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IMKTG REPORT 08.27.02:
Googles of Data; REAL HipHop; more...
>> "The prevalence of pornographic Web sites and e-mails is a lot
more than an insult to common decency; It's an increasing reason to keep kids
and families off the Internet." --Peter Chernin, president, NewsCorp
Good morning execs,
...right, and consumers should watch
more "Temptation Island" and the de-
humanizing, but ever popular, "Ame-
rican Idol" on Fox. "'American Idol'
brazenly shows off its three sponsors
Coca-Cola, Ford and MasterCard as
part of the contest, featuring titled
segments such as 'Coca-Cola Mo-
ments' and 'Ford Focus on the Con-
testants.' Fox Television chairman
Sandy Grushow recently called pro-
duct placement 'an important com-
ponent of our future.'" Wow. Do we
really want these people in charge of
what we see on TV? Anyway, this
Wed starts the CRM Expo @ Javits,
then the Adbumb Expo after party
(yeah, even expo's get after parties
in NYC) @ Spa. You guys should
attend both. And no, neither paid me
to say it, I just believe both are gonna
be worth the trip. Thurs is MTVs
VMAs. If you're going, I'd for you to
email me and tell me how it was, if
not, and you're going to watch it with
your kids, pay attention to the ads,
and MTVs use of the internet. You
might learn a few things. Last week,
the trend of releasing a study was
continued by dozens more companies.
I tried my best to spot them all for
you and put 'em here, but frankly,
after a while, it got a little difficult
to attach witty commentary to every
friggin' percentage... sorry. Enjoy.
READ MORE:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954651.html?tag=dd.ne.dht.nl-sty.0
http://www.msnbc.com/news/796647.asp
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=businessnews&StoryID=1351934
>
CONTENTS:
1. BRANDS&INSIGHTS: 4 Trends to Watch
2. CONSUMERFOCUS: Still Trying to Figure 'Em Out?
3. MEDIA&CONTENT: Getting REAL With HipHop
4. MGMT&OPS: Fax, Lists, and Video Tape
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION, Don't be greedy, pass this REPORT on.
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>>>>>
1. BRANDS&INSIGHTS: 4 Trends to Watch
1) Subscriptions online vs. online adver-
tising: we'll only learn the value of the
online subscription model come renewal
time, which many haven't seen yet, since
most companies initiated fees this year.
If offline publishing can't do it, how can
online? And should future subscription
models include some sort of continuous
subscription hook for consumers?
2) Would you sell ads on your baby's
carriage? Well, a Danish company foun-
ded by ad execs hope you would. They're
charging as much as $700 per sponsor
and giving carriages away to parents as
an innovative out-of-home media. Al-
though this doesn't really relate to the
internet, I couldn't help highlighting it as
an example of branding gone too far.
Most consumers just aren't that savvy
about corporate brands to realize that
it's an ad vs. a new product. Lets say
Gerber decides to advertise on these
carriages, will consumers now think
it's advertising or a new Gerber product
that they may not be willing to buy be-
cause they don't feel Gerber knows any-
thing about carriages? 3) "Financial ser-
vices firms should focus more on retaining
customers than on obtaining new ones,
according to a [recent] survey". "...117
U.S. retail marketing departments in the
financial services industry, the focus was
on customer acquisition at 43%, followed
by cross-selling at 30%. Customer reten-
tion was top priority among just 9% of
those surveyed." 4) Are you managing
your brand online? If you even blink,
a squatter, an angry customer, a disgruntled
ex-employee, or any scandal can pop-up
online. That's the last thing you need when
you're trying to fire your CFO, cooperate
with the SEC, and keep customers from
fleeing these days. It's not hard, you just
have to make sure that every possible spel-
ling, variation, and image that appears to
look like your corporate brands are safely
tucked away in some corner of your server,
instead of anyone else's. And if you only
have several hundred brands, then it should
be a snap, right?
BOTTOM LINE: 1) Subscription sucks,
but it works. Don't depend on either solely.
And don't forget, always gauge your custo-
mers price sensitivity by asking them.
2) Carriage Media = stupid idea. You ever
heard of that saying, "The media is the
message"? There's a reason for it. Some-
times the location of your ad says more than
the actual ad itself, and in the case of carriage
media, it would be silly of you to place a brand
like Heinz, BP Amaco, or Hummer on a
medium that doesn't quite associate well
with a carriage & will surely end up spoiled
by baby juices and other soilage. 3) I'm still
kinda shocked that financial services com-
panies are trying to win me over. It's even
more obvious in the NYC market where
every major bank in the world is trying to
get a foothold with less technology and more
tender loving care from human tellers. Not
only are they making me feel less loyal to
any one brand, but with all this competition,
it's hard to position any bank as better than
the next when all they do is hold my money.
4) The top brands in the world manage their
brands just fine. From McD's to AmEx, they
all understand that they can't just allow any-
one to go willy-nilly around with their
assets. So, since they're making billions
and you're not, perhaps we should take
their example and protect our brands online.
But please, use a pro... yes, I'm a pro.
READ MORE:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,BT_CO_20020816_002820,00.html
http://www.edisonresearch.com/internet_viii_graphs.htm
http://www.variety.com,
"'Brother 3' draws crowds to Internet feed"
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=35758
http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=21279
http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artcategory.cgi?category_id=14&a=21338
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/10789_1449131
Airline industry lands own Web domain, By Frank Barnako, CBS.MarketWatch.com,
Last Update: 8:42 AM ET Aug 21, 2002
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/news/082202b.asp
http://www.internetnewsbureau.com/archives/2002/aug02/asnoe.html
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2. CONSUMERFOCUS: Still Trying to Figure 'Em Out?
EarthLink rocks, AT&T is good enough,
but AOL sucks. "Dial-up ISPs account
for 82% of the market, while high-speed
subscriptions have increased to 18% from
13% last year." Why is the biggest, the
crappiest? Simple, they forgot that they
are a connector, not a content company.
By trying to be both, they're failing at both.
The business of ISPs is simple. You con-
nect me to the web, then, leave me alone.
AOL doesn't see it that way, and after
years of high customer churning, tons of
free-bes, and counting inactive members
(like me), they swear they rule. I know
this goes against everything I used to say
about AOL, how they would rule some-day.
But that was under previous management,
so, it's OK, I'm still not wrong. But what
do consumers want? Last week, the top
searches for 25-45 year olds online were
the West Nile virus, followed by Dragon-
ball, Elvis, Anna Kournikova, and Vin Die-
sel. The problem with understanding con-
sumers isn't that consumers aren't telling
you what they want, it's that most marke-
ters just don't listen. Even "though the
2002 ForeSee Results/University of Mi-
chigan Customer Index awarded Google
with a score of 80 out of 100, Nielsen//
NetRatings determined in July the search
engine claimed only about 14% of total
unique search traffic." It seems that re-
gardless of what consumers tell us they
want, we're so accustomed to following
click-thrus, that wen they actually tell us
what they want, we don't believe them.
For example, even though paid-per-place-
ment has worked fine without gov inter-
vention, that hasn't stopped the gov from
requesting changes to search engines.
25% of company employees consider
themselves addicted to the surfing and
shopping on the internet, which wastes
one full workday & over $20 billion bucks
and growing, yet only 8% of companies
think it's bad. 34% of teens said that
marijuana is the easiest drug for them to
buy, yet, 75% haven't tried smoking it.
Some research company out in Illinois
says teen boys 12-19 would rather tune
into ESPN & EPSN2, rather than MTV,
Fox, and The Cartoon Network. My
own agency's research into the TV pre-
ferences of 16-19 yrs olds boys say they
prefer "the Simpsons" over any other
programming. Customers give return
business to quality establishments, they
prefer bad news first, regardless of the
order of the news, TV ads are ok on 9/11,
and "8% [of moms] compare prices at
the shelf while shopping; 64% shop at
more than one store to get bargains; 35%
have driven home to get coupons they
forgot, ...24% have tried to use an ex-
pired coupon. 66% say they can save
money without compromising quality.
84% avoid ATMs that charge fees, and
bargain hunters will drive an average of
five miles for the lowest gas price". "20%
of U.S. pop, engage in some form of re-
gular physcial fitness activity, with interest
in strength training increasing 53% over
the past 10 yrs." "Health clubs reported
a 63% increase in membership in the last
10 yrs.
BOTTOM LINE: Yeah, I know, I did
some stretching to be able to squeeze all
these numbers in there, but you get the
point. Customers know what they want,
it's up to us to decide which is more useful,
what the research tells us or what the
consumer tells us.
READ MORE:
EarthLink tops ISP satisfaction survey, By Frank Barnako, CBS.MarketWatch.com,
Last Update: 10:43 AM ET Aug 20, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954350.html?tag=dd.ne.dht.nl-sty.0
http://www.theacsi.org/second_quarter.htm
West Nile, 'XXX' drive Lycos searches, By Frank Barnako, CBS.MarketWatch.com,
Last Update: 10:43 AM ET Aug 20, 2002
http://www.emarketer.com/news/article.php?1001523&ref=ed
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954171.html?tag=dd.ne.dht.nl-hed.0
One in four employees addicted to Web, By Frank Barnako, CBS.MarketWatch.com,
Last Update: 8:42 AM ET Aug 21, 2002
Shopping, on the job, By Frank Barnako, CBS.MarketWatch.com, Last Update: 9:38
AM ET Aug 23, 2002
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/10793_1451381
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/8-20-2002/20020820071501_34.html
http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1613382
http://www.meetingnews.com/meetingnews/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1612281
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/19130.html
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2002-08-19-911-ads_x.htm
Brandweek Newsletter - Sports & Entertainment, Tuesday, August 20, 2002
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3. MEDIA&CONTENT: Getting REAL With HipHop
"Since
1993, Time Spent Listening (TSL)
[to radio] among 12 to 17s is down 15%
to 13 hours and 45 minutes per week.
TSL among 18 to 24s is down 18% to
19:30. The figures for young men are
particularly troublesome, with TSL for
boys age 12 to 17 currently at 11:45 per
week and TSL among 18-24 men currently
at 19:30 per week." From not enough
to so-irrelevant-they-don't-even-remember-
to-listen, this group just doesn't really
use radio as a big portion of their media
consumption. When asked "if you had
to choose between giving up all of the
television in your home or giving up your
Internet access at home, which would you
rather give up first?" this group said 50%
would give up the internet, 47% would give
up TV, 3% didn't know. These studies
also go on to explain streaming media
usage by this group. 22% of all Ameri-
cans listen to streaming audio, and 12%
watch streaming video. With a market
like this, is it any wonder that RealNet-
works is making all the moves it's making,
from hiring a new chief to offering a
player that plays anything and everything,
that way, they become the preferred
media player, regardless of what format
the consumer likes. But what exactly
do consumers want to listen and watch?
(Yes, besides porno, which I mentioned
last week that Real should seriously con-
sider since that category of entertainment
makes over $1 billion a year online and
generates over 28 million UVs/month,
according to the most recent stats). "A
national survey of 12 to 24 year olds, ...Hip-
Hop & Rap (combined into one category)
basically demolished any other music type.
Just under half of all 12-24s said that they
listen to Hip-Hop & Rap frequently (49%).
The next closest music types were R&B
and Alternative Rock tied at 34%. Hip-Hop
& Rap proved equally popular for young
men and young women, and was only
slightly more popular with 12-17s than
with 18-24s. While it is much more popu-
lar with African-Americans and Hispanics,
Hip-Hop & Rap is still by far the most
popular music among White 12 -24s."
What's interesting is that most consumers
don't pay for any of this content, whether
porno or HipHop. And record labels are
going nuts trying to figure out what to do.
Now, after initiating a lawsuit that's trying
to force ISPs to cut access to certain sites
and dropping a lawsuit trying to shut down
Chinese sites bootlegging their music,
they've resorted to uploading spoofs,
samples, and loops to pass off as the real
things. As consumers continue to use
the internet more than any other media,
content companies continue to try and
avoid going out of business.
BOTTOM LINE: I've said it before,
and I'll say it again, get your money
out of music and advertising out of radio.
They ain't going anywhere. Consumers
that use online streaming media even pay
attention to more ads, pay most fees, and
are gradually dedicating more time to the
web. And with Real's moves, you should
invest your money with them.
READ MORE:
http://www.edisonresearch.com/radiosucks.htm
http://www.edisonresearch.com/TV%20in%20the%20New%20Media%20World.htm
RealNetworks makes nice with rivals, By Frank Barnako, CBS.MarketWatch.com,
Last Update: 10:43 AM ET Aug 20, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-tech-realnetworks.html?todaysheadlines
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/19135.html
http://www.edisonresearch.com/hiphop.htm
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-954782.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Internet-Blocking-Suit.html?todaysheadlines
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42239-2002Aug20.html
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/ht/1700/8-20-2002/20020820141501_19.html
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4. MGMT&OPS: Fax, Lists, and Video Tape
If you got a fax machine, and you've
given your number out, chances are
you get junk faxes, too. First Avon
ladies, then junk mail and telemarketers,
email seems to have been next, but
broadcast faxing actually annoyed
people first. I am personally glad
that I do not suffer from junk faxes,
but many others can't say the same.
In fact, these "victims" have banded
together to sue one of the biggest
broadcast faxers around, fax.com,
in a $2.2 trillion lawsuit. I'm sure you
already know since it's been all over
the place, however, is this a good way
to do business? To sue a competitor,
or any other business, for that matter,
for cash you can use to stay in business?
Personally, I think that lawsuits are a
good weapon in your business arsenal,
however, only when they achieve a
desired affect, whether to stall, or cause
the other company to go out of business
or pay you money. However, when it's
just out of principle, it's silly. Thinking
about broadcast faxing, emailing, any-
thing? Well, forget it. Trends in the
business of list brokerage indicate that
niche b-2-b list prices are increasing.
Some are now $115 CPM to as high
as $200 CPM. Imagine paying that much
for the internet? It'd be cheaper to pay
a celebrity to go on CNN for you to
endorse your product. Remember
my commentary in last week's IMKTG
REPORT about the value of using
celebs to endorse your product? Well,
CNN will "reveal when guests promote
drugs for companies" and Black
Enterprise magazine listed Tiger Woods,
the Williams Sisters, Michael Jordan,
several basketball players and actors
as the most influential A.A. celeb
endorsers.
BOTTOM LINE: There are several
things you can extract from here, among
them, strategic lawsuits, iMarketing
over broadcast faxing, emailing, and
re-consider celeb endorsements for your
brand. I'd go into this deeper, but it's
mostly follow up to my analysis last week,
and I'm not in the business of wasting
your time.
READ MORE:
http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artcategory.cgi?category_id=19&a=21383
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3914588.htm
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/ht/1700/8-23-2002/20020823063001_02.html
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/19153.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-tech-spam-fax.html?todaysheadlines
BtoB's Daily News Alert, August 23, 2002
BtoB's Daily News Alert, August 21, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/23/business/media/23DRUG.html
Brandweek Newsletter - Sports & Entertainment, Tuesday, August 20, 2002
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