Kantar Media has released its final tallies for 2011 ad spending across media, and the results are a mixed bag. They suggest that advertisers value TV, are losing faith in consumer magazines and newspapers (no news there), and are on the fence about digital advertising.
Surprisingly hard hit were Sunday magazines (like Parade, The Boston Globe Magazine and the New York Times Magazine). Presumably this is because print newspaper subscriberships are down, and readers tend to cut out the expensive Sunday editions to save money, before they cancel daily subscriptions.
Big winners: Spanish-language media, and TV syndication.
Spanish-language TV was up 8.3% year-over-year, versus 2.4% for TV overall. Spanish-language magazines were up 24.9% YoY, defying a 0.4% decline for all magazines.Syndicated TV was up 15.4% over that 2.4% for TV overall (due in part to the astounding success of “The Big Bang Theory” which hit syndication in Q3).
The Year Overall
Total advertising expenditures increased an unimpressive 0.8% in 2011 and finished the year at $144.0 billion. Ad spending during the fourth quarter of 2011 dropped 1.0% versus the year ago period, the first quarterly decline since the end of 2009. Since reaching a post-recession peak in Q3 2010, advertising growth rates have slowed sequentially for five consecutive quarters.
“The contrast of resilient TV spending and waning budget allocations to other traditional media was plainly evident at the end of 2011,” said Jon Swallen, SVP Research at Kantar Media Intelligence North America. “Some mature digital media formats were also touched by the year-end tide of reduced spending. Whether this is an isolated occurrence or an early sign of digital dollars moving more quickly towards emerging and unmeasured digital platforms bears watching as 2012 unfolds.”
Measured Ad Spending By Media
Television continued to lead the ad market in the fourth quarter. Network TV expenditures jumped 7.7% year-over-year and were helped by strong pricing for football, a baseball World Series that went the maximum seven games and the launch of “The X Factor” singing competition program. The rate of Cable growth eased during Q4, finishing at +2.4% as higher demand from restaurants and retailers was offset by reductions from consumer packaged goods. For the full year, Network TV decreased by 2.0% while Cable rose 7.7%.
Spanish language TV ad spending surged 19.1% in fourth quarter, paced by higher sell-out levels at over-the-air networks. For all of 2011, the segment increased 8.3%.
Syndication TV benefitted from higher spending by department stores and health & beauty brands and saw expenditures soar 11.0% in Q4. Full year spending advanced by 15.4%.
Spot TV expenditures fell 8.7% in the fourth quarter but the more significant indicator was that November and December spending were each down, despite easy comparisons against diminished, post-election spending volume of a year ago. Full year Spot TV spending dropped 4.5%.
Free Standing Inserts achieved healthy gains in the fourth quarter with spend rising 3.0%. Although manufacturers have been distributing fewer FSI coupons, retailer promotion pages have increased significantly and this contributed to the improvement.
Ad expenditures for measured digital media declined in the fourth quarter. Paid Search budgets were 6.4% lower versus a year ago with continuing reductions from financial, insurance and local service advertisers. Display investments decreased 5.9% in Q4, dragged down by smaller budgets from auto manufacturers, telecom providers and travel companies. For the entire year, Paid Search declined 2.8% and Display increased 5.5%.
Magazine ad spending eroded at year end. Consumer Magazines declined 5.2% in the fourth quarter due to deep cutbacks in auto, food and pharmaceutical advertising. Total year expenditures were level compared to prior year. Outlays in Sunday Magazines fell 9.8% in Q4, the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines, and were down 7.2% for all of 2011.
Local Newspaper ad expenditures fell 3.9% during the fourth quarter, hurt by the reallocation of retailer advertising budgets to other media channels during the key holiday shopping season. Full year spending was 3.8% lower. The losses in Newspaper spending are consistent with reductions in the amount of space sold.
The pace of spending in Radio media also sagged. Local Radio expenditures were down 3.8% and National Spot Radio plummeted 13.9% in the fourth quarter. The telecom, financial service and automotive categories were prime contributors to these quarterly decreases.
Measured Ad Spending By Advertiser
Spending among the ten largest advertisers in 2011 reached $16,061.6 million, a 2.8% decline compared to a year ago. Among the Top 100 marketers, a diversified group that represents over two-fifths of all measured ad expenditures, full year budgets were down 0.2%.
For the ninth consecutive year, Procter & Gamble was the top advertiser with spending of $2,949.1 million down 5.4% compared to last year. While TV is still the foundation of its advertising media buys, P&G’s 2011 budget allocation saw share gains for magazines at the expense of TV.
AT&T was the second largest advertiser in 2011 with expenditures of $1,924.6 million, a decline of 11.7%. Media budgets were severely curtailed during the fourth quarter when the company abandoned its attempted acquisition of T-Mobile, triggering large breakup fees and a huge earnings loss. At Verizon Communications, full year ad spending was $1,636.9 million, a decrease of 11.8%. After a string of quarterly budget cuts dating to early 2010, Verizon sharply boosted its spending during the last quarter.
The largest growth rate among the Top Ten marketers was posted by Chrysler, up 36.2% to $1,193.0 for the full year. The increase was driven by marketing introductions for several new or redesigned models, coupled with the improved sales climate for new vehicles. In contrast, General Motors lowered its 2011 outlays by 16.1% to $1,784.1 million. Q4 media budgets dropped 24.7%. As factory support has been trimmed, GM dealers have been bearing a larger share of the overall marketing effort.
L’Oreal investments in 2011 rose 18.1% to $1,343.5 million as the company expanded marketing support for the L’Oreal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier brand lines. Comcast (+11.3%, to $1,577.2 million) and Time Warner (+5.8%, to $1,279.4 million) also posted full year spending gains.
Measured Ad Spending By Category
Expenditures for the ten largest categories grew 3.3% in 2011 and reached $81,629.2 million.
Automotive was the leading category in dollar volume and finished 2011 at $13,890.4 million, up 6.3%. Category spending growth became increasingly bifurcated during the year with Tier 2 and Tier 3 dealer budgets continuing to expand and Tier 1 manufacturer expenditures flattening.
Miscellaneous Retail, which is comprised of all retail segments except Department Stores and Home Improvement purveyors, was the second largest category with 2011 expenditures of $10,019.5 million, up 4.0%. Robust ad spending during the critical year-end holiday season bolstered results.
Insurance registered the largest growth rate among the Top Ten categories with a 13.5% gain to $5,519.0 million. Aggressive competition among auto insurers to gain market share continues to drive media budgets higher.
Financial Services totaled $9,059.9 million of spending, a 3.6% increase. Growth has been fueled by the credit card segment, offsetting continued weakness in ad budgets for investment products and retail banking.
The Telecom category lost ground as 2011 expenditures fell 5.8% to $8,649.0 million. Declines were most pronounced among the leading wireless service advertisers. Aggregates expenditures from TV service providers also slowed.
Top Spending Advertisers Within Select Media
The top ten TV advertisers spent $10,115.4 million in the medium during 2011, down 0.8% from a year ago. This group accounted for 14.9% of total TV expenditures by all advertisers.
The ten largest Internet advertisers invested a total of $2,360.6 million in paid search and display campaigns, up 10.0% versus a year ago. Despite fragmentation on the web, the group accounted for 10.9% share of all Internet ad dollars.
The top ten advertisers in Hispanic Media spent $1,403.6 million during 2011, an increase of 29.2%. This group accounted for 24.7% of all Hispanic Media expenditures, the largest Top Ten share concentration of any medium.
Research: Put Brand Ads On A Facebook Timeline for Higher Engagement
Perhaps a Facebook page qualifies as marketing versus advertising, but brand ads clearly belong front and center, and on the brand's Facebook page. Social media analytics provider Simply Measured reports considerable boosts in engagement for brands using the Facebook Timeline format, and for brands using photo and video.
Simply Measured surveyed the Facebook Fan Pages of 15 early adopters to compare engagement rates before and after implementing Timeline. It observed that brands get 46% more engagement per post when they upgrade to Facebook Timeline. Facebook promised on February 29th that Timeline would help “showcase brand’s unique stories and identities” and improve how consumers interact and engage with their favorite brands.”
Of those 15 brands, Livestrong showed the highest boost, with 161% engagement per post, followed by Toyota with 156%, Humane Society at 83% and Red Bull at 70% lift in per-post averages.
The posts tend toward fan uploads for Livestrong, but Toyota leans toward photos, videos and house ads. The Timeline redesign, says Simply Measured, “is much more visual, focused on interactive content, and provides new features that give brands more control over how their Fan Page looks and feels.” Photo and video in particular attract engagement, once again making a Timeline ripe for brand advertisements.
Comparing averages before and after, Simply Measured observed:
- 14% Increase in Fan Engagement
- 46% Increase in Content Engagement
- 65% Increase in Interactive Content Engagement (Video and Photo)
Research: 2011 U.S. Ad Spends Increased Barely, Digital Dipped Q4, TV Stayed Strong
Ad research think tank Kantar Media has released some media-specific results for 2011 (for retailers, on out of home adverts), but has just released its all-media, all-verticals results.
Total advertising expenditures increased 0.8% in 2011 and finished the year at $144.0 billion in 2011. Ad spending during Q4 dipped 1.0% over Q4 2010, which was the first quarterly decline since the end of 2009. Since reaching a post-recession peak in Q3 2010, advertising growth rates have slowed sequentially for five consecutive quarters.
“The contrast of resilient TV spending and waning budget allocations to other traditional media was plainly evident at the end of 2011,” said Jon Swallen, SVP Research at Kantar Media Intelligence North America. “Some mature digital media formats were also touched by the year-end tide of reduced spending. Whether this is an isolated occurrence or an early sign of digital dollars moving more quickly towards emerging and unmeasured digital platforms bears watching as 2012 unfolds.”
Measured Ad Spending By Media
Television continued to lead the ad market in the fourth quarter. Network TV expenditures jumped 7.7% year-over-year and were helped by strong pricing for football, a baseball World Series that went the maximum seven games and the launch of The X Factor singing competition program. The rate of Cable growth eased during Q4, finishing at +2.4% as higher demand from restaurants and retailers was offset by reductions from consumer packaged goods. For the full year, Network TV decreased by 2.0% while Cable rose 7.7%.
Spanish language TV ad spending surged 19.1% in fourth quarter, paced by higher sell-out levels at over-the-air networks. For all of 2011, the segment increased 8.3%.
Syndication TV benefitted from higher spending by department stores and health-and-beauty brands and saw expenditures soar 11.0% in Q4. Full year spending advanced by 15.4%.
Spot TV expenditures fell 8.7% in the fourth quarter but the more significant indicator was that November and December spending were each down, despite easy comparisons against diminished, post-election spending volume of a year ago. Full year Spot TV spending dropped 4.5%.
Free Standing Inserts achieved healthy gains in the fourth quarter with spend rising 3.0%. Although manufacturers have been distributing fewer FSI coupons, retailer promotion pages have increased significantly and this contributed to the improvement.
Ad expenditures for measured digital media declined in the fourth quarter. Paid Search budgets were 6.4% lower versus a year ago with continuing reductions from financial, insurance and local service advertisers. Display investments decreased 5.9% in Q4, dragged down by smaller budgets from auto manufacturers, telecom providers and travel companies. For the entire year, Paid Search declined 2.8% and Display increased 5.5%.
Magazine ad spending eroded at year end. Consumer Magazines declined 5.2% in the fourth quarter due to deep cutbacks in auto, food and pharmaceutical advertising. Total year expenditures were level compared to prior year. Outlays in Sunday Magazines fell 9.8% in Q4, the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines, and were down 7.2% for all of 2011.
Local Newspaper ad expenditures fell 3.9% during the fourth quarter, hurt by the reallocation of retailer advertising budgets to other media channels during the key holiday shopping season. Full year spending was 3.8% lower. The losses in Newspaper spending are consistent with reductions in the amount of space sold.
The pace of spending in Radio media also sagged. Local Radio expenditures were down 3.8% and National Spot Radio plummeted 13.9% in the fourth quarter. The telecom, financial service and automotive categories were prime contributors to these quarterly decreases.
Measured Ad Spending By Category
Expenditures for the ten largest categories grew 3.3% in 2011 and reached $81,629.2 million.
Automotive was the leading category in dollar volume and finished 2011 at $13,890.4 million, up 6.3%. Category spending growth became increasingly bifurcated during the year with Tier 2 and Tier 3 dealer budgets continuing to expand and Tier 1 manufacturer expenditures flattening.
Miscellaneous Retail, which is comprised of all retail segments except Department Stores and Home Improvement purveyors, was the second largest category with 2011 expenditures of $10,019.5 million, up 4.0%. Robust ad spending during the critical year-end holiday season bolstered results.
Insurance registered the largest growth rate among the Top Ten categories with a 13.5% gain to $5,519.0 million. Aggressive competition among auto insurers to gain market share continues to drive media budgets higher.
Financial Services totaled $9,059.9 million of spending, a 3.6% increase. Growth has been fueled by the credit card segment, offsetting continued weakness in ad budgets for investment products and retail banking.
The Telecom category lost ground as 2011 expenditures fell 5.8% to $8,649.0 million. Declines were most pronounced among the leading wireless service advertisers. Aggregates expenditures from TV service providers also slowed.
Ford Launches Interactive Prime Time Reality Show “Escape Routes”
If it proves nothing else, Ford Motor Company’s venture into reality TV proves that at least one U.S. auto maker has money to spend. Ford is teaming up with NBC and an eight-time Emmy -winning reality producer for “Escape Routes,” a prime-time show that will air on Saturday nights on NBC and mun2 beginning March 31.
“Escape Routes” is a broadcast/interactive mashup, that features a cast of six teams of two participating in a road-trip competition with real-world challenges, all the while driving the new Ford Escape.
The Car Connection describes Ford as “not your typical automaker—especially when it comes to media onslaughts.” Car Connection credits Ford with choosing alternatives to splashy trade-show reveals, and with building excitement and anticipation for a new vehicle’s arrival. "Escape Routes" will run for six conescutive weeks and wrap in May, just as the new Escape arrives in dealerships.
“Escape Routes” will air for six consecutive episodes, and will be hosted by reality TV personality Rossi Morreale who has hosted “a variety of network and cable TV programs” (all short lived—do you remember “Belly of the Beast?” “Celebrity Drive-By?” “Temptation?”). The show airs Saturday evenings at 8 P.M./ET on NBC and will also air on mun2, bicultural cable network for young Latino Americans, Saturday nights at 11 P.M./ET. This is the first time Ford will air a series using both a general market broadcast and bilingual cable network.
The competition
“Escape Routes” bears some resemblance to the 11-year-old “The Amazing Race,” which is no accident. It is produced by eight-time Emmy Award-winning producer Elise Doganieri, who is also behind “The Amazing Race.” She says of the interactive element, it is “designed to engage viewers throughout the show and encourage them to participate in the challenges…the real-time twist where consumers have the ability to follow their favorite team in the digital space.”
“Escape Routes” pits the six two-person teams (the usual mix of 18-30 year-old hipsters, boffins, model-types and brother/sister teams) against one another in real-world challenges as they arrive in a new city in each episode. The journey begins in Los Angeles before heading to New York, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco and Las Vegas/L.A. At each stop, the teams will engage with online followers and “tap into the fabric of the local culture.” Viewers will be able to interact with and compete alongside the six teams throughout their adventures at escaperoutes.com. “Not only will viewers be able to follow along in real time, but followers will have the ability to impact the outcome of the game,” said Donagieri. Fans will be able to talk to the cast, Rossi and the Ford and NBC team behind the program on March 8 at 3:30 P.M. EST via a Google Hangout.
It will be interesting to see how NBC treats the show if it tanks in the ratings. As a prime time infomercial, it is likely to complete its six-show cycle regardless of its ratings draw.
Drivers Spent $170 Million Connecting Mobile Media to Cars, But Still Want Radio and CD
Consumers increasingly use mobile devices to access digital content while driving, according to market research firm The NPD Group. Sales of products that integrate portable devices (e.g., smart phones, tablets and MP3 players) and vehicles accounted for more than $170 million in 2011, according to NPD’s Retail Tracking Service.
Still, “Traditional radio and CD audio remain firmly entrenched in the vehicle from both a device and entertainment standpoint,” said Ben Arnold, NPD’s director of industry analysis. “But as ownership of mobile devices, digital content, and apps expands, consumers will be looking for ways to customize the in-vehicle environment with content and services."
Certainly, this is a challenge for radio stations which are losing their hegemony on drive-time listeners. Radio and TV thinktank RBR-TVBR observes that “Content is content and if your radio station is compelling enough, they’ll be listening to it nationwide," though increasingly via mobile devices, bypassing the in-dash radio. Pandora and iHeartRadio cannot own drive time listenership simply by being mobile, as popular stations stream over mobile media as well.
NPD’s just-released study “Mobile CE: A Look Inside the Vehicle” reveals that 84% of vehicle owners have a portable media device and more than three quarters (79%) are using them in the car. These devices are also used regularly with half of smart phone owners, and nearly two-in-five (37%) iPod owners said they use their devices “always” or “most of the time” while driving.
In-vehicle connectivity is also starting to emerge as a purchase factor with a third (32%) of consumers saying the feature is highly important in their decision to buy future car audio products. Consumers are also connecting their digital media devices through a variety of ways. While 18% of vehicle owners have an auxiliary input installed into their vehicle stereo system, 11% are connecting through a USB port. Despite being present in just 13% of vehicles, wireless connectivity is gaining favor as a way to more easily control these devices and tap into connected services. More than half (56%) of vehicle owners with a built-in Bluetooth or wireless phone connection installed said they always use it or use it most of the time.
This is hardly the death of radio or the CD players, which are still in high demand. Fully 73% of vehicle owners with an FM radio said they use it during most car trips and 57% of consumers said the presence of a compact disc player will be vital in their decision to purchase their next car stereo system. Still, there are signs of erosion. Ford announced in July 2011 that it planned to cease fitting European models with in-car CD players, in favor of MP3, USB and Bluetooth audio connectivity.
comScore Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties: Seasonal Boosts for Travel, Career, Taxes
Digital measurement thinktank comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for January 2012, based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Tax sites (including IRS.GOV), travel sites like Kayak.com and educational sites all saw strong gains.
“In January, the average U.S. Internet user spent a record 36 hours online, reflecting the growing importance of digital media to Americans’ daily lives,” said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore. “Among the biggest category gainers in this heavy month of Internet usage were Travel and Career sites, which posted double-digit gains, and of course Tax sites as the non-procrastinators among us decided to get an early jump on getting their refunds.”
Travel Sites
Several Travel subcategories were among the top-gainers in January, including Transaction sites which grew 28% to 3.7 million visitors. TravelPN.com led the category with 798,000 visitors (up 11%), followed by Viator.com with 642,000 (up 9%), WWTE.com with 442,000 (up 86%) and OneTime.com with 278,000 (up 48%).
Car Rental sites jumped 22% to 6.2 million visitors during the month, led by Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company with 3.2 million visitors (up 14%). Avis Budget Group ranked second with nearly 2 million visitors (up 19%), followed by Hertz with 1.3 million (up 21%), CarRentals.com with 793,000 (up 30%) and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. with 790,000 (up 27%).
Hotels/Resorts also ranked among the fastest-growing Travel sites. The category attracted 33.2 million visitors in January, representing an 18-percent increase. Marriott secured the #1 position in the category with 5.1 million visitors (up 30%), followed by Disney Parks & Travel with 4.8 million (up 36%), Hilton Hotels with 4.6 million (up 25%) and Expedia Hotels with 3.3 million.
Career and Education
As the new year began, Americans turned their focus to career services and education. Traffic to Job Search sites grew 27% in January to 24.2 million visitors. Indeed.com Job Search ranked as the category leader with 13.7 million visitors (up 33%), followed by CareerBuilder.com Job Search with 9.8 million (up 27%), Monster.com Job Search with 5 million (up 28%) and SimplyHired.com with 3.5 million (up 42%).
Training and Education sites also gained traction, with a sizeable increase of 23% to 14.7 million visitors. LiveCareer.com topped the list with 1.2 million visitors (up 58%), followed by AesopOnline.com with 940,000 (up 44%), FastWeb.com with 736,000 (up 30%) and Learn4Good.com with 599,000.
Tax Sites Spike as Season Begins
Visitation to Tax sites swelled in January as millions decided to get a jump on filing and hopefully getting a refund check from Uncle Sam. More than 30.7 million Americans visited a Tax site in January, up 359% to rank as the fastest growing category.
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in January with 187.4 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 179.2 million and Yahoo! Sites with 177.2 million. LinkedIn.com jumped 8 positions to rank #29 with 36.8 million visitors, while Everyday Health, which helped many fulfill their New Year’s resolutions to be healthier, leapt 10 positions to #38.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Google Ad Network led the January Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 92.9% of Americans online, followed by AOL Advertising (85%), Yahoo! Network Plus (84.8%), ShareThis (82.4%) and AT&T AdWorks (82.3%).
Cross Media: Motor Trend Calls YouTube Channel “Logical Next Step”
Source Interlink Media (SIM) has announced the launch of the MotorTrend YouTube Channel, with original automotive content available to online audiences. The Motor Trend Channel is part of YouTube’s rollout of around 100 new original content channels throughout the year.
“We are really treating this like a TV channel,” said Source Interlink Media Chief Content Officer and Motor Trend Channel Executive Producer Angus MacKenzie. “What separates it from linear or traditional TV – is how interactive Internet television is. These new channels are very social-media driven. We can immediately communicate with our viewers for instantaneous feedback on what they do and don’t like, and what they’d like to see more of.”
The Motor Trend Channel’s programs garner content from SIM’s portfolio of automotive media brands, including Motor Trend, Hot Rod, Motorcyclist and FourWheeler, among others. The programs cover first rides and drives and tests of the latest two- and four-wheeled machinery, as well as automotive lifestyle and documentary shows.
SIM identifies its in-market auto group audience as:
- 52% male
- Mean age 43
- Mean household income $71,000
- 72% college educated
- 73% employed full or part time
A full schedule of programming with eight separate shows is expected to be available by February 17. New videos from each show will be posted on a varying schedule, but there will be new content available every business day.
Motor Trend’s new programming will be produced by Michael Suggett and Julia Sanchez with MacKenzie serving as Executive Producer. Jim Gleason will assume the role of Creative Manager.
“This was the next logical step for SIM as it continues its transformation from a legacy magazine publishing business to a media-neutral content creation company,” said McKenzie. “The channels and content provided by Motor Trend and others under YouTube’s initiative represent a paradigm shift for how enthusiasts watch and consume video online.”
Among the eight original programs:
- “Ignition,” a weekly five-minute block feature first drives and first tests
- “Head 2 Head,” a comparison test series focusing on performance vehicles and motorcycles
- “Roadkill,” a feature-length program following HotRod’s David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan as they enjoy hot rods, street machines and “other highly strung performance vehicles”
- “Epic Drives,” a travelogue of road trips from around the world.
Upfront Digital: Sundance on YouTube | Jeep Crashes Funeral | H&M’s Facebook Furor
- Twitter will launch its enhanced brand ads on February 1, according to Business Insider. The Facebook-like functionality has been available to a few select brands, including Coca-Cola, but now will be generally available—at a pricetag of $25,000.
- ESPN and Jeep caught heat from Digiday, which named the network and automaker in its Bad Ad of the Week.”ESPN covered the memorial service of former Penn State head football Joe Paterno. A rich-media ad for Jeep had a Jeep Wrangler “crash through” the computer screen, as well as Paterno’s casket, which sat dead center.
- The Sundance Film Festival and YouTube have cut a deal to rent out Sundance titles, reports Streaming Media. Most Sundance titles will rent for $2.99 to $3.99 for a 48-hour rental--$1 or more cheaper than from Comcast. The Sundance Film Festival wrapped over the weekend.
- Consumer-goods maker Procter & Gamble will “throw caution to the digital wind,” reports AdExchanger. Chairman and CEO Bob McDonald in an earnings conference call said the company would eliminate 1,600 non-manufacturing jobs, and invest heavily in its digital marketing. "In the digital space, with things like Facebook and Google and others, we find that return on investment of the advertising when properly designed, when the big idea is there, can be much more efficient."
- Angry consumers used Facebook to storm the gates of clothing retailer H&M last week. They accused the company of lifting a designer’s ad idea, reports Adweek. The company has begun marketing goods with the simple tagline “You look nice today,” with a red heart shape. Atlanta artist Tori LaConsay created the tagline—complete with red heart—for a sign in her neighborhood, in 2008. She was unpaid for the sign. Supporters have since deluged H&M’s Facebook site with hate messages. H&M at first attempted to dismiss the similarities as a “coincidence,” but is now seeking a resolution with LaConsay.
TV Leads as Political News Source, Newspapers Lag
When asked where Americans get their political news, fully 44% of Americans responded “Television,” reports Poll Position. Only one segment—adults 30-44—responded “From the Internet.” In that 30-44 segment, 35% chose the Internet, 32% said television was their source for most political news, 18% said somewhere else (e.g., radio, magazines), and 14% picked newspapers.
The overall results are grim for newspapers, at only 16% among all surveyed. 2011 was a tough year for newspapers, with ad revenues a mere $24 billion in comparison to the record high of $49.4 billion in 2005.
Poll Position surveyed 1,113 registered voters nationwide, and claims a margin of error of ±3%.
A Decade of Super Bowl Ad Stats: Ad Spend Reaches $1.72 Billion
From 2002 through 2011, the Super Bowl game has generated $1.72 billion of network advertising sales from more than 125 marketers, reports Kantar Media.
Leading the pack is Anheuser-Busch InBev with $239.1 million in ads. The company has advertised in every Super Bowl for the past decade, as have two other top spenders, PepsiCo and Walt Disney Co. The top five advertisers of the past decade collectively spent $636.6 million, for 37% of total advertising revenue.
The average rate for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl increased 40 percent over past decade, for $3.1 million in 2010. NBC is asking $3.5 million for a 30-second unit in 2012, but the price will vary based on when the ad runs and if the advertiser opts for a larger package that includes spots in the pre-game and/or post-game coverage.
Kantar Media bemoans the rise in “clutter,” as the volume of commercial time has crept up. The Fox broadcast of the 2011 Super Bowl included 46 minutes of network ads, second only to 2010 with 104 minutes. That commercial time included paying sponsors, NFL messages, commercial messages from the NFL and Fox ads promoting its own shows.
About 20% of advertisers are first-timers, but in 2011 that dropped to 14%, with only four new marketers (Best Buy, Carmax, Groupon and Salesforce.com). Only three first timers have confirmed ad slots for 2012, being Century 21, Dannon and Relativity Media, a film studio.
Interestingly, the Super Bowl is attracting not just giants like PepsiCo and Disney, but smaller marketers as well. In 2011, nearly one-third of advertisers spent more than 10% of their full-media budgets. Careerbuilder spent $3.1 million, for 31% of its budget, and Salesforce.com spent 23%.