Digital Advertising Logs Record-Breaking Quarter
AdWeek

Interactive advertising revenues totaled a record $14.9 billion in the first half of 2011, a 23.2 percent increase over last year. The growth rate is comparable to pre-recession levels, said Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Industry Services, IAB. The second quarter was especially strong; revenue increased 24.1 percent over last year to $7.7 billion.

The top 50 companies make up 89 percent of all digital advertising revenue, said David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which partnered with IAB for the report. But “the tail is getting a little longer,” he said, as that percentage was previously in the mid-90s in recent years.

Digital ad spend growth has out-performed every other category measured. For some context: In the same period, cable TV grew 20.1 percent, network TV fell 3.1 percent, spot TV grew 9.7 percent, magazine advertising grew 3.6 percent, and local newspapers fell 7.7 percent.

Within the interactive category, display and search advertising both grew at 27 percent. Search represents $7.3 billion of all digital ad revenue and display represented $4.3 billion. The growth in display (defined to include banner ads, digital video, rich media and sponsorships) was driven in part by sponsorships, which grew at 93 percent over last year.

Mane said the growth was boosted by brand dollars, which are in the early stages of shifting spending to digital advertising. “The trend is quite clear that money is shifting more in the brand area,” she said.

Nielson: Top TV Shows Are False Idols, Web Builds Reach Better
Media Post News

Nielsen this morning released a white papers it claims establishes audience reach and effectiveness models for online advertising, including the fact that online media "delivers audiences more effectively than some popular TV shows." The white paper, "Reaching the Right Audiences Online: Early Findings from Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings," is a thinly veiled pitch for Nielsen's new Online Campaign Ratings service, which Nielsen is pushing hard to make the "currency" of the online advertising business.

"Despite the considerable waste, the Web holds its own with TV," the paper notes, asserting, "For the first time, Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings provides the opportunity to compare delivery across the Web and television on the same metric."

The paper acknowledges it is "premature to deliver broad, generalized learnings" from the new data, but nonetheless goes on to assert that online media delivers audience reach more efficiently than television.

Citing an analysis of online's ability to generate reach among a broad-based audience target (adults 18 to 54) and a narrower audience segment (women 18 to 34) vs. a top-rated show like Fox's "American Idol," the paper concludes the Web is significantly more efficient.

The analysis shows that comparable online campaigns generate 17 more reach points among adults 18 to 54 and 24 more reach points among women 18 to 34.

"The web does in fact deliver the audience more efficiently than a program like 'American Idol 'whose broad audience virtually guarantees delivery outside of the intended group," the paper concludes.

The study's findings likely will be met with controversy from Nielsen's TV-centric clients, though its online-centric customers will likely find it as powerful ammo in their fight to win advertising market share from television.

General Mills Signs on Ford as Partner in its Box Tops School-Fundraising Program
AdAge

Traditionally limited to store-bought brands, General Mills' Box Tops For Education program is hitting the open road, signing up Ford Motor Co. as the first-ever automotive partner in the long-running philanthropic effort.

Beginning today, consumers can earn money for schools by requesting Ford brochures, viewing the automakers' online videos or even buying a car, which is worth 250 "eBoxTop" credits -- the equivalent of $25. While that seems like small return for such a large purchase, General Mills has proven it can do big things in tiny steps with the program, which remains one of the most iconic and well-supported corporate philanthropic efforts in the nation.

Now in its 15th year, Box Tops has taken in more than $400 million for more than 90,000 schools. Revenue has jumped an average of 19% each year, with last year's fund-raising total exceeding $59 million. Ford estimates it will raise $1 million by the time its promotion expires at the end of November.

"It provides us a unique way to reach and help students across the whole country," Jim Farley, Ford's marketing chief, said in a statement. Negotiations are underway to extend the arrangement beyond two months, General Mills said.

For Box Tops, the move is part of a strategy to move beyond packaged goods with its year-old "eBoxTop" initiative. Though the program, money is electronically credited to schools in reward for consumers who engage in sanctioned activities, such as shopping online at a special web site portal where goods from Target, Best Buy and other retailers are sold. The largest part of the program remains the more traditional approach, in which consumers collect clip Box Top coupons from products. The coupons are worth 10 cents a piece and are usually collected by schools and sent to General Mills in return for a check.

Display Advertising Shifts From Direct Response to Branding Media
Media Post News

Brand marketers looking for alternative strategies to connect with consumers have begun to focus attention on display advertising, a medium historically known to elicit a direct response.

Most planning to buy media in display look toward clicks, impressions and conversions to measure performance. But the more important metrics often point to return on ad spend, online searches for brand names, product recall, and sales.

There is evidence through recent campaigns from brands like Sealy and Animal Planet, along with research from Collective, that online display advertising continues to shift from a direct-response form of advertising to branding media.

"The Digital Advertising 2011: A Portrait of Conflict" study released by Collective finds that 57% of agencies believe the majority of their display objectives are to build the brand, yet only 11% cite ad creative as critical to the campaign's success.

Still, 60% of agencies cite brand recall and intent to purchase as the most important measures of online success. However, clicks and conversions remain the key criteria agencies say they use to evaluate media, according to the Collective study.

NFL Get Fashion Conscious: Team’s wives push revamped woman’s gear
AdWeek

Can a football jersey be high fashion? The NFL is trying to prove just that—and it’s got one staunch supporter in Manhattan social fixture Suzanne Johnson, who happens to be married to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.

Johnson, who has been at the forefront of promoting the NFL’s revamped women’s line (read: not just shrunken pink tees), seems to be taking her duties just as seriously as if she were launching a ready-to-wear line. According to WWD, she showed some of the NFL’s “more fashionable” pieces to magazine editors last week, and even convinced some of her socialite friends to wear Jets jerseys to Badgley Mischka’s runway show during New York fashion week earlier this month.

Then there’s the brand’s ad campaign, which Johnson stars in with some of her fellow glammed-up NFL wives (including Gwen Reese, who’s married to New York Giants General Manager Jerry Reese). “They could have taken a supermodel, who is going to look good in a paper bag. But we are the ones wearing the clothes when we cheer on our teams every week,” Johnson told WWD. (They probably saved a few bucks, too.)

The NFL gear, which is being sold in team stadium shops, retailers like Kohls, and through NFLshop.com, even has its own NFL.com/women “lifestyle site” that “shows you what to wear with what—a football jersey with skinny jeans, a puffy vest and Louboutins,” Johnson explained.

“Instead of wearing oversized gray sweats, you can show off some team pride, still hang out with your guy, and show you put a little effort into your outfit.”

Wild Ride in College Sports Now = Long-Term Good News for Brands

Media Post – Marketing:Sports Blog

No sports business category is changing faster (some might say it's in turmoil) than college sports—specifically at the Division I-A level. Just this weekend, Pittsburgh and Syracuse formally bolted from the Big East to join the ACC, and the rumors persist that the recently expanded Pac-12 may bulge further—this time by adding the powerful quartet of Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

And while big-time schools continue the game of conference musical chairs, the activity swirling around the periphery of college athletics continues to amaze. For example, mighty programs like the University of Miami and the University of Oregon are under investigation for dealing with a now-imprisoned booster and a questionable recruiting service, respectively.

Yikes! Why would any sane marketer associate their brand with college sports right now? This article outlines a few reasons to consider college sports now.