Advertising Fuelosophy 101

The Top Ten Most-Liked Ads This Month

The following chart was published by Advertising Age listing the top 10 new ads that people like. It is interesting to see what type of ads are making an impact on people right now. From my perspective, many of these ads don't hit the like-ability scale. But, hey, the Toyota spot pushed a button for me ... well done on the not-so-subliminal messaging ... it makes a point without saying it. Any thoughts from your perspective on this list? That's my thought, what's yours.

NIELSEN IAG TOP 10 MOST-LIKED NEW ADS Sept. 21 to Oct. 18, 2009
TOP MOST-LIKED SPOT Actress and uber-sports-fan Alyssa Milano is also a clothing designer of team-branded sportswear for female fans. The spot for the NFL Touch Women's Fashion Collection starring its designer was the commercial most liked by viewers during the last month.
Rank	Brand	Description	Index
1	NFL	NFL Touch Women's Fashion Collection--Alyssa Milano wears team apparel and is shown flipping hair in slow motion.	181
2	Toyota	Little boy disapproves using basic car wash; father chooses ultimate wash instead; some day, this Camry could be his.	173
3	McDonald's	Every October, real people win real money playing Monopoly; woman shown playing on laptop.	145
4	Wendy's	Bacon Deluxe--Coworkers leap, run, and crash through window to get to a burger an employee just left.	144
5	Wonderful Pistachios	Beauty pageant contestant endorses cracking pistachio shells to help Americans build a better future.	144
6	Samsung	DualView Camera--British Royal Guard takes camera from woman and snaps a photo, before a gorilla takes the camera.	142
7	Disney Parks	Miss Piggy dreams about a date with man at a Disney park; give a day of service and get a one-day ticket.	141
8	Michelin	Michelin Man throws fuel efficient tires at an evil gas pump to save town; save up to 109 gallons of fuel.	140
9	Disney Parks	Muppets help out at a construction site; Miss Piggy bumps her head and another gets an electrical shock.	140
10	MasterCard	Little girl reads books while eating cereal before spilling milk; remembering to take it one day at a time: priceless.	130
Source: Nielsen IAG (NielsenIAG.com) Only new ad executions considered, airing weeks of September 21, 2009 to October 18, 2009. The Likeability Score is the percentage of TV viewers who report to like "a lot" an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing TV (among those recalling the brand of the ad). These scores are then indexed against the mean score for all new ads during the period (Likeability Index). 100 equals average. For example, with a Likeability index of 181 the top ranked NFL spot has proven to be 80% better-liked than the average new commercial during the past four-week period.

The New Face of Twitter

Twitter has unveiled its new homepage in the hopes to “to better show who we are," according to co-founder Biz Stone. The new landing page has a search box, information on Twitter trends and a panoply of more specific information about how they can use Twitter as well as live feeds of the most popular tweets.

As reported in AllThingsD, Stone said, “You can try it out without having to sign up, so you can get an idea of what Twitter is before you use it. We need to do a better job of explaining ourselves to people who hear about us and then have no idea what do to.”

Hopefully the redesign will go a long way in explaining to the 69% of adults who said they didn’t know enough about Twitter to have an opinion about it. This statistic was released in a new study by Harris Interactive.

I just tested the new Twitter homepage, and although it's an improvement, it’s not enough. It's not enough to just click on a subject and be dumped into a conversation topic with no explanation of what Twitter is really all about other than “Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.”  Wow, I can currently do that anywhere on the internet, TV or radio. Personally, I give it an A for effort, and a C on execution.

Note: To see the new page in action you either have to have no account or not currently be logged in.

The Internet is Quickly Becoming the Media of Choice

According to a recent report by The Media Audit, in the past three years, the average U.S. adult has nearly doubled their daily use of the Internet as the average U.S. adult spent 2.1 hours per day online in 2006, compared to 3.8 hours in 2008, an 81% increase over three years. I'm sure this is not a surprise for anyone.

However, in the same report, this statistic may be surprising: the internet now represents nearly 1/3 of the typical "media day" for all U.S. adults when compared to daily exposure to newspaper, radio, TV and outdoor advertising. And those who are considered heavy newspaper readers spend about as much time online today as the typical U.S. adult. According to the report, heavy newspaper readers, those who spend more than an hour per day reading, currently spend 3.7 hours per day online.  In 2006 the Internet represented only 18.4% of a heavy newspaper reader's "media day," but today it represents 28.4%.

Yes, friends this trend proves it -- the newspaper is not dead, it just isn't printed. It's still news and people want it, they just don't need it on paper. How about coining a new "label" for newspapers like "newsnet" or "newstronic" or "newsdigital" or "newsputer" or "newsscreen." I know these names may be lame, but you get my point.

Bob Jordan, President of The Media Audit concludes that, "Daily newspapers were the first to embrace a multi-platform distribution strategy amidst a period when consumers were spending more and more time with the Internet. And as a result, newspapers followed the way of the consumer. By doing so, they have broadened their reach to include younger consumers. And these consumers are buying new cars and driving sales for retailers who represent a significant portion of the newspaper industry's revenue... "

It's nice to read some positive reports regarding the newspaper industry and for those newspaper publishers that adapted quickly to internet usage. Read more about the study here.

Finally, the next time you finish reading the news at your favorite breakfast spot, just leave your laptop for the next person. That's my thought, what's yours?

Who’s Vain?

Starting tomorrow (June 13, 2009), Facebook will let users choose a username for their accounts.

Now it will be easy for people to direct others to see their words of wisdom by simply directing them to facebook.com/yourvanityhere.com.

 Get more details by going to the facebook blog.

Businesses can get in on the action too. If you had a business facebook account and a least 1000 followers on May 31st, you're eligible.

Any takers on when the facebook servers go down? I’m calling 11:37am (EST).

Web meets :30 spot?

Might the widely espoused death of the :30 spot be premature?  Maybe Mark Twain had a point.  Based on a recent article in MEDIAWEEK.COM, you could soon be seeing the convergence of Web advertising and :30 video commercial formats.  The mastermind behind this effort is David Payne, former head of CNN.com and current CEO of his company ShortTail Media.

This summer Payne plans on launching a beta test of the Digital 30 (D30), which is a full screen placement to showcase the traditional :15 and :30 television spot. If you are inclined to dismiss this as the next interuption to viewing content, consider how Payne is attempting to bring some innovation to the delivery of the video  by separating it from the content.  Unlike most Web video ads, the D30 will load between Web pages similar to an interstitial.  Payne is also trying to change, or least present an option to the currrent revenue model paradigm.  Instead of selling banner ads based against the current metrics of bulk-impressions, The D30 video ads would be sold based on a predetermined limited amount of inventory, with the caveat of capping frequency.

What type of response has Payne received?  He has met with approximately 20 of the Web Publishing's major players and has received a committment from Reuters with indications that MSNBC.com and Weather.com are giving strong consideration to joining the beta test.

Does this have a chance to create the next evolution of Web advertising and a new application for the traditional television spot?  I guess part of the answer resides in how much have brands currently advertising on the Web really embraced Internet in-page display ads as brand vehicles? In this day of ROI and justifying every single expenditure, familiarity with innovation is like comfort food. The other potential driving force in determing the future of The D30 is what is the tolerance of video users - is it high enough to embrace this type of advertising and how much license will be given to creative ingenuity and execution. 

Would love to hear your thoughts.  I can be contacted at bhadden@freshfuel.com.

Why The Real Deal Newspaper Can't Be Beat.

Newspapers seem to be disappearing faster than Sarah Palin after McCain lost the election.
I for one am sad. I tried an experiment this morning to attempt to understand what was getting me down. After all, truth be told I'm a digital junkie. I read almost everything these days, books included, on my iPhone or Laptop. However I am fairly ancient and have always relished my time with a newspaper over the years, particularly on the weekends. So today, since I don't get the paper delivered, I headed to my quiet reading corner on the couch in the living room, laptop under arm and settled myself amongst the cushions.

The sun was streaming through the window trying to tell those of us entrenched in another endless Michigan winter that spring was really trying hard to put it all behind us. That was the first problem. The sun. I fired up freep.com (the Detroit Free Press website) and settled in to read, only to find that a difficult proposition with the sun shining pleasantly through the window as it was. The warmth of those rays felt great, but I had to find another position away from them in order to see the screen. That was okay for a while until the battery heat from the laptop began to slowly cook my lap. More uncomfortable than worrisome because I'm done having kids.

During the work week and at most other times none of these seemingly trivial annoyances would have bugged me. But this was different. This was my time. Time I had spent on many other occasions simply relaxing and reading the paper - front to back, section by section. Very different to clicking around a website for any great length of time. I suspect the real difference is that during the busy work week I'm looking for sound bites and top-lines, much like the younger internet-bred Millennials and Gen Xers who don't read real newspapers any more. But on Saturday and Sunday I tend to want to revert back to those comforting Boomer traits ingrained in my rather unsophisticated before-the-tech-revolution DNA. Sometimes, I need to feel the paper when I read it.

So I got in the car, drove to the gas station and picked one up... in itself a pleasant associative ritual. I drove back home, sat down in my quiet corner on the couch, reveled in the warmth of the sun as it bathed the front page in real natural light, of course making it easier, not harder to see, and began to read. And I began to understand the real reasons I'm lamenting the possible demise of the traditional newspaper.

First there's the smell. It's a familiar smell, papery, inky, comforting. Then there's the feel... smooth yet slightly grainy, light, newsprinty and again, comforting. The motions... scanning the page, leaning into a picture, turning the page, folding, then folding again to focus on the story that's got my attention. No sun-splashed, washed out screen, no "waiting for data" as a page hangs up on loading, no third degree lap burns. No weight to contend with except the weight of each story. Pure, relaxing, unadulterated reading pleasure. You just can't get that any other way.

Being a geek at heart, I know that new, flexible readers are being developed. Forget the Kindle. These readers will be just a little thicker than a page and about the size of a magazine. We'll be able to roll them or fold them up, throw them in our briefcase and get all the news and mags we need pushed right to them. Cool indeed. But not the same. There is nothing like the feel, motions and experience of reading a real deal newspaper or magazine and for me, nothing will replace them. Not really. The odd thing is I don't feel the same way about books, and I typically read around thirty or more a year. Maybe it's the weight of them, sort of the opposite of newspapers and magazines. Books aren't as portable, they take up space. Regardless of the reason, I've been reading books on ereaders for close to ten years. And now I read almost all of them on my iPhone (yes, there's an app for that), which has all the capabilities of Amazon's Kindle plus a color screen. Sure it's not "Digital Ink", but I've been there, done that and think the iPhone works just as well or better.

Reading is fundamental. And in many respects for me, the act and experience or reading a real newspaper or magazine is fundamental, too. No matter how tech-oriented I may be, I just can't seem to get around it. Call me sentimental. Call me old fashioned. And if newspapers and magazines really do go the way of the dinosaurs, call me sad.

Photo thanks to Phogel on flckr - some rights reserved

In Whom Do You Trust ... Blogs, Newspapers, Web Portals?

On Friday, I read a blog post by Joe Mandese from Media Post News titled, "Americans Say News Still Fit For Print, Distrust Blogs" and questioned some of the correlations.

First, we all know that the traditional newspaper industry and model is in very deep trouble. Denver's Rocky Mountain News is printed its last paper February 27, 2009, the New York Sun closed last fall, and the rumors that the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer are close to death without major concessions or new buyers/financing. According to Media Daily News, a number of newspapers have been on the auction block for months, with no buyers coming forward. McClatchy has been trying without success to find a buyer for the Miami Herald. The San Diego Union Tribune and the Austin American-Statesman find themselves in a similar predicament. Then in my hometown of Detroit, the Detroit Media Partnership (Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News) announced last fall a major shift in how they will do business by cutting print editions in favor of digital media, putting more resources in support of their digital efforts. Over the years newspapers have continued to experience a long decline in circulation and beginning in 2007 that decline accelerated.

Second, the decline in circulation and readership for a traditional newspaper means people must be getting their news differently.

Third, just about any survey taken in the last two years points to the consumption of news strongly in the online world and becoming stronger.

With my three point outline, here's the rub for me and why I'm questioning the correlations made in the blog post mentioned. All the data suggests that traditional print newspapers are becoming less relevant, not more relevant.

Yet, a survey conducted by Rosen Group Public Relations is cited wherein a national poll indicates a vast majorty of U.S. consumers still deem print editions of newspapers and magazines as being "indispensible" (which to me indicates better than great relevancy) sources of news and entertainment. But then out of the other side of the mouth, this same national poll found two-thirds of Americans consider web sites "devoted to news" to be the #1 source of news and information.

In addition, Lori Rosen, founder of the Rosen Group, is cited as making the statement that nearly 60% of respondents do not consider information found on blogs to be "credible." The first problem I have with this statement is the leap that news oriented websites are the same thing as blogs. In many cases they are not one in the same. The more appropriate question to answer is how credible is digital news sources versus traditional print newspapers. To me, that is a fair comparison, not a statement about blogs. There is often a great distinction between news oriented websites and blogs, but it seems that Ms. Rosen has blurred the lines of fact by trying to support her argument that traditional print newspapers are indispensable and with a leap more credible. 

An interesting twist to this argument is that Floyd Norris, the chief financial correspondent of The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, wrote a blog, dated January 31, 2009, stating "Things are so bad for newspapers that, when asked if they saw information from various sources as credible, just 34 percent of Americans said they viewed articles in newspapers as very or extremely credible. That is behind TV news (36 percent), radio news (38 percent) and conversations with friends (40 percent)."

Also an Interactive Survey organized and produced by iFOCOS, a Reston, Va.-based media think tank presented the following findings:

• The survey finds the Internet not only outweighs television, radio, and newspapers as the most frequently used and important source for news and information, but Web sites were also cited as more trustworthy than more traditional media sources – nearly a third (32%) said Internet sites are their most trusted source for news and information, followed by newspapers (22%), television (21%) and radio (15%).
• Although the vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism (64%), overall satisfaction with journalism has increased to 35% in this survey from 27% who said the same in 2007.
• Both traditional and new media are viewed as important for the future of journalism – 87% believe professional journalism has a vital role to play in journalism’s future, although citizen journalism (77%) and blogging (59%) are also seen as significant by most Americans.
• Very few Americans (1%) consider blogs their most trusted source of news, or their primary source of news (1%). (Note: this supports Ms. Rosen's earlier statement, but only in its proper context of the blogosphere versus news oriented sites such as CNN.com)
• Three in four (75%) believe the Internet has had a positive impact on the overall quality of journalism.
• 69% believe media companies are becoming too large and powerful to allow for competition, while 17% believe they are the right size to adequately compete.

Finally, the national poll survey conducted by the Rosen Group is very hard to find. It can't be found on their website even though it is their survey (interesting!). I happened to find it a link to the survey on BullDog Reporter's Daily Dog blog commenting on the survey results. The national survey by the Rosen Group is in actuality (if you believe BullDog Reporter's link) a Survey Monkey Survey with 11 questions. As many of you know, Survey Monkey gives anyone the ability to create online surveys quickly, easily and in many cases free. My concern now is with the methodology and validity of this so-called national poll.

Ok, so what's my point in all of this ... I don't like proof-texting. I'm borrowing terminology often found in scholarly circles when it comes to interpretation of Bible scriptures. Basically proof-texting is producing apparent support for a position without adequate regard for the contexts of the individual texts which may indicate differences and nuances.

In my opinion, the Rosen Group survey supports an already-held conviction that smacks of being self-serving. Believe me, I want to support and defend my clients (and I admire Rosen's attempt) but at the same time I want to do it "credibly." That's my thought ... what's yours?

P.S. BTW, I really do love my traditional print newspaper, I read it religiously every day ... or I will until the the Detroit Media Partnership changes come into effect ... and I must say I'll miss my ink fingers. 

The Super Bowl Ads and Their Statistics

 Nielsen Media Research recently released its statistics regarding the Super Bowl XLIII advertising. Here's a recap for your reading enjoyment:

1. The two most-viewed Super Bowl commercials: Bud Light Lime and one from GoDaddy.com, both of which ran in the fourth quarter.
2. The most-liked ad was Budweiser’s spot featuring a Clydesdale competing with a Dalmatian in a game of fetch. The same ad also registered as the most-recalled ad.
3. This same Budweiser ad was also the best-liked among women.
4. For men, the best-liked commercial was the Doritos spot where every time a man bites into a chip something happens--sometimes good, sometimes bad.
5. Emotional and feel-good ads by Budweiser and Pedigree resounded with women; Men tended to like commercials with more slapstick humor produced by brands like Doritos and Pepsi.
6. Altogether, Anheuser-Busch produced the three most-recalled ads pitching its Budweiser and Bud Light brands. Doritos placed the second and third best-liked ads,
7. The top overall brand in terms of in-game product placement was Gatorade, which got 191 exposures over a duration of 704 seconds. No. 2 was Reebok at 282 exposures and 501 seconds. In third place was Motorola, with 165 exposures and 336 seconds.
8. Total commercial airtime during the game was 38 minutes and 5 seconds, and 48 unique brands competed for viewers’ attention.
9. Nielsen reported that the Super Bowl XLIII featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers versus Arizona Cardinals was the most-viewed game of all time: an average of 98.7 million viewers. In looking at total audience, with people watching at least six minutes of the game, the Super Bowl rose to 151.6 million people.

If you would like to view full-motion commercials, storyboards, and ratings from the Super Bowl since 1999, visit Nielsen's website at: https://www.nielsenmedia.com/monitorplus/superbowl/.

I wonder if you agree with the majority of the viewers regarding the Super Bowl ads? My favorite spot hit number #3 in most-liked and #4 in most-recalled (Snow Globe Crystal Ball) and it looks like I fall in line with most guys who like slapstick humor, perhaps I need to get in touch with my more feel-good side ... on second thought, maybe not, just pass me the Doritos. Well, that's my thought, what's yours?

Photo Credit: Mike Licht

Detroit Media Boom

So much for a depressed economy.  The only thing depressed about Detroit is it's media buyers that can't get their local clients on the air.  While it may be true that sales of sofas and sedans are down, commercial time on television and radio have never been higher.   The politicians aren't even buying airtime yet.  So who is it?  It's the national advertisers feeding off the vulnerable residents of this down economy.  The result is local advertisers being pre-empted for beer and pharmaceutical commercials.  Instead of home remodeling, a new car purchase, or holiday shopping, Detroit TV viewers are inundated with commercials for antidepressants, beer and erectile dysfunction.   We're not that depressed.  We can still order pizza, go to the movies and buy gifts for the holidays.  That is unless gas doesn't exceed $4 per gallon.