July 10, 2009 by Peter Koeppel.

Best Buy’s getting a quick shot of schadenfreude this year as its major competitor, Circuit City, goes under.

But today’s victor can quickly become tomorrow’s vanquished, and they’re working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen as they come up against a new player in their field – Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart wasn’t as big of a threat to Best Buy until the recent recession started to push buyers to seek better deals on their electronics, even if they had to compromise on knowledgeable customer service and warranties – the things that have kept Best Buy customers loyal until now.

Wal-Mart’s bumping up its selection of televisions, video games and mobile phones, which is making Best Buy nervous that their newfound Circuit City customers may go straight to a new competitor.

With customers nationwide tightening their belts, Best Buy is working hard to make sure they can offer a shopping experience that’s worth the extra investment. Best Buy banks on customers needing the expertise that their customer service reps can offer as they try to figure out which of their hundred new cell phone options is best for them. We’ll see if that’s the sort of experience that money can’t buy.

If not, Best Buy may be defeated before the shine has even worn off its winner’s belt.

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May 17, 2009 by Peter Koeppel.

Most media buyers will tell you that online video is the advertising medium to watch this year.

eMarketer expects web video advertising spending will increase 45 percent to $850 million in 2009, a year when other media are expected to decrease in value.

How many are really watching? According to Rob Norman, CEO of GroupM Interaction Worldwide, “The big issues are who’s watching video online, and who’s making it.”

He goes on to say: “And who’s making the best sense of it from the seller’s side and the people who are owning the inventory and the advertising side. Online video has become a significant distribution for the consumption of regular TV programming, but it’s not yet been replaced by an effective advertising model.”

Big media changes are coming. Sites like Hulu that carry full-length T.V. shows and movies are growing more popular in revenue and viewership. But Hulu is only a small portion of the total online video viewing. YouTube still carries around 40 percent of videos viewed on the web.

“The upcoming upfront will be a witching hour and no one knows yet what the real impact of corporate behavior is going to be,” added Norman.

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April 23, 2009 by Peter Koeppel.

Syndication ad sales is one sector doing very well in the advertising market because sponsors are able to represent categories that consumers find necessary despite the struggling economy.

The argument for free Wi-Fi
“I can’t speak for everybody, but we’re less dependent on the industries that are having the most trouble,” said Howard Levy, executive VP of Disney ABC Domestic Television.

“No matter what happens in the economy, people, if they have [high] cholesterol, they’re still going to take a cholesterol drug. And they still have to wash their floors.” Levy added, “I’m not saying that I’m not totally protected in a soft economy, but we’ve been less impacted than maybe some others.”

Why syndicated works
Syndicated programming is attractive to media buyers and their clients for a variety of reasons. One reason emerged from last year’s Writer’s Guild of America strike better than other television programming.

Syndicated television programs usually have shorter commercial spots, so they may be less affected by DVR recording than broadcast programs. But so far in 2009, daytime syndicated shows have been showing signs of struggle in the ratings department.

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March 28, 2009 by Peter Koeppel.

Big-ticket sports have long been considered a recession-proof medium, but the economic downturn is having a negative affect on the TV sports marketplace.

The vulnerability of this marketing sector became clear as fourth quarter ad sales were down 15 percent according to several drtv media buyers and network executives. Long-term sponsorship packages have long been like a safety net, practically guaranteeing financial stability.

But as the market becomes more fragmented, the TV market seems to be shutting down.

Industry changes
Financial services and domestic auto have practically fallen to the wayside, although foreign auto has picked some of the domestic auto slack. Hyundai has remained quite active, buying time on a variety of sports. Two good examples of this are TNT’s Thursday Night NBA showcase and ESPN’s college and pro football properties.

Even though profits from the banking and credit card industries are dwindling fast, the insurance sector is still pulling its weight with companies like Geico, Nationwide and Progressive still going strong.

Super Bowl ad spots
The fact is, big sports drtv ad sales is no longer a seller’s market.

Even spots available during the National Football League games are affected by the troubled economy and going for discounted rates. NBC recently admitted that there are still eight Super Bowl spots still available. Currently returning sponsors from last year are Anheuser-Busch, Hyundai, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. General Motors has pulled back as a result of the current auto industry crisis.

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February 15, 2009 by Peter Koeppel.

Mel Karmazin, CEO of the newly merged Sirius XM Radio, hopes to change the way radio audiences are measured…though he has no idea of how he’ll do it.

Karmazin knows that having an accurate method of counting listeners could draw more advertiser support and subscribers. He also knows that the biggest challenge with his company and advertisers is getting them to agree on a measurement system that meets their needs.

And Karmazin has learned that finding an alternative method is a Catch-22: “If I spend the money, they say it’s proprietary research and they don’t want t use it. But if I don’t spend the money, then who’s gonna spend the money to do the research?” Mr. Karmazin said during a recent interview at Sirius’ New York Studio.

It is clear, however, that Karmazin can provide media buyers with big audiences. He has automatically than doubled the Sirius subscriber base to an impressive 19.5 million just by merging with XM. There is also a newly merged sales force selling the newly combined audience numbers for top shows like Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, the NFL and Major League Baseball.

Still, Sirius has a long way to go to catch up to its terrestrial competitors. Karmazin admits that fledgling car sales could affect his business. If car sales go down, there are fewer satellite radios going into cars. So far business hasn’t been affected.

The future of Sirius/XM remains to be seen – unless you ask a Howard Stern fan.

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November 20, 2008 by Peter Koeppel.

Research and Analysis of Media (RAM) has already proven how effective mobile advertising is with its study (Mobile  online advertising).

Clearly, mobile devices have become a media goldmine – and this is just the beginning.

Paran Johar, CMO of JumpTap, a leading mobile search and advertising solutions provider, says this: “With mobile advertising slated to reach $2.7 billion in 2008 and $19 billion by 2012, now is the opportune time for advertisers to integrate mobile in their media buying mix.”

Connecting with consumers through their mobile devices. Increasing digital technology is offering consumers more control over their media usage. Media buyers and planners are using mobile advertising to maintain a connection with consumers.

DRTV partners with mobile advertising. Even DRTV advertising campaigns will become part of these mobile campaigns.

Advertisers can share information and instructions with consumers via SMS (text messaging). One vendor in particular, TVi Media, is hard at work with 5th Finger, an Australian based mobile marketing and technology firm, creating a system that will allow DRTV advertising to link to multiple cell phone carriers so that consumers can place orders directly from their phones instead of calling a 1-800 number call center.

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October 5, 2008 by Peter Koeppel.

If you have a product or service that you want others to know about, consider using infomercials as a way to educate consumers and convince them to purchase from you.

An experienced infomercial consultant can make sure your campaign is profitable… Someone who is experienced in the world of infomercials can guide you throughout the process of launching a successful infomercial campaign. This infomercial expert will advise you about which local and national networks and time slots will reach more of your target audience to ensure that your infomercial campaign is profitable.

For instance, your consultant might suggest a mix of local broadcast stations with national cable and satellite networks to ensure that your audience has an opportunity to learn all about your product or service.

An experienced infomercial consultant should understand your product or service and have some prior experience consulting others with similar products or services. For example, if you are selling a cleaning product, your consultant should have a successful track record with similar products in that “space.”

Keep your eyes on the competition… A seasoned infomercial consultant should research your competition and their infomercials to find out what channels and time slots they use. This knowledge can help you develop a strategy that works best for your campaign.

Of course, an infomercial consultant with strong negotiating skills is essential. Your consultant should be able to secure the best time slots to help you reach the most consumers for the best rates possible.

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September 5, 2008 by Peter Koeppel.

Advertisers looking to reach their target consumers are finding it necessary to diversify their marketing strategy beyond television advertising.

Getting to the right audience in a timely and valuable (in the audience’s eyes) way is more important than ever. Consumer expectations as far as the information they want and need are higher than ever—thanks to the Internet.

Advertisers can no longer rely on one means of advertising, such as television advertising, to effectively reach their target audience. They are also using and reaping the benefits of blogs, link exchanges and search engine advertising methods (among others). These promotional techniques work well when mixed with television advertising and other direct campaigns.

More than one at once. Most people are accustomed to receiving their information simultaneously from at least two different sources, including the Internet, and mobile technology makes this even easier.

Go mobile. Consumers are relying more and more on mobile networks and mobile technology to connect to the Internet while on the go.

Google, for one, is positioning itself as a leader in mobile advertising. “Over time, we will make more money from mobile advertising,” said Eric Schmidt, the CEO of the search giant, who added that that mobile advertising could soon overshadow the PC market in terms of reach and prevalence.

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May 13, 2008 by Peter Koeppel.

The facts are amazing: Even though women still earn less money than their male counterparts (78 cents for every dollar a man gets), women make more than 80 percent of the buying decision in all homes. No wonder infomercial advertisers strive to capture the attention of females. But what complicates matters for marketers is how women shop. Unlike men, women research items more extensively and are less likely to be influenced by ads. This means marketers need to fine-tune their advertising messages and be seen in marketing venues that women deem credible.
 
Today, companies are paying more attention to the style and form of their products in an effort to appeal to women, and marketers are shifting away from only running television ads in favor of promotional efforts in venues women trust, such as reviews in women’s magazines and spots on TV shows like Oprah and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
 
Such activities prove that marketing today is getting more fragmented. What used to work in the past won’t necessarily work today. So in order to have your product or service reach the female market-even if it’s not a female-oriented product-you need to view marketing a bit differently than you did a few years ago.
 
A recent article in Advertising Age magazine details how women spend their leisure time. In it, columnist Mike Vorhaus asked women of all ages to identify from a list of activities their favorite leisure activity. What he found in the female category impacts all drtv advertisers who have a product that targets women-or who simply want to get a piece of the buying power that women possess.

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March 12, 2008 by Peter Koeppel.

Tracking the use of online campaigning by this year’s presidential candidates is seemingly a loss cause. The prevalence of social networking, viral video and blogs makes it nearly impossible to gauge, until later and perhaps after-the-fact, the impact the Internet has had (or will have) on this year’s election.

(Even four years ago, would anyone have known or even imagined a CNN presidential debate in which Facebook or You Tube figured so prominently?)

A recent report by ClickZ.com says that the use of measurable online campaign methods, such as paid display advertising, is on the rise. Since about January 2007, presidential candidates have been using the Internet and Internet ad space as means of reaching out to potential voters.

The amount of campaign dollars put towards the online effort is still low in comparison to traditional efforts such as broadcast advertising and television ads.

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