al berrios IMKTG REPORT 09.24.02: New Look; New Stats; more...

THIS WEEK'S CONTENTS ARE:
1. THINGS YOU'D LIKE TO SAY, BUT CAN'T: New Beginnings
2. BRANDS&INSIGHTS: TV Show Previews?
3. CONSUMERFOCUS: 16 New Consumer Facts and What They Mean
4. MEDIA&CONTENT: Product Placement in Online Video Games
5. MGMT&OPS: How You Can Leverage The Internet With Your TV Ad

 

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1. THINGS YOU'D LIKE TO SAY, BUT CAN'T: New Beginnings
>> "I am a happy employee in a great job at a company I care deeply about." Peter Chernin, President, News Corp.

New season, new design. I've redesigned the IMKTG REPORT so articles are shorter, navigation is better, and data is easier to use. Please send feedback.

My colleagues have been busy, too: Jane Tabachnick, president of Stratedgy, has launched her executive seminars on email marketing. Interested, http://www.janetabachnick.com/events.html.

Everyone's paying close attention to exec perks these days: $6000 shower curtains & free corp jet trips. But has it occurred to anyone that what many seem like perks to us common folk are pretty normal for rich folk? Of course these guys didn't think they were doing anything wrong, they've never been broke!

At least it's not as bad as the media business, where every major exec has his testicles up against the wall. With advertising down, consumer media consumption fractured beyond belief, and the SEC and FCC making things more difficult, media execs are making sure everyone knows they don't want to get canned. Enjoy the rest.

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2. BRANDS&INSIGHTS: TV Show Previews?

If it's worked for the movie industry, why not TV? Networks want to change the way all new shows are premiered at the same time - f**k Nielsen's schedule! They're started releasing their new programming in staggered format, just like the movie industry, so as not to compete so heavily with each other. DUH! With dozens of new programs coming out, mostly bland, conservative, family-oriented, comedies, how does TV expect viewers to make up their minds?

BOTTOM LINE: The nets have resorted to super-cross-platform and co-marketing arrangements with corp media siblings and other offline venues to promote their programming. Yes, it's so bad, even Eisner's butt is on the line if ABC doesn't get it's audience back. But it's not only a fracturing of consumer media habits, it's just really bad content. Remember, content is ultimately king if you want to get a consumer viewing your air, reading your pages, or surfing your site, you need something that's better than the next guy's. There's even a karate channel coming to a digital screen near you. And to guarantee that TV gets the maximum aud, they've even reduced the amount of programs featuring gay characters, and got rid of programming that didn't get at least a 1 rating. TV is clearly not doing all it can with the internet to keep their audiences. Because if they did, they'd all be calling me.

READ MORE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/business/media/17ADCO.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/20/business/media/20ADCO.html
http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1705916
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=story&articleid=VR1117872969&categoryid=10&cs=1
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020923/4470991s.htm
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1467415
http://www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_news.cfm?newsId=182426
http://news.findlaw.com/entertainment/s/20020917/mediatvgaysdc.html
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2002-09/11/10.00.fandom

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3. CONSUMERFOCUS: 16 New Consumer Facts and What They Mean

- 67% of 1550 Americans surveyed who have outstanding student loans say student loans are a big enough burden to prevent them from making major purchases such as homes and cars.
- 27% are frustrated with high bank rates and fees
- 68% of Americans plan to pay off debt in the next six months
- In August, 31% of Americans planned to take on more debt
- 59% of the approximately 2,800 respondents in [another] survey said they appreciated some kinds of marketing e-mail -- namely, e-mail that they had requested to receive from companies.
- 16% of the group said they viewed all commercial e-mail as spam
- 35% of 4,341 American Internet surfers [in yet another survey] are using AOL for access, and the primary activity for 93% of the respondents was e-mail with these other activities being popular as well:
- Instant messaging: 59% of those aged 19 to 34, compared to 49% of those aged 35 to 54, and 45% of those 55 and over.
- Chat: 47% of those aged 19 to 34; 37% of those aged 35 to 54; 31% of those 55 and over.
- Movie sites: 37% of those aged 19 to 34; 26% of those aged 35 to 54; 18% of those 55 and over.
- 23% of workers surveyed [in another survey] said they considered news the most addictive Web content, compared with 18% who reported pornography, 8% for gambling and 6% online auctions.
- 78% of grocery store shoppers and 82% of fast-food restaurant patrons say their purchasing decisions are influenced by the cleanliness of the establishment in an[other] August [survey] with 1,046 adults responding.
- 29% of grocery shoppers listed poor service as the No. 1 pet peeve
- 18% listed food handlers who don't wash their hands as their biggest pet peeve.
- 12% said listed dirty tables or counters in foodservice and food court areas was their biggest pet peeve
- 90% of those surveyed said they would tell friends and family not to patronize a grocery store or fast-food restaurant they found dirty

BOTTOM LINE: Americans don't like debt, but like spending, so they will always get more debt. Regardless of how much money MSN gives away, or how much experience you have online, the average consumer isn't that sophisticated online, and will usually choose AOL. But once they choose an ISP, all they still care most about doing is interacting with someone else via chatting and email. And yes, the higher the income, the different their usage of the internet. Offline, if you're in the foodservice business, just keep it clean and start targeting coupon users, since they have larger families, spend more, and are more brand loyal to specific foods.

READ MORE:
http://www.cambridgeconsumerindex.com/camsurvey.asp
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/10789_1466701
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/geographics/article/0,,5911_1466661,00.html
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1466487
Brandweek, Wednesday, September 18, 2002, focus: PACKAGED GOODS
http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=21620

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4. MEDIA&CONTENT: Product Placement in Online Video Games

Seems that's the next big thing as McDs, Intel, Marvel and Disney pave the way. It's like an advergame, accept online and open to thousands of users. For the same reason you see regular brands on Sopranos, marketers believe that by seeing real brands in the games, consumers, especially young consumers, will connect better with brands.

BOTTOM LINE: Even Nielsen admits that measuring the viewing habits of young viewers has been extremely difficult since they don't like their diaries. And "in 1965, marketers could reach 80% of 18- to 49-year-old-women in the United States with only three TV commercials, and by the year 2000, they would need almost 100 commercials to reach the same group. The evolving fractured state of media consumption in the United States clearly poses a challenge for marketers trying to reach a broad audience with a new product." So what's a marketer to do? If you're considering an approach like this as a new innovative way to reach your consumer, be warned, this approach requires a lot of money and a long time commitment, since the game has to be created, tested, and launched. Does it work? No one knows. There's no way to quantify whether seeing an Intel ad in a video games inspires a player to purchase an Intel product in the real world.

READ MORE:
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/10789_1464841
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/technology/17GAME.html
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/features/091802b.asp
http://www.emonline.com/topstorys/092302diaries.html

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5. MGMT&OPS: How You Can Leverage The Internet With Your TV Ad

I wasn't even going to comment on this, however, as I'm sure you've already read, your TV viewers are simultaneously surfing the net, since both appliances are in the same room. Sometimes, specific ad or program site traffic increases, sometimes it doesn't, but they're surfing. I'm not going to bother with numbers here, because I know you already know.

BOTTOM LINE: You know they're online while watching TV. You know that their #1 activity online is interacting with other people. You know that every type of demographic segment is already online. What are you waiting for?! Start using iMarketing to complete your consumer communication plan. Why? Well, imagine a new customer sees an ad for your brand on TV. This person fits the typical demo and is probably chatting online at the same time, when he encounters one of my iMarketers at that very moment your ad is on and we tell him to check out your site. This can happen before or after he's already gone to your site, but the point is that this consumer will have a complete "brand-surrounding experience" with your brand. Imagine you doing that to a million people during the life of your campaign? And all for a fraction of the cost of just one ad on TV?

READ MORE:
IQ NEWS DAILY BRIEFING: September 20, 2002, adweekemail@adweek.com
Net a threat for TV advertisers, By Frank Barnako, CBS.MarketWatch.com, Last Update: 11:00 AM ET Sep 18, 2002

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(c) 2001-2005. All Rights Reserved. al berrios & company, inc. Published by al berrios & co. This Report may not be reproduced or redistributed in any form without written permission from al berrios & co., subject to penalty.