These news items are brought to you by Kuk & Baldwin:
MOVING IN. According to research commissioned by the US Postal Service, some 30 million US households change residences every year – and for their new digs, they can be counted on to make a variety of purchases within the first few months. In general, new homeowners spend over $9000 within the first six months and renters spend nearly $4000. For example, 60% of homeowners and 40% of renters buy furniture; 35% of new movers purchase bedding; 33% of new homeowners buy lawn equipment, tools, and hardware; and 15% buy computers, home security devices, and autos. Overall, new movers establish an average of 71 new business relationships in the first few months (Deliver Magazine, 5/12).
REAL ESTATE. A trend in the tough real estate market opens up business potential for various service providers. Basically, the advice now offered to sellers by many real estate brokers is to invest (up to 3% of the list price) in “staging” the property. Staging can mean anything from making repairs or upgrades, to hiring a landscaper, to bringing in a pro stager to rearrange the décor. It can also include hiring a home inspector to do a “pre-inspection” ($300-$400) that identifies any issues that could mess up a deal – as well as a pest controller (also $300-$400) to inspect for termites and other pests that could cause a bank to deny financing. “Pre-inspections” can be a key advertising copy point (Kiplinger’s, 6/12).
WEDDING BREAKDOWN. Even with an 11% drop from the pre-recession high, the average US formal wedding still cost families a whopping $25,600 in 2011 – and a total of $54 billion was spent. So where does the money go? About 41% goes for the reception; 30% is for “other,” which may reflect in part the fact that many weddings now take place in exotic or offbeat locations; 13% is spent on a photographer and/or videographer; 6% on rings; 5% on a wedding dress; and 5% on flowers and decorations. Localizing the market value and converting the % shares to dollars can help you sell (Smart Money, 6/12)
Find out how to be at the top of your sales performance by clicking on www.kukbaldwin.com.
Other recent media/advertising news:
Following a weak 2011, U.S. saw ad spending growth in Q1
According to market research firm Kantar, first-quarter U.S. ad spending rose 2.6% to $32.9 billion. Kantar Chief Research Officer Jon Swallen said that after a slow January the pace of spending increased significantly. For the second quarter, Swallen predicts “modest growth with improvement trickling down to media that have been lagging the overall advertising market.” (Source)
Print is still viable with unique advantages over digital
How’s this for a change — although many companies are devoting more of their ad budgets to digital, print media (in this case newspapers and magazines, but one could certainly add Yellow Pages) retains some key and unique advantages, according to this commentary. Among them are permanence, credibility and deeper reader engagement (88% of those who do use print Yellow Pages will make a purchase). To bridge the gap with digital, the article suggests things like QR codes can be incorporated in print campaigns. (Source)
BIA/Kelsey’s ‘SMB Digital Marketing 2012’ Conference Coming Up Soon
Once again, the BIA/Kelsey group is gathering top digital media and marketing leaders at SMB Digital Marketing 2012, Sept. 17-19 in Chicago, to examine the latest business models, technological developments and adoption trends in digital marketing solutions for small businesses. The speaker lineup is a blend of leading innovators in traditional SMB marketing and entrepreneurs who have taken the space by storm.
Keynote speakers for the event include Gail Goodman, CEO of the leading email and engagement marketing platform for small business, Constant Contact; Patrick Barry, CMO of Demandforce, recently acquired by Intuit; Alfred Mockett, CEO of leading directional media company Dex One; and Nathan Hanks, president of ReachLocal, a top provider of local online marketing solutions to SMBs.
“With some 20 million small businesses in the U.S. alone, SMBs represent the biggest opportunity for the next generation of digital marketing solutions,” said Conference Cochair Charles Laughlin, senior VP and program director, BIA/Kelsey. “At SMB Digital Marketing 2012, we’ll showcase the leading edge of innovation in this space and examine how solutions providers and small businesses are leveraging the latest trends.”
Recent additions to the speaker lineup include Logan LaHive, founder and CEO Belly; David Kerr, GM, eCommerce, Angie’s List; Gordon Henry, VP and GM, SMBs, Deluxe Corp.; Pamela Springer, CEO, Manta; Dick Larkin, executive VP, American Marketing & Publishing; Shawn Riegsecker, founder and CEO, Centro; Mary Beth Brendza, CEO, App Express; Marc Caltabiano, senior VP, marketing and products, Cartera Commerce; Darnell Holloway, manager, local business outreach, Yelp; and John Pletz, senior reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business.
The conference program will cover key aspects of digital marketing, including mobile, social and deals, and will examine what’s working for sales teams, agencies and resellers. Sessions include:
- Precon Workshop: Building a Winning SMB Sales Organization
- The Agencies on SMB Digital Marketing
- SMB Franchise Leaders: Perspectives on the New Online Marketing
- Sales Insights: Leveraging Resellers
- Google and SMBs: The Special Relationship
- Building an SMB Marketing Platform
- Social Media: Focus on Business Models
- Deals 2.0: The SMB Applications
- Performance Marketing for SMBs
- Making Sense of Mobile Advertising for SMBs
- Inside Chicago’s SMB Tech Scene: Mega Hitters and Startups
Conference details, including speaker and agenda updates, sponsorship information, venue information and online registration, are available at www.biakelsey.com/SMBDigital.
Hearst Magazines to launch a private ad marketplace
Hearst Magazines is preparing to launch a private ad exchange for its digital unit, “Hearst Digital Media”, including ads on mobile sites for publications such as Seventeen, Elle and Good Housekeeping. The exchange won’t change Hearst’s relationship with the display and video networks currently selling Hearst’s surplus inventory, but will instead seek to provide automated programmatic audience-targeting services to upfront ad buyers. “We definitely recognize the growing need for efficiency,” says Chief Revenue Officer Kristine Welker. (Source)
Juniper: App-based ad spending to reach $7 billion by 2015
Advertisers will spend $2.4 billion on in-application advertising this year, according to a Juniper Research study. That figure will balloon to $7.1 billion by 2015, Juniper’s analysts predict, thanks to a global boom in mobile-device and mobile-app usage. “Mobile advertising gives marketers the chance to reach consumers on a more personal level than any other type of advertising,” says Juniper’s Charlotte Miller. (Source)
Twitter: Expands ad offerings, expects $1 billion in ad rev by 2014
Twitter is expanding its advertising program to 50 more countries to improve global revenue and lessen the company’s dependence on the U.S. market, according to CEO Dick Costolo, who recently spoke at the Cannes Lions festival. Sources said the company is expected to draw $1 billion in ad revenue by 2014. (Source)
How digital agencies are riding the online ad boom
Ad agencies are ongoing as much change as publishers are in this industry. Boutique digital agencies such as Blitz, Ignited and Omelet are making big bucks as major brands seek to ramp up their online marketing. Omelet should make more than $60 million this year, triple its 2011 revenues, serving clients such as AT&T, Harley-Davidson and Microsoft, while Ignited has built a $140 million business by focusing on display-ad services. “The dollars are clearly shifting this way,” says Eric Johnson, Ignited’s founder. “There has been a fundamental shift in behavior that is shaking the underpinnings of the whole media and marketing industry.” (Source)
How much of your TV advertising is wasted? A lot….
A new Pew Internet and American Life study finds that half of all cell phone users are using their cell phones while watching television. Nearly 40% of those use their phones to entertain themselves during commercial breaks, including by reading e-books.
“Clearly a number of those people who say they use their phones to keep themselves occupied while watching TV are reading books, news articles or other long form content,” said Aaron Smith, a senior research specialist at Pew and co-author of the report, adding that Pew didn’t have space in the survey to ask specifically about e-books.
Smith’s assertion is based on the findings of an earlier Pew report that showed more people were using their smartphones as e-reading devices.
According to the study, smartphone users, who would be the only group of cell phone users able to read e-books on their phones, are much more likely to use their phones during television watching. Nearly three-quarters of smartphone users incorporate their phone into their television watching compared with just a quarter of regular cell phone users. (Source)
- 23% used their phone to exchange text messages with someone else who was watching the same program in a different location
- 22% used their phone to check whether something they heard on television was true
- 20% used their phone to visit a website that was mentioned on television
- 11% used their phone to see what other people were saying online about a program they were watching, and 11% posted their own comments online about a program they were watching using their mobile phone
- 6% used their phone to vote for a reality show contestant
YP Talk - The Voice of the Yellow Pages Industry 