The Changing Face of Digital Media & Marketing : tv

Contacting Our New Media Planning & Buying Agency – Omnicom Media Group

Scott Berg — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:42:00 GMT

Many in the media community have been calling or emailing me asking who to contact at our new media agency OMG. The team at OMG, have requested you go to the following web site to register, that way they can respond to the large number of media partners who are contacting us during the transition.

When you complete the form you will receive an automatic reply. The OMG/HP media team will get back with you shortly thereafter. Please keep in mind OMG officially takes over the HP media buying and planning June 1^st.

http://hpmediahub.omnicommediagroup.com/

Scott

Project Canoe

Scott Berg — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:18:00 GMT

We’re doing a joint blog post this week – Colin Linggo is joining me to discuss Project Canoe. So this past week we had the pleasure of having David Verklin – the new CEO of Canoe Ventures speak to the marketing leadership at HP regarding the company and it’s plans for changing the way people interact with television.

For those of you not familiar with David, all you have to do is Google his name and you’ll get a ga-zillion hits as he is the former CEO of Aegis Media. I’ve heard David speak on a number of occasions and have found his discussions to be extremely thought provoking, controversial at times – but always leaving me with more questions to ponder.

So, for those of you not familiar with Canoe – I direct you some articles on AdWeek, TechCrunch, NYT.com, to get a better understanding. We’re now referring to Canoe as a television platform on steroids!

The part of the discussion which we’ll focus on specific product areas and possible implications:

Addressability – or “targeting” has been an online buzzword for years, but TV has been lagging in this basic online advertising feature. Los Angeles’ interconnect, also known as AdLink, was one of the major DMA’s to employ a technology called AdTag and AdCopy to segment the market and customizing specific messages across it’s footprint. This technology has been around since 2004, but only at the local level. Similar to AdLink, Canoe’s first national go-to-market product is called Creative Versioning Platform which marries the cable industry’s ad zones with demographic databases, and this will offer national advertisers more targeted, relevant and effective advertising with commercials that run simultaneously across the national market with different messages and tags. Although national addressability (or NA) is rudimentary at first, this will be the foundation Canoe will be build upon.

So who might this impact... How about consumer banking? Although there is a major consolidation in recent weeks with consumer banks, they still have specific audiences they are trying to target with their diverse banking products. Imagine Bank of America’s Private Wealth Management group only targeting household income over $150k with one specific message and another message for free checking account for households less than $75k. Or how about Purina dog food for only dog owners? Did you know that 40% of all U.S. TV households own a dog? The opportunities are endless.

Data – will be a major emphasis in Canoe’s charter. Nielsen’s TV ratings methodology has been the currency in which TV advertising deals are negotiated for as long as I can remember. For anyone that sold or bought television knows that Nielsen people meters are only a sample size of the U.S. TV viewing habits. How could this be a true reflection of whom and what people are actually viewing? In the very near future, Canoe will have the ability to measure and monitor viewing via their set top boxes, second by second data by each box. Look familiar? That’s right, the Internet! These boxes will have in-dept and granular data for programmers and advertisers alike. Could this revolutionize how we negotiate TV deals in the future? We shall see…

Voting & Polling – basically being able to use your remote control buttons to vote or answer a poll that shows up discreetly in the corner of your TV. Now this might seem like basic “internet” technology, but think about it from a consumer engagement perspective. As opposed to having to call in to case your vote for American Idol or Dancing with the Stars -- you could simply click the remote control. Or how about during the Super Bowl – as opposed to having Madison Avenue Think Tanks tell us which ads “won” – the consumer could actually vote. And the obvious one, happening right now are the Presidential Debates and Vice Presidential Debate… as opposed to having to do polls after the event, viewers could cast their vote immediately.

So who might this impact….How about cell phone companies, internet surveys and possibly research companies who rely on the internet, telephone or in-person interviews to get quick answers to simple voting, etc.

Request for Information (RFI) – another basic feature with high potential. Basically requesting information on a product/service, etc. via your remote control through a visual that comes up on your TV screen. Now I’ve used this service with my TIVO device to receive information on the new Land Rover vehicles – and it worked great. So imagine being able to have mass network commercials running and people requesting a coupon, information, etc. Pretty powerful stuff – high level of tracking, reduced costs of doing “mass” mailings, ability to test different offers or creative, etc. etc.

T-Commerce – or purchasing products by using your remote control via a TV infomercial or commercial. Now you can sit down and watch The Home Shopping Network and purchase today – but you have to call in, give them your credit card number and sit in front of HSN for hours/days/weeks to find what you might want vs. having it appear as a 1 minute TV ad while you’re watching House and then allowing you to purchase it. What could be better – you buy it during your favorite show, have it billed to your cable bill, have it shipped to your house (as the cable co. has your address) and you pay for it at the end of the month.

So who might this impact….How about credit card companies to begin with! And if the cable company offered to finance the purchases, they could create their own finance companies – similar to auto dealers. That’s called “extra income.”

As we see it, the key to all of this is getting all the cable MSO’s to agree on technology, platforms, compensation, etc. If the MSO owners don’t see the benefits clearly or get greedy, the whole thing could fall apart – and the hope for a true national platform to conduct business through the cable box would be lost. Frankly, I don’t see that the MSO’s have much choice – with ad revenue falling, the percent of each hour the local stations have to sell, and the competition from the internet, search, etc.

If anyone can pull them together and get this project accomplished it’s David Verklin…

Colin Linggo & Scott Berg

“TV Networks Should Replace Agencies” – Are You Nuts!

Scott Berg — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:20:00 GMT

Sorry it’s been a few weeks since my last post… my family and I took some time to visit the great state of Maine…. specifically Bar Harbor, what a great place I highly recommend it for a relaxing and fun filled time.

That being said, I just viewed the latest 3-Minute Ad Age post from Brian Reich the author of “Media Rules” who believes the future of advertising is the elimination of ad agencies between clients and television stations. He claims ad agencies get in the way and between the client and the television stations and somehow muddy the water in the messaging.

Now in all fairness, I haven’t had the opportunity to read Mr. Reich’s book so he might have some additional points which I’m not privy to, however, I do have some initial thoughts.

What Business Are TV Stations In? Easy answer for me – to sell time to advertisers in order to cover costs of programming, salaries, utility, rent, etc. etc. What’s left over is called profit and that usually goes to shareholders. Yes, TV stations do unique programming things to keep the users engaged with the content or the commercials, so they do have a creative element.

What Business Are Ad Agencies In? This ones a bit more complicated but I’ll list the biggies…

Branding
Communications
Strategy
Program Development
Audience and Research Management
Media Buying/Planning and Idea Creation
Integration
Traffic Cop
Logistics
Events/Tradeshows
Forward Thinking
Oh, and that little thing called Creative

Who Should Do What? I have news for Mr. Reich…. I meet with media folks all the time… guess what every single presentation says “we’re #1” – we beat our competition across the board and we know our audience. And guess what…. each one of them is right, but it depends on the lens you look through.

Agencies are a critical part of the entire marketing eco-system… I dare say that no TV network could produce the level of creative spots that Goodby Silverstein & Partners has for HP.

I do agree with Mr. Reich that the customer is the most important part of the equation, but it’s the client who needs to manage the component parts to meet the goals of the company/campaign/initiative/communication. Do we do it perfectly, heck no…but we’re trying like you wouldn’t believe.

To get another view of the topic, I’d suggest picking up a copy of “Kellogg on Advertising & Media” from Bobby Calder….I’ve spoken about it before, it’s a compilation of a number of business and academics who describe thoughts about the future.

I’ll leave you with this thought…. My Mom’s a pure Saint (I know everyone says it, but she really is) and I love her more than she’ll ever know. She gave birth to 2 sons some 40 odd years ago, but that doesn’t make her qualified to take the place of a doctor and start delivering baby’s on the side. I think we still need the ad agencies to help “birth” our strategy and marketing communications.

Love your thoughts on this….

Scott

The Internationalist

Scott Berg — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:02:00 GMT

If you’re not familiar with the publication The Internationalist…. I suggest you check it out. Deborah Malone who is Publisher of The Internationalist is known globally as an expert on media and marketing. Anyone who has interest in international (for that fact domestic) marketing can gain the thoughts of leading marketing and agency folks from around the globe. Just like going to a fancy conference, but in the leisure of your home.

I was fortunate enough to be interviewed with folks much smarter than myself regarding the changing world of marketing.

Scott

If A Client Created a Stop Sign....

Scott Berg — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:05:00 GMT

I had this video sent to me the other day... and after laughing for 10 minutes.... I realized it also shows the reality of the sometimes insane situation we as clients put our agencies and partners through on a daily basis.

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Scott

Jumping the Shark with Mobile Text Messaging

Scott Berg — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:48:00 GMT

The phrase “Jumping the Shark” is a popular phrase used in the US… basically for those of you not familiar with the phrase…. It was made popular from the hit TV show Happy Days, specifically around when Fonzie jumps a shark. It marked the peak and eventual decline of a favorite TV show.

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Well, I’m using the term as it relates to mobile text messages. Today, while in the middle of a meeting I hear the familiar ring of a text message… naturally, my wife is the only one who uses this service as she knows it’s a quick and reliable way to reach me. So immediately, I look at my cell phone and low and behold I read:

“Don’t miss the Energy Sector Rally …. Buy (X stock) at $X.”

I then realized, Text Messaging had “Jumped the Shark” and it’s now just a matter of time when I can look for all sorts of text messages to bombard my cell phone selling: mortgage refinancing, hot stocks, insurance, etc.

As marketers we must be vigilant in the proper use of mobile text messaging… the last word we need to hear from consumers is “text spam.” So if you haven’t already, take a look at the Mobile Marketing Association’s website to get the latest info.

Scott

What’s the Most Important Media Type During a Recession??

Scott Berg — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:26:00 GMT

With the Dow dropping nearly 20% the US economy seems to be poised for a technical “bear” market. Not that the word “technical” means a whole lot, when you have commodity prices rising driving an inflationary marketplace.

But with that in mind, and with the announcement from Zenith media in which they cut the rest of the years media forecast by .03% (from a previous increase of 3.7% to a revised 3.4%), so what’s a marketer to do? And where should you invest your dollars to maximize the highest ROMI?

A number of factors play into these types of decisions, but let’s hash through a few of today’s market and customer realities.

Gas Prices – with gas prices around $4.00 per gallon, the consumer is trying to combine trips, limit overall travel, etc.
Pocketbook Squeeze – with not only gas going up, but the costs of food, clothing, etc. also being pushed upward, the consumer is searching for the lowest possible cost.

Here’s how and why I’d rank my media choices based on the before mentioned consumer challenges….

Search – allowing the consumer to find the lowest price and/or check the availability of the product before running out can work to your advantage.
Point of Sale – boost up those POS signs in store to drive impulse purchases.
Web Site – ensure your web site is optimized for search; landing pages are extra easy to navigate and drive to checkout quickly. And use the web site to advertise sales, discounts, low shipping costs, etc.
Interactive Banners – driving demand generation banners which allow the consumer to actually purchase the product at a lower cost (while keeping shipping costs manageable) is another way to help the consumer and gain market share. Make it easy, fast and cost efficient.
Radio – it’s cheap on a per GRP basis, easy to target and can be used to get the message out about a sale or discount. The key I believe is to ensure you have plenty of frequency during afternoon drive and be sure to list out locations so the consumer can make a “quick” stop to pickup the item(s). My recommendation… weekday’s afternoon drive/weekends during the entire day part when shopping is at it’s highest.
Newspaper – yes newspaper… but I would use it only on key shopping days such as Saturday or Sunday.

Others that should also be considered but I won't rank include: direct mail, email, etc. All the other media types fall off my list at this point for demand generation, because either the cost is a bit too high or the return is bit too low.

Needless to say, regardless of the media type, you must spend money during recessionary times to make money… they key is investing it appropriately.

Scott

The End of Pilot… Not the End of an Idea

Scott Berg — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:40:00 GMT

As reported by Adweek, the ebay television Ad Sales Marketplace Pilot has been discontinued. As you might recall, myself and other marketing folks from major advertisers helped to drive this initiative along with ebay.

And although this pilot did not meet the expectations of ebay nor the committee, the need for a more efficient manner to exchange media is certainly not dead. You have to look no further than Google and Yahoo! who both are trying to sell media inventory through their own respective systems.

As I read the article from Adweek, I was reminded of a quote by Malcom F. MacNeil,

“The only failure which lacks dignity is the failure to try.”

Scott