This is the first major market where online has overtaken television to become the biggest single medium.
- Guy Phillipson, head of the British the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)
In Kate Holden, "UK Internet ad spend overtakes TV for first time," Reuters, September 30, 2009
The recession in the UK has caused a general advertising slump, and that has affected the growth of internet advertising there. Nevertheless, advertisers have continued to built their presence on the internet at a faster pace than in other media. "Spending on Internet advertising in Britain grew 4.6 percent in the first half of 2009, outperforming the wider ad sector, which slumped 17 percent, and making it the country's biggest ad medium ahead of TV." One consequence is that the internet has pulled ahead of television as the medium drawing the most advertising pounds.
According to the report from the UK's IAB, "ad spending on the Internet grew to 1.75 billion pounds, with the medium accounting for 23.5 percent of all spend, ahead of television for the first time." One commentator suggested that the shift to online reflects a belief that search advertising and other "clickable" ads show better than with traditional media how successful the ad spending has been. It will be important to see whether this trend continues when the recession ends.
Showing posts with label chapter 16. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chapter 16. Show all posts
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Blurring the Boundaries of Advertising and PR
This is business Darwinism now.
- Sissy DeMaria, president of Coral Gables public relations firm Kreps DeMaria
In Clifford M. Marks, "PR and Advertising Are at a Crossroads," Miami Herald, August 10, 2009
For decades, most people working in advertising public relations saw clear differences between the two businesses. "Madison Avenue types took care of the 30-second spots, the billboards and the full-page ad in Sunday's paper. Their cousins in public relations drafted press releases, networked with reporters to land favorable coverage and helped handle crises that drew negative media attention." Now, MySpace and other sites are blurring the question of what kinds of marketing messages are PR and what are advertising. Moreover, they realize that in the new world to reach consumers they have to use a wide variety of strategies to reach their target audiences--even if the strategies don't fit traditional definitions of advertising or PR.
``Public relations and advertising are blending much more than they did in the past,'' says Jeff Steinhour, director of content management at Coconut Grove-based advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. ``They used to be separate worlds -- like church and state. Now you're seeing them at the same meetings at the same time.''
- Sissy DeMaria, president of Coral Gables public relations firm Kreps DeMaria
In Clifford M. Marks, "PR and Advertising Are at a Crossroads," Miami Herald, August 10, 2009
For decades, most people working in advertising public relations saw clear differences between the two businesses. "Madison Avenue types took care of the 30-second spots, the billboards and the full-page ad in Sunday's paper. Their cousins in public relations drafted press releases, networked with reporters to land favorable coverage and helped handle crises that drew negative media attention." Now, MySpace and other sites are blurring the question of what kinds of marketing messages are PR and what are advertising. Moreover, they realize that in the new world to reach consumers they have to use a wide variety of strategies to reach their target audiences--even if the strategies don't fit traditional definitions of advertising or PR.
``Public relations and advertising are blending much more than they did in the past,'' says Jeff Steinhour, director of content management at Coconut Grove-based advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. ``They used to be separate worlds -- like church and state. Now you're seeing them at the same meetings at the same time.''
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Beyond TV's 30-Second Commercial
...the whole industry is moving toward a different model where deciding whether something is a hit or not is not just based on how much you charge for 30 seconds of advertising.
Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media
In Edward Wyatt, "Despite Lower Ratings, Cash Flow Rises for ‘Idol’," New York Times, May 10, 2009
Despite declines in audience ratings over the past few years, the American Idol TV show is still making enormous--and growing--revenues for its owners. But the money is increasingly coming from more than the standard 30 second commercial: "The deals, which include products as disparate as ice cream and trading cards, as well as the more familiar partnerships with iTunes and AT&T, have driven tremendous growth in the profitability of “American Idol,” according to the public financial statements of the parent of 19 Entertainment, the company founded by Simon Fuller, the creator of the show." Fox Television, which broadcasts the show, also makes money by spinning off syndicated versions of it.
The activity is clearly not limited to Idol. Everyone in TV is trying to find "ancillary revenue streams" for their materials as audiences for individual programs decline with channel fragmentation and the amounts networks can charge for commercials consequently decline as well. One gauge sponsors of program deals like to see is audience "engagement" in the material. And Idol certainly still has that: "Last week, viewers cast 64 million votes, the most ever for a nonfinale episode."
Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at Horizon Media
In Edward Wyatt, "Despite Lower Ratings, Cash Flow Rises for ‘Idol’," New York Times, May 10, 2009
Despite declines in audience ratings over the past few years, the American Idol TV show is still making enormous--and growing--revenues for its owners. But the money is increasingly coming from more than the standard 30 second commercial: "The deals, which include products as disparate as ice cream and trading cards, as well as the more familiar partnerships with iTunes and AT&T, have driven tremendous growth in the profitability of “American Idol,” according to the public financial statements of the parent of 19 Entertainment, the company founded by Simon Fuller, the creator of the show." Fox Television, which broadcasts the show, also makes money by spinning off syndicated versions of it.
The activity is clearly not limited to Idol. Everyone in TV is trying to find "ancillary revenue streams" for their materials as audiences for individual programs decline with channel fragmentation and the amounts networks can charge for commercials consequently decline as well. One gauge sponsors of program deals like to see is audience "engagement" in the material. And Idol certainly still has that: "Last week, viewers cast 64 million votes, the most ever for a nonfinale episode."
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ghostwriting Tweets: Part of PR's Future
It’s 140 characters. It’s so few characters. If you need a ghostwriter for that, I feel sorry for you.
- Shaquille O'Neil
Noam Cohen, "When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking," New York Times, March 26, 2009
Basketball star O'Neil is reflecting the "purist" notion that many athletes take toward the use of Twitter, a microblogging tool that allows people to post messages 140 characters in length. And while certain celebrities agree with O'Neil, others have people writing in their name to the thousands, even hundreds of thousands, who follow their "tweets."
While many online commentators think the Twitter ghost-writing practice is in bad faith, defenders of the practice insist that stars are brands with personas. Just as companies have twitter feeds that show their products well, so celebrity brands should have tweets that reflect a public-relations approach. The point is reflected in comments by a business partner of rapper 50 Cent, who does not write tweets signed by him: "He doesn’t actually use Twitter,” Chris Romero said of 50 Cent, “but the energy of it is all him.”
- Shaquille O'Neil
Noam Cohen, "When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking," New York Times, March 26, 2009
Basketball star O'Neil is reflecting the "purist" notion that many athletes take toward the use of Twitter, a microblogging tool that allows people to post messages 140 characters in length. And while certain celebrities agree with O'Neil, others have people writing in their name to the thousands, even hundreds of thousands, who follow their "tweets."
While many online commentators think the Twitter ghost-writing practice is in bad faith, defenders of the practice insist that stars are brands with personas. Just as companies have twitter feeds that show their products well, so celebrity brands should have tweets that reflect a public-relations approach. The point is reflected in comments by a business partner of rapper 50 Cent, who does not write tweets signed by him: "He doesn’t actually use Twitter,” Chris Romero said of 50 Cent, “but the energy of it is all him.”
Thursday, January 29, 2009
A New Goodwill Era Toward Social PR?
Corporate America deserves, in this instance, a pat on the back.
- Bon Jovi, on Oprah! TV show, quoted in Emily Bryson York, "Starbuck's Volunteer Push Gets Boost From 'Oprah Effect'," Advertising Age, January 1, 2009.
Bon Jovi and Oprah Winfrey both heralded Starbucks' campaign to promote volunteerism as part of the new era of social concern ushered in by the presidency of Barak Obama. The Starbuck "I'm In" campaign encourages consumers to pledge five hours of community service during 2009. If you commit to doing that at Starbucks between now and Sunday, you'll get a free coffee.
Starbucks contacted Oprah after an Election Day free-coffee promotion. When she liked the idea, the public relations blitz began. "The chain later organized an ad buy at oprah.com. Online ads promoting "I'm In" are also appearing at Slate, Huffington Post, NBC.com, NYTimes.com, CNN and Facebook, among other sites."
Of course, a cynic would say that the troubled coffee chain is simply riding a wave of Obama love with an activity--the circulation of free cofee--that it has done in the past only for its own publicity. Moreover, no one will track whether the people who pledge the five hours to get coffee actually carry out their promise. But Oprah, Bon Jovi and others chose to be optimistic. Perhaps it was the halo-effect of the good will surrounding the new president.
- Bon Jovi, on Oprah! TV show, quoted in Emily Bryson York, "Starbuck's Volunteer Push Gets Boost From 'Oprah Effect'," Advertising Age, January 1, 2009.
Bon Jovi and Oprah Winfrey both heralded Starbucks' campaign to promote volunteerism as part of the new era of social concern ushered in by the presidency of Barak Obama. The Starbuck "I'm In" campaign encourages consumers to pledge five hours of community service during 2009. If you commit to doing that at Starbucks between now and Sunday, you'll get a free coffee.
Starbucks contacted Oprah after an Election Day free-coffee promotion. When she liked the idea, the public relations blitz began. "The chain later organized an ad buy at oprah.com. Online ads promoting "I'm In" are also appearing at Slate, Huffington Post, NBC.com, NYTimes.com, CNN and Facebook, among other sites."
Of course, a cynic would say that the troubled coffee chain is simply riding a wave of Obama love with an activity--the circulation of free cofee--that it has done in the past only for its own publicity. Moreover, no one will track whether the people who pledge the five hours to get coffee actually carry out their promise. But Oprah, Bon Jovi and others chose to be optimistic. Perhaps it was the halo-effect of the good will surrounding the new president.
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Rise of Product Integration
Every single first-year show we’ve launched has an advertising partner in place, which has probably never happened in broadcast TV.
- Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment
In Brian Stelter, "Low Ratings End Show and a Product Placement," The New York Times, November 13, 2008
When NBC ordered the cancellation of My Worst Enemy recently, it meant more than the demise of a series that many in the network were sure would succeed. It also marked the end of a program that it had sculpted to highlight General Motors cars in a deal that had GM underwriting some of the production costs. Such "product integration" deals are becoming common on television, and NBC's Silverman is one of their greatest proponents on NBC-Universal's broadcast and cable properties. The reasoning behind it is straightforward: The network gets money to help create the programs, while advertisers get the ability to present their products within programs at a time when viewers are increasingly likely to use DVRs to fast-forward through regular commercials.
In the case of My Own Worst Enemy, NBC and GM "teamed up early in the production process, created commercials together and carefully added the Camaro and Traverse brands to the story lines." The lead character, played by Christian Slater, had two personalities; he drove the Traverse sport utility vehicle in his ordinary middle-class father manifestation and the Camaro converticle when a secret agent. Of course, even the best laid plans cannot guarantee success with the audience, and Nielsen's ratings doomed the show.
The demise of My Own Enemy by no means spells the demise of the basic product-integration business model. Quite the contrary: NBC not only has built several current shows around advertiser interests (including Knight Rider, with Ford), it is pushing the concept forward with gusto and sensitivity to the interests of specific advertisers. In the words of Marc Graboff, the other co-chair on NBC Entertainment, "It's not about sticking a Coke can on a desk anymore. It's an evolving form."
- Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment
In Brian Stelter, "Low Ratings End Show and a Product Placement," The New York Times, November 13, 2008
When NBC ordered the cancellation of My Worst Enemy recently, it meant more than the demise of a series that many in the network were sure would succeed. It also marked the end of a program that it had sculpted to highlight General Motors cars in a deal that had GM underwriting some of the production costs. Such "product integration" deals are becoming common on television, and NBC's Silverman is one of their greatest proponents on NBC-Universal's broadcast and cable properties. The reasoning behind it is straightforward: The network gets money to help create the programs, while advertisers get the ability to present their products within programs at a time when viewers are increasingly likely to use DVRs to fast-forward through regular commercials.
In the case of My Own Worst Enemy, NBC and GM "teamed up early in the production process, created commercials together and carefully added the Camaro and Traverse brands to the story lines." The lead character, played by Christian Slater, had two personalities; he drove the Traverse sport utility vehicle in his ordinary middle-class father manifestation and the Camaro converticle when a secret agent. Of course, even the best laid plans cannot guarantee success with the audience, and Nielsen's ratings doomed the show.
The demise of My Own Enemy by no means spells the demise of the basic product-integration business model. Quite the contrary: NBC not only has built several current shows around advertiser interests (including Knight Rider, with Ford), it is pushing the concept forward with gusto and sensitivity to the interests of specific advertisers. In the words of Marc Graboff, the other co-chair on NBC Entertainment, "It's not about sticking a Coke can on a desk anymore. It's an evolving form."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tracking Product Buzz Around the Web
If you’re just using the Nielsen results to look at how you think about placing your [advertising] spend, you’re ultimately going to be flawed because we need to take account of the different activities that are taking place on the Web.
- Dan Neely, CEO and founder of Networked Insights
In Jon Lafayette, "Cracking the Code’ to Put Online Dollars Where They Belong," TV Week, October 29, 2008
Neely's company represents a growing business that speaks to marketers' desire to learn as much as they can about the people they want to reach online. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Networked Insights "says it measures not just the 15% of people who post content online at social sites, but also the other 85% who are interacting with that content by reading, ratings sharing, linking or inviting." The company analyzes more than 17,000 social media sites (such as MySpace) and social networking sites (LinkedIn is an example), which include more than 120 million unique users and 3.5 million interactions per day.
Networked Insights works with clients to figure out where conversations are going on online around certain products or topics. For example, Neely says that television shows with a lot of conversation tend to have more "engaged" audiences when they are viewing. It's useful to know that, he says, because "those engaged viewers are also likely to be paying attention to ads."
Moreover, Neely contends that his company database can tell his advertiser-clients how many people they can expect to reach with social media." “We believe we’ve cracked the code with regard to how do you actually measure this stuff,” Mr. Neely said. “It’s been a trial-and-error approach. We’ve said we can actually tell you where to place and when to place, because this is where they’re going to be and this is what they’re going to be talking about.”
- Dan Neely, CEO and founder of Networked Insights
In Jon Lafayette, "Cracking the Code’ to Put Online Dollars Where They Belong," TV Week, October 29, 2008
Neely's company represents a growing business that speaks to marketers' desire to learn as much as they can about the people they want to reach online. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Networked Insights "says it measures not just the 15% of people who post content online at social sites, but also the other 85% who are interacting with that content by reading, ratings sharing, linking or inviting." The company analyzes more than 17,000 social media sites (such as MySpace) and social networking sites (LinkedIn is an example), which include more than 120 million unique users and 3.5 million interactions per day.
Networked Insights works with clients to figure out where conversations are going on online around certain products or topics. For example, Neely says that television shows with a lot of conversation tend to have more "engaged" audiences when they are viewing. It's useful to know that, he says, because "those engaged viewers are also likely to be paying attention to ads."
Moreover, Neely contends that his company database can tell his advertiser-clients how many people they can expect to reach with social media." “We believe we’ve cracked the code with regard to how do you actually measure this stuff,” Mr. Neely said. “It’s been a trial-and-error approach. We’ve said we can actually tell you where to place and when to place, because this is where they’re going to be and this is what they’re going to be talking about.”
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Rise of Microblogging and Marketers' Responses
...cool and frightening at the same time.
- Christopher Hoff, Southwest Airlines passenger and Twitter user
In Rachel King, "How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands," Business Week, September 6, 2008
Hoff is referring to his experience getting a message from Southwest the day after he send a used Twitter to circulate to friends a complaint about his flight. The two-year-old Twitter is a new of microblogging, a way for users to keep friends and acquaintances informed of what they are doing or feeling at a particular moment through text messaging that reaches all of them at the same time. Estimates of the number of people using Twitter range from one to three million. It's not that large an audience, but marketers such as Comcast, Dell, General Motors and Whole Foods see individuals who send "tweets" as potential opinion leaders. As King notes, they task employees with "haunting Twitter to do everything from burnish brands to provide customer service." King adds that "the attention to Twitter reflects the power of new social media tools in letting consumers shape public discussion over brands." But it also shows how companies are trying to exploit and even control that discussion. For consumers who receive messages they don't expect, it can all seem a bit creepy.
- Christopher Hoff, Southwest Airlines passenger and Twitter user
In Rachel King, "How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands," Business Week, September 6, 2008
Hoff is referring to his experience getting a message from Southwest the day after he send a used Twitter to circulate to friends a complaint about his flight. The two-year-old Twitter is a new of microblogging, a way for users to keep friends and acquaintances informed of what they are doing or feeling at a particular moment through text messaging that reaches all of them at the same time. Estimates of the number of people using Twitter range from one to three million. It's not that large an audience, but marketers such as Comcast, Dell, General Motors and Whole Foods see individuals who send "tweets" as potential opinion leaders. As King notes, they task employees with "haunting Twitter to do everything from burnish brands to provide customer service." King adds that "the attention to Twitter reflects the power of new social media tools in letting consumers shape public discussion over brands." But it also shows how companies are trying to exploit and even control that discussion. For consumers who receive messages they don't expect, it can all seem a bit creepy.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Advertising in Popular Culture
Irritate them, Mr. Norman. Irritate, irritate, irritate them.
- Evan Llewellyn Evans (played by Sydney Greenstreet) to Victor Norman (played by Clark Gable) in the 1947 movie The Hucksters
Quoted in Stuart Elliot, "For 60 Years, the Ad Game Has Been Fodder for Scripts," The New York Times, September 18, 2008
The AMC series Mad Men, which takes place in a 1960s advertising agency, had won much acclaim about its reproduction of the tone of that era. Stuart Elliot, The New York Times' longtime advertising columnist, put together a short list of movies and TV shows with advertising as a central theme. One movie he missed: Putney Swope, the 1969 dark comedy written and directed by Robert Downey Sr. starring Arnold Johnson as a black man who is made the chairman of an advertising agency.
One feature that most of the movies about advertising depict, whether critically (as in The Hucksters) or endearingly (as in Bewitched) is the need to catch audiences with jingles or pictures or other persuasive forms.
The following clip from The Hucksters is one of the classics that still resonates with critics of advertising. In it the agency people nervously wait until their client comes in the door. The client is modeled after the real-life George Washington Hill of American Tobacco, who is supposed to have done what the character here does.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvW3JRBeDR0
Elliot's list ignores PR and press agentry. This scene from The Sweet Smell of Success is a classic critique of the relationship between press agents, gossip columnists, and sources. In the clip below the columnist (played by Burt Lancaster) is holding court with a senator who wants good coverage when the press agent (Tony Curtis) comes in on them. The scene turns into a revelation of the acid, tension-filled relationship between all three. The film was written by Clifford Odetts and Enest Lehman and produced by the company owned by Ben Hecht (who co-wrote the original version of the film The Front Page) and Burt Lancaster. It is credited with helping to destroy the often-reptilian power of columnist Walter Winchell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N77uqGZPUPw&feature=related
Monday, August 11, 2008
Product Integration Is Increasingly Acceptable Everywhere on TV
They may be purists, but they'll get over it if they need to.
- Ilene Chaiken, creator of The L Word series on Showtime
In Claude Brodesser-Akner, "On Ad-Less L Word, Brands Become Part of Plot," Advertising Age, August 7, 2008
Chaiken is referring to the concern writers might have about writing marketing messages into episodes of The L Word episodes. The L Word is much-discussed series about lesbians on Showtime, a subscription network with no commercials. Ratings suggest that the program attracts a bit over 300,00 prime time viewers aged 18-49 each week. Research further suggests that these viewers are mostly upscale females--the kinds of consumers advertisers covet. With production costs rising, Showtime agreed with Chaiken about the acceptable of inviting marketers to pay to be included in the program. The network gave Chaikin "the power to control all brand integration for the show's final season, as well as for a spin-off series launching on the network next year."
Advertising Age has learned that for $300,000 a marketer can buy an "integration package" that will link the marketer's products with the show: "either incorporate a brand into existing L Word storylines or allow the brand to work with the show's writers to create customized storylines, participating in one episode or across several. " Although this type of blunt sales approach may be unusual for a subscription channel, it is becoming the norm across many television channels. Another Advertising Age article on the same day tells of a new small-business makeover/advice series on the A&E cable network called We Mean Business for which Dell will not only be the exclusive technology sponsor, it will "will be integrated throughout the half-hour episodes, from laptops and servers to point-of-purchase solutions to help streamline costs and day-to-day operations for local businesses such as bakeries, specialty stores and salons. "
- Ilene Chaiken, creator of The L Word series on Showtime
In Claude Brodesser-Akner, "On Ad-Less L Word, Brands Become Part of Plot," Advertising Age, August 7, 2008
Chaiken is referring to the concern writers might have about writing marketing messages into episodes of The L Word episodes. The L Word is much-discussed series about lesbians on Showtime, a subscription network with no commercials. Ratings suggest that the program attracts a bit over 300,00 prime time viewers aged 18-49 each week. Research further suggests that these viewers are mostly upscale females--the kinds of consumers advertisers covet. With production costs rising, Showtime agreed with Chaiken about the acceptable of inviting marketers to pay to be included in the program. The network gave Chaikin "the power to control all brand integration for the show's final season, as well as for a spin-off series launching on the network next year."
Advertising Age has learned that for $300,000 a marketer can buy an "integration package" that will link the marketer's products with the show: "either incorporate a brand into existing L Word storylines or allow the brand to work with the show's writers to create customized storylines, participating in one episode or across several. " Although this type of blunt sales approach may be unusual for a subscription channel, it is becoming the norm across many television channels. Another Advertising Age article on the same day tells of a new small-business makeover/advice series on the A&E cable network called We Mean Business for which Dell will not only be the exclusive technology sponsor, it will "will be integrated throughout the half-hour episodes, from laptops and servers to point-of-purchase solutions to help streamline costs and day-to-day operations for local businesses such as bakeries, specialty stores and salons. "
Saturday, August 9, 2008
PR Firm: One Fifth of Major Marketers Buying Favorable News Coverage
I'm not saying it's a huge problem. But 19% of senior marketers saying they do it constitutes a problem.
-Mark Haas, CEO of public relations firm Manning Selvage & Lee
In Michael Bush, "Just So You Know, No One Paid for This Article," Advertising Age, Aug 4, 2008
Hass was referring to a finding in a recent survey by his firm of chief marketing officers that 19% of them said their organizations had bought advertising in return for getting news story about them. Representing one in five senior marketers, that is up for 17% last year. Although one aim of public relations is to get favorable media coverage, Hass contends that it gains legitimacy through a process in which the PR practitioner needs to persuade a media practitioner that the story the PR person is pitching deserves coverage. Paying for this sort of coverage means the standard vetting that goes on through the PR give-and-take with media is lost. Moreover, says Hass, if this sort of pay-for-play influence on editorial becomes broadly public, it could cause media to lose credibility. "There needs be credible, independent media," he stated, "and the marketing industry should not be doing anything to undermine credible editorial quality." A cynic might add that Hass doesn't want his clients to get into the habit of simply paying for favorable editorial attention--an activity that would lessen the value of Manning Selvage & Lee's work.
New media seems to be a particular problem, according to the survey findings. More than half (53%) of the senior marketers said that the marketing industry as a whole is not following ethical guidelines in the new-media realm. "It's almost like there's a different standard for online activity, and that's a little worrisome because that's a growth area," said Hass. "That's something that the industry needs to be attentive to, because the reputational damange that can occur if a marketer is dishonest online is huge."
-Mark Haas, CEO of public relations firm Manning Selvage & Lee
In Michael Bush, "Just So You Know, No One Paid for This Article," Advertising Age, Aug 4, 2008
Hass was referring to a finding in a recent survey by his firm of chief marketing officers that 19% of them said their organizations had bought advertising in return for getting news story about them. Representing one in five senior marketers, that is up for 17% last year. Although one aim of public relations is to get favorable media coverage, Hass contends that it gains legitimacy through a process in which the PR practitioner needs to persuade a media practitioner that the story the PR person is pitching deserves coverage. Paying for this sort of coverage means the standard vetting that goes on through the PR give-and-take with media is lost. Moreover, says Hass, if this sort of pay-for-play influence on editorial becomes broadly public, it could cause media to lose credibility. "There needs be credible, independent media," he stated, "and the marketing industry should not be doing anything to undermine credible editorial quality." A cynic might add that Hass doesn't want his clients to get into the habit of simply paying for favorable editorial attention--an activity that would lessen the value of Manning Selvage & Lee's work.
New media seems to be a particular problem, according to the survey findings. More than half (53%) of the senior marketers said that the marketing industry as a whole is not following ethical guidelines in the new-media realm. "It's almost like there's a different standard for online activity, and that's a little worrisome because that's a growth area," said Hass. "That's something that the industry needs to be attentive to, because the reputational damange that can occur if a marketer is dishonest online is huge."
Monday, July 28, 2008
Singer Chris Brown's Product Placement
[B]y the time the new jingle came out, it was already seeded properly within popular culture.
-Steve Stoute, chief executive of Translation Advertising
In Ethan Smith and Julie Jargon, "Chew on This: Hit Song Is a Gum Jingle," Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2008
Stoute is a former senior executive at Interscope Records. He is now the chief executive of Translation Advertising, which is a unit of Interpublic, the agency holding company. One of Stout's goals for Translation is to use music to support the aims of clients. In 2003, for example, he hired Justin Timberlake to write and record a song for McDonald's that expressed its "Im Lovin It" theme. The Timberlake song, though, was never released as a recording. In 2007, as part of a promotion for the Wrigley gum company, Stout engineered a new wrinkle. He enlisted R&B singer Chris Brown to write a melody that could also be used as a jingle for the client Doublemint gum ( the favorite Wrigley gum among African Americans). He asked to write lyrics for a recorded version of the song and the jingle.
Jive Records released the recording in 2007, and it became a top-ten hit. Only the phrase "double your pleasure, double your fun" would have given away the connection to Doublemint; that was its longtime slogan. Nevertheless, Translation and Wrigley kept quiet about the connection between the song and the gum. As Stout suggest, they wanted the song to become part of the target audience's life. Then, when new gum commercial echoed the song with new lyrics, the commercials would reinforce the song and the song would reinforce the commercial. A few record company executives seemed concerned that the song was created for advertisers without telling the audience. But they said they went ahead with its release because "the song was so potent and strong. That overruled us being maybe a little hesitant."
Translation and Wrigley undoubtedly see this as a triumph of a new form of product placement. In an where recording artists are industry struggling to find new ways to make money from their songs, and where marketers are struggling to find ways to get target audiences to connect emtionally with their brands, it is not hard to predict that we will see attempts to copy and extend what Chris Brown and Translation have done.
-Steve Stoute, chief executive of Translation Advertising
In Ethan Smith and Julie Jargon, "Chew on This: Hit Song Is a Gum Jingle," Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2008
Stoute is a former senior executive at Interscope Records. He is now the chief executive of Translation Advertising, which is a unit of Interpublic, the agency holding company. One of Stout's goals for Translation is to use music to support the aims of clients. In 2003, for example, he hired Justin Timberlake to write and record a song for McDonald's that expressed its "Im Lovin It" theme. The Timberlake song, though, was never released as a recording. In 2007, as part of a promotion for the Wrigley gum company, Stout engineered a new wrinkle. He enlisted R&B singer Chris Brown to write a melody that could also be used as a jingle for the client Doublemint gum ( the favorite Wrigley gum among African Americans). He asked to write lyrics for a recorded version of the song and the jingle.
Jive Records released the recording in 2007, and it became a top-ten hit. Only the phrase "double your pleasure, double your fun" would have given away the connection to Doublemint; that was its longtime slogan. Nevertheless, Translation and Wrigley kept quiet about the connection between the song and the gum. As Stout suggest, they wanted the song to become part of the target audience's life. Then, when new gum commercial echoed the song with new lyrics, the commercials would reinforce the song and the song would reinforce the commercial. A few record company executives seemed concerned that the song was created for advertisers without telling the audience. But they said they went ahead with its release because "the song was so potent and strong. That overruled us being maybe a little hesitant."
Translation and Wrigley undoubtedly see this as a triumph of a new form of product placement. In an where recording artists are industry struggling to find new ways to make money from their songs, and where marketers are struggling to find ways to get target audiences to connect emtionally with their brands, it is not hard to predict that we will see attempts to copy and extend what Chris Brown and Translation have done.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Private and Public Developments in TV Product Placement
If you can't measure it, you can't sell it.
-Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development at NBC Universal
In Alana Semuels, "Research Firm Nielsen Tallying Product Placement Ads," Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2008
The measurement of product placement in television programming has become a major activity during the past few years. Marketers increasingly make deals to have their goods show up during the action so viewers will have no choice but to see them. (When it comes to commercials, they can always switch channels or fast-forward on their DVRs.) The Nielsen research firm has ambitions to become the major go-to company in this area (as it is with television ratings) and it has augmented its own audits of products in programs with the purchase of IAG Research, which uses a different method to track placements. Other companies audit placements in different ways, all trying to prove their value to marketers and their agencies, who need to justify their activities. "Advertisers spent $2.9 billion in 2007 to place their products in TV shows and movies, up 33.7% from the year before, according to media research firm PQ Media. This year spending is projected to hit $3.6 billion, not including "barter" arrangements -- in which a company gives away products to be used in shows, rather than paying for them to be placed there."
In the midst of all this private research activity, the Federal Communications Commission has responded to critics who argue that consumers need straightforward information about when products are being placed in programs in exchange for money. "Such disclosures currently run during the credits, but the agency plans to examine whether product placement notices should be written in bigger print and displayed for a longer period."
-Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development at NBC Universal
In Alana Semuels, "Research Firm Nielsen Tallying Product Placement Ads," Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2008
The measurement of product placement in television programming has become a major activity during the past few years. Marketers increasingly make deals to have their goods show up during the action so viewers will have no choice but to see them. (When it comes to commercials, they can always switch channels or fast-forward on their DVRs.) The Nielsen research firm has ambitions to become the major go-to company in this area (as it is with television ratings) and it has augmented its own audits of products in programs with the purchase of IAG Research, which uses a different method to track placements. Other companies audit placements in different ways, all trying to prove their value to marketers and their agencies, who need to justify their activities. "Advertisers spent $2.9 billion in 2007 to place their products in TV shows and movies, up 33.7% from the year before, according to media research firm PQ Media. This year spending is projected to hit $3.6 billion, not including "barter" arrangements -- in which a company gives away products to be used in shows, rather than paying for them to be placed there."
In the midst of all this private research activity, the Federal Communications Commission has responded to critics who argue that consumers need straightforward information about when products are being placed in programs in exchange for money. "Such disclosures currently run during the credits, but the agency plans to examine whether product placement notices should be written in bigger print and displayed for a longer period."
Monday, July 14, 2008
Will Sponsorships Change "Independent" Web Videos?
It's still an open question whether big business is going to play Internet culture's game, or if Internet culture is going to play the big business game.
-Tim Hwang, organizer of a Boston conference on web culture
In Mike Musgrove, "Product Placement Creeps Into Amateurs' YouTube Offerings," Washington Post, July 13, 2008
Hwang was referring to the growing phenomenon of companies that sponsor the creation of individually created videos. Sometimes the products are placed into the videos. Sometimes, as in the case of Matt Harding's, the sponsor (Stride Gum) is thanked in a two-to-three second spot at the video's end. "In it, the 31-year-old does his jig with crowds of locals in exotic spots around the globe. The 4 1/2 -minute clip, featuring brief glimpses of 42 locales from Argentina to Zambia, is a smash hit on YouTube, where it is closing in on 6 million views."
Increasingly, videos on sites like YouTube attract corporate sponsors. The reason: Doing that is far cheaper than a 30-second commercial. Of course, it's much harder with a web video to be sure than anyone is watching. But Matt Harding is one of those video creators who are getting a track record for producing material that millions of people view.
Some critics are troubled that the possibility of sponsorships will change the way internet-video creators go about their work. "Internet culture, Hwang said, has spent most of its existence in its own in-jokey world, but that's changing quickly. And as deep-pocketed corporate entities turn to user-generated channels looking for attention, there's no telling how things will play out." From a public interest standpoint, it is worth considering how to encourage sponsors to refrain from integrating their brands into user generating materials.
-Tim Hwang, organizer of a Boston conference on web culture
In Mike Musgrove, "Product Placement Creeps Into Amateurs' YouTube Offerings," Washington Post, July 13, 2008
Hwang was referring to the growing phenomenon of companies that sponsor the creation of individually created videos. Sometimes the products are placed into the videos. Sometimes, as in the case of Matt Harding's, the sponsor (Stride Gum) is thanked in a two-to-three second spot at the video's end. "In it, the 31-year-old does his jig with crowds of locals in exotic spots around the globe. The 4 1/2 -minute clip, featuring brief glimpses of 42 locales from Argentina to Zambia, is a smash hit on YouTube, where it is closing in on 6 million views."
Increasingly, videos on sites like YouTube attract corporate sponsors. The reason: Doing that is far cheaper than a 30-second commercial. Of course, it's much harder with a web video to be sure than anyone is watching. But Matt Harding is one of those video creators who are getting a track record for producing material that millions of people view.
Some critics are troubled that the possibility of sponsorships will change the way internet-video creators go about their work. "Internet culture, Hwang said, has spent most of its existence in its own in-jokey world, but that's changing quickly. And as deep-pocketed corporate entities turn to user-generated channels looking for attention, there's no telling how things will play out." From a public interest standpoint, it is worth considering how to encourage sponsors to refrain from integrating their brands into user generating materials.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Agency Holding Companies and Diversity
It's perfectly clear that the marketplace, our customers and various regulatory agencies are demanding diversity.
- Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO of Interpublic
In Teresa Howard, "Ad Agency Interpublic Group Acts as Mentor to Build Diversity," USA Today, June 16 2008
Over the past thirty years, forces outside and inside the media have pushed the advertising industry to increase the number of women, blacks, Asians and Hispanics within their ranks. Critics point out that it is ethically untenable and bad from a business standpoint that an "industry that speaks every day to multicultural audiences with $2 trillion in spending power" has a bad record of recruiting blacks, Asians and Hispanics at creative and executive levels. That is the case even in New York City, the center of advertising, which is one of the most diverse US cities. Various companies have tried to solve the problem, but without longterm success for themselves or the industry. The New York City Commission on Human Rights considered the situation so bad that in 2006 it investigated 16 New York based agencies. They settled, making a three year commitment to hiring more black and Hispanic ad practitioners. Interpublic, which owns three of the situation agencies, created its InterAct Associates program to move the diversity needle. It "recruits college graduates for IPG's network of 60 agencies and trains them over two years with six-month stints in specific areas of advertising." The overall numbers are small for IPG, which has about 40,000 employees. Nevetheless, company executive insist it is an important planting of seeds that will grow to affect the entire company positively.
- Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO of Interpublic
In Teresa Howard, "Ad Agency Interpublic Group Acts as Mentor to Build Diversity," USA Today, June 16 2008
Over the past thirty years, forces outside and inside the media have pushed the advertising industry to increase the number of women, blacks, Asians and Hispanics within their ranks. Critics point out that it is ethically untenable and bad from a business standpoint that an "industry that speaks every day to multicultural audiences with $2 trillion in spending power" has a bad record of recruiting blacks, Asians and Hispanics at creative and executive levels. That is the case even in New York City, the center of advertising, which is one of the most diverse US cities. Various companies have tried to solve the problem, but without longterm success for themselves or the industry. The New York City Commission on Human Rights considered the situation so bad that in 2006 it investigated 16 New York based agencies. They settled, making a three year commitment to hiring more black and Hispanic ad practitioners. Interpublic, which owns three of the situation agencies, created its InterAct Associates program to move the diversity needle. It "recruits college graduates for IPG's network of 60 agencies and trains them over two years with six-month stints in specific areas of advertising." The overall numbers are small for IPG, which has about 40,000 employees. Nevetheless, company executive insist it is an important planting of seeds that will grow to affect the entire company positively.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
McDonald's as Cross-Platform Kung Fu Master
This kind of multifaceted campaign, including a philanthropic tie-in, doesn't just happen. They're masters at integrated, coordinated marketing.
-Robert Passikoff, president of the Brand Keys branding consultancy
Passikoff is talking about McDonald's--specifically, the fast-food restaurant's tie-in with DreamWorks Animation SKG's film Kung Fu Panda. The movie will debut two months before the Olympics in Beijing. McDonald's is McDonald's is the official restaurant/food service sponsor of the games, and it has fine-tuned an international cross-platform extravaganza to push its relationship to the film, and through that to Pandas, and through that, to the China-based games. Ad agency Leo Burnett (famous for its cartoonish brand characters like the Keebler Elves) has created a TV commercial that will appear in 23 languages. It features "two child Kung Fu experts vying for the last Chicken McNugget left from a Happy Meal."
The campaign is international on TV, in-store, and online. and it even ties into public service activities: "From June 6 through July 3 in McDonald's restaurants in North America, and then rolling out across the world, McDonald's Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal program will treat kids with a toy of one of eight animal characters from the film each time they purchase a Happy Meal. In addition to offering Kung Fu master games and related offline activities for kids (like a new hip-hop panda dance), online promotions tying in with the 'Kung Fu Panda Party' promotional theme will encourage kids to learn about pandas and their environment. For instance, the site (www.happymeal.com) will offer a "panda-cam" enabling kids to view real pandas in their natural habitat. All of this ties in with McDonald's support of Conservation International, and specifically its support of CI projects in China aimed at protecting panda habitats.
-Robert Passikoff, president of the Brand Keys branding consultancy
Passikoff is talking about McDonald's--specifically, the fast-food restaurant's tie-in with DreamWorks Animation SKG's film Kung Fu Panda. The movie will debut two months before the Olympics in Beijing. McDonald's is McDonald's is the official restaurant/food service sponsor of the games, and it has fine-tuned an international cross-platform extravaganza to push its relationship to the film, and through that to Pandas, and through that, to the China-based games. Ad agency Leo Burnett (famous for its cartoonish brand characters like the Keebler Elves) has created a TV commercial that will appear in 23 languages. It features "two child Kung Fu experts vying for the last Chicken McNugget left from a Happy Meal."
The campaign is international on TV, in-store, and online. and it even ties into public service activities: "From June 6 through July 3 in McDonald's restaurants in North America, and then rolling out across the world, McDonald's Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal program will treat kids with a toy of one of eight animal characters from the film each time they purchase a Happy Meal. In addition to offering Kung Fu master games and related offline activities for kids (like a new hip-hop panda dance), online promotions tying in with the 'Kung Fu Panda Party' promotional theme will encourage kids to learn about pandas and their environment. For instance, the site (www.happymeal.com) will offer a "panda-cam" enabling kids to view real pandas in their natural habitat. All of this ties in with McDonald's support of Conservation International, and specifically its support of CI projects in China aimed at protecting panda habitats.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Branded Entertainment a PR Trend
Edelman Studios is a milestone in Edelman's ongoing expansion of the traditional public relations model.
-Nancy Ruscheinski, President of PR company Edelman USA.
The new division is part of a new push by the company to create branded content for its clients. In a DVR era where advertisers fear audiences don't attend to ads, many PR firms are taking this route. The aim is to integrate clients' content into programming from TV shows to film shorts and webisodes.
In Rupel Parekh, "PR Edelman Ventures into Branded Content," Advertising Age, April 24, 2008.
-Nancy Ruscheinski, President of PR company Edelman USA.
The new division is part of a new push by the company to create branded content for its clients. In a DVR era where advertisers fear audiences don't attend to ads, many PR firms are taking this route. The aim is to integrate clients' content into programming from TV shows to film shorts and webisodes.
In Rupel Parekh, "PR Edelman Ventures into Branded Content," Advertising Age, April 24, 2008.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Military Analysts Mask Pentagon's Control Of News About Iraq and Afghanistan
It was them saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you.’
-Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst
He was talking about the Pentagon's control of news analysts regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. This Times report illustrates how the US military establishment in controlling the press' images of its wars have become increasingly sophisticated as well as tied to the military-industrial complex.
In David Barstow, "Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand," New York Times, April 20, 2008.
-Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst
He was talking about the Pentagon's control of news analysts regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. This Times report illustrates how the US military establishment in controlling the press' images of its wars have become increasingly sophisticated as well as tied to the military-industrial complex.
In David Barstow, "Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand," New York Times, April 20, 2008.
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