Consolidation of media buying at huge mega-media agencies has erased clout because no media seller can afford to offer one of these behemoths a lower rate. Discounting to a WPP agency, for example, means lowering rates for over 20% of all media billings; no media seller can afford to do that. Moreover, since media buyers change jobs very often, no discount could be kept from other media agencies. As for keeping creative and media together, the original rational for unbundling was to get media people out from the back of the full service agency 'bus'. The reason broad market creative and media won't be rebundled, however, is that all of these holding company siloes have new ways of charging advertisers additional and very profitable fees.
On the other hand, smaller media agencies can make confidential deals with the media that the sellers don't have to share with dozens of other advertisers and agencies. So, the fact is that if media negotiating clout can exist at all today, it's likely to be found in the smaller, more agile players.
October 26, 2007
October 19, 2007
Google’s Newspaper Ad Sales Venture
May be able to deliver a lot of potential eyeballs for very low costs.
Some pretty impressive newspapers are participating in this auction bid system for space including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.
Procedure is to make an offer for desired space specifying size of ad, position desired, date of insertion, bid price, etc. If a paper accepts the offer the ad runs, if not not.
Observations:
- For many marketers the uncertainty of the ad running is a deal breaker.
- However, for direct response purveyors this represents a heck of an opportunity to ‘game’ newspapers for very low insertion costs.
Recommendation: Regular newspaper advertisers who are permitted* to use the Google print system can easily test this program to determine the lowest possible rates for each newspaper on their schedule and then use this information to negotiate lower costs directly to ensure that ads run as desired.
*Note: It is my understanding that some very large traditional newspaper advertisers such as retail department stores are not permitted to use this system. One wonders how this works and who is on this list.
Google’s TV Ad Selling Venture
There’s may be less here than meets the eye.
Description of Offering
- Remnant space on Echostar satellite’s 13 million homes.
- No information available on locations of Echostar subscribers.
- Ad units are inserted into positions reserved for local cable outlets so this is only cable.
- An auction system in which buyers offer bids for time which runs only if the bids are accepted.
- Audience data via satellite tuners is offered at no charge and is likely very accurate on a household viewing basis; i.e., no demographics.
Observation: Undifferentiated household viewing in a polyglot 13 million households (12% of all US TV HH) may be of value to some direct response advertisers who just want the lowest cost per unit of audience. Of limited perceived value to advertisers who want to know where and to whom their messages are delivered.
Recommendation: Pass on this until universe expands and there is more information on audiences.
October 17, 2007
Major Media Update: What's Up?
This is the first post in a planned series of commentary about the current state of the major advertising media. I welcome your comments and suggestions.
NETWORK TV: WHERE’S THE BEEF?
In an era when lower grade choice beef is often sold as prime, are we paying premium prices for a lower grade of television advertising time?
Primetime has often been regarded as a gold standard for media effectiveness because it combined the phenomenal selling power of the television medium with high ratings and viewer involvement providing advertisers with an opportunity to reach very large audiences quickly.
A 2.0 rating is primetime?
However, average primetime adult ratings have fallen to their lowest levels in history. For example, according to Nielsen, regular primetime programming during the week of September 17-23, 2007 delivered less than a 2.0 average adult 25-49 rating:
| Demo | Ratings |
| Women 25-54 | 2.10 |
| Men 25-54 | 1.70 |
| Adults 25-54 | 1.90 |
| Source: Nielsen Television Index September 17-23, 2007 | |
In spite of these very low audiences, primetime network television still commands the highest advertising prices. The following table shows what one rating point (representing one per cent of Adults 25-49) is reputed to have cost advertisers this fall in a variety of TV dayparts:
| Dayparts | Cost/Rating Point |
| Early Morning | $25,502 |
| Evening News | $22,379 |
| Prime | $36,612 |
| Late Night | $32,644 |
| Source: SQAD 4Q07 Scatter Adults 25-54 | |
Based on the above CPP and ratings figures, one 1.9 rated primetime :30 should cost in the neighborhood of $70,000.
On the other hand, reinvesting that $70,000 into early evening news programming would generate 3.1 ratings, a 63% increase in audience.
So, where’s primetime and why are advertisers paying a premium for a lower grade of beef?
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at who’s in control of network advertising, the sellers, buyers or advertisers and the implications of these observations for advertisers.
October 11, 2007
Media Merge
The Combination of Newspapers, Magazines, Internet and Streaming Video is Creating a Powerful “New” Medium
One of the great aspects of print is that it puts something in people hands, something they’ve expressed great interest in by paying for it. As a result, each magazine and newspaper’s audience represents a community of shared interests. Therefore, by definition, the print audience is engaged with its media.
However, a possible weakness of print communications relative to broadcast has been the relatively long intervals between reader exposures to the medium. Rather than permitting a constant stream of messages as do radio and television, the magazine exposure interval in particular can be weeks or months even allowing for repeated readings.
The internet now empowers magazines and newspapers to communicate with audiences in real time, continuously and with constant interactivity and feedback. I just logged into Time.com, noted an article about breast cancer and emailed it to my wife. Before I could log out, Time’s website lured me to another health-related article. This is engagement and added value of the highest order.
One of the great aspects of print is that it puts something in people hands, something they’ve expressed great interest in by paying for it. As a result, each magazine and newspaper’s audience represents a community of shared interests. Therefore, by definition, the print audience is engaged with its media.
However, a possible weakness of print communications relative to broadcast has been the relatively long intervals between reader exposures to the medium. Rather than permitting a constant stream of messages as do radio and television, the magazine exposure interval in particular can be weeks or months even allowing for repeated readings.
The internet now empowers magazines and newspapers to communicate with audiences in real time, continuously and with constant interactivity and feedback. I just logged into Time.com, noted an article about breast cancer and emailed it to my wife. Before I could log out, Time’s website lured me to another health-related article. This is engagement and added value of the highest order.
October 2, 2007
A Most Formidable New Medium: Magazines & Newspapers
What I like about print media is that they put something in their audience’s hands, they touch their consumers.
I also like the fact that for the most part print audiences pay for their media, which is as clear a demonstration of true interest that one can have.
Increasingly I am also admiring the way some publications are integrating the internet into their content delivery mode, creating a hybrid, morphed medium composed of print readers accessing web content and new users via the web.
So, are magazines and newspapers old, ‘dying’ media as some pundits would have us believe? Or are they in the vanguard of the ultimate expression of current media trends, building on their strong print audience relationships to extend their communications platforms into new touch points with a wider audience?
I think the latter and as publishers figure out that they need to promote viewing of their increasing video content via some form of tune-in advertising, they will constitute a formidable new media force.
June 19, 2007
Summary Checklist for Evaluating Upfront Buy Proposals
- Are rating goals met in each daypart?
- Are variations vs. goals a result of buyer agility in response to changing market conditions or did the buyer just pay more than was budgeted to get to goals?
- What ratings currency was used and why?
a. Commercial ratings
b. DVR: “Live Plus What”
i. Have DVR ‘viewers’ been discounted for zapping?
ii. Why not live only?
- How does the pricing of the buy compare to industry averages and historical (e.g., year ago) buys?
a. Are comparisons done separately for broadcast and cable? They should be.
b. Are comparison done for each daypart? They should be.
c. Do comparisons take into account differences in the message length mix (i.e., per cent of ratings in :30’s vs. :15’s)? They should.
- Programming
a. What proportion of ratings are in high-rated shows? Average-rated? Low-rated?
b. What proportion of ratings are in proven returning shows vs. new programs?
c. Are recommended programs complementary to the target’s lifestyle and the ad message?
d. Were engagement metrics used to prioritize program selection?
- Platform extensions
a. Are there digital and/or emerging media extensions of the buys?
b. Is there research built into the buys to track performance beyond simple audience measurement?
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