Subject: Can't Blame It on the Beer Goggles

From: Chief Marketer <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 13:10:02 -0500

April 19, 2005 | A PRIMEDIA Property |

Table of Contents
Can't Blame It on Beer Goggles
Demographic Targeting: Adapting to the Kids' TV Landscape
B-to-B: Keep That Database Clean
Product Placement: Getting In on the Game of Video-Game Advertising
E-mail: Deliverability Means Nothing If No One Opens the Message
TV: More Options for Reaching Hispanics

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From The Editor
Can't Blame It on Beer Goggles
Thanks to everyone who corrected my attribution last week of "Tastes great, less filling" to Budweiser instead of Miller Lite ("Marketing's Five Basic Plays").

And while I have your attention, I want to let you know that in a few weeks you'll be receiving a spiffier CHIEF MARKETER e-newsletter, complete with more original content and other bonuses. I hope the new incarnation of CHIEF MARKETER arouses as much response as my error did--though I also hope that the response will be much more positive.

Sherry Chiger
editor, CHIEF MARKETER

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This Week's Stories
Demographic Targeting: Adapting to the Kids' TV Landscape
By Andrew Grossman
Marketers who are drawing up their plans to reach kids for the 2005-06 television season are demanding more meat on the bones from the networks. With the advertising opportunities for companies escalating it is no longer enough for many marketers to buy 30-second spots in order to convince little Johnny or Jill to try their cornflakes.

That's what cable television network executives and producers of programs for the 2-11 crowd are saying this year in advance of the annual "upfront" sales season.

"Kids are just so submerged in media in general, and every single one of those media is looking for a way to monetize kids," says producer Buzz Potamkin, the former head of television at Hanna-Barbera, referring to emerging channels such as cell phones and the "podcasting" craze involving iPod players.

Programmers agree, with many noting that the current national obsession over childhood obesity is giving them opportunities to team with packaged goods companies. When Kraft Foods announced in January that it would remove ads for sugar-laden foods from television shows aimed at kids, some observers predicted further fallout from other companies and a subsequent decline in advertising on kids' shows.

But that doesn't appear to be happening. Instead food companies such as Kellogg are looking for opportunities to work with cable networks to promote the healthiness of their brands, according to cable network executives.

"We're having really meaningful conversations with a lot of our partners on how we can together turn the issues facing kids into a positive," says Nickelodeon president Cyma Zarghami.

Cartoon Network's partnership with Mattel Toys regarding the latter's new Hot Wheels AcceleRacers is a typical example. The network is airing an "AcceleRacers" special every quarter and is hosting a series of micro-episodes and associated AcceleRacer activity on its Website.

Another trend is also affecting marketers' plans: As CHIEF MARKETER reported in February, according to Harris Interactive a growing number of children are abandoned online purchases because of parental vetoes. Other research, too, has pointed to an increased role for parents in making important decisions for their kids. That has permeated television programming, with cable networks and marketers more cognizant than ever that involved parents are watching shows along with their kids.

Case in point: Dodge, the Cayman Islands, and Old Navy are now advertising on Nick. "The way families spend time together is different," Zarghami notes.

Media buyers agree, saying that the conventional wisdom of kids watching television in their room at night alone is a myth. A Magna Global USA study on family viewing released a year ago suggested that 80% of families watching primetime television are doing so as a group.

"If one family member is watching something that doesn't appeal to others, everyone doesn't scurry off to other rooms to watch television," says Steve Sternberg, executive vice president/director of audience analysis for Magna.

For marketers, that means identifying the shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" that have both parents and kids laughing when Plankton is again foiled in his quest for a Krabby Patty.

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B-to-B: Keep That Database Clean
LIST & DATA STRATEGIES
Building and maintaining your business-to-business house file can be daunting, says Bernie Goldberg, president of Yardley, PA-based Direct Marketing Publishers. The problem is often compounded by the use of multiple databases throughout the business. These databases frequently have no common link, making it all but impossible to exchange information among departments.

Making matters worse, abbreviations and company-name permutations create duplicate records on virtually every file. Constant change due to mergers, takeovers, and business closures further complicates the issue and makes databases even less hygienic.

Business marketers have always lived with this problem because there was no realistic approach to cleaning and maintaining their databases. But, says Goldberg, "in the past few years I've used a series of steps that produces remarkable results."

Step 1: Use a computer service for list hygiene, duplicate elimination, and address verification.

Step 2: Ask the mailroom manager for help in verifying records on your file.

Step 3: Send a first-class mailing to help verify deliverability.

For details, visit CATALOG AGE,

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Product Placement: Getting In on the Game of Video-Game Advertising
By Amy Johannes
PROMO XTRA
Honda, Verizon DSL, Coca-Cola, and Universal Music are among the latest brands to sign on with a new agency that creates video-game ad networks to capitalize on the projected soaring growth of product placement within the games.

A dozen advertisers have signed on with New York-based Massive to find new ways to bring their brands and messages to the 18- to 34-year-old male consumer via video-game advertising. With 30 billion hours spent on game play last year among that cohort, the medium is an ideal way to target consumers, says CEO Mitch Davis.

"Seventy percent of men 18-34 play video games," Davis says. "The problem advertisers have is that they can't reach these guys on TV. [Gaming] is their dominant form of entertainment. If you want to reach them, this is the most effective way."

When it comes to TV, the target audience typically multitasks and often ignores TV commercials, Davis says. But with video games, marketers have a greater advantage to showcase their product because gamers "are fully engaged in video games."

Massive just launched "Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory," a game published by Ubisoft that features ads from Paramount Pictures, Honda, and Comcast's G4 gaming channel. As part of the arrangement, Massive will digitally insert ads in games played on personal computers that are connected to the Internet. The ads will appear as billboards and posters in the games themselves, Davis says. The Internet connection allows the ads to change as players move throughout the game to keep the content fresh.

To read more, visit PROMO.

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E-mail: Deliverability Means Nothing If No One Opens the Message
By Brian Quinton
DIRECT
Getting delivered is only the first step in the e-mail marketing process. If your e-mail campaign doesn't get opened, then making it past the filters is small consolation -- and small help to your bottom line.

Here, a few tips to increase the chances that recipients will read your e-mail rather than delete it:

* Timing matters in getting your message read. The rules vary by business and target audience, but in general try to e-mail on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday and between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. And keep your eye on the calendar to avoid launching an e-mail campaign around social or religious holidays, school holidays, or long weekends.

* Frequency of e-mail can determine how many opens your e-mail scores. The right frequency will vary depending on your audience, your market, the product or service you're selling, and the time of year. Customers who've bought big-ticket items like cars and life insurance have already entered into a long-term connection with you and may only be annoyed by e-mail that arrives too frequently. But these same consumers might want to know about monthly specials at their local auto repair shop or bookstore, or to hear weekly from their brokerage firm. Not e-mailing enough has its dangers too. A merchant who e-mails quarterly may find that many addresses are no longer active -- and others may have forgotten they gave permission to be e-mailed. Regina Brady, principal of Norwalk, CT-based Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, recommends e-mailing monthly at a minimum, and probably no more than two or three times a month outside of holiday times.

* Consider offering a reduced e-mail frequency rather than having customers unsubscribe from your list. Letting customers who balk at your biweekly e-mails opt for a monthly message gives them a sense of control over the relationship and may in fact make it stronger.

* One of e-mail's biggest advantages is its easy testability. Take advantage of that and do some sample mailings before a big launch, trying different offers, different text and -- simplest of all -- different subject lines. "I've seen examples where a small change in the subject line meant a 25% difference in the open rate," Brady says. "It's simple to do, but it makes for a much better return on investment."

For more suggestions on improving e-mail open rates, visit DIRECT.

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TV: More Options for Reaching Hispanics
By Andrew Grossman
Television's annual spot-buying season begins next month, and marketers eager to reach the ballooning Hispanic population in the U.S. have more choices than ever. But those increased opportunities also reflect the challenges companies face in catering to the sought-after young adult population.

The stakes are not minor: Hispanics' buying power almost tripled during the past 13 years, from $222 billion in 1990 to $653 billion in 2003, according to the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth. And the Census Bureau estimates that with a median age of 25.9 years, Hispanics are younger than any other population segment in the U.S.

For the past few years, marketers have flocked increasingly to Spanish-language television, largely to broadcasters Univision and Telemundo. Nonetheless, many advertisers have remained aloof from that market.

"The thinking behind that is Hispanics also watch general market programming, so they'll get them anyway," says Jamie Korsen, chief marketing officer at Avrett, Free & Ginsburg, a media buying agency that deals heavily with Hispanic media through clients such as Goya Foods. Goya is boosting its Spanish-language media budget 25% this year in a campaign designed to encourage Hispanics to lobby grocery stories to carry more of its products.

Complicating advertisers' strategies is a growing divide between Hispanics who have become assimilated into the American melting pot -- primarily those who were born in the U.S. and are bilingual -- and those who remain steadfastly rooted in their Latino cultural roots, who tend to be older and speak little English.

A relatively new cable network tries to tread the middle ground between the groups. Jeff Valdez, chairman/cofounder of SiTV, estimates that 50% of the 39 million Hispanics in America are bilingual and another 25% speak predominantly English. He argues the group is not as homogenous as many marketers think and many in fact carry Anglo surnames.

"Hispanics don't just marry other Hispanics, don't just date other Hispanics," Valdez says.

The growth of Hispanic media choices is seen in Nextel Communications' recently announced expansion of its "Nextel. Ya" campaign to national Spanish-language networks. Instead of buying time only on Univision and Telemundo, the company is also reaching out to cable networks Galavision, Azteca TV, Fox Sports en Espanol, and Telefutura.

The upshot for this year's "upfront" buying season: "The pie is growing, but with all the new networks, the slices for the player will be smaller," Korsen says.

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