Perception Analyzer Dial.Log

AARP uses the Perception Analyzer to better understand "How She Will Decide"

As part of its 50^th anniversary celebration, AARP teamed up with iVillage to create the dynamically interactive town forum – “How She Will Decide” – on February 1, 2008, at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. To learn about how important topics will shape the way women will vote in the upcoming presidential election, hundreds of women from all walks of life were invited to express their opinions and be engaged by forum moderator Val Zavala and panelists Ron Brownstein, political director for Atlantic Media Company; Frank Luntz, political consultant and author of Words that Work; Nancy LeaMond, AARP Group Executive Officer and Director of the Divided We Fail initiative; Donna Addkison, political consultant and pollster; and Paula Madison, Executive Vice President of Diversity, NBC Universal.

Each of the 400 women were given a Perception Analyzer dial as they arrived and used it to give feedback and register their opinions in real-time during the event.  Such involvement became the focal point of the event as audience opinions were instantly generated and displayed on large projection screens.

“The goal of our event was to engage the audience and involve them in a two-way conversation to discuss the issues,” said AARP Research Director, Jeffrey Love. “Using the Perception Analyzer did just that.”

The event may be watched in its entirety at iVillage.com.

TV: Online and On Demand

I just watched the first NBC Nightly News Netcast.  It's an online replay of the NBC Nightly News available after 10:00pm each night.  The netcast opens with an ad or two, launches into the program and breaks twice more for a couple of ads each time.  One interesting ad model I observed was when an video ad for Listerine played in the left pane and a still ad for Listerine was served-up in the right pane.  If interested, you can click the right pane to go to the Listerine website.  That model could certainly be effective if the two ads worked synergistically to use the video ad to drive viewers to click for more information or to continue with an interactive experience.

Between this netcast, NBC and CBS selling reruns for $0.99 and ABC making content available through iTunes, television and its ad models are certainly changing.

TiVo-proofing Commercians (II)

As a follow-up to this post, TiVo is now offering advertisers banner ads that remain on the screen in fast-forward mode.

Medius Overwhemlus

I think it was the addition of 3000 podcasts to iTunes that finally put me over the edge.  With limited non-working, non-sleeping, non-parenting and non-husbanding hours in the day, there is now way too much media available.  In addition to 3000 podcasts (plus all the others not available through iTunes) there are millions of blogs, countless other websites, hundreds of cable and satellite TV channels, hundreds more satellite radio stations and good old terrestrial radio, print magazines and newspapers.  It has not only become stressful to decide what media to consume, but it has also become stressful to think about how much I'm missing.

So, the question is, when will the bubble burst?  When will people become so overwhelmed by what's available that they start resisting it?  I'm starting to feel that urge for the first time and I'm not sure what to do with it.

TiVo-proofing Commercials

In an effort to make television commercials effective even when seen through a DVR in fast-forward mode, research firm Frank N. Magid Associates suggests the following:

• Give an ad the "fast-forward test" to be sure "if people fast-forward they can decipher what's going on"
• Use more text which can often be more effective in the no-sound environment of fast-forward
• "Focus for longer periods on interesting images rather than quickly cutting from image to image"
• "Graphics should be placed on the screen where the DVR fast-forwarding bar isn’t covering the screen"

This Media Life article (from where the above recommendations came) also contains other stats on DVR viewing habits gleaned from a Magid online study.

via [Lost Remote]

Place My Product, Please

CBS Chairman Les Moonves recently discussed how he sees a significant increase in television product placements on the horizon.  He references selling rights to everything from the brand of car driven that to the brand of orange juice characters drink.  Interestingly, it wasn't long ago that product brand names were being obscured because shows didn't have the rights to use them.  We all remember seeing cereal boxes and soda cans with tape over the names or some other alteration to the packaging.  Now, those very same brands are paying to have their product names shown.

I actually think it makes perfect sense, as long as viewers are treated with respect.  Let's face it, television ads are becoming less and less effective and more and more people will be skipping ads through their DVR's in coming years.  If I were a television advertiser, I would much rather have my product used by a popular TV character than lost amidst a sea of 30-second spots.  The trick is, it has to be natural.

For instance, I recall an episode of Alias where the good-guys were chasing the bad-guys and the good-guys said something like, "There they go...in the F-150."  It was so blatant and silly that my wife and I both laughed out loud because that's not what someone in that situation would say.  They would say, "There they go, in that blue truck."  I also recall an episode of The West Wing that had three or four blatant product placements, only two of which I even remember now.  One was where one character told the other to "Google" someone to get more information on them and another character was called "Mr. Moto" (a la Motorola's recent ad campaign) for not being willing to part with his cell phone (or pager) for a few minutes (or something like that???).  While that may be how people really speak, it was just a little too in-your-face.

Viewers are smart and the subtleties of using real products in a show makes that show more realistic.  But, if those products are thrown in people's faces, they will resent it and the result will likely be the opposite of what advertisers want.  So, to promote a brand of mobile phone service, don't have a character say, "Call me on my Verizon Wireless phone."  Instead, have the phone simply ring with the ringtone we are used to hearing from that provider's ads and their phones on the street.  People will get it.  In other cases, naturally show the screen of a website someone is using, or the logo of the car they are driving, or the packaging of the beverage they are consuming. 

I believe there is huge potential for the effective use of product placements to be lucrative for both the advertisers and the television industry.  They just need to be subtle, natural and in context so as not to abuse the very viewers advertisers are trying to persuade. 

The Long Tail: Television

If you are new to The Long Tail principle, read this to get up to speed.  Then, read about the Long Tail of television and the ratio of content produced versus content available to the average viewer.  Fascinating.

Wal-Mart In-store Television Network

Interesting article in The New York Times about Wal-Mart's upgraded in-store television network, the reach it has with shoppers/viewers (average shopper watches seven minutes per store visit) and how much advertisers are willing to pay ($137,000 - $292,000 for a four week rotation of a single ad).

Gaming Passes Hollywood

Joystiq reports 2004 gaming revenues to have been $9.9 billion with portable gaming contributing $1 billion of that.  Compare that to record-breaking 2004 movie theater revenues of $9.4 million.  The entertainment tide is shifting.

via [Airbag]

More TV's

According to a Nielsen Media Research survey published in The New York Times, 23% of U.S. households (25 million) now have four or more televisions (up from 19% last year).  On the other end of the scale is 23 million households with only one.

I have three.  How many do you have?

via [Lost Remote]

TiVo Wants to Stop Generic Use of Name

TiVo is aggressively trying to stop the use of its trademarked name as a generic term, especially as a verb, as in, "I TiVoed my favorite show last night" or, "I'm going to TiVo that tonight."  As quoted by a TiVo spokesperson in The New York Times...

"'We do aggressively protect our trademark,' (the spokesperson said), adding that with competing digital video recorders entering the market, TiVo wants to keep its name from going the way of Xerox or Kleenex."

I am the first one to advocate the proper use of a company's intellectual property, especially its name.  In fact, I recently underwent a year-long battle to re-secure the registered trademarked rights to my company's primary product after it was mistakenly allowed to lapse (don't ask!).  However, I believe most companies would kill to have its product's name used as a generic in its space.  Do Kleenex and Xerox not benefit from having their names used in place of their competitor's?  Am I not more apt to grab a box of Kleenex off the shelf because my wife tells me need Kleenex, when what we really need is facial tissue?  I would think that as the market for digital (or personal) video recorders becomes much more competitive, TiVo would welcome its name being used as a adjective (i.e. TiVo-like) or verb. It means people are saying TiVo and not something else.  Rather than fight it, I say embrace it and even promote it.

Anyone agree/disagree?

via [Lost Remote]

Saw It On TV...Gotta' Have It

NBC is reportedly going to begin selling products featured in product placements as well as star's wardrobe and accessories featured in NBC Universal shows.  I also read the other day, though I can't remember where, that companies featured in tasks on The Apprentice are paying up to $2 million to be part of the show and have some creative input into the tasks.

With the effectiveness of traditional 30-second ads being called into question more and more these days, it's fascinating to see all these alternative forms of promotion take shape.

via [Agenda Inc.]

Momovies

First, one-minute "mobisodes" were created based on the television show 24 to be delivered exclusively to mobile phones and now a full-length feature film is actually being premiered that way - one day before the film is released in theaters.  The mobile content train just keeps a rollin'.

via [URBANintelligence]

ESPN Going Mobile

In partnership with Sprint, ESPN will being offering specialized mobile phones and service in 2005.  For now, special features are said to include an easily identifiable ESPN phone, sports scores and video clips delivered to the phone.  Adfreak hypothesizes on some other feature ideas and what other network's offerings might look like. 

So, here's a question - what TV character would you most like to have as your mobile voicemail greeting?  Leave a comment and share.  I would have to go with Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowicz from NYPD Blue.  Hey, if Target can get celebs to wake you up in the morning, why not record voicemail greetings too?

Television Viewing Stats

Here are a few TV viewing stats that speak to what people do when they watch television.  Nothing groundbreaking, but we love new stats, right?!?

Thirty-five Years and 9,000 Episodes

ABC's "All My Children" taped its 9,000th episode today.  Talk about figuring out what people want and sticking with it - for 35 years! 

May we all find such a magic formula.

Word of the Day: Advergaming

Interesting article at ClickZ about the growth of ads and product placements in video games. The article starts with quite a punch - pointing out that the new video game, "Halo 2," had first day sales of $125 million compared to opening weekend receipts of movies "Shrek 2" ($108 million), "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" ($93 million), "Spider-Man 2" ($88 million), "The Passion of the Christ" ($83 million) and "The Incredibles" ($70 million).

For advertisers, video games offer the right demographics and, by the numbers above, certainly the right number of eyeballs.  More here, here, here and here.

via [Adverblog]

TV Show Spin-off Hits Mobile Phones

Vodafone has licensed the rights to the television series 24 for the purpose of distributing a spin-off to be watched only on mobile phones consisting of 24, one-minute "mobisodes" (yes, that's really what they're calling them - a worse name has perhaps never been created).

My question is, with a one-minute mobisode (I really that to force that out) being 1/44th the length of a normal episode, does that mean we can soon expect to see mini .68-second commercials running throughout?  They could be called "mommercials."