Source: www.brandweek.com
Coca-Cola began airing a new campaign targeting the U.S. Hispanic market last week that translates the beverage company's "Open Happiness" theme in its general marketing campaign to "Destapa La Felicida." Further, the work tells Hispanics to "Unleash Your Dreams" ("Destapa Tus Suenos").
The campaign from Ogilvy & Mather includes TV, print, radio, mobile, digital, out-of-home and music components as well as new point-of-sale materials.
"For Hispanics, happiness means pursuing and achieving their dreams, and Coca-Cola has always been there to provide them with the simple pleasure of refreshment during their journey," said Reinaldo Padua, assistant vice president of Hispanic Marketing at Coca-Cola North America, in a statement. "For many, achieving their dreams means seeing their children graduate from college, owning their own business, learning to speak English or meeting their favorite celebrity or sports figure. This year, our message will inspire Hispanic consumers and our programs will help them achieve some of those dreams."
To help "make dreams come true" for Hispanics, Coca-Cola's marketing efforts this year include the Coca-Cola Telenovela Club, the company's fifth promotion with Mexican telenovela "Al Diablo con los Guapos." Running through the end of March, the promotion gives fans the opportunity to win premiums and memorabilia related to the novella and an opportunity to meet two of the show's stars.
In May, Coke will also launch a soccer-related marketing, advertising and PR campaign featuring the Mexican National Team. Fans will have the opportunity to attend matches and a soccer clinic with Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa.
"The combination of inspirational marketing, in-store activation and our unique Hispanic programs will ensure that we continue to strengthen our long-standing consumer relationships and build new ones," said Katie Bayne, chief marketing officer, Coca-Cola North America. "These programs speak to the company's deep commitment to revitalizing the sparkling beverage category by providing another end-to-end marketing campaign."
The campaign began airing nationwide on March 20 on Spanish-language networks including Univision, Telemundo and TeleFutura.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Mainstream Media May Find Rich Revenue Streams in Multicultural Marketplace
source: www.adage.com
Have you been reading The New York Times in the last week? Continental Airlines, with its simple, all-copy, blue-and-white fanfare, began advertising its new, non-stop flight from Newark to Shanghai, China -- the first, and currently only daily non-stop schedule from the New York area to what is now one of the most important commercial, financial, and cultural hubs in East Asia.
Of course, we have all witnessed years of Continental announcements for new routes. But this particular campaign is remarkable for one key reason: Continental has run a pair of facing, vertical half-page ads in the front section of The New York Times, with one in English and the other in Chinese characters.
Continental should first be lauded for the instantly recognizable Chinese cultural cue embodied in the format of the ads -- a cue that, no doubt, was missed by the majority of New York Times readers. The advertising spread mirrors traditional Chinese calligraphy "couplets," which are most often posted symmetrically on walls, or on the sides of entryways and gates, to make important announcements, greet special holidays with auspicious tidings, or otherwise promote the spirit of famous quotes from Chinese literature, philosophy and history. Chinese readers of The New York Times, or non-Chinese steeped in Chinese culture, would instantly recognize this ad format as a harbinger of "fortuitous" news, or big news, even before they read the actual copy.
NYTimes Continental ad
That Continental has chosen to run one of its paired ads completely in Chinese characters in The New York Times may be even more significant. In the past, Continental, as an experienced multicultural marketer, has mostly limited its Asian-language advertising to the Asian press in New York, while running English ads in mainstream media. It may be that the decision to now use Chinese-language creative in The New York Times was no more than an effort to reflect, and thereby attract attention to, the English creative on the facing page. However, it is even more likely that Continental understands some simple facts: Chinese-Americans in the New York area number approximately 500,000, they are educated and affluent, they are heavy travelers to China for leisure and business, and -- yes -- they can also be reached through mainstream media, as well as through the targeted Chinese media channels within their communities.
This is no surprise for many of us in the multicultural marketing industry. At Kang & Lee, more than 20 years of consumer research for our clients has consistently illustrated that Asian-immigrant consumers do gravitate to their native-language media for the comfort of the language, as well as for the daily editorial content that contains richer news and information from Asia (and from within their own ethnic communities in the U.S.) than would otherwise be featured regularly in any mainstream media outlet. Yet, as an educated population skewing toward professional careers, these same Asians are also often dual consumers of mainstream media -- particularly to stay abreast of the latest information regarding U.S. national life, local life in key cities, and more specialized content that is relevant to their careers in our country.
But given the modest budgets that most multicultural marketers manage, the prohibitively high mainstream media costs prevent clients from acting on this knowledge to engage immigrant consumers in these channels. As one client said to me, "I know from research that my Asian targets in New York are also reading The New York Times, but can I really afford even a single insertion when the one-time insertion cost can support a few months of strong frequency advertising in several Asian-targeted publications?"
Therein may lie an opportunity for general media across the country. Offline publications are experiencing continual and precipitous drops in ad revenue, and some of the most famous print brands are already dying, with many more that may follow suit. If these media can figure out how to appropriately price non-English and ethnic-targeted advertising to reflect the size of the various multicultural audiences they may already be reaching in their home, regional, or national markets, they may find completely new revenue streams that can, at least in part, recoup some of their current losses.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Diversity on Networks...Great Article
No Smooth Ride on TV Networks’ Road to Diversity
source: www.nytimes.com
LOS ANGELES — On the eve of Barack Obama’s election last fall as the first African-American president, television seemed to be leaning toward a post-racial future. In October two prominent cable networks — CNN and Comedy Central — began new programs that featured black hosts, a development that was notable because so few current programs on cable or broadcast channels have minority leads.
Five months later both programs — “Chocolate News,” featuring David Alan Grier on Comedy Central, and “D. L. Hughley Breaks the News” on CNN — have been discontinued. In addition, CW, the broadcast network that regularly features comedies with largely African-American casts, announced in February that it was renewing six popular series, but its two with mostly black performers — “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Game” — were not among them. (The network says it is still deciding their fates.)
One of the few new series from last fall to feature a black lead, Fox’s situation comedy “Do Not Disturb,” was canceled after only three episodes because of low ratings. And when Jay Leno’s impending departure from “The Tonight Show” caused a shuffling among the late-night talk-show hosting chairs, the lineup remained a white male domain.
All of which raises some questions about whether television actually made any progress last fall in better reflecting the audience it serves, and whether viewers will see a return to old, monochromatic ways in the coming season. Comedy Central and CNN both said last week that their respective shows were not canceled; they simply were not continuing. Jenni Runyan, a spokeswoman for Comedy Central, whose executives declined to comment for this article, said “Chocolate News” completed its entire run of 10 episodes but was not renewed for a second season. She said the network does not talk about why shows are not renewed.
“Chocolate News” drew an average of 1.5 million viewers over its run, according to Comedy Central, down from the 2.1 million who watched the debut episode. Mr. Hughley’s show on CNN, which will continue through the end of the month, has drawn roughly 750,000 viewers per episode, CNN said.
CNN also declined to make executives available to comment. The network issued a statement saying that Mr. Hughley would remain a contributor for the network. The decision to discontinue his show, a comic take on the news that was shown on Saturday nights, came after he asked the network to move the show’s production from New York to Los Angeles, where his family lives.
Certainly both CNN and Comedy Central feature African-Americans and other minorities among their performers and news anchors. To some in the industry, however, these most recent developments were another verse of a much-heard song.
“I don’t know what to say to these networks that don’t put on shows with black leads,” said Larry Wilmore, who has a recurring role as the “senior black correspondent” on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and who was an executive producer on “The Bernie Mac Show,” which ran for five seasons on Fox.
Minority talents “are faring better in dramas as part of ensembles than as leads,” Mr. Wilmore said.
“I don’t think there is anything sinister going on,” he continued. “It is just an unfortunate coincidence and situation.”
In a report issued last December, the N.A.A.C.P. said that the number of minority actors in regular or recurring roles on three of the four major networks had decreased markedly in the 2006-7 television season from their peaks several seasons earlier. Only ABC showed an increase in the number of minority roles during that time, according to the report, which lamented the “gross underrepresentation of minorities” in scripted entertainment.
Among the pilots under development for next season, few have cast blacks or Hispanics as lead characters. Fox has already ordered a full season of episodes of “The Cleveland Show,” an animated spinoff of “Family Guy” that focuses on Cleveland Brown, an African-American character, and his family. Most of the members of that family are voiced by black actors, although Cleveland himself is the creation of Mike Henry, who is white.
Ron Taylor, the vice president for diversity development at Fox Entertainment Group, said that the choice of Mr. Henry was initially a concern at Fox, but that executives there quickly grew comfortable with his portrayal of the character, as well as with the ethnic diversity of the writing staff and the rest of the cast. Perhaps most notably, Cleveland’s white, redneck neighbor, Lester, is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, an African-American, who also voices Cleveland Jr.
Fox is also considering an African-American-led sitcom titled “Brothers” for its fall lineup. It features Daryl Mitchell, known as Chill, who was paralyzed in a 2001 motorcycle accident and uses a wheelchair, and Michael Strahan, the former Giants football star. ABC is considering “The Law,” a pilot starring Cedric Kyles, popularly known as Cedric the Entertainer. And CBS has cast the rapper L L Cool J in a planned spinoff of “NCIS,” its procedural crime drama.
But those are just 4 of the nearly 70 pilot projects under development by the four major networks. The relative dearth of mainstream television series with black lead performers makes the success of a producer like Tyler Perry, whose “House of Payne” on TBS is but one part of his comedy conglomerate, all the more remarkable.
The networks say they are addressing the issue both in front of and behind the cameras. Paula Madison, an executive vice president at NBC Universal who oversees its diversity efforts, said Hollywood tended to draw a fair number of aspiring writers and directors from film schools and graduate programs that are themselves not greatly diverse. NBC Universal has worked to counteract that by providing extra money for shows that add minority members to the writing and production staff.
“We are at the point where more and more people of color are working at higher levels,” Ms. Madison said. “That is making us more effective at having diversity in the room at the beginning, and in seeing diverse projects coming in the door.”
source: www.nytimes.com
LOS ANGELES — On the eve of Barack Obama’s election last fall as the first African-American president, television seemed to be leaning toward a post-racial future. In October two prominent cable networks — CNN and Comedy Central — began new programs that featured black hosts, a development that was notable because so few current programs on cable or broadcast channels have minority leads.
Five months later both programs — “Chocolate News,” featuring David Alan Grier on Comedy Central, and “D. L. Hughley Breaks the News” on CNN — have been discontinued. In addition, CW, the broadcast network that regularly features comedies with largely African-American casts, announced in February that it was renewing six popular series, but its two with mostly black performers — “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Game” — were not among them. (The network says it is still deciding their fates.)
One of the few new series from last fall to feature a black lead, Fox’s situation comedy “Do Not Disturb,” was canceled after only three episodes because of low ratings. And when Jay Leno’s impending departure from “The Tonight Show” caused a shuffling among the late-night talk-show hosting chairs, the lineup remained a white male domain.
All of which raises some questions about whether television actually made any progress last fall in better reflecting the audience it serves, and whether viewers will see a return to old, monochromatic ways in the coming season. Comedy Central and CNN both said last week that their respective shows were not canceled; they simply were not continuing. Jenni Runyan, a spokeswoman for Comedy Central, whose executives declined to comment for this article, said “Chocolate News” completed its entire run of 10 episodes but was not renewed for a second season. She said the network does not talk about why shows are not renewed.
“Chocolate News” drew an average of 1.5 million viewers over its run, according to Comedy Central, down from the 2.1 million who watched the debut episode. Mr. Hughley’s show on CNN, which will continue through the end of the month, has drawn roughly 750,000 viewers per episode, CNN said.
CNN also declined to make executives available to comment. The network issued a statement saying that Mr. Hughley would remain a contributor for the network. The decision to discontinue his show, a comic take on the news that was shown on Saturday nights, came after he asked the network to move the show’s production from New York to Los Angeles, where his family lives.
Certainly both CNN and Comedy Central feature African-Americans and other minorities among their performers and news anchors. To some in the industry, however, these most recent developments were another verse of a much-heard song.
“I don’t know what to say to these networks that don’t put on shows with black leads,” said Larry Wilmore, who has a recurring role as the “senior black correspondent” on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and who was an executive producer on “The Bernie Mac Show,” which ran for five seasons on Fox.
Minority talents “are faring better in dramas as part of ensembles than as leads,” Mr. Wilmore said.
“I don’t think there is anything sinister going on,” he continued. “It is just an unfortunate coincidence and situation.”
In a report issued last December, the N.A.A.C.P. said that the number of minority actors in regular or recurring roles on three of the four major networks had decreased markedly in the 2006-7 television season from their peaks several seasons earlier. Only ABC showed an increase in the number of minority roles during that time, according to the report, which lamented the “gross underrepresentation of minorities” in scripted entertainment.
Among the pilots under development for next season, few have cast blacks or Hispanics as lead characters. Fox has already ordered a full season of episodes of “The Cleveland Show,” an animated spinoff of “Family Guy” that focuses on Cleveland Brown, an African-American character, and his family. Most of the members of that family are voiced by black actors, although Cleveland himself is the creation of Mike Henry, who is white.
Ron Taylor, the vice president for diversity development at Fox Entertainment Group, said that the choice of Mr. Henry was initially a concern at Fox, but that executives there quickly grew comfortable with his portrayal of the character, as well as with the ethnic diversity of the writing staff and the rest of the cast. Perhaps most notably, Cleveland’s white, redneck neighbor, Lester, is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, an African-American, who also voices Cleveland Jr.
Fox is also considering an African-American-led sitcom titled “Brothers” for its fall lineup. It features Daryl Mitchell, known as Chill, who was paralyzed in a 2001 motorcycle accident and uses a wheelchair, and Michael Strahan, the former Giants football star. ABC is considering “The Law,” a pilot starring Cedric Kyles, popularly known as Cedric the Entertainer. And CBS has cast the rapper L L Cool J in a planned spinoff of “NCIS,” its procedural crime drama.
But those are just 4 of the nearly 70 pilot projects under development by the four major networks. The relative dearth of mainstream television series with black lead performers makes the success of a producer like Tyler Perry, whose “House of Payne” on TBS is but one part of his comedy conglomerate, all the more remarkable.
The networks say they are addressing the issue both in front of and behind the cameras. Paula Madison, an executive vice president at NBC Universal who oversees its diversity efforts, said Hollywood tended to draw a fair number of aspiring writers and directors from film schools and graduate programs that are themselves not greatly diverse. NBC Universal has worked to counteract that by providing extra money for shows that add minority members to the writing and production staff.
“We are at the point where more and more people of color are working at higher levels,” Ms. Madison said. “That is making us more effective at having diversity in the room at the beginning, and in seeing diverse projects coming in the door.”
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Wal-Mart Targets Hispanic Market and other News Stories
WAL-MART TARGETS HISPANIC MARKET
Discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is targeting Hispanic consumers with two pilot supermarket locations planned to open later this year.
According to the Financial Times and Retailer Daily, two former Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market locations will reopen under the Supermercado de Walmart banner.
The pilot stores, one in Phoenix, AZ and one in Houston, TX, will open in Q3 2009 and feature approximately 39,000 square feet of space. The stores will be located in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods and staff will speak both English and Spanish. Product assortment will be geared toward Hispanic customers, as will signage and store layout. In addition, Wal-Mart subsidiary Sam’s Club plans to open an Hispanic-targeted store called Mas Club in Houston later in 2009.
Recent independent research indicates that the Hispanic market offers strong potential for retailers. According to Experian Consumer Research, the US Hispanic population grew 20% between 2004 and 2008, are more likely than the general US population to shop frequently and buy impulsively, will pay more for brand names, and may have an increasing comfort level with carrying debt.
The opening of new supermarket locations aimed at Spanish-speaking customers fits into Wal-Mart’s overall plans of increasing its penetration into the grocery vertical. Earlier in the year, Wal-Mart announced its intentions to double its grocery business in New England and also open new supermarket locations in the Chicago area. Competitor Target is currently expanding its assortment of dairy and perishable goods.
Even as other retailers cut back on advertising, Wal-Mart increased its measured media spending in 2008 by some $300 million - or nearly 56% - which in part (in addition to low prices) likely explains its recent successes in a down economy.
The world’s largest retailer spent $835 million and is set to become the second-biggest spender in the category (it was ninth), after smaller rival Macy’s, according to TNS Media Intelligence data (excludes outdoor and national spot radio, and Dec. figures for cable TV).
Source: www.mediabuyerplanner.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MY THOUGHTS: This is definitely a Marketer's dream, but wonders how our Multicultural Audience feels about this....Hmmm. And how effective is this really is? How far are we going with segmentation??
CABLE COMPANIES TARGET COMMERCIALS TO AUDIENCE
The advertiser’s dream of sending a particular commercial to a specific consumer is one step closer to reality as Cablevision Systems plans to announce the largest project yet using targeted advertising on television.
Beginning with 500,000 homes in Brooklyn, the Bronx and some New Jersey areas, Cablevision will use its targeting technology to route ads to specific households based on data about income, ethnicity, gender or whether the homeowner has children or pets.
The technology requires no hardware or installation in a subscriber’s home, so viewers may not realize they are seeing ads different from a neighbor’s. But during the same show, a 50-something male may see an ad for, say, high-end speakers from Best Buy, while his neighbors with children may see one for a Best Buy video game.
“We have, as an industry, been talking about this since the beginning of time,” said Matt Seiler, the global chief executive of the media firm Universal McCann, a part of the Interpublic Group. “Now we’ve got it in 500,000 households. This is real.”
The potential of customized ads worries some privacy advocates, despite the assurance of cable companies that they maintain anonymity about the households.
“We don’t have an objection to advertising that is targeted to demographics,” said Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group in Washington. But, he said, there is a need to show “that they can’t be reverse-engineered to find the names of individuals that were watching particular shows.”
Cablevision says it segments its subscribers only by demographics, so that an advertiser can divide ads among various groups: General Motors, for example, could send an ad for a Cadillac Escalade to high-income houses, a Chevrolet to low-income houses, and one in Spanish to Hispanic consumers.
Cablevision matches households to demographic data to divide its customers, using the data-collection company Experian.
Experian has data on individuals that it collects through public records, registries and other sources. It matches the name and address of the subscriber to what it knows about them, and assigns demographic characteristics to households. (The match is a blind one: advertisers do not know what name and address they are advertising to, Cablevision executives said.)
Advertisers can also give their existing customer lists to Experian, and Experian can make matches — so G.M., for example, could direct an ad based on who already owns a G.M. car.
Advertisers are willing to pay premiums for ads that go only to audiences they have selected.
Cablevision tested the technology by promoting its own services with targeted and untargeted ads. In the eight-month test, the targeted ads brought in new subscriptions at a significantly higher rate than untargeted ads.
“The revenue opportunity for the various constituents within television is enormous,” said Irwin Gotlieb, the global chief executive of GroupM, the media division of WPP Group. (WPP is an investor in the targeting companies Visible World and the Invidi Technologies Corporation.)
That is money the cable companies are eager to have. “Penetrations have flattened out, and cable companies need a way to grow,” said David L. Kline, the president of the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, Cablevision’s ad unit.
Cablevision has been testing the system in about 100,000 Brooklyn households over the last year and a half. By summer, Cablevision plans to have it in 500,000 households, and, if the introduction goes smoothly, to extend it to all 3.1 million of its cable subscribers.
Visible World, the New York-based company working on the Cablevision project, was founded in 2000. It initially worked on showing versions of ads based on the weather or general location. Then, Visible World began working on the capability of sending different ads to specific households, starting with Brooklyn.
Cablevision is not notifying customers about the targeted advertising specifically. It last sent its privacy policy, which included information about ad targeting, last May, said a spokesman, Jim Maiella. The privacy policy is also available online.
Jeffrey Chester, the executive director of the privacy group Center for Digital Democracy, said this was not enough. “They need to be very clear to the consumer what’s being collected,” he said. “Give people a choice.”
One thing Cablevision will not be doing is sending ads based on what shows a consumer is watching.
But a competitor of Visible World, Invidi, is conducting a test with the cable company Comcast and will soon work with Verizon. It uses data from remote controls to follow what a person is watching, then matches that with ratings information and program guides to infer that person’s gender and age. It can use census data or data sources like Experian for further refining. Then, it shows an appropriate commercial.
Eventually, said Michael Kubin, the executive vice president of Invidi, the company will be able to identify who is watching based not just on what they are viewing, but also how they watch it: whether they channel change frequently or not at all, or immediately turn to CNN or to Bravo. That will help it show the right ads in households where multiple people watch television.
Mr. Kubin said Invidi did not have the capability to store any data, and could not, even if subpoenaed, tell what programs someone was watching.
But Invidi’s access to data has raised some concerns among even its advertisers. In late 2008, Invidi began conducting a test in Baltimore with Comcast, with about 70,000 households.
Comcast sent letters to all households in the trial area when the test began, alerting them to the trial and giving them an option to decline participation.
Advertisers wanted even more caution. While Invidi could have used the remote-control data to target ads, Starcom MediaVest Group, a media unit of Publicis Group, asked it not to.
“We want to make sure that we took a very conservative approach toward data usage until we have an opportunity as an industry to understand the consumer’s desire for more relevant advertising,” said Tracey Scheppach, senior vice president and video innovations director at Starcom Worldwide.
While advertisers are pushing the cable industry to begin offering targeted advertising, it has been a slow process. Cable companies control only a portion of advertising — the bulk is sold by the networks, like ESPN or MTV.
To coordinate their efforts, last year the six largest cable companies announced they had created an entity called Canoe Ventures. It is trying to get national distribution for the targeting technologies, to ensure the networks support targeted ad sales, and to come up with industry standards.
“Television was always big and dumb,” said Seth Haberman, the chief executive of Visible World. “Now, hopefully, we can be big and slightly smarter.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
Discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is targeting Hispanic consumers with two pilot supermarket locations planned to open later this year.
According to the Financial Times and Retailer Daily, two former Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market locations will reopen under the Supermercado de Walmart banner.
The pilot stores, one in Phoenix, AZ and one in Houston, TX, will open in Q3 2009 and feature approximately 39,000 square feet of space. The stores will be located in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods and staff will speak both English and Spanish. Product assortment will be geared toward Hispanic customers, as will signage and store layout. In addition, Wal-Mart subsidiary Sam’s Club plans to open an Hispanic-targeted store called Mas Club in Houston later in 2009.
Recent independent research indicates that the Hispanic market offers strong potential for retailers. According to Experian Consumer Research, the US Hispanic population grew 20% between 2004 and 2008, are more likely than the general US population to shop frequently and buy impulsively, will pay more for brand names, and may have an increasing comfort level with carrying debt.
The opening of new supermarket locations aimed at Spanish-speaking customers fits into Wal-Mart’s overall plans of increasing its penetration into the grocery vertical. Earlier in the year, Wal-Mart announced its intentions to double its grocery business in New England and also open new supermarket locations in the Chicago area. Competitor Target is currently expanding its assortment of dairy and perishable goods.
Even as other retailers cut back on advertising, Wal-Mart increased its measured media spending in 2008 by some $300 million - or nearly 56% - which in part (in addition to low prices) likely explains its recent successes in a down economy.
The world’s largest retailer spent $835 million and is set to become the second-biggest spender in the category (it was ninth), after smaller rival Macy’s, according to TNS Media Intelligence data (excludes outdoor and national spot radio, and Dec. figures for cable TV).
Source: www.mediabuyerplanner.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MY THOUGHTS: This is definitely a Marketer's dream, but wonders how our Multicultural Audience feels about this....Hmmm. And how effective is this really is? How far are we going with segmentation??
CABLE COMPANIES TARGET COMMERCIALS TO AUDIENCE
The advertiser’s dream of sending a particular commercial to a specific consumer is one step closer to reality as Cablevision Systems plans to announce the largest project yet using targeted advertising on television.
Beginning with 500,000 homes in Brooklyn, the Bronx and some New Jersey areas, Cablevision will use its targeting technology to route ads to specific households based on data about income, ethnicity, gender or whether the homeowner has children or pets.
The technology requires no hardware or installation in a subscriber’s home, so viewers may not realize they are seeing ads different from a neighbor’s. But during the same show, a 50-something male may see an ad for, say, high-end speakers from Best Buy, while his neighbors with children may see one for a Best Buy video game.
“We have, as an industry, been talking about this since the beginning of time,” said Matt Seiler, the global chief executive of the media firm Universal McCann, a part of the Interpublic Group. “Now we’ve got it in 500,000 households. This is real.”
The potential of customized ads worries some privacy advocates, despite the assurance of cable companies that they maintain anonymity about the households.
“We don’t have an objection to advertising that is targeted to demographics,” said Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group in Washington. But, he said, there is a need to show “that they can’t be reverse-engineered to find the names of individuals that were watching particular shows.”
Cablevision says it segments its subscribers only by demographics, so that an advertiser can divide ads among various groups: General Motors, for example, could send an ad for a Cadillac Escalade to high-income houses, a Chevrolet to low-income houses, and one in Spanish to Hispanic consumers.
Cablevision matches households to demographic data to divide its customers, using the data-collection company Experian.
Experian has data on individuals that it collects through public records, registries and other sources. It matches the name and address of the subscriber to what it knows about them, and assigns demographic characteristics to households. (The match is a blind one: advertisers do not know what name and address they are advertising to, Cablevision executives said.)
Advertisers can also give their existing customer lists to Experian, and Experian can make matches — so G.M., for example, could direct an ad based on who already owns a G.M. car.
Advertisers are willing to pay premiums for ads that go only to audiences they have selected.
Cablevision tested the technology by promoting its own services with targeted and untargeted ads. In the eight-month test, the targeted ads brought in new subscriptions at a significantly higher rate than untargeted ads.
“The revenue opportunity for the various constituents within television is enormous,” said Irwin Gotlieb, the global chief executive of GroupM, the media division of WPP Group. (WPP is an investor in the targeting companies Visible World and the Invidi Technologies Corporation.)
That is money the cable companies are eager to have. “Penetrations have flattened out, and cable companies need a way to grow,” said David L. Kline, the president of the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, Cablevision’s ad unit.
Cablevision has been testing the system in about 100,000 Brooklyn households over the last year and a half. By summer, Cablevision plans to have it in 500,000 households, and, if the introduction goes smoothly, to extend it to all 3.1 million of its cable subscribers.
Visible World, the New York-based company working on the Cablevision project, was founded in 2000. It initially worked on showing versions of ads based on the weather or general location. Then, Visible World began working on the capability of sending different ads to specific households, starting with Brooklyn.
Cablevision is not notifying customers about the targeted advertising specifically. It last sent its privacy policy, which included information about ad targeting, last May, said a spokesman, Jim Maiella. The privacy policy is also available online.
Jeffrey Chester, the executive director of the privacy group Center for Digital Democracy, said this was not enough. “They need to be very clear to the consumer what’s being collected,” he said. “Give people a choice.”
One thing Cablevision will not be doing is sending ads based on what shows a consumer is watching.
But a competitor of Visible World, Invidi, is conducting a test with the cable company Comcast and will soon work with Verizon. It uses data from remote controls to follow what a person is watching, then matches that with ratings information and program guides to infer that person’s gender and age. It can use census data or data sources like Experian for further refining. Then, it shows an appropriate commercial.
Eventually, said Michael Kubin, the executive vice president of Invidi, the company will be able to identify who is watching based not just on what they are viewing, but also how they watch it: whether they channel change frequently or not at all, or immediately turn to CNN or to Bravo. That will help it show the right ads in households where multiple people watch television.
Mr. Kubin said Invidi did not have the capability to store any data, and could not, even if subpoenaed, tell what programs someone was watching.
But Invidi’s access to data has raised some concerns among even its advertisers. In late 2008, Invidi began conducting a test in Baltimore with Comcast, with about 70,000 households.
Comcast sent letters to all households in the trial area when the test began, alerting them to the trial and giving them an option to decline participation.
Advertisers wanted even more caution. While Invidi could have used the remote-control data to target ads, Starcom MediaVest Group, a media unit of Publicis Group, asked it not to.
“We want to make sure that we took a very conservative approach toward data usage until we have an opportunity as an industry to understand the consumer’s desire for more relevant advertising,” said Tracey Scheppach, senior vice president and video innovations director at Starcom Worldwide.
While advertisers are pushing the cable industry to begin offering targeted advertising, it has been a slow process. Cable companies control only a portion of advertising — the bulk is sold by the networks, like ESPN or MTV.
To coordinate their efforts, last year the six largest cable companies announced they had created an entity called Canoe Ventures. It is trying to get national distribution for the targeting technologies, to ensure the networks support targeted ad sales, and to come up with industry standards.
“Television was always big and dumb,” said Seth Haberman, the chief executive of Visible World. “Now, hopefully, we can be big and slightly smarter.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
Monday, March 16, 2009
South Asians--Who Knew?
South Asians Snapshot
Living in the US, there are many ethnic groups and sub-ethnic groups. A growing group in the United States, South Asians make up about 3.5 Million of the U.S population and are concentrated in the major cities of the US.
- Total population of South Asians: 3.5 million
- 80% South-Asian men have college degrees
- South Asians are from the following countries: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.
- 49.63% of South-Asians are married
Average Household Income compared to other ethnic groups. (WOW)
According to the Census Bureau, as of 2007 the Average Median income in the US is $48, 961. Therefore, South Asians on average are making more than the average American.
Largest Subgroup: Asian-Indians
Facts
- 2.2 million
- 1 out of every 10 Asian-Indian is a millionaire
- Average spend of Asian-Indians on credit cards is significantly higher (30%) than the average American
- 65% of Asian-Indians hold managerial/professional/technical jobs in North America
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Ajit - Punjabi News
Bangla Patrika (New York City Newspaper)
Bangla Weekly Parichoy (Women’s Magazine)
Des Pardes Times International Inc. (Canada Newspaper)
Desi Talk (Indian-American Newspaper)
Divya Bhaskar
Diya Magazine (Dallas South Asian Magazine)
Economic Times
Hinduism Today magazine
HindustanTimes.com
India Currents (South Asian American Monthly)
India Today (India’s Number 1 Magazine)
Indian Life & Style
B4U-Bollywood Gossip Site
Devon Avenue (Chicago Indian and Pakistani Community)
Dishant.com (Indian Music Site)
Express India
GaramChai.com
Gujarat Times (Indian e-Paper)
HindustanTimes.com
India Abroad (Shopping site)
India Herald
India in New York
India Journal (Southern California Publication)
India New England News (Community & Business News in New England)
India Post
India This Week
India Weekly USA (Shopping: DVDs, CDs)
India West (Motion Picture Association Site)
Indian Express
Indian Reporter and World News
Anjali TV
AVS (Asian Variety Show)
AZN Television (formerly iChannel)
ImaginAsian TV
India Waves KMTP Channel 32
India Waves TV
RADIO
Anil Ki Awaaz
Eastern Broadcasting Corporation
Welcome to Color Me Ad
In celebration of my career transition, I wanted to dedicate a blog to my new career in Marketing.
Marketing and different cultures have always piqued my interest. So why not merge the two into a rewarding career! I'd like to share my experiences and provide insight into the world of global and multicultural marketing. Using polls, case studies, ads, statistics, and other resources, I will showcase the importance and relevance of providing strategic messaging across multiple ethnic groups.
In addition, I will explore Marketing trends, agencies, and other Marketing-related items that hold true to the best marketing advice I've heard to date, KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid. :-)
Marketing and different cultures have always piqued my interest. So why not merge the two into a rewarding career! I'd like to share my experiences and provide insight into the world of global and multicultural marketing. Using polls, case studies, ads, statistics, and other resources, I will showcase the importance and relevance of providing strategic messaging across multiple ethnic groups.
In addition, I will explore Marketing trends, agencies, and other Marketing-related items that hold true to the best marketing advice I've heard to date, KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid. :-)
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