Is that time again

As we wrap up 2008 and kick off 2009, there are trends that started this year and will expand into the next. Some are the result of the current inflation and others are the result of technology development, social issues and concern for the environment. Bellow, you will find blurbs and links to the full articles on the said topics.

Local Sports, Events Help Marketers In Hard Times
Advertising Age
The recession might prove to be a boon for out-of-home media and event marketing–especially for local sports. As cash-strapped consumers hunker down and people increasing maintain friendships virtually on the Internet, they yearn for the community of local events. Less appealing are the big national events that advertisers gravitate toward.

The virtual gathering of people in social networks is only intensifying the need for real community gathering, not supplanting it. “Kids now are able to see the whole world,” he said. “It’s worldwide, but it’s an inch deep. And there’s this pane of glass that separates them from experiencing that entire world.”Read the whole story…

Internet Tops Newspapers As News Source, Still Lags TV

by Erik Sass

The Internet is now the most popular source of news after TV, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which released its year-end roundup of news media consumption last week. While TV is still king of the hill, its steady decline in the face of Internet competition bodes ill in the long term. … Read the whole story

WOM: Real People Win Deals, Corporate Blogs Spin Wheels

by Erik Sass

Word-of-mouth marketing remains one of the most effective marketing channels–provided that it’s done well, according to two new studies from DEI Worldwide and Forrester Research. Consumers don’t put much trust in corporate blogs or social network profiles, but will readily listen to people. … Read the whole story

YouTube still towers above MySpace, Hulu for online video
YouTube, with nearly 5.6 billion streams to some 85 million unique visitors, was the No. 1 destination for online video viewers in November, according to Nielsen research. YouTube was followed by MySpace, with 244 million streams to 20 million unique visitors, and Hulu, with 221 million streams to about 7.5 million unique visitors. TVWeek.com (12/29)

JWT futurist eyes brand trends for 2009
While corporate budgets and consumer belts are tightening, marketing and media companies that seize on certain social and entertainment trends will successfully ride out the new year, according to Ann Mack, director of trendspotting for ad agency JWT. Among the hot-button trends for 2009 are environmental responsibility, brand authenticity and content mobility. MediaPost Communications (12/29)

Do the Right Thing
10 Rules for Leading Ethically

It’s been all too easy to criticize the unethical behaviors of business and political leaders these days. But if your company isn’t among those generating scandal and scorn, consider yourself warned. CCL’s Cresencio Torres reminds us that lapses in ethical judgment occur every day in our organizations and, likely, in our private lives.  “Ethical leadership isn’t about avoiding the worst behaviors. It isn’t about technically following laws and regulations,” says Torres. “Ethics determines fair and honest behavior and establishes boundaries about how we relate to each other. In that sense, the only way for people to work well together, and to have good professional and personal relationships, is to think and act in an ethical way.” To reclaim ethical leadership for yourself and your organization, Torres offers these 10 Rules for Ethical Leadership here:http://www.ccl.org/leadership/enewsletter/2008/DECdo.aspx

Social Media Growing as a Marketing Tool

According to a nationwide telephone survey in 2009 of the Inc. 500 list, under the direction of researchers Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson, social media has penetrated parts of the business world at a tremendous speed. It also indicates that corporate familiarity with and usage of social media within the Inc. 500 has continued to grow in the past 12 months.

Key findings from the study are that:

• The technology that continues to be the most familiar to the Inc. 500 is social networking with 75% of respondents in 2009 claiming to be “very familiar with it” (compared to 57% in 2008). Another noteworthy statistic around familiarity is Twitter’s amazing “share of mind” with sixty-two percent of executives reported being familiar with the new microblogging and social networking platform
• While social networking and blogging have enjoyed growth in actual adoption, the use of message boards, online video, wikis and podcasting has leveled off or declined. The addition of Twitter (considered by respondents to be both a microblogging site and a social networking site) in the latest study shows that 52% of the Inc. 500 companies are already using this tool for their business
• 43% of the 2009 Inc. 500 reported social media was “very important” to their business/marketing strategy. And 91% of the Inc. 500 is using at least one social media tool in 2009 (up from 77% in 2008). In addition, 36% having implemented a formal policy concerning blogging by their employees.

Read the entire article.

The Importance of the U.S. Hispanic Market

According to a number of reports, the economy will start to turn around this year. Many companies have made cuts related to the recession and will have to increase budgets and personnel to support the growth. A strategy that will pay by itself is investing in the fastest growing markets in the U.S.

Here are some highlights:  21 percent of U.S. moms are Hispanic, and in key markets that percentage is even more dramatic. In New York, 33 percent of all moms are Hispanic. In Dallas, that figure now hits 32 percent. And in Los Angeles, it’s nearly half at 47 percent.

Marketers that need to reach young men, take note. Over the past five years, the Hispanic male 18-34 population has grown 23 percent vs. just 2 percent for non-Hispanics. Read the entire Adweek  article here.

Hispanic online growth surpasses mainstream

I found this article last year and as we start 2010, we see more an more information confirming this growth.  Community, entertainment and multimedia rank high in among young Hispanics.

Posted by Elena del Valle on June 24, 2009

Hispanics’ share of total time online per category

Hispanics

For companies targeting online audiences Latinos represent a booming market with continued potential for growth. As of February 2009 there were 20.3 million Hispanics or 11 percent of the total United States online population and a record number, according to comScore, Inc., a company that measures the digital world. As a greater number of Hispanics went online in the past year, the U.S Hispanic Internet audience grew faster than the total U.S. online population in terms of number of visitors, time spent and pages consumed.

At the same time, some believe effective targeting of the Latino online market requires knowledge and finesse to push the hot buttons that will prompt loyalty and purchasing responses from the highly diverse and demographically young audience. The days of viewing ethnic markets through a uni dimensional single scope are past. Just as translating materials as the sole method of addressing the highly desirable Hispanic market, online and offline, is no longer considered sufficient or in some cases even appropriate (when targeting English dominant Latinos for example).

“It’s well known that the Hispanic market is a growing and increasingly important segment to advertisers and marketers,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “However, any business attempting to effectively reach this segment needs to understand the behavior of the U.S. Hispanic online consumer as a fundamental component of their marketing and media strategies.”

Some are convinced the Hispanic market is diverse and distinct from the general market. Given the increasing number of new Latin consumers and their desirable purchasing habits even if that market segment requires extra attention, dedicated or customized campaigns it may prove a worthwhile investment for savvy businesses in the long term.

“As most people know, US-H (US Hispanics) currently represents 15 percent of the total US population and it is estimated to grow up to 20 percent within the next 10 years, half of them are online and this number will only grow. The fact is that even thought we are still a minority, we are definitely a minority that can not be underestimated, not only because of the massive number of potential costumers that we represent, but because our habits significantly differ from those of the US General market users, and more importantly, because our purchase behavior is way more apealing than the US General market users,” said Joel Bary, chief executive officer, Latin Medios.

“We, the online Latinos, have a higher household income than any other online users group in the US, and simply put, we buy more than any other group, so we make a very interesting and potential costumer base that can not be ignored. The marketplace is no longer a single group one, it is now composed of several major groups that will need to be addressed in a special and direct way, other ways, a segment of this marketplace will not respond to the message and will be left araw to be picked up by the competition.”

In 2009, Hispanics’ time online increased 6.9 percent (3.9 times faster than the total U.S. online population), while total pages consumed grew 6 percent (3.6 times faster than the total U.S. Population).

“The Hispanic online market is growing faster than the general market, not just in terms of gross number of users but also in other measures that are important to marketers like time spent online. Advertisers are taking notice too: While categories like Automotive, Wireless, and Credit Cards have been on board since the early days of Hispanic internet, more recently we’ve noticed growth coming from other important categories like Food, Retail, Insurance, and Personal Care Products. That’s especially important now that the automotive and credit card categories are down,” said Carlos Pelay, president, Media Economics Group.

“Just in the Food category, for example, we’ve seen some major companies making their first forays into the Hispanic online market in 2009. Companies like Birds Eye Foods (BirdsEyeenEspanol.com), General Mills (”Nature Valley”), Hershey (”Hershey’s Kisses” sweepstakes on Univision.com) have advertised on Hispanic sites for the first time this year. Significantly, these three companies are running Spanish-language campaigns on Spanish-language Hispanic websites.”

Researchers looked at the site categories where Hispanics spent an above average share of their online time. The most popular categories were Community – Teens, where U.S. Hispanics accounted for 18 percent of total time spent in the category; Gaming Information at 13 percent; entertainment and leisure including Radio (13 percent), Multimedia (12 percent), Discussion/Chat, Instant Messengers (11 percent) and Music (11 percent)

CES 2010

I was not able to make it to Vegas this year so I am relaying on the posts from Dave Morgan from MediaPost.

Early Report From CES

by Dave Morgan, 8 hours ago

I’m in Las Vegas today, attending the Consumer Electronics Show. The city is crawling with folks fascinated with the latest in consumer devices, from gadget geeks that hang on every word of the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, to the digitirati trying to find the next big thing. The show officially kicked off last night with a keynote from Steve Ballmer touting Microsoft’s tablet PC software — and it will be in high gear for the next several days, starting with the opening of the exhibit floor this morning. It’s still early to know what big stories will come from this year’s show, but here are some of the themes that have been buzzing around so far: Read the entire report here

MediaPost Publications Panel: Marketers Look To Integrate OOH Efforts 12/10/2009

Panel: Marketers Look To Integrate OOH Efforts

Out of Home presents a great opportunity for brands looking to integrate with mobile. This article highlights how OOH has played a central role for Calvin Klein’s branding efforts. Other marketers are looking to generate sales via this media and that may prove a challenge but not impossible.   Further, the growth of smart phones opens a door to start conversations via social media, SMS or other.

For some brands, I would even venture to offer cash rewards upon  activation from an OOH source.

Read the article for more information.

via MediaPost Publications Panel: Marketers Look To Integrate OOH Efforts 12/10/2009.

Corporations and Social Media

The freedom of speech that you find in social media does not fit well under the structured, rigid, time limited and regulated environment that corporate communications departments are.

Corporate advertising and communications among fortune 100 companies is in many cases outsourced and executed under the supervision of the internal corporate teams. However, most plans are developed around a specific strategy that may include new product launch, branding, new stores promotion, etc. These campaigns have a time limit and even though they may integrate several strategies, media and departments, once the term runs out, everything comes to a complete stop.

That is not a conversation. Would you do that to a friend, a customer or relative? Definitely not. You see this people on a regular bases, you talk to them and share information. I guess corporations need to change the model and learn the basic concepts of being part of a social group regardless of where it takes place.

Read this report from Weber Shandwick for more on Social media and corporations http://bit.ly/3uHluw

Radio Business Report/Television Business Report – Voice of the Broadcasting Industry

Radio Business Report/Television Business Report – Voice of the Broadcasting Industry.

New Spanish TV network Estrella TV saw a 16% decline on 3rd Q revenue. The network continues to increase on ratings and covers 67% of the US Hispanic television households.

It clearly targets a segment of the Hispanic market that is not served by the other 3 networks: Univision, Telemundo and Azteca America.

Read the entire article for more information.

Below The Topline: U.S. Hispanics and Acculturation | Nielsen Wire

Below The Topline: U.S. Hispanics and Acculturation | Nielsen Wire.

Acculturation, language, behavior, education, income and shear market size are discussed in this Nielsen piece. By 2050 Hispanics will account for one third of the total population in the U.S.

There are no single answers or strategies to reach this market. Because the Hispanic market is so diverse, a diverse set of strategies is required. Depending on the Hispanic segment you are trying to reach, you will have to adjust the dial of your marketing and media mix.

Citibank Survey Reveals Small Businesses Not Joining Social Media Conversation

Small Businesses Not Joining Social Media Conversation

via Citibank Survey Reveals Small Businesses Not Joining Social Media Conversation.

MediaPost Publications Almost As Good As A Sandwich Board 10/27/2009

This research piece highlights the ROI potential for strategies that integrate the  mobile platform with our new product: Transit TV. A 13 week campaign can generate 84,000,000 impressions and according to the research piece, 37% are open to receiving alerts for a sale. The holiday season is approaching. How about  delivering the address for the nearest store with a discount coupon and the bus fair to take them to the store and back home.  All of this on a turn key proposition that only requires a TV spot.

In addition, consider geo- targeting to leverage retail locations, from restaurants and bars to music and electronics.

Here is the research piece.

by Jack Loechner,

Of those interested in receiving alerts, 53% would be at least somewhat interested in being notified about restaurant specials around them.In addition, about 2-in-5 of these adults would like to receive alerts about sales for: Movie/event tickets 43% Weather information 39% Clearance or liquidation sales 37%)

About another 3-in-10 of these adults would want to be alerted about:

• Pizza (31%) Clothes (30%)
• Fast food (27%)

About one quarter would want to be notified about:

• Electronics (25%)
• Music (24%)
• Happy hour specials or bar and night club offers (21%)

via MediaPost Publications Almost As Good As A Sandwich Board 10/27/2009.