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Archive for the ‘Emerging Media’ Category

DRTV Will Benefit from New Technology

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010


As new technology continues to explode around us, many of us continue to assess the impact it will have on both consumers and marketing. Call it half-glass-full thinking, but it appears to us that this is all good, particularly for DRTV marketers.

Upon reading the article below about ESPN’s expansion into 3-D (in addition to mobile, online, iPads, etc…) the line that jumped out of the article was, “New second and third screens, online, iPad, mobile, are not cannibalizing traditional media. ” Said another way, it would appear that most of the new technology is adding to, not taking from, traditional media.

ESPN Pushes 3-Screen Approach, But TV Still King

Wayne Friedman, Jun 15, 2010

Las Vegas, NV — ESPN isn’t just about all screens all the time; it’s about content producers all working together, which can be rare in media. It’s also about moving fast with new technologies.

“Digital producers sit next to online producers [who] sit next to TV producers,” says George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN Inc. and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, speaking at the Nielsen Consumer 360 conference.

“I don’t believe in silos,” he says. “I hate hearing about silos.”

ESPN recently built the biggest digital-TV facility in Bristol, Conn., which the company believes is the largest facility of its kind in the U.S.

ESPN has been pushing its three-screen approach for some time now — whether it’s traditional TV, online, mobile or the iPad. These businesses are still growing, although the latter is small. “Nearly 10% of the people who watch the World Cup, and who enjoyed, weren’t watching on TV,” he says.

Television remains the big gun for ESPN. “Television is the Mac truck of media usage,” he says. Eighty percent of the sports network viewership comes from TV. New second and third screens, online, iPad, mobile, are not cannibalizing traditional media.

Bodenheimer says 75% of ESPN’s traditional TV usage comes from male viewers, with 85% of ESPN’s new digital video products also consumed by men. But he adds that the network has women users; it’s just that the cumulative usage of men versus women is much higher.

ESPN’s rapid deployment of new technology is necessary — even with doubters. “It’s very easy to throw your hands up [about 3D],” says Bodenheimer. “How big? How fast? What about the glasses? The answer is: We don’t know… [but] if we are going to continue to be leaders, then we must launch [these products].”

Why is this good for DRTV marketers? First, traditional TV media will continue to grow in the near future as the population increases. One only has to count the increasing number of cable/digital networks to bear this out. As we all know, more air time means lower rates, etc…

What’s even more intriguing is the opportunity new media presents for DRTV marketers. While much of the new media is still over-priced on a CPM basis, just imagine the day when those costs come back to reality. Combine these more rational media costs with DRTV’s ability to both utilize video content to drive a response, and track every single spot aired. Based on our experience in new media, that day is fast-approaching.

So get your 3D glasses on, grab your iPad and hold on, it’s going to be a fun ride!

Original article here:  ESPN Pushes 3-Screen Approach, But TV Still King

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

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Do Longer Length DRTV Spots Belong Online? Just ask Hulu.

Monday, May 10th, 2010


It’s no secret, video on the web is booming.  More and more venues are being created to showcase online video, and as a result, advertisers are presented with increasing opportunities to use their existing spots on the internet.

But virtually all of them currently focus the super-short :30s and :15s length creative.  Where are the opportunities for DRTV marketers who use longer length spots?

The answer may surprise you: Hulu.

About a year and a half ago, Hulu ran an experiment where consumers were given a choice: they could view their online content with a longer-length :120 ad at the start, or with multiple 30 second ads during the program.  The results were astonishing – nearly 90% of Hulu viewers opted for the longer, two-minute ad.

What’s more, the overwhelming opt-in rate for the longer length ads strongly suggests a greater engagement level, as well.  A longer spot with a higher opt-in, greater engagement and more options for messaging than my :30s?  Marketers took quick notice, and blue chip companies from American Express to Sprint all used longer length creative on the site.

The takeaways are pretty clear to Eicoff: short copy may rule the roost now, but it would appear clear that :120s and :60s will eventually find their rightful place online, just as they have on TV.

Original article here: Why Long-Form Ads Are the Wave of the Future

Scott Ballew is Account Supervisor at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

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Where Emerging Media and DRTV Overlap

Friday, January 22nd, 2010


There is much focus these days in the trade publications on emerging media.  It is a very broad term that often scares traditional DRTV clients.  It should not.  Much of what makes emerging media exciting overlaps well with traditional DRTV:

  • Highly measurable
  • Easy to target specific demographics
  • Platforms that are conducive for response
  • Pricing models that allow for low-cost testing

It is true that the emerging media world is very broad and rapidly changing market. In this post I would like to focus on a few of the key areas where emerging media and DRTV overlap:

  • Alternate buying platforms (Google TV, Admira)
  • Interactive TV (TiVo, RFI)
  • Online Video

One reason these all work so well is that they are rooted in the power of utilizing video to drive response and serve as a new way for the ad to generate response.  Alternate buying platforms are the easiest emerging media tool for a DRTV company to grasp.  You are buying the same media and running the same creative, but the buying process is more intelligent due to some very exciting technology from companies like Google and Microsoft (Admira).  We have had great success using these platforms as additional tools in our media tool box.

Interactive TV allows the consumer easily respond to a call-to-action — most often via the click of a remote.  TiVo has proven a very successful tool for our clients.  Their platform is very advertising friendly- especially with the addition of show tags and pause screen tags.  We are now able to advertise on shows that typically are off limits for DRTV clients.  RFI capabilities are currently rolling out on other platforms and should be a great tool to generate cost-effective responses in 2010.

Online video has been the hot medium for the last two years.  Unfortunately, the large growth in online video consumption has not been matched in ad spending by DRTV-minded advertisers. That may change in 2010 as the number of consumers watching longer-length videos increases and the cost of online video ads comes down.  The willingness of ad networks and publishers to test CPC (cost per complete call) and even CPS (cost per sale) pricing is also increasing, which is a very good sign for the DRTV market.

This was just a very brief skim of just a few of the exciting emerging media tools our clients are using to generate immediate, measurable results.  More to come…

Matt Cote is Associate Director of Emerging Media at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

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TV Viewership and Its Impact on DRTV

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009


Much has been written about the demise of television at the hands of the web. The recent report issued from Nielsen may put a snag in the theory that TV is a dying medium.

The graph below indicates that TV viewership continues to grow, and hit an all-time high last quarter. This by no means diminishes the role of the internet (and, more importantly, its role as a DRTV response option), but it does give one pause to think that HD-quality 52-inch television viewing is going to be replaced by people viewing shows on their cellphones anytime soon.

New Picture

The skeptics will say that viewership may be increasing for viewers 18+ but the next generation of viewers will act differently. This may be true, however Nielsen’s latest data on viewers 2-11 indicate that viewership is increasing there as well.

New Picture (1)

Web Impact on DRTV

Many of us remember the heady times of the late ‘90’s in Silicon Valley. Start-up internet companies in garages were receiving millions of dollars in seed money. As the web continued its growth, one had to naturally begin to wonder what the web’s impact would be on the television industry, and on DRTV specifically.

Looking back on it, the internet is the best thing that ever happened to the DRTV industry. The primary benefit: accountability. Marketing and product managers have had to become much more accountable when it comes to their marketing budgets. And for many marketers, take a guess what is usually the largest line item in their marketing budget: TV.

DRTV has allowed marketers to better justify the dollars they spend on TV. As the technology continues to evolve, there is no doubt this efficiency and accountability will continue to grow.

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

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