As the desire for content control continues to increase and the cost of internet-connected TVs continues to decline, penetration of Smart TVs is predicted to reach nearly half of American households by the end of the holiday season. Just in time for the growing adoption of the new technology, LG is teaming up with online video advertising network YuMe to bring advertising to TV sets in a new way. Without needing a separate device such as a Roku or Boxee, people who own LG internet-connected TVs will see ads not only while watching programs, but also while searching for programs to watch.

Toyota Motor Sales USA will be the first sponsor, but we expect to see more as companies like Samsung, Panasonic and LG are beginning to develop partnerships with YuMe and/or Tremor Video. Spreading use of the technology, plus consumers’ shifting tastes to over-the-top video options with more control and substantially less advertising, challenges marketers to reach and engage this audience without annoying them.

Advertisers must remember the importance of providing ads that are interesting and relevant to the consumer. The new technology conveniently lends itself to this objective, something LG and YuMe intend to capitalize on. The application providers will also get a cut of the revenue, as well as approval of the ads that will air while their product is loading. Ad networks, TV manufacturers and content publishers working together to make internet-connected TV ads contextually relevant for the consumer means that everyone wins, including the advertisers gutsy enough to take a chance with new technology.

In advertising we are always talking about putting the right message, in front of the right person, at the right time. The rapidly evolving advertising technologies online allow us to get closer to this goal then ever before. When it comes to search marketing people are typing in exactly what they want, and therefore giving you as an advertiser an opportunity to capitalize on this.

Many companies take advantage of this and deliver highly tailored ads to match the search queries. The result is that people expect their ads to be targeted so when you see an advertisement that doesn’t fit with your search query, it can be quite offensive. I was researching some text ads for a campaign when I ran across a perfect example from Wal-Mart of why you should make sure that your agency is using negative keyword targeting for their search campaigns.

It would have taken 30 seconds to add “coping” as a negative keyword to prevent this from happening.

This ad represents two failures. Firstly the ad clearly shouldn’t be displayed for this search query. Secondly the ad itself has a typo, which is a minor detail given the offensive nature of the keyword it is paired with but it is yet another sign that their QA process failed.

This is particularly bad given that the company is Wal-Mart, which people are far more likely to pounce on for blunders such as this. When a person types in “coping with a death in the family” I don’t think they want to see this message from Wal-Mart, especially not at this time.

In true integrated fashion, TargetCast, with the help of media partner Slate, successfully put together a location-based cross platform engagement strategy designed to target the higher education community and encourage them to roll over assets with TIAA-CREF.  The program included digital banners, content syndication, and promotional ad units fueling interest for the Slate Gabfests. At the live event, there was signage, marketing collateral, live reads, as well as a special “guests of honor” dinner with TIAA-CREF participants and Gabfest and Slate talent and management. The Gabfest is a weekly podcast series operated by Slate focusing on Politics, Sports, and Culture. Collectively, the three podcast editions attract more than 1MM downloads a month. TargetCast secured a sponsorship opportunity for TIAA-CREF to take the Gabfests on the road, executing live events at key universities and institutions around the country.

TIAA-CREF, providing the higher education community with financial services, understood that engaging their participants through quality content within a venue for relevant live programming, would be a door opener to growing assets under management.  The campaigns proved highly successful with significant lift in assets under management directly attributable to the Slate Gabfest events.  The Gabfests have been recognized by AdAge as the “Best Podcast Series” recently winning their Vanguard Award in 2011 and will continue to be an integral part of TargetCast’s media strategy for TIAA-CREF into 2012.

For more information about the AdAge/Vanguard Awarded Slate Gabfest, follow this link:  http://adage.com/article/special-report-media-vanguard-awards/media-vanguard-awards-digital-natives/230922/)

In a recent New York Times article, Mickey Meece describes her news consumption routine: pick up the paper, toss it on the table with intentions to read later, get the news on her iPad instead. She lists out her regular rotation of news sources, which are different than mine and probably different than yours as well. Unlike the days when everyone received the same newspaper and without the myriad additional sources available online, our consumption of printed news is becoming more instant, customizable, and as a result, more segmented.

But this comes at a price. Not only for the newspaper industry feeling the pressure from an ever increasingly digital world, but also for the consumer. Meece points out numerous news aggregating apps for tablets that were created as a way to access all the information a newshound could want, all in one place and exactly how you want it…if you’re willing to work for it. Until the day when apps can read our minds and know what we want, we still have to go through the manual labor of telling the app to build something full of must reads while leaving out the clutter.

Is it worth it to today’s ever-on-the-go consumer though? We could be content to sit back and have the news companies deliver to us, either physically or electronically, the stories their editors deem important enough to print and simply pick and choose which sections we want to take in. Or we could be proactive and use those electronic sources to become our own editors to get precisely the newspaper we want, thus becoming more engaged and empowered readers.

These one stop shops are not only a convenient way to gather all of our favorite news sources and content sections, it should also be a way for advertisers to conveniently target interested consumers. Yet while sampling 5 of the aggregating apps Meece mentions, I was not served a single ad unless I clicked through a headline to read the story on the source website. A lack of ads seems such a waste since I am consciously handing the apps my interests along with my attention. The increasing customization available through these apps will benefit consumers as well as advertisers, if only they’re willing to put in the effort.

Media Post reported in their Daily News newsletter on Thursday 9/22/11 that Nielsen had a major ratings glitch.

While the newsletter implied that the reported C3 ratings starting in January 2011 were incorrect and would impact millions of dollars invested in national television advertising,  the news of this major glitch appear to be wildly exaggerated.

As we first reported, the glitch in ratings was discovered in one application, NPower.  The latest information from Nielsen is that the problem is confined to the reach and frequency part of this application and does not impact the C3 ratings used for negotiation, purchase and posting of national television buys.

This situation exposes three very important challenges for our industry.

• First, before newsletters are distributed, a careful examination of all the available facts with corroboration (or what the news business refers to as 2 independent sources) should be part of the process.
• Second, the huge databases that Nielsen produces on a daily basis must be carefully scrutinized and maintained as they have become part of our daily review of rating performance.  This is an important process required by audits of most major rating services and carried out by the government manditated MRC (Media Ratings Council).
• Any new service which attempts to enter the very complicated measurement arena of US national television ratings must be prepared to operate under the same audit process if it is to become an auxiliary metric used for the evaluation of television viewing behavior.

In sum, measuring a medium which spans multiple time zones, four broadcast networks, over 100 cable networks, numerous syndicated programs, 210 individual markets and a multitude of television stations in each DMA is not easy.  The amount of data that needs to go through the daily rating calculation processes is enormous.

We must be sure that as changes are made and new services enter this marketplace they offer improvements which lead to better measurement, and not just changes or enhancements which cannot be validated over time.

If you happen to be riding the 2/3 train over the next few weekends you may find yourself riding in a very different kind of subway car.

Though the MTA has sold ad space at subway stations and within train cars for quite a while (I often wonder how Dr. Zizmor has been able to afford it all these years) they have taken a visually stunning next step.

I have heard that HBO is paying the MTA in excess of $150,000 per weekend (4x in Sept) to run a Prohibition-era train along the aforementioned lines to promote the 2nd season of Boardwalk Empire- set in 1920s Atlantic City.

HBO has also hired street teams which will be walking around random locations in Manhattan handing out free Boardwalk Empire branded Metrocards (single rides only). This is a really great “guerilla” effort, promoting an even better show (check it out if you haven’t already). I only find it slightly disturbing that the cost of a monthly metrocard is now $104 and yet this 1920’s era train looks much more comfortable than what I ride on now:

Talk about a back fire. Only one month into the company split of Netflix (into Netflix – Streaming and Qwikster – DVD’s), the once skyrocketing video entertainment powerhouse has lost over 1 million subscribers. Also, they have employed a more than backwards business strategy. Netflix CEO is effectively eliminating his core business prospects from the funnel, making it more difficult to convert new users. If Netflix remained as just Netflix, cross selling opportunities or possibily upselling opportunities would have remained from DVD to Streaming. Now, a user of Netflix DVD is automatically enrolled in Qwikster DVD, not only losing brand loyalists, but also making it more complex to be signed up for both services. Two companies. Two contracts. Too many issues. Without the brand Netflix for the DVD business, there is an increased concerned that users will become brand agnostic and switch to a different provider.

Check out the articles here

Intrigued as we are about the communication habits of America’s consumer, we looked at Millennials and other generations’ interest in advertising and media usage and found some interesting – and surprising – nuggets of information.

Overall, Late Boomers (47-55) don’t have strong feelings for or against advertising or a specific medium, but other generations’ interest in advertising generally corresponds to the medium they use most. Specifically, Millennials (18-34) are the only age group to show significant interest in alternative advertising places.

Below are more detailed findings.

Interest in advertising:
Not surprising…
-Pre-Boomers (65+) view newspaper and magazine advertising as useful and informative
-Millennials view Internet advertising as more useful and amusing than advertising in other media
Surprising…
-Early Boomers (56-64) and Pre-Boomers dislike TV advertising

Media quintiles:
Not surprising…
-Early Boomers and Pre-Boomers are heaviest newspaper readers and TV (Total and Primetime) viewers
-Late Boomers’ highest indices were for radio and outdoor, but were only borderline significant
Surprising…
-Millennials and Gen X (35-46) are the heaviest Internet users

While older consumers say that they dislike TV advertising and distrust and dislike the advertisements, TV is still their most utilized medium. At the other end of the age spectrum, Millennials trust and are amused by the advertising found on their most used medium, the internet. As the web continues to permeate into more aspects of everyday life, advertisers should be careful not to over-saturate and potentially jade this currently captive audience.

Yahoo’s summary ouster of CEO Carol Bartz this past Tuesday was quite a surprise in more ways than one.  From a big picture perspective though, the news should not really come as a surprise aside from the way in which it was delivered;  Ms. Bartz was reportedly notified of her termination via phone call from Chairman Roy Bostock.

It was not long ago we wrote of the Yahoo and Bing search alliance then presided over by the newly minted Bartz, (September 2009 to be exact).  Her “vision [was to position Yahoo at] the center of people’s lives online” as well as to better address Google’s increasing search marketshare.  Her goal at the time was to shift the company’s focus to their bread and butter, content and display advertising.  The company was losing traction and focus even back then, which coincidentally precipitated shareholders’ ugly dismissal of co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang.  Quantcast’s rough estimates show Yahoo traffic nose-diving in July 2010, but flapping and fluttering downward from as early as 2008.

Yahoo was once the big fish in the industry, but has struggled to find its identity the past several years.  Is it a technology company, a media property, a search engine, or what?  Corporate direction?  The answer to this question is always the responsibility of the CEO, and as such the failure to find it incurs the blame.  Both Jerry Yang and Carol Bartz are immensely intelligent and talented people, but both seemed unable to find the compass needed to direct Yahoo, and therefore, they failed.  Should they really take the blame though?

It certainly can be no consolation for shareholders to see existing CFO, Timothy Morse, assume the position of interim chief executive (not to take anything away from the man himself).  He will reportedly lead a team of 5 senior executives in the management of the company.  Yahoo is also considering a possible divestment of Asian holdings to right the ship.

We’re proud to announce TargetCast has been named to Inc. Magazine’s 500|5000 List of 2011 Fastest-Growing Private Companies for the fourth time since 2007.

Thank you to our dedicated staff and strong client partnerships who have helped us achieve continued success and healthy growth. We’ve come a long way and anticipate an even brighter future for 2012 and beyond!!