Saturday, December 30, 2006

MITCH TV 2006 YEAR IN REVIEW

Here's are the top stories from MITCH TV in 2006.

USER GENERATED CONTENT or REALITY TV 2.0

You might agree that the one thing that dominated the world of advertising and marketing this year was ‘user generated content’. We saw the dramatic rise of MySpace and the mainstream acceptances of YouTube. Now virtually every main portal has some kind of function that involves content from user. It’s truly amazing to think that anyone with a video camera or even cell phone camera can broadcast around the world! A recent eMarketer report indicated that there are currently 60 million Americans regularly viewing video content on the internet and that number will GROW to over 150 million by 2010.

For some reason people LOVE TO WATCH regular people. Even ‘American Idol’ beat ‘The Grammys’ for TV audience this year. 30 million Americans tuned into watch amateurs entertainers compared to 15 million watching Madonna and the other Grammy talent.

BLOGGERS AND VLOGGERS

With well over 55 million Blogs online and a new one being created every second, it’s difficult to cut thru the clutter as a reader and increasingly challenging for publishers to increase readership. One of the techniques that we’ve used at MITCH TV is to keep the scope of the content narrow and the target relatively small. I use the blog as a marketing tool aimed at the 350 - 400 people in my direct contact list. Adding video to the site this year has proven to be a really exciting dynamic and with creative ‘tags’ and random posting to our links, we have been able to see a steady increase in traffic.

TV STILL RULES

No matter how you look at all of this exciting online activity, TV still rules as the number one advertising medium on the planet. The SuperBowl Broadcast is still considered the ‘benchmark’ of what is happening in the world of advertising and marketing. That being said, 2006 saw a rapid movement of mainstream TV-to-online as Disney, CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC and others all began migrating content in some way or another to the internet. When CBS began hosting clips of David Letterman online at YouTube.com, the ratings for the broadcast on TV increased. More viewers mean more money for the networks so 2007 will see an ever increasing migration of TV content to the web.


2006 saw a strong ‘upfront’ in National TV advertising sales in May. TV viewership is rising, TV sets are getting bigger and with High Definition they are getting better. In 2006 the number of TV sets in an average home is at it’s highest level ever.

WEBISODES AND SHORT VIDEO or THE OFFICE AT THE OFFICE

We can thank FLASH for this, or maybe we can thank our busy lifestyles, but the ‘webisode’ world is on the rise and we will see more short form content on the internet. Episode recaps, highlights and clips are the top viewed forms. Consumers still prefer a 52 inch PLASMA Screen for watching a full program and aren't ready yet to watch the SuperBowl Game on a cell phone.

HISPANIC, ASIAN ADVERTISING ON THE RISE IN THE US

The mainstream American advertising machine is just starting to wake up to the power of ETHNIC MARKETING. It's a simple concept, speak to people in the language that they understand and sell more products!

The 2006 SuperBowl had Toyota running the FIRST MAINSTREAM BROADCAST TV commercial with partial Spanish content. Other advertisers are getting on board the ‘ethnic’ marketing bandwagon as well.

Walmart is the number one retailer in the world and watching what they do is a good way to see into the future of advertising. They led the way in Ethnic marketing and create ethnic commercials for Hispanics, blacks and Asians. Chrysler announced a new multi-language marketing program to launch in the New Year.

Statistics show that many product categories like Cell Phones index high in certain ethnic groups and in some regions, over 30% of the target consumers are regular users of media in a language that is NOT English.

2006 say the Latin Grammy Awards run for their second year on the Univision Network in Spanish. The ratings were much higher with the program in Spanish and the programs had a lot less impact as an English program running on CBS up to 2004.

The NUMBER TWO Newscast in NEW YORK CITY is on Channel 41 Univision in Spanish.

Much more on Hispanic and Asian marketing to come in 2007!


PRODUCT PLACEMENT, ONE SPONSOR PER SHOW AND LIVE COMMERCIALS!

2006 was a year that advertisers took an aggressive look at new ways to get their message wrapped around content. We are seeing more product placement in TV and Movies and the new year will bring ‘one sponsor per show’ events. Phillips recently sponsored the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and ‘bought the whole show’. Microsoft recently launched their new video game platform with a complete sponsorship of ESPN’s Sport Center.

Get ready to see more commercials that are created by consumers and mainstream advertisers find ways to integrate user generated content advertising. 2006 saw more user generated content in Music Videos and the next step will be user content in commercials, TV shows and Movies! Chevy and Frito Lay and now running contest for users to help them create commercials for broadcast in the 2007 SuperBowl.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Here’s a list of events that warranted a posting on MITCH TV this year.

- The King Of Cars TV show about a Las Vegas car dealer named Chopper.
- Muhammad Ali sells the marketing rights to his name and likeness for $50million
- Group of marketers develop an ad auction site with eBay
- Home Depot ads video to their web site and consumers love it
- TV Guide stops publishing their print edition and move solely to online
- Kurt Cobain tops Elvis as the top earning dead celebrity
- One in three Americans is Hispanic, black or Asian

Thank you for visiting MITCH TV. Good luck in 2007!

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Wal-Mart Canada seeks attention of Ethnic shoppers


From specialty foods to different aisle music in different districts, the big-box retailer is starting to court Canada's various communities.

It advertises in Portuguese, Cantonese and Spanish. It has an ethnic food section to rival any family-run market. It's also the world's largest chain of retail stores.
Wal-Mart Canada is the archetype of big-box stores that sacrifice uniqueness and flair to stake everything on low prices and uniformity. But now, it is increasing its efforts to lure new customers by tailoring everything from greeting cards to in-store music to appeal to the country's various ethnic groups.

READ THE DEC 27th ARTICLE BY CARLY WEEKS ONLINE AT CANADA.COM

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Google Set To Expand Newspaper Ad Program



This fall, the search-engine company proposed to show how it could help newspapers sell print advertising to the hundreds of thousands of small merchants who buy Internet ads from Google. Advertisers would go online and bid on the excess ad inventory of daily newspapers, giving them a much-needed revenue boost.

Now, two months into a test with 100 advertisers and 66 newspapers, Google executives say that its pilot program has exceeded their expectations and that they will roll out an expanded version in the coming months. The top five participating newspapers are getting several bids a week from advertisers, the company said.

"The volume [of ads sold] is tripling where we thought it would be," said Tom Phillips, director of print ads at Google. "I think we'll have real impact next year" on newspapers' bottom lines, he said. "We open the medium to a whole new class of advertisers."

READ THE ARTICLE AT THE WASHINGTON POST

'Alpha Moms' pitch Nintendo Wii


The game company takes an innovative viral approach to drum up support for its new console.


As it geared up to promote its new Wii video game console, Nintendo of America Inc. looked to a group better known for nagging kids to stop playing video games: moms.

The Japanese game company merged viral marketing techniques with Tupperware parties in the months leading up to the Nov. 19 launch of Wii, which is pronounced "whee." Nintendo recruited a handful of gregarious, tech-savvy moms — whom it dubbed "alpha moms" — to share the console with their friends.


READ THE ARTICLE AT LATIMES.COM

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Online Sales Up 26 Percent This Season


New e-commerce trends have shaped this holiday season, including the increasing importance of social networks, blogs, and user content; booming sales of luxury items; an extended shopping period; and the emergence of niche sellers.

By all accounts, sales growth has been strong. Excluding travel and auctions, consumers spent $21.7 billion at U.S. online stores between November 1 and December 20, a 26 percent increase over the same period last year, according to comScore Networks.

READ THE ARTICLE AT YAHOO.COM

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Polk Study Finds Auto Industry Lagging in Building Loyalty Impressions Among Minority Customers


Findings presented at tri-city multicultural marketing seminar

Less than 15 percent of African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic-American car buyers believe the auto industry is "best in class" at developing customer loyalty, according to a recent study by R. L. Polk & Co.

"Auto manufacturers need to do a better job of courting repeat business from minority customers, or they risk missing out on the biggest growth opportunity in the auto industry right now," said Lonnie Miller, director of Industry Analysis, R. L. Polk & Co.

"Minority buying power in the United States is projected to grow by 14 percent by 2010, so winning and keeping minority customers will be a key element to success in the next decade," said Miller.READ

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT YAHOO.COM


AUTOMOTION on CHANNEL M

Channel M is launching a new Automotive Program in 2007 called AUTOMOTION in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi. Click on the image to view the sample feature.



Channel M AUTOMOTION DEMO on Vimeo

Contact:
Mitch Drew
Account Manager
Channel M
604-678-3912 direct
mdrew@channelm.ca

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Spanish-language TV Sees Boost in Ad Spending


While the Internet is pulling away from traditional media sources in terms of ad revenue growth, Spanish-language television has a firm hold on second place in the race for advertising dollars.

Ad spending increased for Spanish-language television over the first three quarters of 2006 by 16.6 percent compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary figures released by Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the advertising intelligence service of Nielsen Media Research.


READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT HISPANIC BUSINESS.COM

Friday, December 15, 2006

Agencies: Google Has Put A Target On Your Back


by Dave Morgan

IF YOU'RE IN THE AD agency business, you'd better buy The Wall Street Journal today (although you can be sure that lots of online media and agency news aggregators will link to the story.) If there was any question in your mind about Google's quest to unseat ad agencies, they are answered in Kevin Delaney's piece reporting on Google's new ad programs, including its tests with video, radio, newspapers, television, click-to-call, cell phones, and online maps. This is in addition, of course, to Google's core search and contextual ad listings, which are already generating $10 billion in annualized revenue.

Google's intentions relative to its planned offerings for the world's marketers are quite well summed up by CEO Eric Schmidt, who tells the WSJ, "The long-term fantasy is we walk up to you and you give us, say, $10 million and we'll completely allocate it for you across different media and ad types."

Well, that makes it pretty clear. If Google executives fantasize about controlling the allocation of media spend across all online and offline channels, they certainly seem to have their sights set on taking over the media ad business. To Sir Martin Sorrell, Google may be a "Freinemy" (the term conjures images in my mind of some sort of huggable stuffed dragon with a forked tongue, vicious spiked tail and a smiley, happy face); but, to any marketing services company that derives significant revenue or client relationships from media planning or buying, Google's moves should put in bas relief the seriousness of its threat to your business.

Of course, some in the agency business might take solace in the fact that media is only one component of the services that most marketing service companies provide. Creative, for example, is an area that Google certainly won't enter, since it lives in the world of automated, simple text ads.

Or not? More from Delaney's story: "The new ad offerings include some elements the simple text-only search ads don't have: For instance, with its radio-ad test, Google is offering a directory of specialists who can help advertisers create the spots, writings scripts and recording and delivering audio files." Google apparently intends also to be in the creative business. But, probably not to worry about them entering the client strategy and account management piece as well. That requires a bunch of really smart people who can identify and solve really hard problems, and also a propensity for smothering clients with lavish entertainment and constant compliments. Yes, that's in Delaney's article too.

You might temporarily take solace in the fact that many of Google's search and context advertisers are too small to have ad agencies anyway, so the threat to your business is minimal. But just as my company's business gets better and better though the learning that comes from accumulating greater sums of audience information, so too will Google learn, from its interactions with hundreds of thousands of smaller advertisers, how to help larger advertisers streamline their advertising process.

Google's disintermediation of agencies in the ad process is underway on the media side and appears to be coming on the creative side. What's an agency to do? Not work with Google? No. That's not the answer. Observe. Learn. Innovate. That's the answer.

Watch what Google is doing, whether that be by working or partnering with it, or just by paying better attention. Google Google: you'll be surprised by how much information on its activities and strategies is publicly available. Google is taking some very fresh approaches to businesses that haven't changed much in decades. You might be surprised by what you learn.

Don't just let your observations sit. Analyze what Google's doing and why; understand why it has been so successful with so many clients. Spend the time and resources and apply some real rigor to your analysis. Take time to truly understand the essence of what the company does and how it works. The secret to its success is probably simpler than you think.

Then, most important, innovate. Apply what you've learned. Do to your business what Google would, if that company owned it. There is clearly magic in Google's business model. Don't be afraid to adopt it. Don't be afraid to change. You still have time. Google has a long way to go until Schmidt's fantasies are reality.

Dave Morgan is Chairman of Tacoda.

Copyright MIDEAPOST

Aflac Duck May Quack En Espanol


Aflac Duck May Quack En Espanol
by Emily Burg
Friday, Dec 15, 2006

SUPPLEMENTARY INSURANCE COMPANY AFLAC, KNOWN for its memorable quacking duck, is training its sights on the growing Hispanic market.

Columbus, Ohio-based Aflac, the world's largest seller of supplemental insurance, gets 70% of its revenues from Japan, and has been looking for a way to increase its U.S.-derived revenues.

The buying power of the Hispanic population is forecast to grow from $735.6 billion to $1.08 trillion in 2010. Financial services is a category where Hispanic spending typically increases as the family's disposable income rises.

Aflac's first step was to launch aflacenespanol.com, a Spanish-language version of the company's Web site.

While it has not specifically developed any products for the Hispanic market, the company's "bottom-up" culture--in which its sales agents suggest product ideas to management--means the 65,000-strong domestic sales force can get to know the Hispanic demographic and brainstorm solutions specific to it.

From the "top-down," the company is taking a civic-minded approach to developing a relationship with the Hispanic community. Aflac forged an alliance with the Latino Coalition to create the Aflac Civic Awards, which this week honored Hispanic small business leaders.

Emily Burg can be reached via email at emily@mediapost.com

Monday, December 11, 2006

George Clooney wants to appear in a Bollywood film, report says


December 07, 2006

NEW DELHI (AP) - George Clooney says he'd like to appear in one of India's spectacular song-and-dance movies.

"I'd love to. There are some filmmakers whose films when you see (them) you say, 'That could be an interesting story to tell,"' the 45-year-old actor said in an interview Thursday on the private CNN-IBN channel.

Clooney said he's a fan of Bollywood, India's prolific Hindi film industry, and is impressed by the way it has expanded.

"I was watching a film the other day and the music was just amazing. It's become such a huge industry," he said.

"There is a small market in the (United) States as of now, but it will be fun if it catches on because it is such a positive way of looking at filmmaking and I really love that. I truly think it's fun," he said.

Clooney, a favourite among India's English-speaking middle and upper classes, won a best supporting actor Oscar for 2005's "Syriana."

"It seems like the Indian filmmakers are pushing boundaries in terms of pushing the censors. I think it's (Bollywood) an interesting place for filmmakers to go," he said.

Clooney's upcoming movie, "The Good German," will be released by Warner Bros. in the United States later this month. It will be released in India next year.

Hispanic Ad Agencies See Impressive 2006 Growth


HISPANIC AGENCIES SAW DOUBLE-DIGIT growth in 2006, reports Ad Age, with top shops, like Miami-based LaComunidad,which handles Remy Martin, seeing a 60% boost. More rises in the marketplace: The biggest Hispanic agency, Publicis Groupe's 49%-owned Bromley Communications, San Antonio, grew 11%, so did No. 4, Omnicom Group's Dieste Harmel & Partners, Dallas. Also, business is expanding for both bilingual English-speaking Hispanics.

Associated Press Online Video Network


The AP Online Video Network is an ad-supported news video service that draws on the global newsgathering resources of The Associated Press and its network of members and customers in the United States to provide video summaries of breaking news stories for Web sites. The Online Video Network offers video clips covering national, international, entertainment, technology and business news

VISIT THE AP ONLINE VIDEO SITE

Coke Taps YouTube For Video Card Campaign


COCA-COLA IS TEAMING UP WITH YouTube for a new joint marketing effort--one that doesn't involve Mentos or exploding Diet Coke bottles. Instead, Coke is sponsoring a page on YouTube that enables users to select or create their own holiday video "cards" to send to friends and family.

YouTube's "Holiday Wishcast" site features a collection of holiday-themed video clips from some of its most popular contributors including Geriatric1927, TerraNaomi, TheWineKone and LisaNova. Users can choose from one of the videos in the Wishcast catalog or upload one of their own after registering on YouTube.

READ THE ARTICLE AT MEDIAPOST.COM

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Google begins limited test of radio advertising


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. said on Thursday it has completed the development of its widely anticipated radio advertising system and begun a limited test allowing customers to buy ads via its online ad-buying system.

In a statement on the Web search leader's site, the company said it had begun testing a system it acquired by purchasing dMarc Broadcasting in early 2006 for $102 million and which it subsequently built into its existing AdWords online ad system.
Google Audio Ads is working with more than 700 radio stations covering more than 200 metropolitan U.S. markets, Google spokesman Mike Mayzel said.

READ THE ARTICLE AT YAHOO.COM

Friday, December 08, 2006

Marketers' Websites Outdraw Those of Major Media Players


P&G and Unilever Attract 9 Million Unique Visitors Monthly

By Jack Neff
Published: December 04, 2006

CINCINNATI (AdAge.com) -- Believe it or not, those boring corporate websites are pulling in more eyeballs -- and more influencers -- than the flashy prime time TV shows, print magazines and general interest sites on which marketers advertise. And part of what's driving the traffic is old-fashioned web display advertising and e-mail pushes.
Brand websites
Corporate and brand websites -- once derided as "brochureware" in a digital marketing world that quickly moved to sexier applications -- are getting a rehabilitation of sorts as their traffic numbers vie with those of many consumer sites in the web's long tail.

READ THE ARTICLE AT ADVERTISING AGE

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Technorati Profile

Smashing the Clock


No schedules. No mandatory meetings. Inside Best Buy's radical reshaping of the workplace

By Michelle Conlin
BusinessWeek Online

One afternoon last year, Chap Achen, who oversees online orders at Best Buy Co., shut down his computer, stood up from his desk, and announced that he was leaving for the day. It was around 2 p.m., and most of Achen's staff were slumped over their keyboards, deep in a post-lunch, LCD-lit trance. "See you tomorrow," said Achen. "I'm going to a matinee."

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT BUSINESS WEEK ONLINE

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

New Real Estate Expert on Channel M Mandarin News





Sunnus Properties Real Estate Report Channel M Dec 3 on Vimeo

Annie Zhang from Sunnus Properties is now the Real Estate Expert for Channel M Mandarin News. Sundays at 9:27pm and Monday at 8:27am each week.

www.SUNNUS.ca