NBC Is Looking for Big Payoff on Olympics
The New York Times

Two years ago, the Winter Games in Vancouver were just beginning. When they ended, NBC Universal reported a loss of $223 million.

Now, with the Summer Games in London five months away, NBC is hoping to avoid a big loss on its $1.18 billion rights fee, the most paid for the Olympics by a United States network. So far, sales appear to be off to a strong start. Seth Winter, the senior vice president of the NBC Sports Group, said last week that national advertising sales for the London Games were just above $900 million.

“We’re in extraordinarily good shape,” he said. “This is my third Olympics overseeing sales for NBC Sports, and this is the first Olympic Games that we’ve had a healthy economy.”

Sales have already exceeded the $850 million for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, for which NBC paid $893 million to the International Olympic Committee to buy the broadcast rights.

Super Bowl Ads Generate $11 Million in Free Media Impressions
AdWeek

Online views have effectively returned a huge chunk of Honda’s Super Bowl investment, as the automaker earned itself some $4.42 million in free media impressions in the three days after Super Bowl XLVI.

According to a new study by Kantar Video, the automaker aired two spots in the Super Bowl that enjoyed a whole new life online after the game. Through Feb. 8, Honda’s spoof of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, starring Matthew Broderick, was viewed 14.8 million times on YouTube and other online destinations, for an “earned media” value of $2.24 million.

How to Get More From Your Brand's Facebook Data
AdAge

As Facebook looks to scale its $1 billion profit for 2011 reported in its IPO filing, its data on about 845 million users is its chief asset. But the company has been restrained in what it offers fan-page owners. It provides aggregate data on the makeup of a fan base, including age ranges and top cities of residence, as well as a breakdown of how fans were acquired.

But for all that marketers can glean from Facebook's Insights API tool, they can't tap into interest-level data unless they enlist researchers to search public information on fans' profiles. They also can't easily segment a specific fan group to determine whether their path across a page led them to buy something. And it's laborious to marry Facebook users to a direct mail or email database.

How to Keep Your Super Fans From Becoming Super Enemies
AdAge

The first time I thought about super fans was back in the early '90s when I was working at a hip ad agency located on Sixth Avenue and Spring Street in New York City. I was assigned to manage the Coach handbags account, but the bulk of the agency was nurturing the growing Dr Pepper Snapple Group Natural Beverages business.

On a visit to headquarters, someone on the account team recognized that Wendy Kaufman, the actual receptionist, was answering lots of "fan mail" for the quirky beverage company that was going head-to-head with Coke and PepsiCo. From that insight, a campaign was born, and the strategy of "You love us, we'll love you back" became the rallying cry for the growing company.

The account team and a production company loaded up a motor home and drove around the country thanking selected letter writers by featuring them in a low-budget, documentary-style TV campaign. Several years into the campaign, the PR whiz on the business masterminded a Snapple Convention where super fans could come together for a day of sharing their Snapple memorabilia and more. I wasn't there, but the convention was rumored to be an early-day etsy.com explosion. Handmade crafts and jewelry made from oversized bottle caps, artwork and Snapple -logo adorned clothing were proudly shared by attendees who sipped the latest flavors from wide-mouthed glasses.
 

NBC, Google Kick Off Olympic Research Initiative
Media Daily News

Continuing its research efforts around the Olympics, NBC will debut a new research initiative for the 2012 London Olympics with the help of Google and comScore.

The new research will focus on finding out new ways to measure "single source consumption of video content on TV, mobile, the PC, and for the first time in this Olympics, the tablet." It aims to examine individual consumer across multiple channels, online services and apps.

“Since we first began the Olympics Billion Dollar Lab, nonlinear video consumption has increased dramatically," stated Alan Wurtzel, president of research for NBCUniversal.
 

CPG Marketers Need Better Shopper Strategies
Media Daily News

While shopper marketing is gaining traction as a discipline among marketers, a new study from business consultant Booz & Company indicates that many consumer goods companies are struggling to use the practice to maximum advantage.

Part of the problem, Booz concludes, is a lack of effective communication between manufacturers and retailers and a failure to align strategies in the space. Shopper marketing encompasses a wide variety of different capabilities and consumer touchpoints, including shopper research and insights, store design, customer relationship management, in-store communications, packaging and e-commerce.

PepsiCo to Boost Marketing Spend, Consolidate Agencies
Direct Marketing News

PepsiCo plans to increase marketing spend on its brands by between $500 million and $600 million this year, cut costs and trim its agency roster, the company said in an earnings statement Feb. 9.

Most of the increased marketing dollars will go to a dozen key brands, including Pepsi trademarked soft drinks, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lay's, Doritos, and Tropicana.

PepsiCo reported an 11% increase in fourth-quarter 2011 revenue to $20.2 billion, compared with the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year. For its full fiscal year, the company reported revenue of $66.5 billion, a 15% year-over-year increase. The company's net income rose to $1.42 billion in fiscal Q4, a 4% increase year-over-year. The company's net income increased 2% for the year, to $6.46 billion.

Broadcast Spot Pricing Continues to Creep Up
AdWeek

The price of a 30-second advertisement on network prime time increased at a 3 percent rate in 2011, as strong demand helped push the average unit cost to just under $110,000 a pop.

Per analysis by the New York-based independent agency TargetCast tcm, rates were highest in the second quarter of 2011, when the average :30 cost $127,291, marking a 2 percent increase versus the year-ago period.

As one might well expect, rates were at their lowest in thequarter coinciding with summer repeats and competition series.According to TargetCast, the average Q3 spot cost was $82,951, up 4 percent from summer 2010.