NBA TV Gets Better Response Thru Facebook and Yahoo

"NBA TV, the official cable channel of the National Basketball Association, is letting Facebook and Yahoo viewers help decide what game is broadcast in the primetime slot for one night per week," so goes the post on ClickZ. "In previous years, the channel posted a poll only at NBA.com to facilitate the idea, but has broadened the effort to the highly trafficked sites. Voting is up 147 percent so far this year, a rep for Turner Sports, which operates NBA TV, tells ClickZ News. Fan engagement may be helping NBA TV's ratings, which are up "across the board" compared to 2011, the rep said." Read more. 

In case you missed the point with some posts, advertisers and publishers (such as NBA TV) want to engage with their viewers (readers). The stronger the engagement, the stronger the bound between the two. With a strong bound, the publishers can deliver an engaged audience to advertisers who then attempt to engage them regarding their products/services.  By doing so, advertisers heighten brand awareness.

Facebook Likes Ain't All They Were Cracked Up to Be

"Advertisers use Facebook Likes as a kind of social media “Nielsen rating,” but the ratings are disappointing. Only slightly more than 1% of Facebook users who “Like” brands like Procter & Gamble or Coca-Cola actually engage with the brands, finds marketing researchers Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. Engagement can include viral marketing, like posting a clever ad from YouTube," reports Media Buyer Planner. "As AdAge describes, the Institute used one of Facebook’s metrics, “People Talking About This,” to track likes, posts, comments and so forth about the brands. The Institute tracked the metric for 200 top brands over six weeks. What they found is that 1.3% of those who like a brand bother to discuss, share or otherwise engage with the brand. They click the  Like button for the brand, then largely forget it." Read more.

Publishers Fight Ad Networks

"Online display advertising sellers are circling the wagons to reassert their position in a crowded market and fend off the swelling role of third parties, such as ad networks and demand-side platforms (DSPs)," reports Direct Marketing News. "Magazine publishing giant Condé Nast created a private ad exchange in November to make available its unsold digital inventory to a select group of advertisers, including Macy's and eBay, based on their previous spending with the publisher." Read more.

Your Generation Has $170 Billion to Spend; How Should Advertisers Reach You?

"The Millennial generation’s massive size [generation born between 1981 and 2000--your generation] and strong purchasing power, estimated to be $170 billion per year, makes them a valuable segment of the population for marketers to target, reports comScore. "But given some of the unique characteristics of this generation, having grown up in the digital and information ages, it is critical that marketers have a clear understanding of this group and how to most effectively reach them through advertising."Read more. Download the study's white paper.

More Companies Using Social Media Sustainability

"One year ago, we published the inaugural Social Media Sustainability Index, a trawl through 287 major companies in North America and Europe to identify who was using social media tools and thinking to communicate sustainability [corporate awareness of eco-, energy-, humane responsibilities]. At the time we found just 60 companies that were devoting any real time or dedicated resources to that mission," starts the Advertising Age post. "Fast-forward to the end of 2011 and a new landscape of social media sustainability has emerged. In researching our new report, The SMI-Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index, we identified at least 250 major corporates that are engaged in some form of social media sustainability comms and more than 100 have a blog, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter channel dedicated to talking about sustainability. Those dedicated 100 form the basis of our new Index." Read more of the Advertising Age post.

Yahoo Ad Sales Declines

"The once powerful Yahoo, just reported a decline in net income of 5% for Q4. Recently, Yahoo invested a lot of money and effort into raising the quality of its content. That gave them the title of the “most trafficked news site on the web,” but apparently that didn’t help their bottom line." So goes the post on the Marketing Pilgrim. "A large part of the problem is the drop in their display advertising business. This used to be the jewel in the crown for Yahoo, but now they’re down 4% quarter over quarter. In general, display advertising is on the rise. eMarketer’s numbers show a 24.5% increase in ad dollars over last year. Unfortunately, the competition is benefiting from the rise, not Yahoo. Google and Facebook are taking the lead, but why? How did Yahoo go from being the top site for display ads to third place?" Read more. Just a few days ago, a post noted that experts predicted that online ad sales have been increasing and will continue to increase this year. Therefore, Yahoo is bucking the overall trend.

Online Advertising to Pass Print in 2012

"TV spending had been growing for 40 years, so naturally we would expect year-on-year growth to be a small percentage. Whereas on the web, we were getting new outlets and opportunities daily. This was even before the real social media revolution took off and when precise target was still in a nascent stage. And now, we see news from eMarketer that online advertising is about to cross an important threshold: online ad spending will beat all print ad spending for the first time this year," goes the ClickZ post. "This is a huge wake-up call for all of us who…spend too much time thinking that numbers actually tell the whole story. Because the whole idea of splitting advertising spending out by category is becoming a clunky and distracting way of looking at the market. In fact, it misses the big idea behind advertising, which is that media types have begun flowing into each other in such amazing ways that it's hard to figure out if you're online or offline, leaning forward or back." Read more.

Will Seeding of Super Bowls Go Viral?

"Super Bowl advertisers in recent years have made a practice out of seeding or teasing their commercials via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs," notes a post on ClickZ. "Among a few questions, it raises this one: While the online viral may produce buzz for creative agencies behind the TV work, does the seeding tactic actually have a positive impact for the brand spending big money on the uber-premium TV inventory? According to Ace Metrix, 40 percent of last year's final version spots were released online before they aired during Super Bowl XLV (45). The Mountain View, CA-based media research firm expects that number to be closer to 60 percent for Super Bowl XLVI." Read more of the ClickZ post.

Merchants Pay for Favorable Reviews

" In the brutal world of online commerce, where a competing product is just a click away, retailers need all the juice they can get to close a sale," according to a New York Times post. "Some exalt themselves by anonymously posting their own laudatory reviews. Now there is an even simpler approach: offering a refund to customers in exchange for a write-up." Read more of the New York Times post.

Businesses Use Social Sites for Their Business to Business (B2B) Sales

eMarkeketer reports that "most business-to-business companies already recognize the importance of maintaining a search presence to capitalize on business decision-makers’ propensity to go online to find information. But in addition to search, B2B influencers also turn to social media, video sites and mobile devices to research their purchase decisions." Read more.

Consumers Pissed about Privacy

"For the past two years, each company {Google+ and Facebook] has experimented with different ways to divine more and more about how people live their lives on the Internet, without sparking a revolt," according to a post on USAToday Tech. "But the plans the rivals announced on Tuesday, which critics say could dramatically rev up their respective abilities to gather intelligence on individual Internet users, seem to have struck a chord. An informal and unscientific survey of Web users by USA TODAY found a majority speaking out against the new business practices announced by Google and Facebook." Read more of the USAToday post.

Top Websites in December 2011

Google sites had the largest audience of all Web properties in the United States during the last seven months of 2011, surpassing Yahoo and Microsoft sites, according to comScore Media Metrix," according to a post on ClickZ. "A review of the monthly comScore reports shows that Yahoo sites ranked No. 1 from January through May 2011. And Microsoft sites fluctuated between No. 2 and No. 3 throughout the 2011 calendar year." Read more.

Top 20 U.S. Websites, as of December 2011

December 2011 vs. December 2010
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Audience: All Persons Ages 2+ at U.S. home/work locations

Total Unique Visitors (000)
Property	Dec-2010	Dec-2011	% Change
Total Internet : Total audience	211,860	220,439	4
Google sites	179,252	187,138	4
Microsoft sites	176,963	177,296	0
Yahoo sites	181,219	176,485	-3
Facebook.com	153,886	162,486	6
Amazon sites	91,120	114,732	26
AOL	111,938	107,076	-4
Ask Network	94,353	89,168	-5
Glam Media	87,751	86,616	-1
Turner Digital	87,721	88,253	1
Wikimedia Foundation sites	77,753	83,010	7
Apple	75,090	83,006	11
Viacom Digital	84,456	80,368	-5
CBS Interactive	86,013	78,588	-9
New York Times Digital	69,657	76,493	10
eBay	70,436	74,500	6
Federated Media Publishing	39,089	72,172	85
Vevo	60,293	62,473	4
Demand Media	67,274	57,107	-15
Walmart	51,375	55,786	9
The Weather Channel	N/A	54,365	N/A

College Hockey League Goes Social

"The Hockey East Association, a conference within NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey, recently announced a new multi-channel campaign that highlights outstanding efforts from players of its 10 member institutions," according to Brafton. "The conference demonstrates how audience engagement via integrated social and content marketing can help build a brand." Read more.

Indianpolis Welcomes SuperBowl Crowd with Social Media

"Not far from Indianapolis's Lucas Oil Field lies a 2,800 square foot space that will be the city's social media nerve center for all things tourism on Super Bowl weekend. Around 50 staffers and content curators will address the travel and amenity concerns of those arriving in Indy to attend the big game. The team consists of college student volunteers and others working for Raidious, a local firm hired by the city's host committee. They will use Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube, Flickr, and a dedicated blog to push out messages about everything from parking to hotel information to emergency safety instructions should anything go wrong" (Heine, 2012). Read more.


Heine, Christopher (Jan. 23, 2012). Indy welcomes Super Bowl visitors with social media. ClickZ. Retrieved from http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2140757/indy-welcomes-super-bowl-visitors-social-media.

Paul Campaign Tests Digital Marketing

"Endorse Liberty, a Super PAC backing Texas Rep. Ron Paul, has made it its mission to focus almost solely on Internet advertising. And while it's had success so far, it's now brushing up the limits of an all-digital effort. President Barack Obama, of course, was in the forefront of digital political advertising when he ran for the White House in 2008. And while many followed suit, most politicians, including President Obama, used the Internet in 2008 and 2010 primarily to raise money, not votes" (Radelat, 2012). Read more.

Radelat, Ana (Jan. 21, 2012). Paul-affiliated Super PAC tests limits of mostly digital campaign. Advertising Age. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/campaign-trail/paul-affiliated-super-pac-tests-limits-digital-campaign/232261/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage.

Google Still Leads Other Search Engines

"Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in December with 65.9 percent market share (up 0.5 percentage points), followed by Microsoft Sites with 15.1 percent (up 0.1 percentage points) and Yahoo! Sites with 14.5 percent. Ask Network accounted for 2.9 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL, Inc. with 1.6 percent" (comScore, 2012). Read more. Remember that Yahoo and Microsoft (Microsoft Live and Bing) work as partners. That partnership has almost 30% of the search engine market.

comScore (Jan. 11, 2012). Press release: comScore releases December 2011 search engine rankings. comScore. Retrieved from http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2012/1/comScore_Releases_December_2011_U.S._Search_Engine_Rankings.

How Advertisers View TV Changing in Next Five Years

"Television is fast becoming a digital, fully-measureable advertising medium. Today, more than 15% of TV set-top boxes in the US enable direct, second-by-second or minute-by-minute measurement of the TV activity that occurs in those homes including what programs are viewed; what ads are viewed; and when exactly channels are changed. Within five years, 50-75% of all operator set-top boxes will have this capacity and, by that time, those boxes will be joined by tens of millions of other TV-related connected data-capturing devices – smart TV's, web-enabled gaming devices, alternative set-top boxes – with brand names like Apple, LG, Samsung, Microsoft xBox, Sony Playstation, Tivo, Google, Roku, Boxee and many more" (Morgan, 2012). Read more.

Morgan, Dave (Jan. 9, 2012). TV's digital age will (truly) arrive in 2017. Advertising Age. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/tv-s-digital-age-arrive-2017/231972/.

Fly Like the Red Tails

"Forget feeling fly like a G6, you can simulate flying a 1940s fighter plane with DOJO's new immersive digital experience for Lucasfilm's forthcoming movie Red Tails, inspired by the exploits of the first all African-American aerial combat unit. On the website, RedTails2012, users can fly a P-51 fighter to shoot down the Nazis, and (for those with a fear of flying) also navigate through the 'Airmen's Office' where they unlock special content. And if they are lonely up there, they can log in with Facebook Connect to get an image of their loved ones in the cockpit of their P-51. The film opens on January 20" (Lucasfilm, 2012).

Lucasfilm: RedRails2012.com (Jan. 12, 2012). Creativity Online. Retrieved from http://creativity-online.com/news/lucasfilm-redtails2012com/232059

Come to McDonald's Facebook Party

"Tribal DDB Chicago created this microsite for McDonald's, which uses Facebook Connect to let users attend an 'exclusive' Big Mac-themed party.Once logged in with Facebook, users receive personalized greeting messages and the site then uses their profile information, photos and the rest to create a customized experience. It's a little like Bacardi'sUnwrap the Night which broke in December, and the latest in a number of brands using Facebook information to create a bespoke digital experience" (McDonald's: Big Mac, 2012).

McDonald's: Big Mac pop icon microsite (Jan. 12, 2012). Creativity Online. Retrieved from http://creativity-online.com/news/mcdonalds-big-mac-pop-icon-microsite/232061.

Google Earns More from Advertising

"Google generated $37.9 billion in revenue during 2011, a 29% increase compared with the previous year. Revenue from advertising also increased 29% year-over-year to total $36.5 billion, contributing 96% of Google's overall revenue. The company increased its spending on sales and marketing by 62% compared with the previous year to $4.5 billion. Revenue from advertising on Google-owned sites increased 34% to $26.1 billion for the year. Google recorded $9.7 billion in net income, up 14% compared with its 2010 net income" (Peterson, 2012). Read more.

Peterson, Tim (Jan. 19, 2012). Google revenue up 29%, marketing spend increases 62%. Direct Marketing News. Retrieved from http://www.dmnews.com/google-revenue-up-29-marketing-spend-increases-62/article/223922/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DMNewSectors+%28DMNews+Sectors%29