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The Year in Review

Posted by Alan Reisberg on Dec 30, 2011 in Blog, Industry Trends | 0 comments

I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what has happened this year and to consider what 2012 will bring. We produce an annual white paper with our view of the coming year (it’s a great read – check it out!). This post is not meant to replace the paper, but rather to add a few thoughts.

U.S. advertising spending in 2011 will end slightly up from last year up 2.9% to $147.3 billion. As quoted in the WSJ, outlays for online advertising rose 12% in 2011 to $25.9 billion, and television 4% to $58.8 billion. Predictions for 2012 have been changing but the latest prediction from IPGs Magna has U.S. spending up 3.7%, to $153 billion. Source: Media Buyer Planner.

If you haven’t noticed, there’s an election year coming. Ad inventories across all platforms will be depleted by the expected record political spending in 2012, with the largest shortage in local outlets. In 2008, roughly 85% of measured media advertising placed for the November general election was in local TV, where political ads take precedence over those from regular marketers, and 2012 is expected to be worse. Hopefully, you’ve incorporated this in your planning, as it will surely affect costs and avails.

Measurements to quantify the effectiveness of marketing spending have been the Holy Grail since John Wannamaker spoke his much quoted phrase “Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half”. How many stories have you read this year discussing measurement? (Hundreds? Thousands?) We think this recent study (12/5/11) from IfByPhone.com sums up the problem – while 82% of marketers say their executive management expects every campaign to be measured, less than a third can effectively evaluate the ROI of each channel. Will 2012 be the year when advertising ROI is truly understood?

These are just a few of the things I think about on a daily basis. What’s on the top of your mind?

2011 draws to a close…

Posted by Alan Reisberg on Dec 23, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

We hope the holidays bring you peace, joy, and good food.

We’ll be here – watching the media trends and getting ready to report back to you.

Magazines are Still Kicking.

Posted by Alan Reisberg on Dec 14, 2011 in Blog, Media Buying, Media Strategy, Traditional Media | 0 comments

With all the magazines that have closed their doors in the past year – GamePro being the latest – one might assume that no one is reading magazines anymore.

Oh contraire!

In fact, MediaFinder reports that 239 new publications launched this year.

As reported by Rochester Institute of Technology, the Gfk MRI Survey of the American Consumer states that the March through October 2011 total gross magazine audience was 1.6 billion. Most interesting is to learn that of those impressions, only 11% are digital-only. That’s a lot of people reading print magazines. 81% or 1.278 billion impressions. The audience for readers of both digital & print platforms is quite small at 8.5%.

And you might be surprised to learn that the Affinity’s American Magazine Study reports that over 184 million adults (U.S.) read magazines in print or online monthly and that the average number of different magazines read by each? 8.1. Eight point one. We’re talking a lot of magazines here. This study’s results differ from the Survey of the American Consumer as it shows that almost half of Americans are reading both print and online content.

All studies indicate that the demographic profile of online readers tend to be younger, male, and higher income than print readers.

A final research note: ACP Magazine and Neuro-Insight Research conducted neuroscientific research and demonstrated that magazines have the highest level of consumer engagement. You can read more at Marketing Magazine. I know you want to.

Magazines may or may not be a match for your marketing objectives. But you’d be wise to consider them as you work to create the most powerful marketing mix.

Video Killed The Radio Star….Or Did it?

Posted by Alan Reisberg on Dec 12, 2011 in Blog, Media Buying, Media Strategy, Traditional Media | 0 comments

Who listens to the radio anymore?

I bet you do.

Think about it – did you turn on your car radio this week; maybe on your way to work, or as you were running carpool? Did you stream talk or music with SiriusXM or Pandora?

If so, you’re not alone.

The Pew Research Center found that 93% of Americans report using or owning an AM/FM radio. And unlike other forms of traditional media, that figure has remained stable over time, slipping only 3 percentage points in the last decade.
Research from the Radio Advertising Bureau (and we recognize the bias) concurs that radio is ubiquitous.

For instance, RAB reports that 94% of Alpha Boomers (those aged 55-64) listen to radio every week, and they listen to an average of 16 hours per week. And perhaps more surprising, radio reaches 90% of 12-24-year-olds weekly.

It’s the original mass media; it’s been around for decades and yet it still has the ability to generate excitement.

It’s cost efficient, targeted, immediate, and extremely flexible. And it can be used to create real community bonds.

How? By tying your commercial message into station personalities and integrating your brand into programming. No other medium allows integration as seamlessly as radio.

So now the big question – how does radio fit into a media plan?

Start by thinking of three major features of radio advertising: focus, efficiency, and immediacy.

For example, remember where you listened to the radio this week? In your car, right? You weren’t on the phone, you weren’t texting, you were focused on where you were going. Radio reaches people when they aren’t as distracted as they are when watching TV. Your customers are in their cars, in a fairly uncluttered environment, and they are focused on the medium.
Radio stations offer smart advertisers a range of different ways to add value to your buy including integration with station web sites and social networks, streaming with the iHeartRadio app, free production of commercials, use of DJ talent, bonus spots, promotions, call ins, events, live broadcasts at client locations, on-air contests and more.

And it’s almost always live.

Think about this – how many times have you heard the 9th caller say “I won? I won? I can’t believe I won. I never win anything”. And the prize doesn’t matter. Whether it’s a $1,000 shopping spree, a free oil change or even a station T-shirt, the excitement is till the same.

We have helped even small brands achieve significant awareness just by making a one or two station buy. And when these same marketers take advantage of all the stations can provide, their campaigns can be exponentially effective.

And if you use radio well, the next person you hear excitedly scream – “I won, I won” can be you.

Media Buying: The Benefits of Being Unbundled

Posted by Alan Reisberg on Nov 28, 2011 in Blog, Featured, Industry Trends, Media Buying, Media Strategy | 0 comments

As everyone who has ever worked with a full service agency knows, in the agency business it’s all about the creative. Creative is usually the heart and soul of a full service agency. Whether the CEO of the agency is from the creative or account services department, the spiritual leader of the agency is almost always from the creative department. And so, it naturally follows that creative becomes the department where the vast majority of the resources of the agency are spent, in both salaries and overhead.

Conversely, the media department of a full service agency is almost always the red-headed step child. The media department is typically where you see the lowest compensation and the most junior staff.

When you consider that up to 90% of a client’s advertising budget goes to media, doesn’t that seem a little … odd?

Media Fragmentation – It Changes Everything

In these times of media fragmentation, where consumers are hit with more messages in more channels than they can possibly consume, much less pay attention to on a daily basis, understanding media and media placement strategies has never been more critical.

Great creative will always be important, but delivering creative messages to target audiences via a variety of different media channels, and integrating those messages to play off of one another to deliver ROI for clients is also a huge part of the equation.

The Age Old Question: Full Service Agency or Media Buying Firm?

It really is an age-old question. Which is a more effective approach for media buying? Using a full service advertising agency or using a media planning and buying firm? The answer, of course, probably depends on who you ask.

Of course, as an independent media planning and buying firm, we’re biased. But, all bias aside, here are some points to consider as you work toward deciding what’s best for you and your company – and your overall strategic objectives.
Experience.

Ask yourself (and the prospects you’re considering working with) how much experience the media folks at the firms you’re thinking of working with have? Do they have history working in the category or related industries? Do they know the geographic market? The demographic/psychographic market? Do they have access to up-to-date and in-depth tools to make the smartest recommendations and buys?

Small Fish, Big Fish?

Is your account proportionately large enough to get enough attention but not so large that it’s a real stretch for a firm? Or will you be a small fish in a large pond, competing for attention?

Traditional Media vs. New Media

Is the media department you’re considering working with partial to a particular kind of media or are they media-agnostic? Never forget that your primary goal is to reach your target audience most effectively and cost-efficiently. You don’t really care whether it’s “old” media (that still works tremendously by the way for many marketers) or “new” media. You’ll want the team that you ultimately select to be adept at both and really understand the ways different media channels are used by your customers and prospects.

Fees, Glorious Fees

And of course, there’s compensation. Is the fee structure transparent and easy to understand? Do you know exactly what you’re paying for and what the deliverables are for those fees? If not, keep asking questions until you do!

Bundling or Unbundling: What Are The Benefits?

Again, we’re biased, but we think it’s pretty clear cut. Bundling fees make it easier for agencies. Clients don’t know exactly what they’re getting, so they don’t ask a lot of questions, and the agencies are in control.

Conversely, the unbundling of media buying and planning services allow for some pretty clear-cut benefits. These include more client control, an efficient pricing structure, unbiased recommendations and stronger relationships with the media.

This conversation has been going on in the industry for over 100 years. Want to read more? For a little light reading, we suggest Harvard Business Review’s The Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services: An Economic Analysis.

And, as always, we’d love to know your thoughts!

Media Buyers Not Creative – Says Who?

Posted by Alan Reisberg on Nov 28, 2011 in Blog, Industry Trends, Media Buying, Media Strategy | 0 comments

We hate to sound whiny, but did you ever wonder why the creative department at an agency is called ‘creative’ and the rest of the folks in the advertising and marketing industry aren’t?

You may not think of media as a creative discipline, but we sure do. You may not think that a really great, strategic media campaign can propel your creative to new heights. But we do. In fact, we’re sure of it.

Here’s one thing that people all too often overlook. You can work with an agency or one of those ‘creative’ types and have the most beautiful website on the planet, featuring whatever product or service it is that you want to sell. Or you might have worked with them to develop a fantastic print campaign. Or a stupendous television spot. But if those beautiful, well-thought out pieces of creative product don’t ever make it to the attention of the masses, what good does that do the client for whom they were created?

Short answer: not much.

Cluttered Media Landscape Presents New Challenges

In today’s cluttered media landscape there are lots of companies trying to reach the same target audiences. Some are using traditional media – things like television, radio, print and outdoor. And some are using digital media – online advertising, mobile advertising, SMS and QR code campaigns and advertising on YouTube and other video sites, and even search engine marketing, which includes things like ongoing search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising.

Smart marketers (and media planners) are using a combination of both traditional and digital media and understand that an integral component of success is mastering a variety of different channels and reaching your audience where they are.

What Works and How Do You Get There?

What’s the magic potion? What messages will get the attention of the desired target audience? It’s really not that complicated, nor has this changed much over time. Messages that are of interest to the target and which are delivered in the channels where that target is, at a time they will be able to give them attention stand the greatest chance of success.

Media Planning And Math?

How do you get the message out at the right time in the right space? It’s not really all that complicated – and not surprisingly, it’s a little bit like a math equation.

Successful media campaigns rely on creative media research and analytics. They rely on understanding how consumers digest media and where they are consuming their media. They also rely on great creative messaging and knowing how to successfully stand out in a crowd.

A media buy is not a media buy is not a media buy. The same budget can be allocated and planned a hundred different ways. On paper, they might look the same – if you’re looking at CPMs. But your customer is not an “M” and numbers are not enough.

Bottom line – there’s more to creativity than the folks who are charged with design. And we speak for media folks everywhere when we say that media strategy, planning and buying is an art in it’s own right! Darn it, we’re all creative!

Advertising Media Myths #1: TV, It’s Not What You Think

Posted by Alan Reisberg on Nov 28, 2011 in Blog, Industry Trends, Media Buying, Media Strategy, Traditional Media | 0 comments

This post is a first in a series that will discuss major advertising media choices and cover both traditional media and digital media. And some of what we’ll tackle includes myths that are prevalent these days – and some facts that might help you understand more about the media landscape today and, hopefully, make better decisions as a result.

We thought it would be a good idea to start the series about adverising media myths with the big one – TV.

If you read any of the media or advertising trades, the arguments about the value of TV as an advertising medium span the spectrum of opinions. And there is certainly no dearth of opinions. Some of the things we hear include:

• The 30 second spot is dead
• TV advertising doesn’t work
• TV still has a lot of vitality left

Make no mistake, there are times when TV advertising should not be part of a media plan. But let’s cover here some of the major objections to the value of including TV in your media plan:

TV is too expensive

That might be the number one objection – and those of us in the media business hear it all the time. The fact of the matter is that TV can still deliver a mass audience extremely well and at very reasonable costs (CPM). In fact, right now, we’re buying :30 TV/Cable at CPMs in the same range as :60 Radio.

TV doesn’t have influence any more

The potential impact of a TV campaign dwarfs radio and other media. Consider research from the Television Bureau of Advertising. And before you say it, we recognize the bias inherent in the study, but it’s still worth a look. Note that the sample size was over 1,500 respondents, so the statistical error has been minimized.

TV doesn’t allow viewers to interact and directly respond to ads

This is by far the most relevant criticism of TV advertising. But after 20 or more years of hearing about interactive TV, we’re finally able to take the first baby steps.

We’re excited by the fact that in 2012, the Capital Media Group team will be implementing ‘telescoping’ and ‘request for info’ TV buys. With these buys, TV viewers will be able to click one button to learn more about our client’s products/services by either going to long form video assets or by completing a short form via their remote control to have our client’s follow up with them.

People don’t watch TV ads any more because of the DVR

The fact is that while a third of the population regularly watches TV in a time-shifted manner, there are many dayparts that just don’t suffer the commercial avoidance that comes from the DVR. Early morning news, evening news, prime access, late news and much of late fringe don’t see significant time-shifted viewing. And, these are dayparts that are much more cost-efficient than Prime, which is the daypart with the highest level of time-shifted viewing.

You don’t need TV to do branding

If you ask any group of your peers, your target audience or anybody else in this country to name their favorite advertising campaigns, there is a very high likelihood they will share with you a campaign that had TV as its primary medium.

TV. It many instances, TV is still truly ‘must see’ and must have for many advertising campaigns. What do you think?