Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
- Following 14 waves of national consumer research, Mindshare's COVID-19 tracking study shows awareness of brands helping with the crisis has ebbed and now stands at its lowest point -- 30% unaided awareness -- since its first wave in March. Online retailer Amazon remains the top brand mentioned by U.S. consumers as aiding them during the pandemic, but rival Walmart has slid behind automaker Ford's awareness.
- Kantar research also indicates that the average Quibi user has five SVODs, vs. the overall market average of three -- a level that could prove unsustainable.
- Although TV network group execs may see ad revenue declines as temporary, chronic pay TV subscriber losses continue. Pivotal Research Group estimates the pay TV industry lost two million subscribers in Q2, a 10% increase in the loss of subscribers from a year ago.
- According to a study released Thursday by the Digital Citizens Alliance and technology firm NAGRA, about 9 million fixed broadband subscribers in the U.S. currently subscribe to at least one of 3,500 online "storefronts" retailing Internet Protocol TV services, which enable consumers to stream and download pirated copyrighted movies and TV programming.
- According to a study released Thursday by the Digital Citizens Alliance and technology firm NAGRA, about 9 million fixed U.S. broadband subscribers currently subscribe to at least one of 3,500 online "storefronts" retailing Internet Protocol TV services, which enable consumers to stream and download pirated copyrighted movies and TV programming.
- Nielsen Holdings witnessed revenues sinking 8% to $1.5 billion in Q2, in line with expectations. Nielsen expects modest declines in the coming periods -- down 2% to 4% in revenues.
- It may not be surprising by now that travel industry ad spending fell off the cliff in mid-March, just as America began locking down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this graphic delineation from MediaRadar showing explicitly how hit correlates with the rise in new cases provides some perspective. With the exception of an inexplicable spike in ad spending in mid-June, just as cases were beginning to rise again, the data suggests a direct correlation.
- In the history of advertising and media industry financial asset dealings, few have been monetized more than Nielsen, which over decades has been merged, purged, taken public and private and public again. And with it once again poised to be split up into two companies, ostensibly to create shareholder value, the equity research team at BMO Capital Markets has released a pre- and post- look at the company's valuation. Interestingly, the "new" Nielsen does unlock some increased value, albeit marginally, with total enterprise value rising a .02% gain, and equity value increasing .08%.
- Pathmatics estimates 180 brands joined the boycott, halting Facebook spend as early as late June to show their solidarity with the #stophateforprofit campaign. Here's what the data looks like.
- Roku continues to post strong business metrics, beating many Q2 estimates. Revenue climbed to $356.1 million and Roku added 3.2 million monthly active users.
- More than a third of all shoppers say retailers are failing to offer even the most primitive digital tools to make their lives easier.
- The top brand by spend was Toyota ($28.1 million) which also had the most impressions (2.8 billion), per iSpot.tv.
- Networks aired the least original shows in over a decade, Standard Media Index said. Ad spending was 2% higher in TV news content, on the plus side. Overall, Q2 witnessed a 19% decline. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, major media companies have been hit hard overall, with declines of 20% and higher.
- The U.S. podcast advertising marketplace is on pace to top $1 billion in the next year, according to the first-ever estimates released by eMarketer this morning. Despite the fact that some podcast ad campaigns were poised during the first half due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eMarketer expects the market to "rebound" in the third and fourth quarters with total 2020 spending rising 10.4% to $782 million, and surging 44.9% next year to $1.1 billion Following 2020's hiccup, eMarketer projects U.S. podcast advertising will surge 44.9% to $1.1 billion in 2021.
- Sixty-nine percent of marketers have moved their programmatic media-buying all or partly in-house, but the reasons for doing so vary greatly by market, according to findings of the IAB's just-released "International Report On Programmatic In-Housing." The report, conducted in conjunction with Accenture Interactive and based on a survey of marketers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, finds that "campaign effectiveness" is a top factor for all regions, but in the U.S."ROI attribution" stands out as the biggest factor by a margin of more than two-to-one over every other market.
- The tool business landscape has been growing more and more competitive each year. With sellers like Amazon and Walmart crowding the market; Craftsman needed to come up with a strategy that put their products front-and-center with shoppers during the competitive holiday season. With a very limited budget, Craftsman leveraged influencers and social media...
- This year is projected to be the strongest year for ecommerce, with 22% growth driven by the massive shift from offline to online.
- When it comes to the fastest-growing segment of media-buying -- programmatic -- in-house is now the norm for most clients worldwide. That's the finding of a new report released this morning by the IAB. While the trend should not be surprising to anyone who has been following media buying for the past decade, the stat may be: Only 15% of advertisers say they have no plans to bring programmatic media-buying in-house.
- While consumers are watching their budget, they're also more impulsive, with 35% calling themselves impulse shoppers, up from 28% in 2019.
- The Census Bureau is sending emails to 20 million households for which it has email addresses. It is also considering texting.
- GroupM's Mindshare unit had the best first half of 2020, increasing its revenue by $52.2 million over the same period a year ago, according to estimates released today by consultant R3 Worldwide. Omnicom's OMD ranked second, generating $45.5 million in revenue gains for what arguably has been the most challenging first half in recent memory, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Pinterest, which withdrew its full-year outlook in April, now expects current-quarter revenue to grow in the mid-30% range vs. a year ago. It now forecasts year-over-year revenue growth at about 50% through July 29.
- The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. ad economy contracted only 27.4% in Q2 and 1.4% in Q1, while real GDP contracted 32.9% in Q2 after a contraction of 5% in Q1, based on the U.S. Ad Market Tracker, a collaboration of SMI and MediaPost that indexes at market growth monthly.
- In this week's episode of IPG Media Lab's "Floor 9" podcast, the lab's Adam Simon and Scott Elchison take listeners deep into the metaverse -- a "persistent collectively shared virtual space" -- including the acceleration of new and emerging virtual spaces such as "proto-verses" and "digital "third places" in online video games, and their implications for brands.
- The biggest factor influencing the outcome of elections is stupidity, not the economy. The No. 1 reason? The dissolution of professional journalism and growth of -- how should I say this -- less rigorous sources of validated information. The progression began with the shift toward digital media, and the fact that anyone could publish a site, a blog, or a social media post, but according to an exhaustive study released this morning by the Pew Research Center, more Americans get their political and/or election news from a website, app or social media than from traditional journalistic media like TV, radio or print.
- "Advertising" and "marketing," and especially their use of "data," "targeting," and the potential for "abuse" were a big part of the five-and-a-half hours of Congressional testimony during the "Big Tech" company hearing on Wednesday, according to a MediaPost analysis of the transcribed testimony published by C-SPAN.
- As part of the potentially industry-shaking deal, AMC will get an undisclosed "share" of streaming revenues -- a first for movie theaters. The deal dramatically cuts the theatrical exclusivity window and will help business for movie studios' small- to-mid-size films, cutting the traditional 90-day deal to 17 days.
- Brand spending -- both ad buys and sponsorships -- for esports is projected to rise from $279 million in 2016 to $1.1 billion in 2022, according to a forecast published as part of the just-released "Ad Opportunities In Gaming" report from WARC.
- A multitude of consumer research has already established that a majority of Americans support professional athletes, teams and leagues racial justice activism, and now there are Nielsen ratings to prove it. Well, sort of. A Nielsen Sports survey of American sports fans shows they overwhelmingly support racial injustice protests, as well as brands that support athletes, teams, leagues backing it.
- Only 30% of TV households that watched Major League Baseball on linear TV in 2019 tuned in to linear TV baseball this past weekend, Roku says. Results were drawn from automatic content recognition data from smart TV sets and other connected devices. Among the most hardcore baseball fans, Roku says, one-third watched zero minutes of linear TV baseball this year.
