Category: Advertising
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Facebook testing targeted ads in Messenger app
A test in Australia and Thailand this week may lead to more ads from the folks at Facebook. This time, they’re testing adding advertisements to its Messenger app. “This means that a business is able to place an ad in an area of Messenger below your recent conversations, similar to…
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Are voice-enabled devices a threat to Google’s ad revenue?
Voice-enabled apps and devices seem to be the next big thing. It was the clear star-of-the-show at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in December. But using voice to do searches may reveal a vulnerability for Alphabet (aka Google). While its Google Home device may compete in the market, it —…
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Paul Dughi named as one of 16 “Media Influencers” by Local Media Today
I was honored to be included in the list of 16 “media influencers” as named in the 2017 monthly edition of Local Media Today, by the Local Media Association (an industry trade association of more than 2,400 newspaper, TV, radio, pure plays and other media partners). It’s a pretty impressive group to be…
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Virtual advertising on windshields aimed at the driver?
I’ve started to wonder if we’re putting too much tech in front of drivers. As they navigate down the road, there are an awful lot of things that can add to your distracted driving. My new car has a screen that shows current radar and weather forecasts. I’ve found the…
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Bipartisan investigation demands answers on cable TV’s “misleading fees and sales practices”
In a bi-partisan effort, Senators from both parties are calling on Charter Communications (which also acquired Time Warner) and Comcast to stop what they call “misleading placement of fees on customers’ bills, and inadequate advertising disclosure for service promotions.” They’ve asked before and say they’ve never got an answer to…
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US digital ad spend nearly $18B in 3Q 2016
U.S. advertising spend in digital advertising in the third quarter of 2016 alone was nearly $18 billion dollars. The latest IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report shows the number at $17.6 billion. This marks the highest third quarter for digital advertising spending on record and a 20% increase over the same time period in…
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It’s not you. Commercial breaks are getting longer
The NFL thinks if it cuts out commercial breaks and down time, it may help with struggling ratings this year. Probably. DVR’s, Hulu, and Netflix have turned a lot of people into binge watchers and it’s made it tougher to go from that experience to sitting through commercial pods –…
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The best media to use to drive car buyers to actually buy
TV TOP INFLUENCER FOR MILLENNIALS, TOO The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) asked consumers a pivotal question for car dealers: What’s doing the best job at driving consumers to the point of purchase? The November study, done by Research Now, found that TV carries the greatest influence of all media throughout…
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The dirty little secret of digital ad networks
In the rush to move to digital advertising, there’s been an awful lot of ad dollars wasted because people didn’t really know what they were buying. Remember the early days of the world wide web? People reported “hits” – which we then learned equated to server calls and could be…
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If you spend $1 on advertising, how much ROI would you expect? Assessing ROI on advertising consumer products
Are you familiar with what’s called FMCG brands? I had to look it up. It means “Fast Moving Consumer Goods.” These are the type of products you reach for on the store shelves at the grocery or drug store. Think Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Lindt, or Pfizer. Typically, they are long-standing brands…
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Brand loyalty is not dead, even for Millennials and new parents
Brand loyalty dead? It makes for a catchy headline and fits the narrative new-age brand marketers are selling: 90% of the leading household goods brands are losing market share on consistently low-growth categories – Study by Catalina The story goes that in the post-media age (whatever that is), consumers –…
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The Nausea rule of advertising
Think of your brain as a giant hard drive. It can hold a lot of information, but it does have a limit. And, like a hard drive, the limit is reached frequently. So when new information comes in and there’s no room left, it often pushes out the other information…
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How Advertising Works
The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he does not see it. The second time, he does not notice it. The third time, he is conscious of its existence. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before. The fifth time, he reads it. The sixth time,…
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Define your Weapon of Mass Distinction: Avoiding “We do it too” advertising
Advertising lessons learned from working in the news business For several years, I worked as a strategic consultant and trainer at some of America’s top television stations, including those owned by Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst-Argyle, Post-Newsweek, Cox, Raycom Media, Journal Broadcasting, Freedom, and Fox. I have worked on projects for Entertainment…
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Bulls-eye marketing: Finding the sweet spot
To maximize the effectiveness of your advertising, you have to place it squarely in the target for consumers. You already know it’s not enough to have a great product. It’s not enough to assemble your unique selling proposition – what I call your Weapon of Mass Distinction. It’s not…
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If you want customers, you’ve got to invite them to buy
Before you can make a sale, you’ve got to get people in your store. Before you do that, they’ve got to know about you, what you offer, and what makes your business different. Imagine this: You’re a salesperson and you walk into a business for the first time to make…
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It’s Really About Thinking “Inside the Box”
In the mid-90’s, I used to teach a seminar called “Thinking Outside the Box.” But that was way back when “thinking outside the box” really was a new way of thinking. It’s not so new now. In fact, it’s a cliché. I realized that it’s really about thinking “inside” the…
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If you’re blaming poor performance on the economy, read this
A friend of mine owns a one-location mattress retail store and provides outstanding customer service and inspires customer loyalty. She’s one of those “always positive” types. Well, I was on the phone with her the other and asked how business was going. “We’re down 8 percent year-to-year,” she said. I…
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Does a newspaper have an ethical obligation to reveal the source of its advertisers?
A controversial mailer and newspaper ads have the folks in Allentown, PA upset. It’s led to resignations of a school’s CEO and teachers and has been condemned by educators and public officials. The local newspaper knows who paid for it. Do they have an obligation to reveal who’s behind it?…
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Are DVRs going the way of VCRs?
The DVR is a wonderful device. Digital Video Recorders let you record all the TV shows you want and watch them on your schedule. It’s kind of like Netflix… before Netflix existed. But new research shows that DVR use is down dramatically.
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Olympic streaming is up, TV viewing down – NBC doing “make goods” for advertisers
TV ratings from the summer Olympics are down. Live streams across various platforms, though, are way up. NBC reports a 232% increase in live streams on August 10th versus the same day of the Olympics in 2012. On that day in 2016, live streaming topped ONE BILLION MINUTES through the…
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Subscription, on-demand video services hit important milestone (but Live TV viewing is still King)
You may not have heard the term OTT before. It means “over-the-top” delivery of video programming – through a set-top box or internet-connected TV. But I’ll bet you know some of the products and have even used them. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu are OTT products and the news today…
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Amazon suing businesses that post fake reviews
Look out! If you’re one of the businesses writing fake glowing reviews about yourself, or buying reviews, you may have big problems ahead. Not only has Amazon been cracking down on this and sending warning letters, but now they are suing companies.
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Google is tracking you on 70% of all websites: How you can opt-out of tracking cookies
I thought it was creepy enough when I noticed Google had pulled information from my email (via Gmail) and displayed it when I searched on Google. Like when I bought airline tickets and got the confirmation through Gmail… and then noticed when I searched Google, it displayed the flight information…
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The CNA (Customer Needs Analysis) is Dead
The average SMB (Small and Midsize Business) gets 17 sales calls per month. I’ve talked to some that say they get that many every week. So there’s no doubt they feel overwhelmed, why they don’t take our calls or respond to our emails, and why they may not believe what…
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What really drove the sale? When metrics lie
Let me take you back a few years, then we’ll jump ahead to the digital advertising world we live in now. Several years ago, I was talking to the owner of a small business one day about what drove customers to their store. She told me it was simple: the…
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Analyzing $12 billion dollars of actual ad spend and tracking ROI shows surprising results
Accenture Strategy released a three year study from its database of $12 billion dollars in marketing expenditures. It tracked ad buys in 6 categories from 20 major national brands. It’s one of the most in-depth, real-life studies, of what happens to brands that shift dollars from television to digital, either…
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