7/16/09
On June 26, 2009, the MPA (Magazine Publishers of America) published a white paper on the state of the business which shows that the number of magazine readers has actually grown +5.7% over the past 5 years. And, even young readers, i.e. Adults 18-34, are showing a +2.6% increase over the same period. (“Consumers value magazines in their media mix. Do You?”, 2009)
A study from McPheters & Co., published in 2007, indicated that Gen X and Gen Y are in fact reading more magazines monthly than do Baby Boomers and The Silent Generation. Specifically, 19-24 year-olds reported reading an average of 18.3 titles in the previous 6 months. 25-34 year-olds read 18.9, while those 45-54 said they read 16.7, and people over 65 said they read 14. (Ives, 2007)
So, why were magazine ad pages down another -29.4% in 2nd quarter 2009? (Sass, 2009)
I sense a disconnect here. Do you? Are you still reading magazines? Do you want your favorite brands to continue to support them?
(2009, June 29). Consumers value magazines in their media mix. Do you? magazine.org. Retrived, July 15, 2009, from
http://www.magazine.org/advertising/advertising-white-paper.aspx
Ives, N. (2007, May 22). Young Adults Bigger Mag Readers Than Their Parents. adage.com. Retrived, May 24, 2007, from http://adage.com/print?article_id=116831
Sass, E. (2009, July 10). Magazine Ad pages Tumble 29.4% in Q2. mediapost.com. Retrieved, July 15 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109601
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Is this the beginning of the end for free online content?
7/9/09
The topic du jour at this week’s Sun Valley Allen and Company conference, is predicted to be a debate over paid online content. After giving away their content for free for the past decade, newspapers are now folding in droves as their offline revenue declines. The remaining media companies don’t want to make the same mistake. (Li, 2009).
So, what do they do? The first thing is to clamp down on unauthorized use of copyrighted material. While past legal rulings, in the form of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor provision have held that web sites are not liable for copyright infringement committed by users provided the sites remove the clips upon request, and they haven’t financially profited by the content; one could argue that YouTube’s entire business model is built on pirated material. (Davis, 2009)
An intriguing solution currently being offered by the Financial Times is tiered pricing for access. When I attempted to access the article above, I was given 4 registration options offering various levels of access to current and archived materials. Lighter use was free, but unlimited access was $3.49 per week, and full access, including the offline newspaper was priced at $5.75 per week. (“FT.com”, 2009). That seems reasonable to me. How about you?
Li, K. (2009, July 7). Sun Valley set to consider paid content. ft.com. Retrived, July 7, 2009 from
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38da0ffc-6a8c-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html
Davis, W. (2009, July 8). YouTube Wins Partial Victory Against Copyright Owners. mediapost.com. Retrived, July 9, 2009 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109359
(2009, July 7). FT.com registration page. ft.com. Retrived July 9, 2009 from
http://www.ft.com/cms/275bc334-3063-11dc-9a81-0000779fd2ac.html?segid=70000&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F38da0ffc-6a8c-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html
The topic du jour at this week’s Sun Valley Allen and Company conference, is predicted to be a debate over paid online content. After giving away their content for free for the past decade, newspapers are now folding in droves as their offline revenue declines. The remaining media companies don’t want to make the same mistake. (Li, 2009).
So, what do they do? The first thing is to clamp down on unauthorized use of copyrighted material. While past legal rulings, in the form of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor provision have held that web sites are not liable for copyright infringement committed by users provided the sites remove the clips upon request, and they haven’t financially profited by the content; one could argue that YouTube’s entire business model is built on pirated material. (Davis, 2009)
An intriguing solution currently being offered by the Financial Times is tiered pricing for access. When I attempted to access the article above, I was given 4 registration options offering various levels of access to current and archived materials. Lighter use was free, but unlimited access was $3.49 per week, and full access, including the offline newspaper was priced at $5.75 per week. (“FT.com”, 2009). That seems reasonable to me. How about you?
Li, K. (2009, July 7). Sun Valley set to consider paid content. ft.com. Retrived, July 7, 2009 from
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38da0ffc-6a8c-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html
Davis, W. (2009, July 8). YouTube Wins Partial Victory Against Copyright Owners. mediapost.com. Retrived, July 9, 2009 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109359
(2009, July 7). FT.com registration page. ft.com. Retrived July 9, 2009 from
http://www.ft.com/cms/275bc334-3063-11dc-9a81-0000779fd2ac.html?segid=70000&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F38da0ffc-6a8c-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Does Turner Have a Winning Strategy?
7/1/09
As the upfront season progresses, Turner has announced a new sales strategy. Rather than selling their individual networks (TBS, TNT, CNN, etc.) as stand alone opportunities they are reaching across all their properties and selecting programming that reaches a specific target, and selling those as a package.
So, for advertisers seeking to reach Men 18-34, they suggest the following line-up: “The Office” (TBS), “Family Guy” (TBS), “Operation REPO” (TruTV), and Adult Swim (Cartoon).
They are also including their digital properties in the packages, which can be further customized with selected movies or other programs that advertisers believe are suitable for their audiences.
And, they are providing companies with creative help to develop advertiser-sponsored content, e.g. microseries.
Clearly, they have recognized that most advertisers these days are interested in niche audiences, not mass ones.
What do you think? Will advertisers respond?
Steinberg, B. (2009, June 29). Turner Lets Marketers buy Shows Rather Than Networks. adage.com Retrieved, July 1, 2009 from
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=137607
As the upfront season progresses, Turner has announced a new sales strategy. Rather than selling their individual networks (TBS, TNT, CNN, etc.) as stand alone opportunities they are reaching across all their properties and selecting programming that reaches a specific target, and selling those as a package.
So, for advertisers seeking to reach Men 18-34, they suggest the following line-up: “The Office” (TBS), “Family Guy” (TBS), “Operation REPO” (TruTV), and Adult Swim (Cartoon).
They are also including their digital properties in the packages, which can be further customized with selected movies or other programs that advertisers believe are suitable for their audiences.
And, they are providing companies with creative help to develop advertiser-sponsored content, e.g. microseries.
Clearly, they have recognized that most advertisers these days are interested in niche audiences, not mass ones.
What do you think? Will advertisers respond?
Steinberg, B. (2009, June 29). Turner Lets Marketers buy Shows Rather Than Networks. adage.com Retrieved, July 1, 2009 from
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=137607
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Can advertising persuade people to eat healthier?
6/25/09
If as critics believe, advertising leads people to buy things they don’t need, then is the reverse also true? Can advertising help people to make smarter choices and eat better?
Here comes Tropicana to take a shot at it. Since their orange juice is 100% non-reconstituted juice, and contains no additives, it is uniquely positioned to tout the health properties of its product. They intend to start by focusing on the fact that 7 out of 10 adults, as well as most children, are not consuming the USDA-recommended 4 fruit servings per day.
Interestingly, according to the CMO, “We’ve learned a majority of orange juice drinkers are unaware that 100% orange juice contributes to their daily fruit intake”. (Lukovitz, 2009)
Hmm. What does this say about non-drinkers? Are they equally ignorant, or perhaps more so? Will this campaign help educate a public that just doesn’t want to know? Will it sell more Tropicana orange juice?
Lukovitz, K. (2009, June 16). Tropicana Promotes OJ As Daily Fruit Serving. mediapost.com. Retrived June 22, 2009 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=108063
If as critics believe, advertising leads people to buy things they don’t need, then is the reverse also true? Can advertising help people to make smarter choices and eat better?
Here comes Tropicana to take a shot at it. Since their orange juice is 100% non-reconstituted juice, and contains no additives, it is uniquely positioned to tout the health properties of its product. They intend to start by focusing on the fact that 7 out of 10 adults, as well as most children, are not consuming the USDA-recommended 4 fruit servings per day.
Interestingly, according to the CMO, “We’ve learned a majority of orange juice drinkers are unaware that 100% orange juice contributes to their daily fruit intake”. (Lukovitz, 2009)
Hmm. What does this say about non-drinkers? Are they equally ignorant, or perhaps more so? Will this campaign help educate a public that just doesn’t want to know? Will it sell more Tropicana orange juice?
Lukovitz, K. (2009, June 16). Tropicana Promotes OJ As Daily Fruit Serving. mediapost.com. Retrived June 22, 2009 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=108063
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Does a free download do it for you?
6/18/09
As advertisers seek new wow factors to attract their target audiences, one idea that has emerged and seems to be gaining momentum is free music downloads. Given that 50% of us now pay for our music downloads the timing may be right.
On Friday, Toblerone announced the offer of a free exclusive track from Alesha Dixon with purchase. The UK promotion, which is sponsored by Kraft, also features a contest to win VIP tickets to a concert and meeting with Alesha, signed merchandise and free candy bars. (Paine, 2009)
Would this motivate you? Does the exclusivity matter when anybody can buy a candy bar?
Do you know who she is? Given the ever increasing fragmentation of the music industry is it possible to find an artist who would have mass appeal?
Paine, A. (2009, June 12). Alesha Dixon Fronts Toblerone Campaign. adage.com. Retrived, June 15, 2009 from
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i45a4bf33efc17917e66f43213e5d636c
As advertisers seek new wow factors to attract their target audiences, one idea that has emerged and seems to be gaining momentum is free music downloads. Given that 50% of us now pay for our music downloads the timing may be right.
On Friday, Toblerone announced the offer of a free exclusive track from Alesha Dixon with purchase. The UK promotion, which is sponsored by Kraft, also features a contest to win VIP tickets to a concert and meeting with Alesha, signed merchandise and free candy bars. (Paine, 2009)
Would this motivate you? Does the exclusivity matter when anybody can buy a candy bar?
Do you know who she is? Given the ever increasing fragmentation of the music industry is it possible to find an artist who would have mass appeal?
Paine, A. (2009, June 12). Alesha Dixon Fronts Toblerone Campaign. adage.com. Retrived, June 15, 2009 from
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i45a4bf33efc17917e66f43213e5d636c
Monday, June 8, 2009
Is walking away from a winning strategy a good idea?
6/8/09
The Effie award winners for 2008 have been named and the grand Effie was awarded to Burger King for its “Freakout” campaign. In case you’ve forgotten it, it makes use of a hidden camera to show the reaction of real people when they are told that the whopper has been discontinued. You can check it out again here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa8fHfo4uEI
I knew the campaign was a winner when my nephew, who was 14 at the time showed me clips of it on YouTube. According the Effie application, Burger King’s sales went up by double digits when it ran. (“Burger King Wins”, 2009)
Now comes the news that in the face of an unimpressive +1% increase in sales during 1st Quarter 2009, BK has decided to focus future advertising on items from its value menu, despite the fact that it has traditionally focused its advertising on its premium products. (“Burger King Promotes Value”, 2009)
Is this a wise decision given the current state of the economy? Or are they foolish to stop promoting their signature item?
(2009, June 4). Burger King Wins Effie Grand Prize For ‘Freakout’. mediapost.com. Retrived, June 7, 2009 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.printFriendly&art_aid=107275
(2009, May 29). Burger King Promotes Value. mediabuyerplanner.com. Retrived, June 7, 2009 from
http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/entry/41524/burger-king-promotes-value/
The Effie award winners for 2008 have been named and the grand Effie was awarded to Burger King for its “Freakout” campaign. In case you’ve forgotten it, it makes use of a hidden camera to show the reaction of real people when they are told that the whopper has been discontinued. You can check it out again here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa8fHfo4uEI
I knew the campaign was a winner when my nephew, who was 14 at the time showed me clips of it on YouTube. According the Effie application, Burger King’s sales went up by double digits when it ran. (“Burger King Wins”, 2009)
Now comes the news that in the face of an unimpressive +1% increase in sales during 1st Quarter 2009, BK has decided to focus future advertising on items from its value menu, despite the fact that it has traditionally focused its advertising on its premium products. (“Burger King Promotes Value”, 2009)
Is this a wise decision given the current state of the economy? Or are they foolish to stop promoting their signature item?
(2009, June 4). Burger King Wins Effie Grand Prize For ‘Freakout’. mediapost.com. Retrived, June 7, 2009 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.printFriendly&art_aid=107275
(2009, May 29). Burger King Promotes Value. mediabuyerplanner.com. Retrived, June 7, 2009 from
http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/entry/41524/burger-king-promotes-value/
Monday, June 1, 2009
Would you enter this contest; forward the video to a friend?
6/1/09
As we have discussed in class, traditional advertising has not performed well on social networking sites, so advertisers are experimenting with a variety of different formats to increase effectiveness.
Here’s an interesting integrated effort from the Bahamas to consider.
Phearcreative helped them to create a viral effort involving a video, contest, and pass along element. The campaign also included a live event and the video was posted on a variety of social networking sites.
The easiest way to check out the video/contest is to go to:
http://www.bahamafridays.com/
I’m interested in knowing what you think about the approach. Did you watch the entire video? Enter the contest? Pass it along to a friend? Why or why not? Any suggestions for improvement?
As we have discussed in class, traditional advertising has not performed well on social networking sites, so advertisers are experimenting with a variety of different formats to increase effectiveness.
Here’s an interesting integrated effort from the Bahamas to consider.
Phearcreative helped them to create a viral effort involving a video, contest, and pass along element. The campaign also included a live event and the video was posted on a variety of social networking sites.
The easiest way to check out the video/contest is to go to:
http://www.bahamafridays.com/
I’m interested in knowing what you think about the approach. Did you watch the entire video? Enter the contest? Pass it along to a friend? Why or why not? Any suggestions for improvement?
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