Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
- In what could be an anathema for the 2020-21 upfront and other long-term media-buying decisions, U.S. ad execs say the average lead time for their media plans has been cut nearly in half since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The average amount of time for U.S. media plans has fallen to just 2.3 months post-pandemic vs. 4.2 months pre-pandemic, according to the most recent wave of tracking surveys conducted among advertisers and agency executives by Advertiser Perceptions.
- In a recent study, 29% of consumers said they are more likely to purchase via ads if the ads are personalized, and about 31% said they are more loyal to brands that provide a personalized experience. The study cites Kohl's, Target, Walmart, Disney, Nintendo, Spotify, YouTube, Ford, Jeep, Subaru, Toyota, Dunkin' and McDonald's as some of the brands that are correctly personalizing messages.
- Microsoft is spinning off its AI-based chatbot technology, Xiaoice, into a stand-alone company after nurturing it for about six years.
- Traditional and new pay TV companies have seen average ad revenues per user tick up slightly through first-half 2020 with the hope that future advanced advertising can show stronger gains.
- It's been a while since I've heard the old Wanamaker chestnut "half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." And if a new initiative backed by the ARF works out, it's possible nobody will ever repeat it again.
- Adience is designed to operate in a B2B research environment disrupted by the rise of DIY, Wells says.
- The Advertising Research Foundation has named long-time industry media researcher Josh Chasin the 2020 recipient of its Erwin Ephron Demystification Award, an annual awards presentation paying tribute to legendary industry researcher and media strategist Erwin Ephron (the "father of recency" planning).
- Young adults 18-29 are much more interested in protest vs. election-related news and are keenly interested in the COVID-19 pandemic, a Pew Research Center study finds, with 75% "very or fairly closely" following that news.
- As part of an effort to "revolutionize" the role of procurement in the marketing process at major multinational marketers, the World Federation of Advertisers as embarked in an ongoing initiative code-named "Project Spring." Today, the WFA released new research from its members indicating that while marketing procurement remains vital, it is handled in different ways internally in organizations, including the kind of performance metrics and corporate targets their companies use as the basis for rationalizing marketing procurement.
- New research conducted by IPG Mediabrands Magna and IPG Media Lab units with Twitter finds that mixing video advertising formats yields better results, contradicting the belief of some marketers that they should concentrate their entire video ad budget behind a single format.
- A majority (59%) of ad industry professionals say they are not comfortable about the idea of returning to their offices in "the coming weeks or months," according to findings of a survey of 107 industry executives conducted over a two-week period by audio post-production facility Sound Lounge.
- The vast majority of employees working from home concede they are engaging in non-work-related activities and 72% of them blame their cell phones for distracting them. Remarkably, 80% of the respondents said their activities -- ranging from sleeping on the job, watching porn and even having sex -- would get them fired if they were back in the office.
- Our current multiple crises environment has thrown many marketers' strategies into disarray, pushing "brand safety" into the forefront for many brands even more than usual. This week's analysis of marketing-related interest and intent data from Bombora shows two big themes. One is how interest in brand safety correlates to a focus on brand values.
- Sixty-seven percent of 18- to-34-year-olds said they would "definitely/probably" pay $15 to stream a new movie, while 65% said they would buy streamed movies priced at $25 and 57% would pay for movies streamed at a price of $50 (with 44% saying (probably not/definitely not).
- It was the best of quarters, it was the worst of quarters. That is the preliminary assessment of the ad industry's Q2 results by the equity research team at Pivotal Research Group, indicating that the ad industry is split along two distinct economic paths: a performance-based marketplace that has essentially rebounded and a brand-based one that continues to languish amid the pandemic and macroeconomic downturn.
- Professionals in all U.S. industries report they are experiencing "workplace burnout" due to work-from-home policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the ad industry is among the highest, just behind tech industry professionals (73% vs. 74%), according to findings of a new survey by workplace social network Fishbowl.
- Nearly a third (32%) of marketing, advertising and media services work that had been handled by external agencies has been shifted in-house, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. That's one of the findings of a survey of "marketing leaders" conducted by Gartner in April and May. The study, Gartner's "CMO Spend 2020: Part 2," indicates the shifts were due primarily to "budget pressures," which have made "in-housing an ever more tempting proposition because CMOs expect that having work done by employees will deliver cost savings."
- The concept of "the big lie" is essentially that if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it people will eventually believe it. Since most people tell small lies themselves in their everyday lives, while they would never tell colossal lies -- so have trouble believing someone else would -- they are more likely to fall for the big lie than a small lie. President Trump has not only been a master media manipulator, he has also been a master of the big lie - simple statements that strike an emotional chord, require no additional explanation, can be repeated loudly and often, and are amplified by the conservative media/social media echo chamber. Recent examples of President Trump's big lies include, the Russia hoax, CNN and The New York Times are fake news, and mainstream media is the enemy of the people. In this week's edition, I examine how this has turned TV from Trump's best friend to his worst enemy.
- Tatta, formerly a senior exec at 605 and Cablevision Media Sales, was named president of ad intelligence and pricing data firm Standard Media Index and will report to James Fennessy, global chief executive officer of SMI.
- The focus of the brand boycott of Facebook has been on how it impacts its bottom line, especially ad revenues. But it has something greater at stake: Its brand value. Why does that matter? Keep reading.
- While a variety of self-reported consumer surveys suggest many are feeling more optimistic about the future, new scientific research from the NeuroLab of GroupM's Mindshare unit suggests they probably are lying, even if it's to themselves. The research, which utilizes sophisticated neuro research methods to uncover what people are feeling at a preconscious or unconscious level, finds most really are feeling "hopeful," not "optimistic." That's an important distinction, say the NeuroLab's analysts, because while optimism connotes a sense of "hopefulness in the future," hope represents a "desire for future change."
- A majority of fans overall and 76% of younger fans say they will support NASCAR sponsors that incorporate "Black Lives Matter" messaging.
- Forty-two percent of Facebook employees are concerned about the burgeoning boycott by big advertisers, and 17% do not trust CEO Mark Zuckerberg's leadership. Those are two of the top line findings of an anonymized survey of Facebook employees conducted by anonymous professional network Blind late last week.
- Last year wasn't a good one for the Big 3 agency holding companies media services divisions in terms of U.S. billings growth. Their combined billings fell nearly 4% to $55.1 billion, according to final tallies released today by Comvergence. Most of the erosion came from Omnicom Media Group's 10.6% slide, while Publicis Media declined 1% and GroupM rose 1%, suggesting the big winners were the long- and mid-tails of the U.S. media services industry.
- Griffiths, who has been CFO since January, will retain those responsibilities and run the company until a permanent CEO is named. Former CEO Eric Salama has opted out of an advisory role with the company.
- Omnicom's OMD remained the top U.S. media agency in terms of media billings volume, but Dentsu Aegis Network's Carat had the best year overall, jumping from No. 3 in 2018 to No. 2 in 2019, thanks to an 18.5% gain, according to final estimates released today by Comvergence.
- Study Finds Consumers Feel They Are More Dependent On Media Tech, But It Makes Life More ComplicatedConsumers are expressing an increasing paradox about the impact of media technology -- they feel more dependent on it, but it makes their lives more complicated -- according to a multinational study conducted by GlobalWebIndex for Worldwide Partners, a network of more than 70 independent, owner-led agencies. The study also drills into a variety of influences, especially the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the acceleration of new consumer experiences -- particularly tele-health, retail, travel and tourism -- as well as the need for more human interaction.
- "People want to see visible proof of actions being taken to keep them safe," Magid's David Bilicic tells "Marketing Daily."
- This is the era of Peak TV+. In addition to broadcast and cable, we a bounty of major streaming services: Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video and more recently, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and (soon) Peacock. Add in numerous smaller and more niche and targeted streaming services, and there's a lot -- possibly too much -- for most people to choose from. As someone who analyzes TV and streaming content for a living, here are my recommendations for the best shows to binge on this summer.
- Churn rates for OTT services overall rose 6 percentage points versus Q1 2019, reports Parks Associates, which points to more extended sampling trials as the competitive field continues to expand.
