September 2008 Archives

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

EnviroFriendly Cars Important to Buyers

Last week's Research Brief about EcoGreen not being the consumers' hot button notwithstanding, a new Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research study finds that sixty-one percent of new-vehicle shoppers say it is important to purchase a vehicle from a brand that is environmentally friendly. Consumers cite Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet as first, second and third for having the most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. On average, consumers say they are willing to spend $2,600 more for an environmentally friendly vehicle, says the study.

Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com, says "... The latest EcoWatch results show that brands with robust alternative-fuel-technology models, be it ... hybrids... natural gas and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, or... flex-fuel and the much-talked-about electrically driven technologies... are garnering consumer perception as being the most eco-friendly."

Sixty percent of consumers are concerned about the environment, with the top issues being water pollution, air pollution, global warming and energy shortages. When asked what they are doing to change their lifestyles in response to environmental issues,

• 58 percent say they are considering a more fuel-efficient vehicle
• 57 percent say they have changed their driving habits
• 56 percent say they are making their home more energy efficient

New-car shoppers also are changing their spending habits in response to elevated gas prices, with nearly 50 percent saying they are shopping less for clothes, going out to eat less and spending less money on entertainment.

In addition, half of consumers say that gas prices have made them change their mind about the type of vehicle they are considering, or have made them think strongly about vehicles they were not previously considering:

• 58% of shoppers who have already changed the type of vehicle they are planning to purchase say they would not revert to their previous consideration even if gas prices dropped $1.00/gallon

Consumers are changing the specifications on the vehicles they are considering in order to save money and protect the environment. They are willing to compromise on engine size, vehicle size, vehicle category and performance, while they are less likely to compromise on available features and options, vehicle capacity or in-vehicle storage.

The alternative-fuel types in which consumers are most interested are hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell and natural gas vehicles, while consumers are more skeptical about biofuel, diesel and battery-electric vehicles.

The Eco Watch study is an online study of in-market new-vehicle shoppers' opinions about the effect of fuel prices, alternative-fuel-related technologies, environmental issues, new-vehicle brand and model consideration, and more.

For more information, please visit here.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Monday, September 29, 2008

Debate Comparisons, Wireless Households, and Employment Advertisers: Data Potpourri

With the U.S. financial crisis hanging in the balance, the first debate between Barack Obama and John McCain has taken on unusual importance.  But, how did this first presidential duel of the 2008 election compare with the most-watched debates of the last half-century? Compare the 57 million who watched Friday night with TV audiences since 1976, as collected by Nielsen Media Research.

Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan's 1980 debate claimed the largest television audience since 1976, the first year that Nielsen collected TV viewership data for presidential debates. George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot's 1992 debate, and Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter's 1976 debate, round out the top three. George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis's 1988 debates and Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale's 1984 debates also made the top 10.

For the complete release, please visit Nielsen here.

And, a new study from The Nielsen Company says that more than 20 million U.S. telephone households (17 percent) are wireless substitutors-homes without landlines that rely solely on a mobile phone for their home telecommunications.

As the U.S. economy tightens and consumers look for ways to cut household spending, many are eyeing that landline phone bill, which averages $40 per month per landline household.  In addition to the universe of U.S. wireless substitutors, Nielsen's study reports that:

• U.S. cord cutters tend to have lower income-levels-59 percent have household incomes of $40,000 or less
• Smaller households, with just one or two residents, are more likely to cut the cord than larger households
• Moving or changing jobs are the biggest life events associated with cord cutting: 31 percent of cord cutters moved prior to cord cutting and 22 percent changed jobs
• Wireless substitutors tend to use their mobile phones more than their landline peers, 45 percent more per phone, but still save an average $33 per month in a household of one subscriber, less $6.69 for each additional wireless resident, when they cut the cord

Alison LeBreton, vice president of client services for Nielsen Mobile, said "As wireless network quality improves and unlimited calling becomes increasingly pervasive, we expect the trend toward wireless substitution to continue... "

 But wireless substitution doesn't work for everyone, says the report.  Ten percent of landline phone customers have experimented with wireless-only in their household, but then returned to landline service.  Nielsen reports that needing a landline for another service (security system, satellite TV, pay-per-view, fax machine, etc.) is the primary reason people mend the cord.

For the full paper, "Call My Cell: Wireless Substitution in the United States," please go here.

Finally, the top Online sites handling the Employment Segment in the Web Media Industry in mid-September:                                                                                   

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Health A Hot Topic On The Internet

comScore, Inc. recently released results of a study showing that the health information site category has grown 21 percent during the past year, more than four times the growth rate of the total U.S. Internet population. In June, more than 1.5 billion display ad views were seen by nearly 54 million people via sites in the health information category.

WebMD Health topped the list of display ad publishers, delivering 290 million display ad views and reaching nearly 15 million people at an average frequency of 19.3 times per visitor during the month.

Three other health networks boosted the overall growth of the category, each attracting more than ten million visitors:

• Everyday Health with 14.7 million (up 63%)
• Revolution Health Network with 11.3 million visitors (up 182%)
• AOL Health with 11.1 million (up 88%)

John Mangano, senior director, comScore Pharmaceutical Marketing Solutions, said. "... sites have become vibrant online communities... sharing experiences and advice, rather than simply being one-way information resources... Improved site functionality, increased content personalization, and consumer acceptance of the Internet... for health information... breathe new life into the health information category,"

While Everyday Health and Revolution Health Network both achieved significant organic growth on their core Web sites, their recent partnerships with several smaller health sites, as well as some strategic acquisitions, have also contributed to their respective gains.

* July 2007 AOL figures reported in the above chart are for AOL Body while the July 2008 figures are for AOL Health

 Though the number of unique visitors exposed to advertising at both Revolution Health Network and AOL Health were significantly lower than for WebMD Health, they were reached with a higher frequency. Also noteworthy is that despite Weight Watchers International delivering ads to just 2 million unique visitors, each ad-exposed visitor saw an average of 31 display ads during the month, the highest frequency among the top ten publisher sites in the category.

For more information on comScore Pharmaceutical solutions and this Study, please visit here

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Change Swing Voters' Minds Online

According to a recent study "2008 Search Engines and Politics: A Study of Attitudes and Influence," by Didit and summarized by Marketing Charts, 7% of online voters say they are likely to change their vote before the election, and the types of sites they select for political information after internet searches determine the likelihood of an opinion change.

The survey found that online sources are among the top three media choices for election information for 80% of online voters.

Among the online voters, 44% use search engines to find election-related information, and more than a quarter also say they use sponsored links that appear in search-engine results pages.

Didit found that a measurable correlation exists between links that respondents selected after entering a search and the probability of a change of opinion about a candidate.

When choosing which site to select from a search-engine-results page:

• 61% of respondents say they choose a site because it is familiar.
• 49% choose a site that seems impartial.
• 53% select a site with breaking news.
• 27% select a source that seems to have inside information.
• 20% select a link because it seems to support the candidate of their choice.
• 8% choose a site because it seems to oppose the candidate of their choice.
• 6% choose a site because it seems to support the other candidate.
• 6% choose a site because it seems to oppose the other candidate.

Didit's analysis of those selections

• Those selecting familiar sites are already settled in their ways and are 10% less likely to change their opinions
• Selecting impartial sites increases the likelihood of opinion changes by approximately 11%, because such sites are more likely to be frequented by independents rather than partisans (64% of Independents said they select impartial sites, while only 47% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans say so)
• Selecting breaking news sites increases the likelihood of an opinion change by 17%, and selecting stories with apparent inside information increases the likelihood of an opinion change by 3%
• The people most likely to change their opinions are those who select links that favor the opposition. These voters showed a 40% increase in the likelihood of an opinion change. The second most influential links were those opposing the candidate of choice. Selecting a link that denigrates the favored candidate increases the likelihood of a change by 31%
• The least likely to change their opinions are those who select sites that oppose the other candidate, followed closely by those who select sites that support their candidate of choice or familiar sites

According to Didit's analysis, these results show that bidding on opposition-related keywords can have a slight effect, and that praising oneself could be more persuasive than denigrating the opposition. They also show that searchers who prefer to visit only sites that favor the candidate of their choice are not likely to change their opinions, and those who visit sites that oppose the other candidate are doing so for inoculation purposes and to reinforce beliefs they already hold.

While online, respondents indicated that they obtain information by visiting

• Online news sites (66%)
• Candidates' websites (30%)
• Party websites (15%)
• Blogs (14%)

Other, less-used sources of information include polling sites such as realclearpolitics.com, gallup.com, and rasmussen.com, YouTube , social networks, email from the campaigns and friends, and the Yahoo portal.

When asked to rate how often they use various engines to look for political information using a scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 10 (very often), they indicated Google as the engine used most often (6.27), followed by Yahoo (4.12) and MSN (2.53). Other engines are very rarely used.

Although they had to click on a sponsored link to arrive at the survey page, 44% of respondents answered no when asked whether they have ever clicked on a sponsored link, 27% said yes, 16% said maybe, and 13% did not know what a sponsored link was.

Very few respondents said they are likely to change their opinion between now and November, but if they do it is very likely that they would change it based on online information.

Kevin Lee, CEO and cofounder of Didit, concludes that "With no restrictions on how much an individual or political action committee can spend buying search terms, and no record of who is buying the ads, the candidate with the most sound search strategy could end up swaying the remaining undecided voters... "

For additional information on Didit and the study, please visit here.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

By Rupal Parekh

Published: September 23, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Many people aren't satisfied with Madison Avenue's progress on the diversity front, but Patricia Gatling, head of the New York City Human Rights Commission, today said she is "cautiously optimistic" that ad agencies will ramp up the numbers of minority executives in their ranks.

Ms. Gatling was speaking at a public hearing at City Hall called by New York City Councilman and Civil Rights Committee Chairman Larry B. Seabrook. The goal of the hearing was to discuss the progress (and lack thereof, in some cases) of the agencies that two years ago signed a pact to boost minority hiring and set individual goals.

As part of her testimony, Ms. Gatling reiterated statistics released this spring that found that five of the 16 ad agencies that signed on have not met all their minority-hiring goals in the first year of their diversity pact with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. However, the remaining agencies either met or exceeded all their 2007 goals.

BBDO, DDB behind
Of the shops that signed a memorandum of understanding with the commission in 2006 vowing to boost diversity, five did not meet their goals. Four of them were from the country's biggest holding company, Omnicom Group: BBDO, DDB, Merkley & Partners and PHD. The fifth was Publicis Groupe's Kaplan Thaler Group.

While it eventually caved and signed the pact with its competitors, Omnicom went its own way at first. It pledged more than $2 million for diversity initiatives, including the establishment of an advertising, media and marketing curriculum at the historically black Medgar Evers College.

Weldon H. Latham, a diversity counsel to Omnicom who testified at today's hearing, said the holding company's CEO, John Wren, has firmly communicated to those shops that they must come into compliance by the end of 2008. "We gotta make sure that those numbers get up," Mr. Seabrook told Mr. Latham, recommending that Omnicom appoint an executive solely to monitor the agencies' progress.

Those that failed to meet their self-created diversity goals have hired consultants to help them improve their numbers, Ms. Gatling said as part of her testimony.

Hiring up 25%
Meanwhile, the other agencies that signed the agreement have all met or exceeded their goals, said Ms. Gatling. They are: Havas' Arnold and Euro RSCG; WPP Group's Grey Direct and Grey Interactive, Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather; and Interpublic Group of Cos.' Avrett Free Ginsberg, Gotham and DraftFCB (counted as two agencies because it was created out of the merger of Draft and FCB Worldwide). The average goal was 18% for minority hiring and the average result was 25%, Ms. Gatling said.

In certain cases, the agencies have raised their minority-hiring goals for 2008. For example, Ogilvy this year increased its goals 2%, and is aiming for 18% of its senior management and 35% of all staff to be of color.

The hearing garnered a far better turnout compared with those called two years ago, though agency and holding company chiefs were still absent. During Advertising Week 2006, Mr. Seabrook had called hearings decrying minority-owned media outlets' lack of advertising, and nobody turned up. The agencies, Mr. Seabrook said at the time, "ran like chickens with their asses plucked clean."

Reviving that metaphor today, Mr. Seabook said, "I'm putting some feathers back on you now," as a means of commending the majority of the agencies for their progress.

In addition to an attorney for Omnicom, Interpublic Exec VP-Strategy Philippe Krakowsky and representatives for WPP also testified today about the status of their companies' diversity initiatives, as did executives from Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi.

Saatchi was also one of two ad agencies that turned up for a public meeting called by the Human Rights Commission about the issue in July.

Representatives for Havas or Havas agencies did not testify.

Nancy Hill speaks
Also submitting testimony was Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, who Mr. Seabrook commended on her presence, noting that her predecessor, O. Burtch Drake, had not shown up for hearings in the past.

There was strangely no talk of a potential threat of a class action lawsuit against the industry, but Mr. Seabrook promised to stay on top of the issue. "The commission is going to stay on your case and I'm going to stay on the commission's case until we get it done and get it right," Mr. Seabrook said at the conclusion of the hearing.

For more information visit www.adage.com

By Andrew Hampp

Published: September 22, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Race isn't the only diversity issue causing a stir in the ad industry. A letter being distributed to agency heads this week is calling out Madison Avenue for its stereotypical portrayal of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The letter was drafted by Michael Wilke, executive director of Commercial Closet Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 to educate the ad industry on the preferred ways to incorporate or refer to the LGBT community in advertising. The letter's signers range from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to Nancy Hill, CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

In the letter, the participants ask the ad industry to "re-examine any lingering conventional wisdom that LGBT stereotypes, homophobia and transphobia are considered successful approaches to selling products by actually testing it with general audiences."

'Critical mass'
In an interview, Mr. Wilke said the call to action wasn't prompted by any particular incident or LGBT-insensitive campaign but rather a "critical mass of things that have been followed by the media that are showing a greater awareness and the potential for change. I guess you could say I was looking to create momentum on those things."

Mr. Wilke cited recent ads from Nike and Snickers that were considered homophobic as part of that critical mass, adding, however, that the marketers' responses to those spots showed signs of limited progress. "More often than in the past, advertisers are taking [insensitive ads] down quickly when they realize they're not being well-received -- and not usually with an actual apology, just acknowledging things are not going well."

Occasionally, corporations will make good on advertising that's seen as homophobic by creating gay-inclusive ads, such as the "Lipstick" spot T-Mobile aired in 2005 as a response to its 2003 "Basketball" commercial, which was viewed as saying insufficient masculinity was socially unacceptable. But such corporate turnarounds are still rare, Mr. Wilke said.

Agency efforts
Some agencies also are starting to get more organized in their LGBT efforts. Three years ago, Havas' Arnold Worldwide established AMEN, the Arnold Multlicultural Employee Network, to create more awareness around diversity. Earlier this summer, the agency added ARC, the Arnold Rainbow Coalition, to "see some similarities between both of our fights," said Tiffany R. Warren, AMEN's director, referring to race and gender. "Generally when diversity is talked about, it really begins and ends with ethnicity. ... Hopefully this will be a sounding call to the industry to look at this issue seriously." Ms. Warren is also Arnold Worldwide VP-director of multicultural programs and community outreach and a contributor to Ad Age's Big Tent blog.

Katie Kelly, an associate broadcast producer for Arnold and the New York chair of ARC, said, "Brands are already asking: 'How can we start incorporating LGBT issues into our campaigns?'"

Mr. Wilke said he hopes the letter will create awareness of Commercial Closet as well as its signatories' assistance in bringing sensitivities to light. "We want to increase attention to both positive as well as problematic representations. The more attention given to them, the quicker responses we'll see by those companies."

The letter's signatories include New York Sen. Thomas Duane; New York State Assembly members Deborah Glick; Daniel O'Donnell and Micah Kellner; New York City Council member Rosie Mendez; Michael McLaren, U.S. president of McCann Erickson; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; New York City Comptroller William Thompson; and Tony Wright, CEO of Lowe Worldwide.

For more information visit www.adage.com

By Jack Neff

Published: September 22, 2008

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- The good news for marketers: The 500-point drop in the Dow last week didn't deal any serious new blows to consumer confidence. The bad news for marketers: Consumer confidence was already shot, and the market's sickening roller-coaster ride didn't help.

In a way, last week reflected Wall Street catching up to what Main Street already knew: The fundamentals of the U.S. economy are shaky at best. What this means for marketers is increased caution in consumer spending, particularly among near-retirement baby boomers; fewer high-ticket purchases of discretionary items such as cars and vacations; and even some bargain hunting in the grocery aisle.

At 9.2%, the current mortgage-default rate means that nearly one in 10 Americans is at serious risk of losing his or her home. Sales of new homes and automobiles are scuttling near 17-year lows. Credit-card delinquencies are rising. The unemployment rate rose above 6% last month. And Hurricane Ike ended a temporary reprieve in gas prices.

Not surprisingly, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index stood at 56.9 in August. While that was up modestly from the two prior months, it was just slightly more than half what it was a year earlier, when the housing crisis already had begun and high gas prices were already eating into consumer budgets.

The index, which is based on tracking surveys of 5,000 consumers each month on a variety of issues ranging from their purchase plans to their assessment of how hard it is to find jobs, in recent months has been hovering around its lowest levels since 1992.

Unfortunate milestones
That was even before last week's market turmoil, marked by the biggest bankruptcy of all time in Lehman Bros., followed by the biggest government bailout of all time in American International Group, followed two days later by an even bigger government bailout of the entire teetering financial system, estimated by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Keep in mind that even before last week's financial-market meltdown, the CCI was 33% lower than in October 2001, a month after Sept. 11. That was actually toward the tail end of the only recession many people in the advertising industry can remember.

So how much worse can it get following the market turmoil?

Surprisingly, maybe not much, and if it does, the impact probably won't last long, said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Research Center. Some of the biggest declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average have had very little impact on consumer confidence, she said, "and if you do get sort of a shock impact, it's short-lived."

The biggest one-day stock-market decline since the Great Depression, the 22.6% Black Monday plunge in October 1987, did send the CCI down 12% the following month, but it had regained all that ground three months later. A similar 12% confidence plunge the month after Sept. 11 was entirely erased three months later as well.

Elastic confidence
The long decline in the stock market in 2002 in the wake of the Enron bankruptcy, starting in June 2002, wasn't erased until two years later, but it also coincided with an extended decline in the stock market. News of the Enron bankruptcy itself in late 2001 actually registered no blip on the CCI.

"Unless there's a prolonged economic impact leading to job losses, you don't get an impact [in CCI from financial-market events]," Ms. Franco said. "We didn't see any significant impact from Bear Stearns because the index was already on a very sharp downward trend."

For one of the biggest advertising sectors, now arguably the most troubled, it may be difficult for the financial markets to make things any worse.

General Motors Corp.'s Mark LaNeve, VP-sales, service and marketing in North America, said the automaker already had been affected by the credit crunch because banks and other lenders already have trimmed their purchases of subprime paper.

"I would say [the credit crunch] probably affected our business already to the tune of 10,000 to 12,000 units a month," Mr. LaNeve said. "I don't see the more recent developments exacerbating that problem. If anything I think we are getting to the point where you are going to start to see lots of actions to free up liquidity." Of course, GM, which lost $15 billion in its last quarter, has already said it is going to trim advertising spending.

Spreading pain
Consumer confidence was already near its lowest point since the index was introduced in 1955 before last week's Wall Street turmoil, said John Casesa, managing partner, Casesa Shapiro, and Merrill Lynch's former auto analyst.

The climate now "feels more like the '30s," during the Great Depression, he said. "The circle of pain is spreading rather quickly," and unless consumer confidence starts a remarkable turnaround soon, the slowdown in U.S. new-vehicle sales this year likely will worsen in 2009, he said.

Marketers of other high-ticket items, such as vacations, were also already struggling to climb out of a hole, and trouble in financial markets won't make that any easier.

"We have taken steps over time, and it's a fairly significant amount of time, to make [Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.] more accessible and more affordable," said Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger on a July 30 conference call, explaining why Wall Street's woes hadn't been reflected much at the Magic Kingdom. He added: "74% of our rooms in Orlando are either value-priced or moderately priced. And that makes that experience much more accessible to more people, even in these more challenging times."

Even so, scheduled flights to Orlando are expected to drop 15% in the fourth quarter, according to Travelocity. Bookings to Hawaii also are off 15% compared with last year, and occupancy rates in Hawaii are at a 10-year low, with one in four hotel rooms empty island-wide.

Retirement anxiety
While financial turmoil may not make things worse for everyone, falling securities and real-estate values appear to already have had an impact on one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population: retirees and near-retirees. Last month's CCI revealed a startling pattern of much more pessimism among older respondents nearing retirement.

The index last month came in at only 49.3 for heads of household 55 and older, compared with 74 for heads of household under 35. Only a year earlier, there was virtually no difference between those groups, with the index at 102.6 for those over 55 vs. 104.4 for those under 35.

Brent Green, principal in the direct-marketing consultancy BG Associates and a specialist in marketing to boomers, sees three reasons for the disconnect: Older boomers are cautiously eyeing their 401(k)s. They've lived through the relatively steep downturns of the 1970s and 1980s. And they heard from their parents about the Great Depression.

"We're going to see the [market turmoil] affect the psychology of purchasing, especially discretionary purchases," he said, particularly for boomers. "Whether that becomes an extraordinary problem in the market depends on how businesses handle it."

After outgoing Global Marketing Officer Jim Stengel talked for nearly a year about Procter & Gamble Co. incorporating more "value-oriented" messages in its marketing, the company increasingly is starting to do so, for instance by fashioning premium-priced Tide Total Care as a way to save money by lengthening the life of clothing.

Living without
But it's clear some categories are more immune to any downturn than others. Household and personal-care products, while slower, haven't slowed nearly as much as more-discretionary or big-ticket items such as cars or new homes.

Even within the grocery store, some big differences emerge. A Unilever study on "Winning Shoppers in Turbulent Times" recently found that relatively few (around 25%) said they would stop or decrease buying pet food as the economy worsens, but far more (more than 50%) would stop buying cookies, or only buy them on sale.

Home electronics, however, haven't been seen among the discretionary items -- yet. Best Buy reported sales up 12% last quarter, and Wal-Mart executives also have recently pointed to electronics sales remaining strong.

But in other areas, Mr. Green expects to see more marketers shift gears to fashion their offerings as solutions to hard times -- such as hotels offering coupons for free gasoline or marketers of recreational vehicles fashioning them as residential alternatives, not vacation alternatives. The gas may be expensive, he said, "but besides that you could live for $100 a month."

Call it "Grapes of Wrath," the 21st-century edition.

~ ~ ~
Contributing: Jean Halliday, Claude Brodesser-Akner, Natalie Zmuda

For more information visit www.adage.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Friday, September 19, 2008

20% of US Households Account for 50% of Income

The 2008 Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey, measuring male and female heads of household living in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., who have household incomes of $100,000 or more, represents an estimated 19% of all American adults. The 2008 survey results are projected to an estimated 42 million affluent heads of house living in an estimated 23.3 million households.

The U.S. government's estimate of total household income as of the beginning of 2008 is approximately $8 trillion. The Survey estimate of total affluent ($100,000+) household income is approximately $4.6 trillion, an estimated 20% percent of all U. S. households, accounting for more than one half of all U. S. household income. 

It is clear that the affluent market segments that Ipsos Mendelsohn surveys annually contain extraordinarily valuable marketing targets. Affluent Survey subscribers target their markets in many different ways. These include, but are not limited to, the following approaches:

Another way of segmenting the affluent marketplace is to focus on an estimated 2,672,000 households that have have liquid assets (financial accounts including CD's, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.) of $1 million or more and an estimated 2,525,000 households have incomes of $250,000 or more. Or, 1,029,000 households that have household incomes of $250,000 or more and liquid assets of $1 million or more.

The Affluent Survey estimates that within the affluent marketplace there are 4,168,000 households in total that could be reached by using one of these specific targeting approaches.

Examples of the findings are included here, though the PDF file of complete results and additional charts and graphs is linked for your convenience.

When compared with the balance of the population, affluent heads of house are known to be heavy readers of magazines/publications. Internet usage tends to increase with affluence as well. These patterns hold across the affluent segments.

Averages of publications read are limited to those measured in the Affluent Survey

Cable Network and Broadcast Television Audiences:

• Proportion of affluent heads of house who view cable television... 95%
• Proportion of affluent households that own a satellite dish...29%
• Average number of cable TV networks viewed among past-7-day viewers... 16.1

Although virtually all affluent households own and use computers and cell/mobile devices, only 40 percent currently use their cell/mobile devices for Internet access. However, Internet access via cell/mobile devices clearly rises with increased affluence.

The affluent connect frequently to the Internet both on their computers and on their cell/mobile devices. But, not surprisingly, their average number of activities and purchases are more numerous and varied on their computers. Affluent heads of house use a variety of sites to search for information:

For more detail, discussion and charts and graphs, please view the The 2008 Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey in PDF format here.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

MediaPost’s emailINSIDER

THE INSIDE LINE ON EMAIL MARKETING

Teens, College Students And Young Adults: Where Does Email Fit?

by Morgan Stewart , Wednesday, September 17, 2008

AS AN EMAIL INSIDER, YOU already know that email is a highly effective direct marketing channel. Even so, it can be hard to articulate why this is the case when confronted with constant questions about new channels such as text messaging or social network sites. This is especially the case when your target demographic is young and on the move. "Our consumers are all young, why in the world would we want to invest in email?" If you have ever faced this question, here is some ammunition for you.

First off, all those young people are not the same. In a collaborative project with the Center for Media Design at Ball State University, we identified several groups of consumers with distinct media consumption and marketing preferences. Of these, some of the most profound and interesting differences were between groups that are only a few years apart in age, but represent distinct life stages. Specifically the differences between the following groups identified in our research stand out.

•Teens: 15-17 years old, still in high school;

•College students: 18-24 year olds still in school;

•Wired: young males, post-college between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, without kids. They are employed full-time or self-employed, have a good income -- an annual household income of at least $35K; and

•Young homemakers: females, between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, who consider "homemaker" to be their primary occupation.

While these groups are broad and do not represent all consumers below 34 years old, the distinct differences between these groups may surprise you. Here goes:

Teens are 25% less likely than other groups we identified to have made a purchase online. It makes sense since they are less likely to have disposable income available. They are, as we hear often, less likely (than average) to be influenced by email and more likely (than average) to be influenced by text messaging to make a purchase. A deeper look at the numbers shows that these "facts" may be a little misleading. 42% of teens say they have made a purchase influenced by an email marketing message. Compared to 68% for all other groups, they are 38% less likely to be influenced by email than other groups. Alternatively, they are 2.5 times more likely than others to be influenced by a text message to make a purchase. Plus, they are fairly receptive to text marketing as reflected in relatively high opinions of text-based promotions, polls, and sweepstakes. Sounds good, huh? Not really; only 13% of teens have make a purchase influenced by text marketing. In terms of driving conversions, email outperforms the influence of text messaging, social networks, and IM combined. In fact, the only channel that teens say has more influence on purchasing than email... is direct mail.

College students are buying online, but they don't credit direct marketing with having any influence on that activity. In fact, 27% claim direct marketing has never influenced a purchase decision. As such, no channel looks great for marketing to college students when compared to the average. In contrast with teens, however, they have very low opinions of any marketing via text messaging or through social networks. Yes, they use these tools often for communicating to friends -- but sadly, marketers simply aren't invited to the party. Again, direct mail and email are the preferred channels for promotional marketing to this group; 50% say they have made a purchase influenced through email.

Wired consumers have good-paying jobs and no kids, which means they have disposable income. They are the largest media consumers identified in our study, spending an average of more than eight hours a day on their computers accessing the Internet, email, and using computer software -- including games. They use every channel available to communicate with friends and family -- they call, they text, they Twitter, they IM, they use Facebook (Sound familiar yet? Most of us fall in this group). Wired consumers are big online shoppers. Moreover, they are heavily influenced by email marketing. 89% say they have purchased as the result of an email marketing message they received.

Not everything should come to this group through email, though. They have clear channel preferences depending on the type of message being sent. Wired consumers are the most likely to have invited marketers to send text messages, but the text messages they want are financial and travel alerts. Send a promotion to these folks through a text message and you are likely to tick them off.

Young homemakers are also well-versed in new communication channels. They text, they use social networks, and they IM. But more than any other group, they don't want marketers bugging them through these channels. They have two channels open for marketers: direct mail and email. Given the choice, you would communicate with them through direct mail, but they are also open to email. 72% have been influenced to purchase through direct mail. 53% have purchased as a result of an email marketing message they received. What's most interesting about this group is its willingness to respond to surveys and questionnaires. They are important consumers, they know it, and they want to be heard. Just know their time is valuable and they will do it on their own time.

Even with these younger groups, email plays a crucial role. Email is no longer new media, it is an established, tried and true marketing channel, along with direct mail. Hopefully, this helps you answer some of those tough questions about the future viability of email.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Savings And Credit Card Payments Captured 2/3 of Rebate Dollars

According to a recent Harris Poll, 45 percent of Americans believed that rebate checks would help stimulate the economy. Now that summer is over and the rebate checks are cashed, 52% of Americans say spending the checks did not stimulate the economy and only 37% say that it did.

Though 36% have spent at least some of their rebate, 38% indicate how they intend to spend more, suggesting promotional opportunities remaining to marketers. The nationwide Harris Poll of 2,710 U.S. adults includes other findings:

• 52% of Republicans say rebate checks did stimulate the economy; 61% of Democrats and 56% of Independents say that it did not
• In April, 73% of Americans predicted they would receive payment; 71 percent now say they did receive a rebate check
• 70% of Americans with incomes of $34,999 or less and incomes of $75,000 or more say they received a check.
• 86% of adults with incomes of between $35,000 and $49,999,and 87% between $50,000 and $74,999, say they received rebate checks

While the government hoped that the checks would be spent to spur the economy, the reality was different, notes the report.

April Expectations:

• Americans said they would use some of the rebate to reduce their non-mortgage debt, paying off bills or credit cards (38%) or adding to their cash savings (35%).
• One in five (21%) said would spend the money on other things they wanted to buy
• Twenty percent said they would use the rebate to take a trip for leisure purposes
• Seventeen percent said they would spend their money on home improvements while sixteen percent said they would use the money in restaurants and for dining out
• One in ten said they would use the money for technology devices or entertainment events

August Actuals:

• People primarily used their rebate checks to reduce non-mortgage debt such as paying off bills or credit cards (36%) and to add to their cash savings (29%)
• One in five (21%) did actually spend the money on other things they wanted to buy
• Just one in ten (11%) actually used the rebate to take a trip for leisure purposes
• Americans spent their money on home improvements (14%) and in restaurants and dining out (12%)
• Only five percent said they used the money for technology devices or entertainment events

As predicted, says the report, much of the rebate money ended up deposited in savings or being mailed to credit card issuers. Retailers did try their best to get some of the rebate money, but that did not end up occurring as much as they, and probably the White House, wanted.

With the economic uncertainty, Americans thought they would want to put away some cash and help reduce debt and that is exactly what they did. What seemed like a great economic fix in the earlier part of the year, though, has not panned out according to the results of the study.

For additional charts and more detail about the study, please visit Harris Interactive here.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Y Moms Connect Through The Internet; X Moms Task

A recent study conducted by NewMediaMetrics found a significant difference in the types of digital behavior embraced by the X and Y generations when it comes to child raising.  Gen Y is much more attached to media that connects them to other moms (online communities, blogs, video-sharing sites, etc.), while Gen X moms are more likely to embrace the web for task-oriented activities like shopping online and uploading photos. The study concludes that this might signify a shift in the way that marketers should be targeting the next new generation of moms online.

In this survey of moms who visited Parenting.com, both groups X and Y share similar objectives of exploring mom-related issues online, Gen Y moms tend to have much higher attachment to interactive tools that allow them to connect directly with other moms.

The findings show that Gen Y moms make use of digital tools and activities that allow them to create and own content (i.e., online profiles, blogs), as well as connect and interact with other moms (i.e., text messages, photos and video, online community). These behaviors demonstrate Gen Y moms' confidence in their use of these technologies as forms of communication and self-

expression. It also reveals a trend among the younger Gen Y moms of relying on the common experience of members of their cohort to help them navigate their journey through parenthood.

Gen X moms use online technologies very differently. They tend to engage in more task-oriented activities, such as online shopping, researching and reviewing products, and organizing photos. This illustrates a significant generational shift in how they behave in comparison to their Gen Y successors when it comes to the use of digital tools.

Both Gen X and Gen Y mom cohorts use technology as a resource to help them meet their needs as parents. However, there is a clear distinction in how the members of each group access and interact with their world digitally, concludes the report.

It's essential for marketers to understand these unique characteristics and use this knowledge to drive their mom-targeted marketing strategies.

For the PDF file on the study, please visit Parenting here.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Monday, September 15, 2008

Survey Says: Candidates Succeed With The Internet!

According to the First Annual Voter Expectations Survey from E-Voter and HCD Research, an overwhelming majority of voters responding expect candidates to use online technology as part of their campaign efforts. 87 percent expect they will have a Web site, and 70 percent expect the use of email.  

Two-thirds expect candidates to use the Internet for fund raising, post video commercials on his or her website and run online ad campaigns, while half expect campaigns to have blogs and podcasts.

Karen Jagoda, founder and president of E-Voter Institute, concludes that "When a majority of voters expect candidates to use web-based tools for fund raising, communicating with the loyal base, persuasion, and getting out the vote, the Internet is no longer an afterthought in planning a winning campaign."

While respondents continue to see TV ads as the most effective way for campaigns to reach them, email and websites are ranked higher than traditional methods such as phone and radio ads.

• Less than 5 percent of 18-24 year olds say direct mail is effective (compared to 22 percent of 55-64 year-olds find it effective)
• 20 percent of 18-24 year olds also say that word-of-mouth is important (compared to 5 percent of 55-64 year-olds)

Glenn Kessler, CEO, HCD Research, said "... we knew that the Internet was a growing force in the political process... (but) had no idea that the shift was happening so quickly... "

Findings from E-Voter Institute, captured by eMarketer, suggest best e-ways for candidates to reach voters.

For more information, please visit E-Voter Institute here.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

RESEARCH BRIEF

FROM THE CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH

Friday, September 12, 2008

Yahoo!, MSNBC & CNN Top Online Global News and Events

A deeper look at top sites, viewer demographics, advertisers and ad details for Online current events and news destinations in mid-August. Though the PEW report on News Integrators concludes that "... today it is not a choice between traditional sources and the internet for the core elements of today's news audiences... (but)... Integrators get the news from both traditional sources and the Internet," shown here are some of the more popular Internet destinations.

Data on Web Media Industry, World and Local News Segment Week ending August 10, 2008 US, Home and Work