Media Buying Experts

High-end fashion and luxury goods giant Louis Vuitton is set to launch its first-ever television advertising campaign on February 15.

The 90-second spot, which was shot in Spain, India, Japan, and France, features average people unlike Vuitton’s print media campaigns that star such notables as Mikhail Gorbachev, Andre Agassi and Catherine Deneuve. The television ad will be aired on cable and satellite television channels and in movie theaters across the globe.

While Vuitton has always been a well regarded and known name, the company has not until now developed a television campaign. The overall objective of the ad is, of course, to promote the company’s brand. “It is supposed to touch our clientele and views in ways that perhaps other media will not touch, Louis Vuitton Marketing Director Pietro Beccari said. This is a way to say Louis Vuitton is different.

Beccari also said that the company believes strongly that the television advertising will assist in reaching new audiences in China and other Western countries.

In today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing retail environment, it’s more important than ever to utilize a multi-channel direct marketing program to maximize sales across retail platforms. There are several proven and evolving marketing models that are being employed by savvy retailers, who understand how to optimize retail sales through direct marketing. We will explore some of these strategies, so you can consider how they can fit into your marketing mix.
 
Many online retailers are utilizing a combination of offline media including, infomercials, direct response television, print and radio to drive online sales. This type of direct marketing campaign is often referred to as a drive to web campaign. Online retailers are finding that consumers, who initiate a search online, after being exposed to an offline ad, are converting into a sale at a much high rate than those who come to their site through an online media channel. Many online retailers are deploying a paid search campaign that runs simultaneously with a DRTV campaign, in order to capture consumers who initiate a search after viewing a DRTV ad. At the same time, they are also implementing an SEO campaign, to help move up their site organically in the search listings.
 
Hybrid Campaigns
 
Another multi-channel retail marketing approach is a hybrid drive to web/drive to retail campaign, to increase both online and store traffic. Frequently, a multi-channel direct response ad campaign is used with this approach. Various media channels need to be tested to find the ones that deliver the optimum ROI. Offline media and online advertising, including paid search, email marketing, affiliate programs, behavioral/contextual and demographic targeting, and rich media can all play a role in a successful multi-channel direct marketing campaign. Social networks and blog networks are newer online mediums being explored by more progressive retailers. Remember that messaging needs to be consistent throughout the various mediums to maximize the impact of the campaign.
 
Understanding the Target Customer
 
In today’s more competitive retail environment, it’s increasingly important to understand who is your target customer and to make their retail experience both online and at the store level memorable and enjoyable, in order to increase your sales conversion rate and customer retention. Try to create a retail shopping environment/experience that is easy to navigate, appeals to the target customer and engages all their senses. Remember that online the consumer is always one click away from leaving your site. Retailers also need to understand the lifetime value of their customers and employ customer retention strategies to create customer loyalty and repeat purchases.
 
Multi-channel retailing is much more complex today, since it often takes place on several retail platforms, in order to gain the optimum results. Direct marketing programs need to be customized to reach target customers in a range of mediums and the shopping experience needs to be tailored to appeal to the target audience. Employing these strategies in your retail-marketing plan will help ensure a more successful 2008 for your retail business.

Infomercial media buying is a specialized type of media buying. Infomercial time is sold in thirty-minute blocks on both national cable and satellite networks and on local broadcast stations throughout the U.S. Infomercial time is generally available when regular programming goes off the air during the overnight and early morning time periods and during the morning and afternoon on weekends. Infomercial time is priced based on the size and viewership of the station or network and the size of market where the station is located. The most expensive infomercial time periods are on major cable networks on Saturday and Sundays.
 
Since there are thousands of local broadcast stations and hundreds of cable and satellite networks, in order to buy infomercial time successfully it’s important to work with a seasoned infomercial media buyer. An experienced infomercial media buyer knows the stations and networks that perform best for certain categories of products targeting particular types of audiences. A knowledgeable infomercial media buyer also knows how to negotiate the most favorable rates for their clients. For example, the rate card for an infomercial time slot might be $1,000, but a savvy infomercial media buyer may know that particular time period is only worth $500 and will be able to negotiate a substantial level of savings for a client’s infomercial campaign by utilizing this type of knowledge and expertise.

The iProspect study noted that all ranges of age, income and online tenure reported that conducting search engine queries has become more important to their use of the Internet over the last year. Since users report that the activity of searching is growing more important to them, then businesses need to make sure that their website is found by searchers. Exposing your target audience to your ads and url in multiple mediums will enhance their ability to find your website.

 

Not surprisingly, television drove the highest percentage (37%) of online users to perform searches, according to the iProspect study. Even in today’s more fragmented media environment, the power of TV remains strong and the influence of TV on online purchase behavior is growing. We have found that anywhere from between 30% to over 90%+ of customers make their purchase via the web, when they are offered both an 800 number and a website in a direct response television ad. Why is this happening? Many consumers feel more comfortable making a purchase via the web than through an in-bound telemarketing service. Also, over 50% of people are simultaneously surfing the web while watching TV, so it’s easy for them to log onto your site when they see your TV ad.

 

The bottom line is that if you’re not using a combination of TV, print and radio and online ads to reach customers, you’re missing a huge share of potential revenue. Infomercial companies that rely solely on one advertising medium are missing the mark. It takes a combination offline and online advertising to make a true impact on today’s consumers. So leverage your marketing dollars by using the synergy of DRTV and online ads to maximize the impact of your campaign. When you do, you will see your company’s bottom line results improve

Today, television and the Internet are merging, at least when it comes to advertising and reaching potential customers. No longer are customers using only one medium to learn about new products and services. Rather, customers appreciate and expect companies to take a multi-media advertising approach when selling products and building brand awareness. As such, smart marketers are using the synergy created from the convergence of television and Internet marketing to capture the lion’s share of the marketplace.
 
For example, many television networks are now selling TV and online ads as part of a marketing package. That is, when you purchase a television ad you can also purchase online advertising, such as a video ads, on a network’s website. The TV networks realize that a company’s online presence is becoming increasingly important, and networks are trying to create better online content to combine with their TV packages.
 
Taking the merging of the two mediums a step further, NBC is developing a tool called Total Audience Measurement for advertisers, which examines the amount of time viewers spend with NBC programming, both online and on TV. This tool will help advertisers better understand how the two marketing mediums work together and how much the online portion of a company’s advertising impacts their bottom line.
 
So why is this multi-media approach gaining so much attention? Consider the facts:
 

The Weather Channel did a study and found that ad recall was 23% higher when people saw a commercial on both TV and the web, versus when they saw the commercial on TV alone.
 

Additional studies reveal that anywhere from 15 to over 70% of customers make their purchase via the web when they’re offered an 800 number and a website in a television ad.
 

TV networks have found that people who are surfing the web are more attentive than people watching TV. In fact, web video commercials increased viewer attention rates by 53%, viewer awareness by 52%, and brand consideration by 27% over traditional TV spots, according to Millward Brown’s CTV-1 Study

The bottom line is that if you’re not using both television and online ads to reach customers, you’re missing a huge share of potential revenue. To help you successfully integrate your television and online presence, use the following suggestions to guide your marketing efforts.
 

Use your existing TV spots to drive people online.
If you watch any television channel, you can see that many programs direct viewers to the web. The website will then give viewers additional information about the show, interviews with cast members and/or producers, or even clips from upcoming episodes. Programs such as Fox’s 24 and MTV’s The Hills are well-known for this approach. According to the Scripps Networks, 80-90% of their online audiences have watched the network’s TV channels within a week. So there’s a lot of interplay between the two mediums and it’s a good idea to run a customized version your TV ad on the network’s website too.

Realize that you can use this same concept with your company’s TV ads. Make sure all your television advertising includes a website mention and perhaps even web-only specials that people can receive. Use your site to offer people more information about your product or service, coupons, testimonials from real-life customers, and even some interactive features such as blogs or message boards where customers can get involved. When HGTV.com started using their site for customer involvement, they saw a 70% increase in ad revenue. There’s no reason you couldn’t achieve similar increases in sales on your site employing some of these ideas.
 

If you’re a web-only business, use TV ads to give your online presence a boost.
With all the technology available today, being a web-only business is not just feasible, it can also be extremely profitable. However, web-only businesses that do web-only advertising need to realize that TV is the biggest mass medium and has a proven ability to drive people to the web. So don’t ignore television and think it’s not applicable to your web-only business. For example, eHarmony.com, the online dating site, is a web-based business and initially did web-only advertising. When they added TV commercials to their advertising mix, its been reported that they grew rapidly from approximately $10 million to an estimated $100 million in revenue. So while online ads are certainly effective for online businesses, remember to use the power of television to grow your web-based business even more.
 

Buy online keywords that match your television advertising.
Since people watching television may not be 100% focused on your ad, you need to make it easy for them to find you later. So even though you may offer a website address and phone number in your TV commercial, don’t expect viewers to always write them down or remember them. However, chances are they will remember the name of your product, or at least a close variation of the product’s name. Therefore, when you buy keywords for your online presence, be sure you purchase not only the name of your product and company, but also variations of your product’s name that not-so-focused consumers can type into a search engine to locate your site. This is one example of how the combination of TV advertising and keyword search works together to improve results.
 

Customize your message to suit the medium.
Web video advertising needs to be shorter than the typical TV ad. In general, plan your online commercial to be 15 seconds in length. TV commercials typically are anywhere from 15-60 seconds in length, even longer with a direct response spot. If your online commercial is a pre-roll ad that runs before the video segment people are downloading, realize that viewers don’t want to watch a long ad. So in this instance, shorter is better. However, if it’s a freestanding online ad that’s not connected to a video, then you can use a longer format. Many companies who use infomercials, which are typically about 28 minutes in length, shorten it to a 2-minute segment on the web. If possible, have the spokesperson who appears in your TV spot also appear in your web advertising, so there’s a tie in between the two mediums.
 

Take advantage of web-based TV.
Some TV networks are now creating their own webisodes. These are television-like shows that appear on the web only. For example, FoodNetwork.com in preparing to roll out a web-based show called Cocktails. During each webisode, advertisers will have the opportunity to present ads that thematically tie in with the videos the viewers are watching. As the networks attempt to capture some of the ad dollars that are switching over to the Internet, you’ll likely see more websites with relevant content that engage viewers.

In addition, there’s also an emergence of TV networks that are developing on the Internet. One of the forerunners in this medium is Joost, which offers TV programming online. Some of the programming is original, while the rest is from networks like MTV. Since many big name advertisers are realizing that audiences are migrating over to the web, they are committing advertising dollars to online networks like Joost, in order to capture new audiences.
 
Another TV network called Ripe TV is taking multi-media advertising to the extreme. Not only do they have traditional television and online ads, but they also have TVs shows online, downloadable podcasts, video on demand, and content people can download onto their mobile phone. It’s an entire network that has developed on the web and has components that cross over into other mediums. Getting your advertising on just a few of these options will certainly increase your company’s presence.
 
The Future of Advertising is Now
 
Companies that are relying solely on one advertising medium are missing the mark. It takes a combination of television and Internet advertising to make a true impact on today’s consumers. So leverage your marketing dollars by using the synergy of TV and online ads. When you do, your company’s brand recognition will grow, and so will your bottom line results.

Peter Koeppel is Founder and President of Koeppel Direct, a leader in DRTV and direct response television online, print and radio media buying, marketing and campaign management. With a Wharton MBA and over 25 years of marketing and advertising experience, Peter has helped Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and entrepreneurs develop direct marketing campaigns to increase profits. Peter started Koeppel Direct in 1995 and has built it into one of the leading direct response media buying firms in the U.S. For more information please visit: www.koeppeldirect.com

While television media buying remains a key plank in the direct response marketer’s strategy, it has become more and more challenging to get a pure-play DRTV hit. The high cost of television media coupled with more competition for media slots makes it harder than ever to launch a new DRTV product.One of the problems is that there are more direct response marketers on television than ever, competing in the same product categories for the same avails. We are also seeing an erosion in the value of linear television itself. Technology influences and lifestyle changes are diluting the mass-market effects that made broadcast TV such an attractive advertising medium in the first place.

Following are some of the factors contributing to this erosion:

• A flood of new cable channels and niche programming options are undermining the mass-media marketing formula
• Overall television viewership is decreasing; television advertising is reaching a smaller audience
• Television viewers are forwarding past commercials using DVR technologies such as TiVo
• More and more viewers are multi-tasking while watching television. Our busy lifestyles and multi-media remote controls are filtering out more and more television ad content.
• DVDs, video on demand (VOD), video games and other technologies are competing for viewers’ attention/time
• Pirating of television shows on peer-to-peer networks using technologies such as BitTorrent
• Today’s consumers prefer the Internet over television for product information; they tend to be tougher, more educated buyers

For DRTV media buying professionals, there’s no relief in sight, at least from Jacobs’ perspective. The fact that media time is tight, prices are high and results are less than desirable has pushed this media buyer to switch to the kind of media plans that he used back in the early 1990s: buy more broadcast than cable, since the former is more negotiable.

“While it’s tougher to make broadcast work, we’re taking our network orders and doing market purges and buying those markets that index over 100,” says Jacobs. “We’re trying to pick the markets using some kind of logic, instead of just throwing darts against the board.”
 
Rob Medved, president at Cannella Response Television Inc. in Burlington, Wis., credits an increasingly fragmented channel lineup and notable news events with creating a “very inconsistent viewing audience,” this year. He says short-form DRTV media on larger networks has been very difficult to obtain, which is not very different from last year.
 
“Healthy scatter and hybrid DRTV media buying do not allow for much remnant inventory,” says Medved. “At the same time, the rise in the price of gas and a slowing of the housing market run have also curbed the response pocketbook.”

Recently adotas.com posted a news story anouncing that Yahoo had signed a deal with MobiTV. This deal could mean big things for media buying experts. It could be a way to target your indvidual direct response audience and customize your infomercial to reach a specific group of the population.

Yahoo has signed an advertising deal with MobiTV, a company that specializes in video content on mobile devices. Yahoo will serve as MobiTV’s primary network for advertising sales and distribution. MobiTV’s video service will be fully integrated with Yahoo’s recently launched Mobile Publisher Services.

“As we progress, we will deploy additional features including next-generation interactivity, location-awareness and click-to-act - maximizing the currency this alliance offers brand advertisers,” said Jack Hallahan, MobiTV’s VP of advertising in a statement.

Yahoo will begin integrating ads with MobiTV’s free and premium programming over the next few months. According to MobiTV, the company has generated more than a million subscribers since it launched in 1999.

With the addition of this latest client, Yahoo will be able to offer multiple media buys through its system that includes text banner and mobile video. The Mobile Publisher system lets mobile publishers display banner, video and in-game ads on their mobile sites and applications. Other partners at launch include web browser developer Opera and location-based mobile content network, go2.

adotas.com

Peter Koeppel is Founder and President of Koeppel Direct

It’s the media buyers Holy Grail: being able to read your target customers minds. Although that exact ability may yet elude our grasp, current research is bringing us remarkably close to that precognitive reality.
 
“In the past, we’ve used things like focus groups,” says Akshay Rao, General Mills professor of marketing at Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “Now, I can actually look inside your brain as you look at an advertising piece that has yellow, green, and blue versus a black and white piece, and tell whether the yellow, green and blue piece is generating more neural activity.”
 
To accomplish this, Rao uses a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scanner to peer into consumers brains. Basically a giant doughnut-shaped magnet, an fMRI scanner enables researchers to see how much oxygen different parts of the brain are using while the test subject lies on a narrow table with his or her head in the “hole” of the donut. The most active areas display the most oxygen flow and “light up” on the scanner.
 
Advocates of neuromarketing research say that its results are more objective and accurate than results gained using customary research methods such as surveys and focus groups. “With traditional marketing research techniques, people do not always express their true feelings, so information is often not reflective of what the consumer is actually thinking,” says Peter Koeppel, president of Koeppel Direct, a firm that provides multi-channel direct-response services.
 
“Neuromarketing allows media buying experts to understand the impact of their ad on the consumer’s brain,” he says. “By reviewing and analyzing this information, the marketer can change the marketing campaign to improve consumer response, which translates into a better return on investment.”
 
That improved understanding of how campaigns affect consumers is the first step toward creating more intimate relationships, says Rao, who is also the director of the Carlson School’s Institute for Research in Marketing. “When I do consulting work for companies, I tell them to develop consumer intimacy,” he says. “With neuromarketing, we have a physiological means of assessing whether those intimate relationships have been established.”

Nationally recognized direct response media buying firm, Koeppel Direct, introduces their breakthrough Multi-Channel Direct Response approach to media buying.
 
Koeppel Direct, a leader in direct response media buying for the past decade, is launching a new service: Multi-Channel Direct Response media buying. The announcement will take place at the upcoming Electronic Retailers Association meeting. This new service combines direct response media buying for television, online media, print and radio. This industry-transforming announcement of Koeppel Direct’s new media buying approach will enable direct marketers to maximize profits from their direct response advertising.
 
As part of their Multi-Channel Direct Response media buying services, Koeppel Direct has formed Koeppel Interactive, a specialty division providing online buying for direct marketers. The combination of direct response TV, online, print and radio media buying services allows Koeppel Direct to maximize campaign performance for direct marketers.
 
“Our Multi-Channel Direct Response media buying approach brings together a full range of media options and allows us to find the channels that perform best for each campaign,” touts Peter Koeppel. “This helps optimize clients’ media campaigns and maximize their return on investment.”
 
Koeppel Direct is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with satellite offices in Detroit, Austin, Iowa and Chicago. The Electronic Retailers Association meeting will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 9th - 12th.
 
Peter Koeppel is Founder and President of Koeppel Direct, a leader in direct response media buying, marketing, campaign management and creative strategies. With over 25 years of marketing and advertising experience, Peter has helped Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and entrepreneurs develop marketing campaigns to increase profits. Peter is a Wharton MBA and has improved the media buying strategies and advertising for clients such as H.J. Heinz, DIRECTV, Hair Club, Ben Hogan Golf, and Little Giant Ladder.