With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror, advertisers are looking forward to the next big opportunity, albeit with a slightly different target demographic. ABC is airing The 84^th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 26. In terms of ad revenue, The Academy Awards are second only to the Super Bowl.

After a disastrous attempt to bring in younger viewership via hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco last year, Billy Crystal will return as this year’s emcee.

If you ask most people why they watched the Super Bowl, you would get two main responses – the game itself or the ads within the game. Although we have plenty of Monday Morning QBs at Harmelin to help break down the game, we only have one Monday Morning QB to break down the best and worst commercials that ran during the big game.

Amazon announced their fourth quarter earnings on January 31. Amazon’s sales fell short of analysts’ estimates, sending the retailer’s shares plunging in the market, despite an impressive $17.4 billion in net sales this quarter, a 35% increase vs. year ago.

This strong sales increase has been largely driven by the success of the Kindle Fire: “our best selling product across both the US and Europe” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.

Advertising’s biggest stage is set! The NFL, NBC and advertisers are all thrilled with the “super” match up, the New England Patriots versus the New York Giants.  Two teams from two of the largest TV markets in the country. That, coupled with the tremendous popularity of the NFL, has Super Bowl XLVI poised to be the most watched event ever in U.S. TV history. Last year’s Super Bowl is currently the most watched event ever in U.S. TV history. According to Nielsen, that game, broadcast on Fox, achieved 111 million viewers. This year’s match-up on the field has all kinds of intriguing storylines, like the rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl when the Giants spoiled the Patriots’ perfect season. However, the interruptions within the game are where I -- and many others -- will be focusing attention.  Yes, I am talking about the commercials.  I guess you would expect nothing less from an ad guy.

In this post (or not so post depending on who you talk to!) recession world, consumer’s habits continue to evolve and advertisers strive to keep up. Consumers may still be concerned with pricing, but unless quality is present, then the value is not there. USA Today addressed this trend back in June ‘11 in a cover story article: “A growing number of Americans don’t measure value only by price. They examine how much is actually in a container. They factor in family preferences. And they still demand the kind of quality they used to get in pricier products. This new American shopper is changing the way retailers market, merchandise, and maneuver.” Following are a few examples of advertisers who have proactively adjusted their creative to focus more on quality and less on price. In many instances, price is not even addressed since competitive pricing is basically assumed anymore.
 

About six years ago, a colleague of mine delivered an eye-opening presentation on the future of media at a symposium organized by the Cornell Radio Guild. “A tsunami is coming,” Steve Marx (Chairman Emeritus of the Center for Sales Strategy in Tampa, FL) warned us. The tsunami, as Steve described it, was a digital wave that threatens the usage (and business model) of all mass media properties. He painted a picture of endless media options featuring better technology, less regulation, and minimal operating costs that would fragment audiences, and make things like a professionally printed newspaper or an FCC license a liability and not a benefit. “One other thing,” Steve warned us: “Not many people are ready to hear this message yet.” 

Happy holidays, from all of us at Harmelin Media!

Daily deal websites like Groupon or LivingSocial might be the next “big thing” in marketing  (if it isn’t already), with expected revenues of $1.25 billion in 2011.  I, personally, have contributed a good amount to those revenues.  For hard core daily deal users, they know that this isn’t just a two-site showdown. Many more sites have joined the party, with new sites popping up everyday.

BuyWithMe.com, Dealfind.com, Eversave.com, Crowdsavings.com, Tippr.com, KGBDeals.com, Zozi.com, DealSurf.com.

These sites offer deals on food, beverage, travel, personal care, even cosmetic surgery. If you don’t have insurance for dental care, hold out for a daily deal, a dentist with a deal is bound to pop up in your area over the next week or so. While we’re now in the throes of holiday shopping, these daily deals sites are getting a leg-up on the traditional retail competition by offering competitive deals and even rolling out new products.

by the Harmelin Planning Advisory Group

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As we move forward into the 2012 election cycle, current estimates from Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group place a record $3.2 BILLION in television advertising from political candidates and related political organizations. This is an anticipated 52% increase in TV spending from the last presidential election in 2008. The tremendous increase can be attributed to the landmark “Citizens United” ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 that protected corporate and union funding of political advertising under the First Amendment. The impact of the ruling was immediate; the 2010 political season had a record $2.4 billion in television advertising from political advertisers in what was a non-presidential election cycle.

The political windows for primaries (occurring January-June) are 45 days prior to the election date, and for the general election it is 60 days (September 5 - November 6).   After an analysis of spot TV data from Kantar Media, political advertising accounts for over 50% of all spot TV expenditures in the final weeks of an election cycle.  Political advertisers also look to spot TV to capture the attention of a very general target, leading to heavy, broad-based consumption of inventory.  It is this combination that leads to:

• Rate increases (between 7-15%) during the key election periods
• Inventory stresses on all dayparts
• Heavy pre-emptions of existing schedules
• Viewer fatigue of the barrage of political ads affecting overall ad attentiveness

By John Camilleri

There are many ingredients that contribute to a successful media plan. Looking at a cross section of plans we’ve worked on over the years, here are a few key factors that time and again contribute to success.

Fish where the Fish are

It is indeed a rare product or service that has flat sales across the US’s 210 TV DMAs. Distribution, pricing and competition are a few reasons why some markets deliver a much higher rate of return than others. Look to focus...