August 2008 Archives
RESEARCH BRIEF
From the Center for Media Research
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Ad Advantage to Local Online Media
According to a new report by the Online Publishers Association, local media sites hold a distinct advantage when it comes to delivering results for advertisers. The study finds that consumers trust advertising on local newspaper, magazine and television Websites, and are very likely to take action after viewing ads on these sites.
Newspapers rank first, with 46% of consumers taking action, including making a purchase, going to a store, conducting research, after viewing a local ad, as compared to 37% of consumers acting after viewing a local ad on a portal.
Percent of Consumers Taking Action after Viewing Local Ads:
- Local Newspaper Site: 46%
- Local Television Site: 44%
- Local Magazine Site: 42%
- User Review Site: 39%
- Portal: 37%
OPA president Pam Horan, says "... local media sites deliver concrete results for local advertisers... consumers are more likely to act on the ads they see on local TV, newspaper and magazine sites... "
Consumers on these sites are desirable advertising targets, concludes the report. Local magazine, newspaper and TV sites attract significant percentages (48%, 40% and 39%, respectively) of consumers who spent more than $500 online in the past twelve months. Thirty-seven percent of portal visitors and 34% of the overall online population spend this amount in a year.
Consumers express significant faith in advertising on local content sites. Newspaper sites lead the way, with 56% of visitors expressing strong trust of the advertising found on these sites, followed by local TV station sites and portals.
The OPA report finds that satisfaction with local content is high overall, and portals and media sites each have strengths. Portals lead in satisfaction among all local content visitors, followed by local newspaper and TV station sites.
Local media sites have a significant lead over portals:
- 79% of frequent visitors are satisfied with local TV sites
- 77% are satisfied with local newspaper sites
- 65% of frequent visitors to portals are satisfied
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Portals, Newspaper and TV Sites Lead in Satisfaction with Local Coverage (% Local Content Users) | |
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% Satisfied with Local Community Coverage |
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User review sites |
13% |
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Local magazine sites |
20% |
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City guides |
26% |
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Classifieds sites |
34% |
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Online yellow pages |
36% |
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Local TV station sites |
48% |
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Local newspaper sites |
48% |
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Portals |
58% |
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Source: Online Publishers Association, August 2008 | |
An important common trait of all local online content sites is an ability to attract high concentrations of influencers, says OPA:
- 10% of consumers are considered "Influentials" according to research done by GfK Roper
- 29% percent of local online content site users say they are the first person people come to for recommendations about local restaurants and bars
- 26% of local online users say they are the first person people come to for local shopping recommendations
- 23% for local entertainment recommendations
- 23% for local consumer electronics recommendations
Source: Online Publishers Association, August 2008
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Local Sites Relied on for Dining, Grocery Store, Financial Services and Department Store Information | |
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Local Sites Relied On |
% Local Content Users |
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Local attorneys/ legal services |
6% |
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Local furniture/ appliance dealers |
13% |
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Local home/ real estate services |
15% |
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Local auto dealers/ repairs/ services |
17% |
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Local consumer elec. Stores |
18% |
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Local doctors/ health facilities |
19% |
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Local department stores |
24% |
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Local banks/ financial services |
25% |
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Local grocery stores |
28% |
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Local dining/ restaurants/ bars |
38% |
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Source: Online Publishers Association, August 2008 | |
"Local content sites of all types play an important role in serving the local community. But this report shows that local media sites have a very real advantage when it comes to delivering results for advertisers," Horan said.
The report is available from OPA here.
For more information visit www.mediapost.com
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES
SEE ALSO Observations
For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES
SEE ALSO Observations
For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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RESEARCH BRIEF
From the Center for Media Research
Monday, August 25, 2008
Cable Outdoes Phone For New Broadband ConnectionsAccording to the Leichtman Research Group, the twenty largest cable and telephone providers in the US, representing about 94% of the market, acquired 887,000 net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter of 2008. These top broadband providers now account for 65.1 million subscribers, with cable companies having 35.3 million broadband subscribers, and telephone companies having over 29.7 million subscribers.
Other broadband findings for the quarter include:
- The top cable companies added over 670,000 subscribers, representing 76% of the net broadband additions for the quarter versus the top telephone companies
- Overall, broadband additions in 2Q 2008 amounted to 51% of those in 2Q 2007, with cable having 85% as many additions as a year ago, and Telcos 23%
- The top cable broadband providers have a 54% share of the overall market, with a 5.6 million subscriber advantage over the top telephone companies
Bruce Leichtman, President, Leichtman Research Group, says "Net broadband additions in the quarter were the fewest of any quarter in the seven years LRG has been tracking the industry... the decline in additions was exacerbated by Verizon and AT&T's emphasis on selling higher speed FiOS and U-verse bundled services... "
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Broadband Internet |
Subscribers at end of 2Q 2008 |
Net Adds in 2Q 2008 |
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Cable Companies | ||
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Comcast |
14,357,000 |
279,000 |
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Time Warner |
8,125,000 |
201,000 |
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Cox* |
3,885,000 |
40,000 |
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Charter |
2,787,300 |
19,300 |
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Cablevision |
2,395,000 |
52,000 |
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Mediacom |
702,000 |
14,000 |
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Insight |
424,600 |
12,400 |
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Cable ONE |
361,269 |
4,726 |
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RCN |
295,000 |
4,000 |
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Other major private cable companies** |
2,000,000 |
45,000 |
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Total Top Cable |
35,332,169 |
671,426 |
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Telephone Companies | ||
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AT&T |
14,693,000 |
46,000 |
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Verizon |
8,330,000 |
54,000 |
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Qwest |
2,732,000 |
31,000 |
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Embarq |
1,364,000 |
24,000 |
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Windstream |
934,300 |
23,300 |
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CenturyTel |
607,000 |
21,000 |
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Frontier |
559,300 |
16,280 |
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FairPoint |
294,412 |
(1,166) |
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Cincinnati Bell |
229,000 |
1,100 |
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Total Top Telephone Companies |
29,743,102 |
215,514 |
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Total Broadband |
65,075,184 |
886,940 |
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Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc. | ||
* LRG estimate
** Includes LRG estimates for Bright House Networks and Suddenlink
For more information about LRG, please visit here
For more information visit www.mediapost.com
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES AT&T MEdia Mall, AT&T Mobile TV, Sprint TV, T-Mobile t-zones, Verizon Wireless VCast Mobile TV
SEE ALSO Observations
Trends
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Editorial explorer. Advisory adventurist. Pop analyst. Anna Otieno is a Consumer trend expert on Media, Music, Entertainment and the Art of Giving, with a demographic focus in Gen We, Millennials, Cause Consumers, Muslim Americans and American Indians. A secret pop-culture blogger and (non-secret) Stanford Alum, she collaborates with Advisory and Editorial services on a wide range of deliverables and special projects, including Trends articles, POVs and multicultural observation articles. Her recent projects include the “CelebriMes” POV and the Cultural Zeitgeist podcast on Belief and the Globalized Consumer. Anna says... Watch these Trends: Cultural personalization, Millennial entrepreneurs Know these Buzzwords: Barack the Vote; IDK; “Fierce!” For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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By SAM ROBERTS
Published: August 07, 2008, NY Times
Foreshadowing the nation's changing makeup, one in four American counties have passed or are approaching the tipping point where black, Hispanic and Asian children constitute a majority of the under-20 population, according to analyses of census figures released Thursday.
Racial and ethnic minorities now account for 43 percent of Americans under 20.
Among people of all ages, minorities make up at least 40 percent of the population in more than one in six of the nation's 3,141 counties.
The latest population changes by race, ethnicity and age, as of July 1, 2007, were generally marginal compared with the year before.
But they confirm the breadth of the nation's diversity, and suggest that minorities - now about a third of the population - might constitute a majority of all Americans even sooner than projected by census demographers, in 2050.
In 2000, black, Hispanic and Asian children under age 20 were at or near a majority in only about one-fifth of the counties.
Over all, blacks, Hispanics and Asians accounted for 40 percent or more of the population in about one in seven counties.
Even with the growing diversity, all but one of the 82 counties where blacks make up a majority are in the South (except St. Louis), all but two of the 46 where Hispanics are in the majority are in the South or the West (except the Bronx and Seward, Kan., home to giant meatpacking plants).
four of the five counties with the largest proportion of Asians are in
Except for two counties in
From 2006 to 2007, according to the bureau's revised estimates, the counties that became majority-minority included Rockdale, near
An analysis by Kelvin Pollard and Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau found 489 counties where a majority among people younger than 20 are racial and ethnic minorities and another 274 where they account for 40 percent to 50 percent of people in that age group.
The latest figures confirm the sweep of
In 109 of the 302 majority-minority counties, no single minority made up more than half the total population.
In the
was experiencing a racial equilibrium while the suburbs were becoming
more diverse.
The number of Asians rose in every county in the
except those that make up
An analysis by William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings
Institution, found that since 2000 the top 10 gainers of non-Hispanic
whites were all counties in the South or West, except for
Will County, near
Since 2000, Mr. Frey said, only one in six counties recorded an increase
in the number of non-Hispanic white children under 15.
While half the counties recorded losses of non-Hispanic whites, Dr. Frey
found, almost five times as many counties are losing white children as
gaining them. A growing number of minority families with children are
clustering in suburban and Sun Belt counties.
At the other extreme, he said, "are counties in the nation's industrial
heartland, inner suburbs and
white child and young adult populations."
Meanwhile, nine times as many counties are gaining mature adults as
losing them.
People 65 or older made up 25 percent or more of the population in 24
counties, led by
Reservation, where they make up 32 percent. Most of the counties with
disproportionately high populations 65 and older are in
and
26 counties, led by
constitute nearly 13 percent.
SHEPHERD | WORKS/ Branded Content | Advance Culture with Creativity /A
Business Unit Of
For more information visit www.nytimes.com
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What's Happening
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RESOURCES
SEE ALSO Observations
Trends
For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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RESEARCH BRIEF
FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RSEARCH
Monday, August 18, 2008
Savvy Sales Says Target Teachers
According to a new MDR report detailing the attitudes and buying habits of teachers, more than half of them have traveled abroad in the past few years, one-fourth of them are always buying the latest high-tech gadgets to hit store shelves, and 73% of them seek out stores that carry their favorite brand names.
Almost 80% say that the Internet has influenced how they learn about products, with 49% revealing that they have used the Internet to research or obtain information within the past month.
The report: A Look at Teachers in the Consumer Market: Attitudes, Preferences, and Buying Behavior, finds that teachers stand out from the general population because they are more likely to be married, have children, and own their own homes:
- The mean household income for educators is $117,000, compared with the mean household income of $80,900 for the general pool of survey respondents
- 62% invest compared with 38% of the general population
- Educators have 403(b) accounts with no pre-selected providers so teachers are more proactive in their investment decisions compared with other
Teachers as brand-loyal consumers who are more likely to pay a premium for quality, says the report, while keeping an eye on good bargains. Of the teachers surveyed:
- 77% say they would pay more for a high-quality product
- 65% indicate that they shop for bargains or discounts compared with just 53% of the general public
- 75% of the teachers surveyed say that they do their homework before making a purchasing decision on expensive items
- 92% have and use credit cards once a purchase decision is made
Moira McArdle, Vice President of Marketing for MDR, concludes that "... educators are an extremely attractive consumer segment... they... buy more in most every consumer vertical, from apparel to travel to financial services... a hot segment for direct marketers of consumer goods and services."
The report, A Look at Teachers in the Consumer Market, is based on information collected from 1000 educators during a Simmons National Consumer Survey.
Read more about MDR here.
For more information visit www.mediapost.com
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES
SEE ALSO Observations
For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES La Michoacana Meat Market
SEE ALSO Observations
Trends
For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
SEE ALSO Observations
Trends
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Abelardo de la Peña delivers an inside perspective on trends and observations specific to Latino culture and community. Before joining Iconoculture, Abelardo served 20 years as a marketing and communications specialist for some of the nation’s leading Latino advocacy organizations, marketing firms and consumer publications. He is the founding editor of LatinoLA.com, a content, community and commerce website for For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES Noble Juice: 877-662-5372
SEE ALSO Observations
Consumer Outlooks For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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RESEARCH BRIEF
FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Institutional and Alternative Media Underpins Ad Growth Forecast
Following up last week's Mediapost review concerning projected out-of-home ad spending, with additional details about the Total Communications Forecast from Veronis Suhler Stevenson, total communications spending is projected to increase 5.4% to $923.91 billion in 2008, as strong gains in the institutional and alternative media sectors offset the downward pressure of declining traditional advertising spending.
These forecasted gains include important media trends:
- Broadcast TV will surpass newspapers as the largest ad medium in 2008, while total Internet ad spend will surpass broadcast TV in 2011
- Consumer media use declined slightly in 2007 as some platforms near saturation, while institutional media use increased due to mission-critical information demand
- Total communications spending is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2007- 2012 to $1.2 trillion, fueled by continued growth in institutional and alternative media
Institutional media spending is expected to increase 8.5% to $245.39 billion in 2008, according to the VSS Forecast. Total spending on communications will continue to outpace
Jim Rutherfurd, Executive Vice President and Managing Director at VSS, says "... While current economic conditions are contributing to the underperformance of traditional advertising and marketing segments, various institutional, consumer and alternative media segments are outperforming GDP due to... businesses demanding dynamic workflow solutions for competitive global markets, consumers taking ‘staycations' this summer, spending on entertainment media targeted at the youth market, and brand marketers shifting to alternative media to engage hard-to-reach demographics."
The study indicates that consumer spending on communications as a share of disposable income is expected to increase this year.
- Spending on videogames is projected to climb at a double-digit rate
- The movie industry experiences its strongest summer on record
- Home video sales and rentals increased during the first half of 2008 after declining in two of the past three years
- Total consumer spending on media is expected to increase 6.1% in 2008 to $218.37
Spending on alternative media will climb 21.0% to $81.67 billion in 2008, and account for 17.7% of total advertising and marketing spending, up from 6.9% in 2002. Traditional advertising and marketing will increase only 0.4% in 2008 to $378.48 billion, despite a 1.8% decline in traditional advertising, as newspapers, consumer magazines and broadcast radio all post declines for the year.
This will be the first economic slowdown in which online search, digital out-of-home media, word-of-mouth marketing, videogame advertising, and social network advertising will be seriously tested. As a result of these trends, VSS projects that broadcast TV will become the largest advertising medium by year-end 2008, the first time in
For the third consecutive year, overall time spent with media by consumers is expected to fall in 2008, declining 0.1% to 3,493 hours per person, due to media multitasking and several media platforms reaching saturation, including some that will become obsolete during the forecast period, including dial-up access, VHS, and audio cassettes. Time spent with media that have a digital component, however, is expected to climb. Pure-play internet will surpass recorded music as the third most used medium after television and radio.
Meanwhile, time spent by institutions on select media, such as professional information, business-to-business magazines, and outsourced corporate training, will continue to rise, climbing 4.2% in 2008 to 301 hours per employee, as technological advances allow businesses to access information 24/7. Time spent with media by consumers and businesses will rise 0.3% to 3,773 hours per person in 2012, driven by gains in consumer and institutional media usage of digital platforms.
VSS projects that six segments will continue to exhibit double-digit gains over the next five years, while only newspapers will exhibit a decline during the forecast period, falling at a 2.4% CAGR. Double-digit gainers are:
- Word-of-mouth marketing
- Pure-play internet & mobile services
- Branded entertainment
- Out-of-home media
- Outsourced custom publishing
- Professional & business information services
A synopsis of communications industry spending and growth divided by the four major industry sectors and 20 different media segments tracked in the VSS Forecast is included here:
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Communications Industry Sector Spending Projections | ||
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Sector |
2012 Spend ($B) |
2007-2012 CAGR (%) |
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Marketing Services |
$307.30 |
5.80% |
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Institutional End User |
341.6 |
8.6 |
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Advertising |
262.61 |
4.3 |
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Consumer End User |
272.41 |
5.8 |
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Total Communications |
1,183.37 |
6.2 |
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Nominal GDP |
- |
5.6 |
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Source: | ||
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Communications Industry Segment Spending Projections | |||
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Segment |
2002-2007 CAGR |
2012 Spend ($B) |
2007-2012 CAGR |
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Cable & Satellite TV |
10.4% |
$188.92 |
7.35 |
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Professional & Business Info Services |
11.3 |
206.49 |
10.0 |
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Direct Marketing |
6.0 |
236.2 |
5.6 |
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Entertainment Media |
2.6 |
110.35 |
5.2 |
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Newspaper Publishing |
0.3 |
55.3 |
-2.4 |
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Broadcast TV |
2.8 |
58.84 |
3.8 |
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B to B Promotions |
3.8 |
52.47 |
2.5 |
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Consumer Promotions |
3.2 |
53.87 |
3.3 |
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Pureplay Web and |
12.6 |
72.31 |
14.3 |
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Educational & Training Media Services |
6.8 |
47.42 |
6.8 |
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B to B Media |
4.8 |
32.95 |
5.9 |
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Consumer Magazine Publishing |
2.8 |
25.52 |
1.0 |
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Consumer Book Publishing |
3.8 |
28.1 |
3.5 |
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Branded Entertainment |
13.4 |
40.71 |
12.8 |
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Broadcast & Sat Radio |
2.3 |
23.94 |
1.9 |
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Yellow Page Directories |
1.4 |
16.57 |
0.7 |
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Out-of-Home Media |
10.3 |
12.89 |
10.3 |
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Outsourced Custom Publishing |
16.5 |
9.21 |
11.0 |
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Public Relations |
10.6 |
6.86 |
9.9 |
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Word of Mouth Marketing |
49.8 |
4.47 |
27.1 |
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Source: | |||
Please visit here to read more of the original report from VSS,
For more information visit www.mediapost.com
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What's Happening
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That 2005 Consumer Protection Act? It was badly misnamed
What's Happening
Remember how the bankruptcy law Congress passed in 2005 was supposed to "protect consumers"? It turns out the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 may have hurt consumers more than it helped, because credit card companies responded to the new law in unexpected ways.
- A nonpartisan study by a Harvard economist, "The Effect of 2005 Bankruptcy Reforms on Credit Card Industry Profits and Prices," finds that the law profited "credit card companies at the expense of consumers" (SSRN.com 7.8.08).
- Michael Simkovic found that bankruptcy became more expensive and difficult to file. But he also found that late payment and over-limit fees increased, grace periods shrank and interest rates climbed.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- In 2008, Congress is under serious pressure to change laws and regulations to actually protect consumers from certain practices in the financial services industry. But even if those laws and regs are passed, the cure may be worse than the disease: More regulations probably mean less credit in the near term.
- Credit card companies are taking big write-downs on defaulted accounts during the recession of 2008. But many consumers see this as a necessary correction for a long history of abusive or predatory practices.
for more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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Opportunity: Bolster consumers' cultural sea legs by building feelings of stability, balance, and connectedness into products and communications. |
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What's Happening
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RESOURCES
For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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What's Happening
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RESOURCES
SEE ALSO Observations
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What's Happening
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
RESOURCES
For more information visit www.iconoculture.com
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What's Happening
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