Updates from Tim RSS

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  Tim 8:00 pm on November 12, 2012 Permalink  

  World of Screens 

  Ha. To think they used to refer to television as the small screen. PCs. Tablets. Mini-tablets. Smartphones. Big-Screen TVs. Video displays in malls, stores and on billboards. And of course, the original big screen at your movie theater. All those screens are accompanied by a very important behavior: we’re watching more than ever before.

  As of the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report, we’re watching 155 hours of live television a month, plus another 12 hours or so of time-shifted/DVR TV. Some 86 million households now have broadband access; as a result over 150 million people now consume video on phones, tablets and PCs each month.

  One thing is for certain: if video is an important part of your communication plan, there is no shortage of ways to use it. The real question is, how can you use video most effectively?

  Commercial television is still important and viable. It is still the foundation for almost any media approach that includes video. But effective plans are no longer simply a matter of reach and frequency. Today we’re looking for the most efficient ways to target and aggregate just the right audience. Building the best strategy to do that means taking a more creative, more studied approach, so that we can find undervalued placements and placements that have the best likelihood of engaging the audience. Consider:

  1. Online streaming services are a relative bargain right now. Targeting options are outstanding, reaching even down to the zip code level. Clutter is minimal. A service like Hulu typically has far fewer ads than broadcast TV, often just a single ad in a break. Even better, the audience is almost certain not to “change channels” since that involves way too many clicks to accomplish. So you can pay less for a spot that is more likely to be seen by a well-targeted audience. Win. Win. Win. These services are still small, so they can’t form the foundation of a plan. But they can certainly extend it and improve efficiency.

  2. Cable offers more attractive options than ever before, with a growing list of popular programming, zoned targeting, and system interconnects all providing opportunities. Similar to streaming services, an advertiser with a good profile for customers and prospects can build the right audience at a great value.

  3. Online pre-rolls continue the theme of great targeting options and engaged viewers. Whether on smartphone, tablet or PC viewers of internet video have accepted :15 and :30 pre-roll ads to get to the content they want. With pre-rolls an important element is to make sure the ads are running on sites and on content that are favorable for the advertiser’s brand. We have great tools to help ensure make sure ads run where they should, but that’s another blog post.

  4. Multi-screen integration. We’re busy with our tablets and laptops while we’re watching TV. According to Nielsen, 45% are daily “simultaneous viewer,” and 7 in 10 do so at least “several times a week.” That’s an interesting opportunity for marketers who want to enhance the viewing experience and/or tie-in to the ads that are running on the TV screen. It’s an area for experimentation right now, but one that may yield rich rewards for the advertiser that provides additional value to the audience.

  5. Live sports and major events are the best opportunities to ensure an engaged audience through mainstream broadcast TV. A quick look at the ratings show they are dominated by sports and live shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Episodic TV has seen consistently declining ratings and is more susceptible to the whims of channel-changing viewers during commercial breaks.

  6. Learning Spanish because every week 15-20 of the 100 top-rated shows on television are Spanish-language programming. As our national demographics continue to reflect a growing Latino audience, advertisers need to recognize that their campaigns may benefit from a second language.

  Summing up:

  1. We have more screen opportunities than ever, and we’re watching more than ever.
  2. Old measures–reach and frequency–must be viewed in concert with new concepts: highly targeted reach and likelihood of viewer engagement.
  3. Don’t eliminate mass reach TV, but use it differently and supplement with highly efficient and impactful placements among smaller but well-targeted audiences.
   
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  Tim 11:13 pm on March 30, 2012 Permalink  

  My ad ran where? 

  A recent story in Adweek listed just about every possible peril of using ad networks for online display campaigns. It featured a case where display ads for major brands were running on a horribly-designed site full at least questionable if not downright offensive content.

  So should we flee as fast as we can from online networks? Hardly.

  Buying online media blindly from networks merely to get the best possible CPM carries risk. It’s not unlike buying run of network on cable. Sometimes you get good programming in good timeslots, sometimes you get garbage at 2:43am.

  Network buys need to be carefully purchased and closely monitored. When we’re purchasing a network, we research sites where we’ll be running in advance. That’s exactly what we did with a mobile network buy for a client that’s running right now. We eliminated questionable sites before the buy even went live. And it’s also why we have tools like Adometry, which allows us to track the exact sites and placements for our ads on a network and make adjustments if necessary.

  Ad networks can be highly effective. They reach broad audiences, they provide “one stop shopping efficiency” and pricing is often very attractive. But the buy has to be managed. It takes good tools and hard work to ensure the client’s money is well-spent. That’s where an agency can deliver real value for a client.
   
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  Tim 5:34 pm on November 17, 2010 Permalink  

  The Little Things 

  Little things say a lot about your brand. Think about your office. The materials used on surfaces. Books on your bookshelf. The computer on your desk. They all give a visitor clues about your brand. What message are you sending? And how can you change it to make it more consistent with your brand?
   
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  Tim 11:20 pm on November 12, 2010 Permalink  

  Strategy, Engagement, Accountability: A blueprint for success in a changing media world. 

  Do you feel the earth moving under your feet? We do, too. A massive shift is taking place in the media landscape; an upheaval that is permanently transforming the relationship between consumers and marketers.

  Connecting brands with the right audiences is a daunting task in today’s marketplace. The brand must be differentiated within millions of competing messages in an ever-expanding choice of media outlets.

  What’s more, consumers are taking a more active role in conversations about brands. Their blogs, online reviews and Facebook posts can equal or exceed the impact of a TV commercial or online display ad.

  The solution for marketers is simple, but not easy:
  Be authentic, accessible and valuable through innovative interaction with customers and prospects.

  At Copacino+Fujikado, we believe that people are inherently social and seek relationships not only with other people but also with brands. Brand stories, conversations and experiences in all forms can build lasting relationships between marketers and consumers.

  Today, the job of media is far more complex than simply planning and buying space and time. That’s why we have re-structured our media group into an interdisciplinary engine that combines strategy, engagement and accountability.

  Strategy is the science and art of knowing a brand, understanding the audience and finding the most effective way to connect the two. We have a suite of powerful research tools and processes: Knowledge yields consumer insights. Consumer insights lead to compelling messages.

  Engagement is connecting with people by using the full range of storytelling and conversational platforms available. We inform, entertain, provoke, converse and listen in many channels, simultaneously:

  Paid—mass media that gives messages immediate scale and reach.
  Owned—communication channels uniquely belonging to the brand, such as e-newsletters, apps and events.
  Social—the opportunity to carry on an intimate conversation through social media sites, blogs, word of mouth, etc.

  Accountability is the ongoing process of measuring and analyzing a communications program to track efficiency, impact and, ultimately, ROI.

  Clearly, this is not your father’s media department. It’s an integrated toolbox of skills and expertise that enables our clients to thrive in the changing world of marketing communications. Thirty years ago, there were no mobile phones. Twenty years ago, there was no web. Fifteen years ago, there were no blogs. Ten years ago, there was no Facebook. Five years ago, there was no Twitter. One year ago, there was no iPad. The only constant is going to be change. We can embrace and innovate. Or we can dwindle away. We prefer the former.

  David Miller is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    David Miller 12:39 am on November 13, 2010 Permalink

    Tim,

    Excellent points. Good read.

    There’s clearly been a tectonic shift (and it continues.) It seems everything marketers have needed to learn about media has been demonstrated by the Ice Age:

    Move, adapt or die.

    What’s really quite interesting (worrying?) is the profile of clients who once-upon-a-time relied on “traditional media” (too often not planned, projected and integrated) — who are now rushing headlong to social as a magical elixir. While they remain similarly sure what it does for their business or their brands, heck at least it doesn’t cost as much as network :60′s!! (I recently heard someone describe “Twitter” as the “the last refuge of the unaccountable.”)

    Undoubtedly the downturn has been pretty harsh to the ranks of communications directors, the primary basis for client-agency relationships. I suspect the slow build in the economy will have clients relying on trusted agents for customer insights, strategic pathfinding, inspired communications –- and critically — to be organized around the resolution of a business challenge, not simply a media flight.

    In short: C+F is in a great spot. The market is clearly coming to you. Can’t wait to see what’s next from you and your team.

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  Tim 8:46 pm on October 18, 2010 Permalink  

  Four Questions of Research 

  When a research project is under consideration, we should always spend a few minutes (or longer, if necessary) discussing what I like to call The Four Questions of Research. These are simple, easy to remember, yet surprisingly powerful planning tools.

  1. What do we know?
     Research can cover many different topic areas and take many forms. But often, the client knows the answer before research is ever conducted. Given that it takes time and money to conduct research, we should not be asking questions when we know the answer. Doing so is a waste of money that could be better spent learning answers that we don’t know.

     Similarly, sometimes there will be a desire to “throw in the kitchen sink,” asking questions about every conceivable subject on a study. The rationale for this approach is generally along the lines of “well, we’ve recruited the audience already, let’s ‘get our money’s worth.’” The problem is that more questions means more time for the respondent, and more time means a higher cost for the project. A second consideration is respondent fatigue. If the questionnaire or the interview takes too long, the respondent will be more inclined to simply stop responding, or worse, will provide answers without thought. Any of these results damage the quality of the research. So we shouldn’t ask questions we know the answer to simply because we can.

  2. What don’t we know?
     Engaging the client in this conversation defines the objective of the research. What are we trying to find out? If we answer this question well we will know a lot about research methodology to be employed.

     If we don’t have a clear objective for the research, we should not start designing the project.

  3. What would we do if we knew?
     We can use research to find out the answer to an infinite number of questions. But unless we are going to make a decision or take an action as a result of the research, we must question whether the expenditure is warranted. Further, understanding the decision that will be made a result of the research will help us better design the approach and methodology that we employ.
  4. How would ‘doing that’ impact the bottom line?
     In order to understand whether the research provides a positive return on the client’s investment, it’s a good idea to at least try to understand the impact we expect the decision to have. For example, perhaps we are conducting research to understand which of three potential market segments reacts most favorably to a new product concept. Let’s assume the impact of gaining the answer would be the following: by selecting the best target audience, we expect to be 20 percent more efficient with our $1,000,000 media buy, a savings of $200,000. In this case, a $50,000 research project to gain $200,000 in media savings would appear to be an excellent investment.

  Summary
  When considering a research project, use the four questions to determine whether research is warranted; to sharpen objectives; to provide good input for research design; and to help determine what the downstream value of the research will be.