The global ad economy will contract 7.2% this year, the worst reduction in worldwide ad spending in recent memory, according to the latest estimates from IPG Mediabrands Magna unit. That estimate
includes the stimulus from cyclical events that add incremental spending to the global ad economy such as the U.S. elections, but excluding the impact of such events, Magna estimates the global ad
economy will contract 7.8% this year, but will rebound 6.4% in 2021.
Asked which, if any, brands had a positive impact for them during the pandemic, "other" was the No. 1 choice among 1,000 Americans responding to a recent survey by OpinionWay for digital
communications agency JIN. Overall 73% cited at least one brand, and 17 charted above had enough statistical significance to be recognized by at least 1% of the respondent base. On this scale, albeit
a highly fragmented one, ecommerce platforms Amazon and Walmart stand out as tentpoles, with 6% each of respondents.
These unique data visualizations were created by Chicago-based digital shop Digital Third Coast based on the agency's analysis of Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to see how the homepages of major
news sites covered the coronavirus outbreak over time. The visualizations show the progression over 10 weeks -- from Jan. 1 to March 9 -- including the density of headline mentions (above) and total
headlines appearing above the fold (below).
Net sentiment about Democratic challenger Joe Biden has improved dramatically in recent weeks, moving the presumptive nominee close to a net positive sentiment and increasing the margin with the
incumbent to 38 points. While both candidates have remained relatively close -- and well under water -- since early March, the President's net sentiment remains mired at -44, according to a weekly
tracking study by Engagement Labs.
The emergence of Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV, which carry the big four broadcast networks, has reduced the need for dual subscriptions, but a substantial number of subscribers still doubt that their
vMVPDs can completely replace their legacy services, reports TDG.
A plurality of Americans -- especially NFL fans -- support more players taking a knee in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement during NFL games. That's one of the findings of a national
survey conducted by DeVries Global and Dynata in the wake of George Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter protests nationwide.
While 40% of Americans believe personal health will become a bigger concern and 54% worry about a second COVID-19 wave, 32% worldwide plan to be more optimistic, a recent survey by Harris Interactive
and Toluna found.
Nature and educational-oriented cable networks including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, History Channel, and National Geographic Channel are the highest-ranked in terms of interest among non-cable
subscribers, according to the latest edition of Beta Research Corp.'s "Cable Network Interest Study." The study, which samples a representative base of both subscribers and non-subscribers of cable TV
services, also found that similar network interest among non-cable subscribers who are also heavy users of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Prime.
A new initiative announced by tech platforms aimed at combating online child sexual abuse puts structure, membership models, and staffing in place to support long-term goals.
Nearly four in five ad industry professionals object to the idea of their company using a device or app that would trace their contact with other employees while at work, ostensibly to help manage
workplace health related to COVID-19 infections, a study of U.S. ad professionals fielded May 29-31 by workplace social network Fishbowl has found.
"Uncertainty is the new normal, along with fear, anxiety, and stress," reads a just-released white paper written for media buyers trying to figure out how to navigate this year's network upfront
advertising marketplace. While those terms could well be applied to upfronts of year's past, their context is different in the midst of a pandemic that has disrupted much of the media marketplace, as
well as advertiser budgets and plans.
While many media, and especially digital commerce-based media experiences, are known to have so-called "cohort" effects in which someone helps users navigate and/or decide on what to consider or buy,
the phenomenon is even more complex inside U.S. Hispanic households where language plays an important role.
More than half -- 56% -- of U.S. adults say they're using paid streaming services more than before the pandemic, and 48% say they now subscribe to three to five such services -- up from 37% saying
that prior to COVID.
As retail and restaurant chains develop their reopening strategies, executives may use this opportunity to cull unprofitable locations.
The safest form of media to for brands to utilize during a pandemic are shelter-in-place lifestyle content, according to survey of ad executives conducted in late May by Advertiser Perceptions. The
survey, the fifth in a series of COVID-19 related tracking studies, also ranked podcasts, local TV news, social media (with comments disabled), national TV news, and online news (with comments
disabled) very or reasonably safe
A majority of American adults feel Twitter has done the right thing by adding warning labels and fact-checking questionable tweets, according to a national survey conducted June 6 and 7 by global
opinions platform Piplsay. A third (33%) said Twitter's new policy is good as long as it applies to everyone equally, while 26% said it is good, because it's time social media influencers are "made to
act responsibly."
The data, from a survey of ad execs conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, shows that June through October are the biggest rebound months, suggesting the third quarter is the effective rebound for the
U.S. ad economy.
The COVID-19 pandemic drove U.S. consumption of online video views up 53% and time spent viewing them by 319%, according to the just-released Q1 2020 edition of Brightcove's Global Video Index.
Globally, enterprise video consumption soared 97% in views, 35% in time spent, and 135% on time spent watching on connected TVs.
The stay-at-home restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a boon for many media, but for video games this accelerated a rise in share of time spent with media that was already well underway,
according to a new report from the equity research team at UBS. "Before COVID-19, we had observed continued momentum for video games; however, with "shelter-in-place" restrictions, we have seen video
game consumption accelerate,"writes UBS analyst Eric Sheridan in a report sent to investors Sunday.
Using their media and communications platforms to encourage people to vote is the No. 1 way Americans would like to see brands respond to the "Black Lives Matter" groundswell following the murder of
George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers arresting him. That's the finding of a nationally representative survey conducted by Devries Global via Dyanta on June 2.
Eighty percent of TV homes now have at least one connected TV device, according to Leichtman Research Group. This includes built-in Smart TV interfaces, stand-alone streaming devices -- Roku, Amazon
Fire TV, Chromecast, or Apple TV -- as well as connected video game systems and Blu-ray players.
In 2011, I wrote my first report on streaming, titled, Netflix is the Best Thing Ever. This was a year before its first original scripted series, Lilyhammer, and two years before the streaming service
debuted its first major hit, "House of Cards." My household had just subscribed to Netflix, and I thought it had a potentially brilliant model for success and was poised to enjoy tremendous growth.
There were some initial drawbacks, of course, but nine years later I make the case in this week's edition why Netflix still is the best thing ever.
Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi suggests in a research note that Apple should purchase the privacy search engine DuckDuckGo for about $1 billion to gain ad dollars and put pressure on Google,
according to one report.
Of the 41% of households that took trial subscriptions for at least one OTT service in the past 12 months, 69% took at least one paid subscription, reports Parks Associates.
Two-thirds of pay-TV operators around the world are expected to gain subscribers through 2025, more than offsetting losses among the top 10 operators, according to a Digital TV Research forecast
report.
On the same day that Wall Street is rallying on a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report for the month of May, the ad industry has its own positive metric signaling a rebound beginning in May. "We
think that April increasingly feels like the bottom," Pivotal Research Group analyst Michael Levine writes in a report sent to investors this morning.
A new survey of U.S. sports viewers finds the live sports blackout was more responsible for these viewers' increased streaming, gaming and social media use than just being at home, and large
percentages expect to decrease those activities once they can watch sports again. Large percentages also say they would switch pay-TV services if their current one doesn't carry live sports when they
resume.
Telling jokes in your advertising during a pandemic is no laughing matter, according to many ad executives surveyed in early May by Advertiser Perceptions for Research Intelligencer. Asked to express
their views on the sentiment of their target audiences during the COVID-19 crisis, only 28% of ad executives said their target audience will respond more to a good joke in their ads.
Digital media, including advertising and/or virtual events, are the main media the ad industry is using to replace the loss of in-person physical events. That's the finding of a survey of ad execs
Advertiser Perceptions conducted in early May for MediaPost. Digital advertising was the No. 1 medium benefitting from the displacement of physical events, with 40% of execs citing it, especially
among marketers (47% vs. 36% of ad agency executives).
If the past is prologue, the economic disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic would logically put environmental issues like climate change lower among top consumer concerns. That's what a recent
report from GfK seemed to suggest, but some new polling by the Global Web Index (GWI) suggests that a majority of consumers believe the pandemic has made it more important for them to reduce their
personal carbon footprint.