Mercury Media Delivers a New Way to Drive Retail

By: Barry Jacobs, Vice President, Short Form Direct Response, Mercury Media Santa Monica

I was reminded today of the years when I was selling local radio and TV. I would do my best to get a meeting with the owner of a business, only to be told that he would not give up his advertising in the newspaper, because his customers would actually have a copy of the ad in their hands when they walked into the store.

Well, times have changed and Mercury Media has developed a marketing plan that actually has the modern consumer still walking into the retail store, but instead of carrying a newspaper ad, they are carrying a coupon or offer they have downloaded from the internet.

Big Fish….Little Pond…The Truth

By: Barry Jacobs, Vice President, Short Form Direct Response, Mercury Media Santa Monica

In the last two months, two prospective clients have told me that they would rather be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a large pond.  The “small pond” media company has used the same phrase with both the clients. As part of the “large pond” company, I take a huge exception to the comment.

First of all, at Mercury we grow clients.  Our goal is not simply to buy the media; we take the time and energy to optimize every facet of the clients marketing endeavors. Let me draw an example that really dispels the concept. If you buy a tropical fish and place it in a large tank, something wonderful occurs. The fish grows and flourishes as it has space to grow and the opportunity to live a long life. If you take the same fish and place it in a small bowl, the fish stays the same size and does not live as long.

Driving Retail

By: Beth Vendice, President, Mercury Media Performance Guarantee Group, Boston

We pride ourselves on “now.” At its most basic level, direct response TV is all about “now.” Make the call, visit the website, do it now.  All the creative, messaging, and placement is designed for “now.” To elicit an immediate response.

Which is not to say that “now” TV doesn’t have positive after effects. Branding is one of them. Retail sales are another.  Often, I am asked about the relationship between DRTV and retail sales lift.. It makes sense. Many of our most successful clients sell products or services that simply don’t have a retail component, such as ecommerce services. On the other hand, many clients have a retail product component and invariably the two go hand in hand. DRTV drives retail sales. It isn’t the science of “now”, but it is the science of DTRV’s afterburners.

Video Consumption in a Fragmented Marketplace

By: Michael Goodman, Strategic Analyst, Mercury Media

TV, Internet, smartphones, DVRs, on-demand. Today’s consumers have more viewing options than at any other time in history. While different segments of the population might prefer different devices to view on, or exhibit different viewing habits, the overall trend is clear; consumers are watching more video on TV, the Internet and mobile devices than at any other time.

But despite all the alternative viewing options available, plain old television continues to dominate viewing by a wide margin. According to Nielsen’s Q1 2011 Cross-Platform Report, persons 2+ watched an average of 35 hours and 37 minutes of television a week followed by using the internet on a PC (5:43 per week) and watching time shifted TV (2:25 per week) (see Exhibit 1). Segmenting television into quintiles shows the even the lowest quintile of TV viewers still averages an hour of TV viewing per day, while the highest quintile watches nearly ten hours a day. While some variation is seen among different demographic and ethnic groups the overarching theme remains constant – television dominates viewing.

Cable upfront: Expect the top networks to match broadcast in CPM increases

Media Life’s “Media Economy Newsletter” recently called on our  Sr. VP Media Director Cheryl Green to weigh in on the evolving cable advertising landscape. Cheryl was recently honored as leading cable media buyer by CableFAX,  in their 2011 “Sweet 16 of Cable.”  Read what Cheryl had to say below:

A New “Perspectiva”

By: Marcelino Miyares, Jr., VP Mercury en español

(As printed in the May 2011 issue of Electronic Retailer Magazine)

I have been involved in marketing to Hispanics in some capacity for more than 30 years. That’s three census cycles, if you’re scoring at home. Most of my tenure has been spent in direct marketing, and every now and then I see a watershed moment that I expect will push marketing to Hispanics over the top. The release of the most recent 2010 Census results is one of those moments.  And still, as recently as last week I have spoken to marketers and agencies who still manage to hold on to outdated and unprofitable perceptions about the Hispanic market.

The 2010 Census results, released in mid-April, are mythbusters for Hispanic marketers. The market now tops 50 million and will account for 95 percent of the teen population growth over the next five years. Hispanics now outnumber blacks for the first time in most United States metropolitan cities.  Last year, Hispanics became the largest minority group in 191 metropolitan areas, as a result of the Latino population spreading to new areas of the country.  The Census Bureau also projects that by 2020 the Latino population will increase to over 65MM.

Despite all this, there are a mere $3 billion marketing dollars spent annually against $850 billion in Hispanic spending power. That’s less than one-third of one percent. The new census figures add a lot of fuel to the argument that this market is underspent and underestimated. Unfortunately for the disbelievers and marketing xenophobes who chose not to read this article, this is commercial reality, not myth. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to use the census results (or should I say facts) and some other recent research to counterpoint the stubborn myths that live on in our industry.

DRTV: The complete player

By: Kristi Tropp, VP, Director of Client Services, Mercury Media Boston

As marketers, we all aspire to hit home runs. We want to be part of “that campaign” that delivers immediate sales, shatters revenue projections, and maybe even wins a few awards. In the DRTV business, we certainly want those campaigns, and we want them regularly. The reality, however, is that few agencies are fortunate to get even one of those on a direct to consumer basis. But we do- because we pride ourselves more on DRTV campaigns that achieve success based on smart planning, sound media buying, real time data and analytics, compelling creative, and, just as importantly, a very strict vetting process! In short, we’re in it for the long term, regardless of whether success is immediate or a bit more hard-earned.

“Hard-earned” and “long-term” are not the sexiest words in the DRTV lexicon, but it struck me in a recent round of client meetings that we need to change that perception. In this business, we’re very good at promising,  measuring and delivering immediacy. Campaign hits on day one, sales hit in week one, increase in week two, and a campaign is optimized for successful responses in week three…… and everyone’s happy. We should aspire to more.  Four concepts are still missing from overall DRTV planning and goals that should be top of mind for every DRTV launch:

Mercury Media’s Cheryl Green Named to CableFAX’s “Sweet Sixteen of Cable” for a Second Year in a Row

We are thrilled to announce that our Sr. VP Media Director Cheryl Green has been selected as one of CableFax’s “Sweet Sixteen of Cable,” for a second year in a row!  CableFAX’s “Sweet Sixteen” is an industry hot list of brand marketers and media buyers who “get it” when it comes to the power of cable as a marketing vehicle.  We have to agree – Cheryl singlehandedly brought infomercial products to primetime TV, coordinating the first ever placement of an infomercial on the Discovery Channel.  Check out her exclusive interview with CableFAX below!

MORE is NOT always MERRIER…

By: Olga Ackad, VP, Director of Client Services, Mercury Media Santa Monica

Agency of Record. In the world of advertising, agencies strive for this label. However, for Long Form Direct Response, this has become a rarity. More and more, marketers are working with multiple agencies. While the upfront implications of this may appear positive, ultimately, this can harm not only one marketer’s campaign, but the general state of the industry.

Why are marketers using multiple agencies? There are two core reasons: Long Form media is finite. Any given station will only open so much time for 28:30 programming and many don’t have long form inventory available at all. Marketers seem to believe that they need more than one agency to get a sufficient quantity of media time. The second factor often has to do with creating a competitive atmosphere among their media partners so as to facilitate a “hunger” within each agency.

As with all things, there are pros and cons to this thinking. Every agency has time that’s proprietary to them. But does that third, fourth, fifth, etc. agency have enough unique time that it outweighs the risk? In most cases, the answer is no. So what exactly is at risk? 

Reaching Consumers Reeling from the Great Recession

By: Michael Goodman, Strategic Analyst, Mercury Media

Over the course of the past three years the American economy has been laboring to get out from under a recession the likes of which we have not seen since the Great Depression of 1929-33. As a result, Americans’ are lowering their expectations about retirement and their children’s future; are becoming thriftier; and are concerned over how long it will take for their finances to recover.

According to the University of Michigan’s Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID), median household wealth decreased by an estimated 19% from 2007 to 2009. As a result, consumer lifestyles are changing. According to the Pew Research Center, 62% of U.S. households have cut back on household spending during the recession and 71% of buying less expensive brands. Rather than short-term adaptations to economic circumstances these changes seem to be fundamental changes in consumer buying patterns. Forty-eight percent of U.S. households said they plan to save more and 31% say they are going to spend less once the economy recovers.

This presents both a challenge and an opportunity to marketers.