"This research demonstrates that social video significantly increases brand attention," claims London-based Unruly Media. Unruly offers a global platform for social video advertising, has three US offices, and delivered such video campaigns as Old Spice’s “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign and Coke’s “Happiness” series. Unruly commissioned research firm Decipher to study results across such consumer brands as Heineken, Coca-Cola and Energizer Batteries. The survey among 18-34 year olds investigated the impact of recommendation on brand metrics to determine social ad effectiveness.
Among the findings:
- Viewers are more likely to enjoy a video when it has been recommended than when encountered through browsing (14% higher enjoyment)
- Viewers are more likely to recall a brand name when the social video has been recommended than when encountered through browsing (7% higher recall)
- Viewers are more likely to engage with an ad’s messages when the social has been recommended than when encountered through browsing (10% higher brand association)
Who does the recommending? Certainly, peers in social media environments, but also authoritative bloggers and and news sources who covering advertiser content editorially: consider that all of that Super Bowl ad coverage by the news media (e.g., by CNN, which reported on Honda’s leaking its Ferris Beueller-themed ad).
Of course, what viewers do next after a recommendation is of key importance to advertisers. Decipher found that within three days of viewing social video—
- 49% purchased the advertised product
- 38% spoke to someone in person about the video
- 9% searched for the brand
- 4% searched for products of that type
If this sounds easy, recall that these results are based on videos that the viewers enjoyed, and which were recommended to the viewer. The source of brand awareness and purchasing influence is not on YouTube, rather, it rests where it always has: in an ad agency's creative department.
Upfront Digital: NBC’s Straight-to-App Launch | Apple Targets App Bots | Subway Moves Digital Ad Buy
- NBC News launch its new documentary series “Hidden Planet” not on TV, but on the “Rock Center with Brian Williams” iPad app, reports Broadcasting & Cable in an exclusive. This will be the first time NBC has premiered a series that way. Episodes of the monthly series will be exclusive to the iPad app for one week, before it becomes available on RockCenterNBC.com. The series takes the veteran foreign correspondent to such exotic destinations as Timbuktu and the Sahara Desert—places generally off the news radar.
- Mobile app rankings (including those for digital magazines and newspapers) will not be manipulated, pledges Apple. As paidContent describes, the company has acknowledged that third parties are offering download-bot services to inflate app rankings; and to place favorable reviews on apps. Apple declined comment to paidContent, but quickly issued a statement on its developer site that “Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership.”
- Subway has moved its domestic digital ad business (including search, mobile and display ads) to MediaCom, and away from Publicis, reports ClickZ. The sandwich chain is reportedly consolidating its U.S. business, and MediaCom has managed Subway’s offline ad business since 2000. Kantar Media clocks Subway’s 2011 digital spend at about $12.7 million, excluding mobile, but the chain announced it will up that spending considerably in 2012.
- Elsewhere in digital/agency news, Ad Age discovered that AOL is searching for an agency to refresh its image and spread the word “why people should care about AOL again.” Supposedly, the company finds consumers vague on its value proposition. AOL struggles against competitors Google and Yahoo, has also struggled to support its Patch.com community news outlet, but has recently acquired online properties Techcrunch and the Huffington Post. AOL posted Q4 2011 display ad revenues at $363.8 million, up 10% year-over-year.
Upfront Digital: Apple Shops for TV Parts | Too Much Ad Space | MS Anti-Google Ad
Upfront Digital:
• Apple has been “shopping around for TV parts,” reports AllThingsD, meaning an Apple-platform smart TV is inching toward reality. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to clients that Apple has been talking to TV component vendors. This following some January meetings in Asia, supposedly to scope out manufacturing facilities, which led Piper Jaffray to believe Apple is looking to manufacture large-scale LCD displays.
• Citing “inventory oversupply” in the mobile ad space, Digiday reports that during Q3 of 2011, only 18 percent of impressions were filled by the top 20 U.S. mobile ad networks, and 10 percent worldwide. This says Digiday makes it “increasingly difficult for publishers to generate revenues from their mobile audiences.”
• About.com (a New York Times company) with its evergreen content may not seem a serious ad outlet, but, it is serious enough for Charles Schwab and Procter & Gamble. Now the online outlet has launched Real Recipes, a free app for iPhone and iPod Touch, to deliver About.com’s “deep catalogue of culinary content” (more than 25,000 recipes and numerous menu-planning tools) to the digital space.
• Former “NBC Dateline” anchor will bypass television and anchor straight from the web, reports TV Newser. In a video message on the StonePhillipsReports.com website, Phillips declared that after 20 years in broadcast news, he will now report on stories important to himself. First out of the lineup—head injuries in youth football, in a story called “Hard Hits, Hard Numbers.” As yet, Phillips is not accepting advertising, just donations. Dateline NBC did not review Phillips’ contract in 2007, and he has not been on broadcast television since.
• In an attempt to promote its Bing search engine over Google, Microsoft has launched its “Putting People First” campaign in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today. As Social Times describes, Microsoft argues in the ad that Google sells out users to advertisers by using personal information to influence the type of advertising each customer sees. Microsoft products including Hotmail, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and Bing, are far safer and more private, the company claims.
Upfront TV: Clear Channel Buys Seacrest | Priceline’s Motive for Murder | X Factor Axings
- Clear Channel will today announce its acquisition of a minority stake in Ryan Seacrest Productions. As the New York Times reports, this cements an already tight bond, as Seacrest, is a host, producer and spokesman for Clear Channel. No word yet as to the sum of Clear Channel’s investment in Seacrest, but he is expected to produce scripted and unscripted TV shows and other content. . Ryan Seacrest Productions currently produces “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” for E! and is producing new reality shows for Bravo and CMT.
- Why did Priceline.com kill off William Shatner and its “Priceline Negotiator” after 14 years? Priceline.com says launched the ad because the company is moving toward fixed-price discounts, whereas Shatner and the Negotiator had become to heavily identified with negotiating a price, reports Yahoo Finance.
- Former New York governor and CNN anchor Eliot Spizer will host “Countdown” this week, covering for an ailing Keith Olbermann, reports TVNewser. Spitzer will co-host “Countdown” with Bill Press for tonight’s Florida primary coverage. This will be Spitzer’s first hosting job since he left CNN in July, 2011. TVNewser speculates that this is a test-drive for a more permanent gig. Interestingly, CurrentTV took out a full-page ad in yesterday’s New York Times promoting its political coverage, with pictures of hosts Cenk Uygur and Jennifer Granholm—sams Olbermann, with whom the network has had fractious relations.
- Simon Cowell has canned “The X Factor” judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul as well as host Steve Jones, reports New York Daily News. Cowell produces the performance competition show for The Fox Network, and is purportedly miffed over lower-than-expected ratings. No word yet as to replacements, though Mariah Carey is a likely candidate; Cowell supposedly wanted Carey as a judge in Season One, but declined as she was pregnant at the time.
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.
Upfront TV : CNN Patents Magic | Lowe’s Leaves “Muslims” | SAG Award Champions | “Office” To Return
- CNN wants to trademark its “Magic Wall,” the interactive touch screen that it introduced during the 2008 primaries. As TVNewser reports, the multi-touch display is now used by practically ever television news outlet and in sports broadcasting. ABC, ESPN and CNBC can keep their magic walls, they just can’t call them magic walls.
- Lowe’s has joined the list of advertisers jumping ship from TLC’s “All-American Muslim.” This after pressure from groups like the Florida Family Association which labeled the show "propaganda" that presents a "clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values." The show follows five Muslim families living in Dearborn, Michigan, and has become a “lightning rod,” as Lowe’s described it in a statement on Facebook. Despite the company’s “commitment to diversity and inclusion,” it called itself “sincerely sorry…we’ve managed to make some people very unhappy.”
- Rumors abound of a spinoff to “The Office,” with Dwight as the central character. But “The Office” is certain to be renewed rather than replaced. The TVByTheNumbers “Bubble Watch “ predicts that all of NBC’s comedies, even the lagging “Community,” will be renewed in 2012.
- HBO led the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night, taking five out of nine TV awards. “Boardwalk Empire” won for outstanding ensemble in a drama series, and lead actor Steve Buscemi for outstanding male actor in a drama series. Broadcast TV took only two awards—“Modern Family” (ABC) for outstanding ensemble in a comedy series, and Alec Baldwin (again) for outstanding male actor in a comedy series.
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%.
“Singletons” Ignored by Advertisers, But Spend $1.9 Trillion a Year
Advertisers are just waking up to unmarried adult “singletons,” according to a Fortune story. Despite the perception of miserable loners sitting at home, they socialize up to five nights a week, and spend more than $10,000 per person per year more than married counterparts with children.
The Fortune story was adapted from the book Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, by New York University sociology professor Eric Klinenberg. Among Klinenberg’s findings:
- 28% of U.S. households now consist of one person, 40% of city households
- Average per capita annual expenditure was $34,471 in 2010, versus $23,179 per person in high-income households with children
- The majority of singletons is female, at 18 million versus 14 million men
- 18-34 year olds are the smallest but fastest growing demographic
Singletons spend their discretionary income largely on socializing several nights a week at bars and restaurants, in special-interest clubs and joining gyms. This, speculated CEO David Eastman of advertising giant JWT, is why alcohol advertisers like Smirnoff now favor images of friends at communal tables, versus couples. Elsewhere, Nestlé reported that 90% of its Lean Cuisine meals are eaten alone, and failed when it attempted to market double-serving meals.
Still, the singleton demographic is largely untapped. Only a handful of big-ticket advertisers, including Norwegian Cruise Lines, Coldwell Banker, Lowe’s, Chevrolet and DeBeers have targeted singles. DeBeers now offers a “right-hand ring,” a diamond designed for single women, and Norwegian Cruise Lines offers “studio staterooms” for single travelers.
Gingrich Threatens TV Over Pac Ads, Stations Stand Firm
The national counsel for the Newt Gingrich GOP presidential campaign has fired off cease-and-desist letters to Florida and South Carolina TV stations. The stations are running an ad which attacks Gingrich on ethics.
“We we do hereby DEMAND that your station immediately REFUSE, and if started, CEASE airing any such advertisements,” read the letter from the campaign national counsel Stefan Passantino. The ad in question is from the political action committee (PAC) Restore Our Future, which supports Mitt Romney. The ad calls the $300,000 Gingrich paid after a House ethics investigation a “fine,” while Gingrich argues that it was compensation to the Ethics Committee for expenses. The PAC has pushed back, calling the letter a "desperate attempt to conceal Gingrich's ethics baggage” before the Florida primary.
In a Wednesday e-mail to NBC News, Passantino claimed to have put the PAC on notice that the “free ride they have enjoyed to misstate Newt's record [is] over. Discussing true facts concerning one's record are fine, using Super PAC funds to mislead voters will no longer be tolerated.” No sign yet that any stations are pulling the ads.
Radio/TV news source RBR-TVBR opined that “It is not the job of broadcasters to police political content,” and that broadcasters general err on the side of running such ads.
WSJ Reports Top Ad Trends 2012: Think Mobile, Soft Core, Hard Edge and Humor
The Wall Street Journal polled ad industry luminaries, and reports that digital media are breathing life into the supposedly declining TV commercial, print ad and print catalog formats. Google for example has unveiled an app to aggregate print catalogs, including those for LL Bean and Pottery Barn. iPads provide a new platform for print ads, and YouTube enables commercials to go viral. (As of this writing, that Volkswagen commercial with a boy in a Darth Vader mask has had 48 million views.) WSJ expects “couch potato gatherings” to gain steam, with viewers using virtual communities to meet and comment during broadcasts. “TV networks will pump it up because it encourages live watching and thus commercial watching,” CEO Daniel Khabie of Digitaria (a digital marketing firm) told WSJ.
Khabie and other interviewees predicted “Facebook fatigue,” spurred largely by advertising, alas. But large brands will tie their identities to social marketing, chiefly through a Facebook presence, if not through Facebook ads. Mobile devices will be a powerful advertising outlet, as “the link between mobile and commercial thickens” in 2012, speculates the CEO of Digitas North America. Finally, interviewers expect advertising to become more targeted, more sexual and foul mouthed, and light hearted.