Big Picture Advertising

TV losing the war for attention?

The new Ofcom report has loads of interesting information. These charts illustrate the biggest challenge facing the ad business - AdAvoiders.

Whilst Sky+ growth continues to be strong Virgin and Freeview are now important players too.

88% of users claim to always or almost always fast forward through the ads. (which backs up anecdotal findings - every group I ask tells me they ffwd the ads)

40% of DVR users claim ad avoiding is a reason for using the technology

26% of people cliam to frequently or sometimes use the internet whilst watching TV - which supports our findings on how TV drives search volume.

And whilst the young are the most likely to do this, its pretty significant amongst all groups up to 45 years old.

Now none of this means TV is dead - the most dramatic forecasts merely take TVs proportion of the US adspend down from 66% to around 50%.

But this does mean we need to rethink how we use TV. Should it be used to drive people to interact with content on other media? Shouldn't we be using the quantity of TV to drive the quality of interaction on other channels?

End of Advertising as we know it - IBM research

Following on from their end of TV research IBM have released some more interesting research - which is going to be part of their End of Advertising as we know it report to be published this autumn.

The research covers the US, Japan, Germany, Australia and the UK. Again well worth digging through - we were struck by just how dominant social networking and User Generated Content is in the all the markets other than Japan. There UGC is big, but social networks are not so popular - yet.

New Ofcom research on PVRs - and everything else

The new Ofcom Communications Market Report is published today, and as ever, its a wealth of fascinating info on how the UK media market is developing.

Its a huge document and the easiest way to get into it is to read the key points which gives a good topline.

One thing that leaps out is the findings about usage of PVRs;

Fifteen percent of individuals now have a digital video recorder (DVR) and up to 78% of adults who own them say they always, or almost always, fast-forward through the adverts when watching recorded programmes.

As you can see from the chart fast forwarding through ads is amongst the most popular uses of PVRs or DVRs - even though the figures are lower when asked as part of a long list. I'm a big fan - and a big user - of Sky+ and whilst I love ads, I always fast forward through the ads. And so does everyone I know who has one.

We have to accept that people are ad avoiders and create marketing communications that they actually choose to engage with.

Sky buys Amstrad

The new results from Sky show that 28% of Sky customers now have Sky+ - thats 2.374 million households - up from 2 million in January. Anyone who has a Sky+ knows that the TV experience is transformed with one of these PVRs - and we're now seeing PVRs for Freeview and from most electronics brands.

Given Sky have defined this sector in the UK, after initially marketing Tivo, we believe they see Sky+ as a major competitive advantage - especially as churn amongst Sky+ users is significantly lower than the rest of the Sky Customer base.

So the decision to buy Amstrad ( who supply around 30% of Sky's set top boxes)is probably behind the need to make Sky+ the clear leader in PVRs . By having a design and development team inhouse Sky can pioneer new uses and applications for set top boxes - including offering real VOD through a broadband connection rather than just through the satellite as previously announced. With over 700k broadband customers Sky can develop hardware that maximise the synergies between (Satellite) TV and the web - defining the sector before new players like Apple and PlayStation emerge as real competitors.

Of course another advantage of owning more of the supply chain is that the cost to Sky of new Sky+ boxes will be cheaper - so we still expect Sky to start giving them away sometime soon. With the marketing costs increasing to fight off Virgin and the levels of churn, we believe that it would probably be cost effective.

Sky+ in 2 million homes

Sky have started the year with an announcement that Sky+ is now in over 2 million homes and that they will enhance the service with video on demand later this year.

The press release points out the huge impact of time shift viewing in Sky+ homes;

time-shifting accounts for   22% of all viewing of programmes originally scheduled between 9pm and 10pm and   17% of all viewing of programmes scheduled between 10pm and 11pm. (Source: Sky   View)

Coupled with the news that BT now has over 10 million broadband customers its clear that the consumers are embracing new media opportunities.

 

Junk Mail

The BBC had an item last night about a postman who has been telling his customers how to opt out of the unaddressed junk mail that he delivers. Whilst his customers were quite happy about this, his employer was not and is disciplining him.
The  item covered the sheer volume of the mail delivered in this way - and it's impact on the Royal mails delicate finances.
And the presenter then referred viewers to the BBC website for details of how to cut down on junk mail.
Does any brand really want to pay for leaflets going to people who don't want to receive them? What century are they living in?
Its time to remember the forgotten 99%


Update - the MPS site (where people go to opt out of DM) is experiencing an exceptionally heavy number of registration requests - please return to the site shortly.

New generation of consumers

"A new generation of consumers is emerging for whom online is the lead medium and convergence is instinctive." - Ed Richards Ofcom
The new report from Ofcom on the Communications Market makes very interesting reading - even if there are 253 pages. The evidence is clear - the world is flat.

Broadband, mobile and digital TV are all mass market - and VoIP and PVRs are rapidly moving that way. And as you'd expect, that has a big impact on other media.

There is nothing too surprising here but, given a huge proportion of brands target 16 - 34s, we'd expect to see a radical shift in how brands communicate - but that isn't the case.

Yet.

There is a huge competitive advantage to be had by recognising how consumers have changed and changing accordingly.

What are you doing about it?

"Speed limit" on PVRs sought

As ITV starts the search for a new Chief Executive, we've heard that they are trying to restrict the fast forward speed on Freeview PVRs to just 16 times. (Sky+ works at 32 times and some other PVRs work at 64 times)
They do say that desperate times call for desperate measures...

One third as effective as it was in 1990

AdAge today has picked up on a McKinsey stat we've been quoting since last summer - "By 2010, we estimate, television advertising could be only 35 percent as effective as it was in 1990"
If you'd like to read the report, let me know.

Update - the report we can share was published last year and may be different to the one Adage is talking about - but it's well worth reading.

Sky+ in 1.5 million homes

The new results from Sky show a 75% increase in Sky+ homes over the last 12 months - and 18% of new customers take Sky+.