Three out of five consumers prefer contextual targeting - more than double the number who respond best to demographic, geographic or behavioral targeting, according to a new survey of consumer attitudes online conducted in late January by market researcher Synovate for Traffic Marketplace, the ad network division of Vendare Media.
Researchers at Northeastern University say that men are much more open to marketing-related programs and promotions in the mobile space than females, MarketingVox reports. For example, men (in particular, younger men) are more likely to download new ringtones, music and games than females, according to a initial results of a survey of two regions - an established market (the United States) and an emerging one (Pakistan) - designed to provide insight into consumer attitudes and responses to mobile marketing efforts. There are also significant differences in how younger and older individuals use their phones.
Lifetime Television hopes that its new slate of original programming that includes unscripted series, improvisational comedy and drama will reach a new generation of women, Mediaweek writes.
In preparation for talks with major agencies and advertisers during the 2006-2007 upfront buying season, The Weather Channel - the only TV outlet that acknowledges buying so-called minute-by-minute ratings from Nielsen Media Research - has released new data purporting its viewers are more apt to be engaged with TV commercials, Mediapost reports.
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Though in the past it has been employees of commercial stations being found guilty of payola scams, three former employees of WUOM - a public radio station in Ann Arbor, Michigan, owned by the University of Michigan - have been charged with accepting airline tickets, golf club memberships, massages, and Persian rugs in exchange for programming, writes Media Life.
Monday night, CBS’s new comedy featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine, posted a 5.2 overnight rating at 9:30 p.m. - an 8 percent increase from the 4.8 it earned in the same timeslot a week ago, and a 33 percent increase over the 8:30 p.m. airing of last week’s season premiere, writes Media Life.
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Six months after its change from broadsheet to Berliner format, the Guardian was named newspaper of the year at the British Press Awards Monday night, The Guardian announces. Also six months ago, the paper became the only national U.K. newspaper to print in full color, and the investment, at 80 million pounds, was hailed as the biggest transformation of the paper since it first appeared in 1821.
In a long-anticipated move, Adware pioneer Claria announced Tuesday that by June it would leave that business much maligned by online publishers, consumer groups and privacy advocate, reports the Associated Press (via MarketingVox). Claria said last summer that it would be focusing on new personalization services, and now says it has hired Deutsche Bank Securities to help sell its adware assets.
Interpublic Group’s Initiative beat out incumbent Carat, a unit of Aegis Group, and Omnicom Group’s OMD in CBS’s $130 million media business review, Adweek writes. When Viacom and CBS split into two companies, CBS added Showtime, the King World and Paramount syndication units, Simon & Schuster Publishing and CBS Digital Media, which prompted the media review.
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Electronic Arts launched yesterday a campaign for its new The Godfather: The Game. The campaign will see thousands of oranges delivered on the streets to centers of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The oranges have a sticker which included the URL www.godfather321.com, directing people to a website to learn more about the video game which was released yesterday for PS2, Xbox and PC.
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According to forecasts made in eMarketer’s new report, “Search Engine Marketing: Players and Problems,” Google’s success continues as it represents 57 percent of all U.S. spending on paid search engine advertising, earning the an estimated gross revenue of $9.3 billion this year and $11.8 billion next year, B2B reports.
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Responding to the recent controversy surrounding Dan Froomkin’s blog at The Washington Post, editors decided to label his column as “opinion” and to launch a new conservative blog - called Red America, created by Ben Domenech - to counter his liberal slant, Editor & Publisher writes.
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Sirius Satellite Radio reported Monday that it now has more than 4 million subscribers - a 21 percent increase from the 3.3 million it claimed at the end of 2005, writes Media Life. The company hopes to reach 6 million subscribers by the end of 2006.
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According to those familiar with the agreement, Verizon Communications Inc. will pay CBS Corp. 50 cents per subscriber - a rate comparable to what cable operators pay for cable channels - for the right to run its programming on Verizon’s home TV service, a move CBS hopes will pressure cable operators to sign its TV stations, The Wall Street Journal writes [subscription].
