It has been widely known for years that with the technological advances of the DVR set top box, one’s cable or satellite provider knows exactly what its subscribers are watching, documenting patterns of viewing habits of each household. Even TIVO publishes weekly “top TIVO’d moments,” which was very intriguing during the recent summer Olympic games. Well, finally, that detailed (and some would argue very personal) viewing information will soon be monetized by the ad community, and this could greatly affect how ad campaign dollars are spent in the near future.
According to a recent interview of Forrest analyst Michael Glantz last month, targeted TV ads are gaining speed thanks to efforts by media agencies like Starcom and GroupM, as well as Microsoft’s XBox. “Addressable TV” has been held out as a carrot for the TV ad buying market for many years, but now Glantz said he is optimistic about partnerships, such as the ones struck between Starcom and DirecTV, and between GroupM and Dish. These partnerships could really change the future of big budget ad campaigns, as Dish and DirecTV are moving forward with addressable advertising on their local cable spots. “Addressable” means that Dish and DirecTV can put a particular ad to a certain household solely based on the viewing habits in each individual home, meaning that particular ad could be entirely different than an ad seen by one’s immediate neighbor. Thus, based on the set top box data information collected, the technology now exists to clean, sort out, and segment the information for an advertiser.
And when “addressable advertising” is put into practice, traditional ad budgets — large TV media campaigns as agencies have known for 40 years — could actually become a thing of the past, where advertisers will now seek a more direct response focused campaign. Glantz said, “It remains to be seen, [but] advertisers may [rather] put their ad before 100 qualified households instead of a 100,000 and hope you find those right 100.” We will continue to watch and see how all this develops, and determine if any opportunities arise for our clients within the DRTV industry.
- Steve Warnecke joins Newton Media Associates, Inc. as Director of New Business Development. Steve has over 20 years of domestic and international experience in programming, sales and media management in the broadcast and cable industry. You can reach Steve at swarnecke@newtonmedia.com.
Where is the Best Place to Buy Media? It’s a question that I get a lot from various product marketers or faith based organizations desiring better understand how to gain wider exposure and effective response. It’s not always a simple or easy answer, put another way, it all depends!
One factor depends on your specific campaign goals and objectives. Are you looking to achieve a positive ROI on your media investment? Is it a campaign designed to achieve Lead Generation or is a spot campaign created as a branding tool or awareness campaign with some type of back end development program attached to it? Goals and objectives will help determine a strategic media plan and help save budget. A media buy designed to be effective in both the testing phase and roll out of any campaign.
For targeting specific demographic profiles, we look at each network or media outlet accordingly to see if those target demos match up more effectively than do others. Does the media outlet skew older or younger? More Women or Men? Does it truly fit our target demographics? To profile your best target demo you can use a geo-demographic solution to gain valuable insight into demo and psychographic characteristics which will allow for pinpoint targeting.
Another important factor is to consider where your target demo is most likely watch or listening to certain programs, dayparts or channels. If it’s a longform (30 min program) campaign, consider adjacencies to shows who might match your target demo that would be good candidates to consider.
Competitive analysis is also a good tool to factor into the decision. When you find certain programs are airing and re-airing on a regular basis in the same programming on same networks, then consider buying around those programming areas or dayparts. If it’s working for the competitor, it may work for you.
Sometimes the question, “Where’s the best place to buy media?” can also mean “Where is the biggest bang for my buck?” Again, this all depends on predetermined ROI goals and campaign objectives. For example, an often overlooked area of opportunity when considering certain product categories for men is late night or even overnight buys. They can be the most cost effective and best return areas to place the media. Rates are usually cheaper and inventory is more flexible.
The real answer to this question is “do your homework to find out.” There is no one-size fits-all media outlet. Each program and campaign has unique elements to it and in order to find your best media fit, it takes a lot of experience and research.
Measuring the impact of any media campaign is the key to successful direct marketing and donor development in today’s challenging market environment. With the cost of media being so high, it’s important to determine which media outlet is effectively pulling its weight and having the most impact upon results.
Direct Mail enthusiasts talk about the “control package”, those mail pieces that have worked effectively over a period of time hitting a target response goal. New campaigns are tested against the “control” with other creative. This can include everything from the “ask” to different photos used, to a completely different offer. Many times Direct Mail will include a special Box number or letter associated with each campaign to determine its effective response.
The same holds true with other strategic media campaigns…but when a marketer or non-profit organization uses integrated platforms or cross-over-media channels run simultaneously, the measurement tools become much more important than ever and the processed results can get fuzzy at times.
For example if the campaign is using Direct Response Television, (DRTV long or short form), with Spot Radio, Direct Mail, Billboards and Digital Media, how do you effectively track the results and media ROI’s? Advanced software is used to determine a multi-channel campaigns success. If possible its best to use a separate 800# for each media outlet especially on a national basis, along with separate 800#’s for radio and unique URLs for landing pages.
The potential for better separation of results becomes much easier and less cloudy if each media outlet has a unique tracking tool. The problem becomes heightened when only one 800# or one URL is used for the entire campaign. Although one 800 number can save some money on the front end, it can actually lose money over time if the media planner and buyer can’t effectively track exact networks and stations if airing at the same time. Time stamps can become more a guessing game than an exact science.
Today a lot of time and attention is being put into Social and Digital Media and so it should, but marketers are still trying to figure out the impact from a financial perspective it is having upon the campaigns goals and objectives. It’s hard to monetize if someone is tweeting about your brand and hopefully it’s in a positive discussion or blog. Not all PR is good PR.
The most successful campaigns have several layers of analysis. Start with a top-line review of the “overall” results and determine if the campaign is either successful or not based on overall positive ROI’s, the fact that you reached x 000’s of new viewers who have never heard of your organization or brand before, you created a significant number of new donors to your organization and you effectively branded your organization in a greater way than ever before. Once you determine the overall performance, if you have the right analysis tools in place (dedicated 800 #s, mail addresses and URLs) we typically then focus on media results on a daily and weekly basis. Often “results” can be measured in more ways than just the bottom-line.
Many clients ask the importance of including web response data in media analysis, and some even wonder if including a URL on your DRTV campaign might cannibalize phone response. According to a December 2009 Nielsen survey, 59% of people report using the internet and watching TV simultaneously. 59%! This figure is significant to say the least, and is in-line with DRTV industry reports that the web response component of some campaigns are now reaching as high as 60%. What does this mean for the DRTV advertisers and media ministries? Wake up and smell the mouse clicks. If the web response component is not being factored into your bottom-line media analysis, you are missing a big part of the picture.
The conundrum continues to be, what is the best method for tracking URL response to individual media airings? Many advertisers have implemented unique URL’s in order to gain more control over attribution. The key drawbacks to that strategy are that it degrades brand awareness, and many times users just go directly to the main page anyway. Today’s best practices utilize software that incorporates activity spike analysis to tie web response to specific airings. In the past there was room for a cost-benefit analysis debate on instituting the resources necessary to glean this data, but it is clear that day has passed and it is now critical to include web response in your data analysis.
The most effective practice is to take a holistic approach to your media. The media team, and the web/search engine marketing team should work closely together to maximize your efforts. Any good media analyst will be ready and willing to discuss the best way for you to evaluate your URL response, so talk with your advisor about how this could impact your analytics.
Ratings … “we can’t live with them, and we can’t live without them” (tic). Most advertisers and their agencies live and die by ratings as a way to determine who is watching/listening to their ads. The advertisers’ reach and frequency goals (and budgets) are based on reaching a certain number of people “x” number of times. For those general-market advertisers, ratings are the only tool they have to determine if their media campaign is “successful”.
Direct response advertisers do not rely on ratings to determine if their media campaign is “successful”. DR advertisers have something much more reliable … viewers/listeners responding by calling an 800# or URL to order their product or service. DR marketers know immediately if they’re reaching their audience, and they can immediately adjust budgets as necessary.
More important than the number of viewers/listeners to a program, is whether those viewers/listeners “respond” to the message and will order the product or service. For example, if the ratings services determine that a program reaches 300,000 viewers and there is minimal response to the message, a DR marketer can quickly shift their dollars to another time period.
What matters most is the number of viewers or listeners who respond to your message … not the total number of people who are exposed to your message. Programmers need to focus their message and schedule on media outlets/time periods to best reach the highest number of people who are likely to respond, which is not always the same as reaching the largest number of people.
By Janet Burke, Director of Media at Newton Media. Janet came to Newton Media with over 17 years experience on national accounts for D’Arcy-Masius Benton & Bowles and Earle Palmer Brown. She provides leadership to the media team and manages client relationships well with her passion for professionalism and attention to detail.
Summer offers unique opportunities.
It is not surprising that TV viewing levels in the summer months can be dramatically different compared to other times of the year. This variance in viewing levels can impact response to a client’s TV campaign, however, it presents an opportunity for media buyers to consider creative ways to maximize their clients results.
Consider Different Dayparts – viewership patterns fluctuate the most during daytime and weekend afternoons in the summer months. Viewership in certain dayparts, such as early morning, late night and weekend mornings does not fluctuate as much and, therefore, should be considered as an inexpensive option for TV clients.
Opportunity to reach different viewers – For those viewers who tune into TV in the summer months, viewing habits may be different than at other times of the year. Viewers may tune into cable TV’s original programming instead of reruns on most broadcast networks. Broadcast networks continue to lose audience to cable and the internet as people consume TV differently. Summer is a time to capture those viewers sampling new programming/stations and may allow for them to see a client’s program for the first time.
Lower Rates – rates in the summer months are the lowest of any other time of year and an excellent time for a client to test those stations that may be unaffordable at other times of the year. Though viewership is down, lower rates more than compensate and many clients experience very strong response to their programs in the summer.
Consider Different Media Mix – understanding your core audience and their media habits is key to identifying the most effective media mix. When TV viewership is highest (in the winter months) advertising on TV offers clients maximum reach which is why there’s such high demand for TV time thus translating into higher rates. During the summer months when viewership is lowest and demand for TV time decreases it may be prudent for many clients to maintain their TV presence and capitalize on the lower rates. The dollars saved in the summer months on TV can be shifted to radio, print, internet or mobile devices as a way to reach your core audience.
Many clients shy away from advertising in the summer months, however, this time of year often offers opportunities to clients not available to them at other times of the year.
By Janet Burke, Director of Media at Newton Media. Janet came to Newton Media with over 17 years experience on national accounts for D’Arcy-Masius Benton & Bowles and Earle Palmer Brown. She provides leadership to the media team and manages client relationships well with her passion for professionalism and attention to detail.
Welcome to Newton’s Media Fix (The Fix), the premier best practices newsletter in our industry. I want to share with you not only valuable insights I have learned from my 30 years in the Media Industry but also our teams broad knowledge throughout all aspects of planning, execution and follow up for effective Media Campaigns and Programming.
