Do you still have faith in :30 second commercials?

The reason I ask is that Coke has announced that they no longer do.  (Goetzl, 2012)

Based on the CFO’s DVR habits the company has decided to focus its ad spending on live events and sports.  But Nielsen data from earlier this month showed that while 40% of US tv viewers have DVRs only 8% of overall tv viewing is time-shifted.  And then mostly because consumers want to watch two shows at the same time. (Friedman, 2012)

I don’t know off hand who Coke’s primary consumer is, but sports programming tends to underdeliver women, where only about 1/3 of viewers are female. (Ripper, 2011)  (The Olympics are an exception as they draw more women than men.) So that could be a concern.

And then there’s the fact that when Pepsi cut back on tv advertising last year they fell to the number three brand. (CBS News, 2011)

What do you think?  Will this strategy be a winner for Coke?

Goetzl, D. (2012, March 22).  Coke To Focus On Events, Loses Faith In 30-Second Spot.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved March 29, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/170853/coke-to-focus-on-events-loses-faith-in-30-second.html?edition=44899

Friedman, W. (2012, March 1).  Live View Numbers Drop, But DVR Jumps.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved March 29, from

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/169188/live-view-numbers-drop-but-dvr-jumps.html

Van Riper, T. (2011, September 30).  The Sports Women Watch.  forbes.com.  Retrieved March 29, from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2011/09/30/the-sports-women-watch/

(2011, March 17).  Pepsi slips to No. 3 in cola war.  CBC news. Retrieved March 29, from

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/03/17/pepsi-coke-cola.html

Do Women Need Their Own Sports Website?

12/9/10

ESPN apparently thinks so. As new data continues to pour in about the skyrocketing increase in the size of the female sports fan market and their spending potential, ESPN has decided that the time is right to launch EspnW.com.

The site will cover both male and female sports and will provide information about training. It will also provide “Olympics coverage,” i.e. more human interest stories, since this is what ESPN’s research has told them is the gold standard for women. (Siegel, 2010)

Given that 76% of ESPN’s viewers are currently male this could be a rich source of new revenue. What do you think? Is it worth a try? Will it be a success?

Siegel, F. (2010, December 8) ESPN’s Big New Site For Women, EspnW.com Finally Launching Today. mediapost.com. Retrieved December 8, 2010, from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showEdition&art_send_date=2010-12-8&art_type=41