local Now, the Weather Channel's free streaming service.
- Purchasing and consumption habits have changed. As communicating with consumers during a crisis challenges brands, many are turning to podcasts to stay in touch.
