Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

According to recent forecasts by companies such as Carat and eMarketer, online advertising will continue to grow despite a decline in overall advertising expenditure.

Leading media communications agency Carat revised previous forecasts issued in March, which predicted 2008 growth in advertising expenditure to reach 6%. Now the agency is predicting 2008 figures to increase by only 4.9%. Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Aegis Media, said, “It is clear that the worldwide economic issues affecting businesses are having an impact on where and how advertisers spend their money…Similarly, while TV’s share of spend has stabilized, internet advertising is continuing to drive spending ahead of other sectors in nearly every region. Internet is set to overtake radio this year to become the world’s third most popular medium, behind TV and print.”

“But changes in consumer behavior aren’t the only reason for this,” Buhlmnn continued. “With search now central to the planning and execution of any campaign, online media brings a greater level of accountability not just to itself but to TV, print and other forms of advertising. This is why we are predicting further strong growth for internet, even when advertisers are cautious in many of the other sectors.”

Earlier this summer Advertising Age reported that although Procter & Gamble had cut costs by closing a manufacturing facility and eliminating hundreds of jobs at Gillette’s South Boston headquarters, its advertising budget would remain steady at around 10.4 percent of the company’s annual sales. Instead of spending as much on traditional media, the company would devote more to alternative channels.

A recent LA Times article summed up the current trend in total online spending as significant. In the article, eMarketer analyst David Hallerman said, “Complaining about an online-ad slowdown is like griping about a slugger who is on pace for 40 home runs after hitting 50 last year.” eMarketer expects online ad spending to grow to $25.9 billion this year and $30 billion in 2009, from $21.1 billion last year.

Online advertising’s resistance to the economic woes plaguing other media is a tribute to the medium itself. As Buhlmann stated, interactive marketing is now, more so than ever, the cornerstone of today’s successful media mix. Most campaigns integrate online spending at least at some level. Amid diminishing budgets, advertisers cannot afford to miss out on less costly, targeted opportunities to reach their online audience. So, the growth continues.

Rachel

To see all of Carat’s forecasted figures, click here.
To visit Advertising Age, click here.
To read the Los Angeles Times article, click here.

In a recent publication by Grocery Headquarters Magazine, Rich Tarrant was quoted stating a few tips to stay alive in these tough economic times, read what he has to say,

“‘A good way for supermarkets to do that is by using their websites. Giving consumers the ability to pursue the items that are on sale on your website, and building a shopping list from that is clearly an area that will help people manage their budgets, and can help retailers differentiate themselves within the current environment’. Tarrant suggests retailers offer meal suggestions and recipes on their websites, and set it up so just a click of the mouse adds those ingredients to a shopping list. ‘Anything you can do to make that easier for the time-pressed consumer naturally gives you some assistance in combating other retailers who maybe don’t make it that easy for consumers,’ he says. ‘Retailers promoting online shopping can increase their sales in the high-margin HBA and non-foods categories. Customers who use the online channel consolidate their purchases back to the retailer and are not doing multiple stops. They may pay a service fee, but they’ve saved time by eliminating having to go to more outlets. In a time where a cup of coffee is $3, to save an hour and 20 minutes in a store, particularly if you are a young mother with kids, is a very easy value proposition to justify even in tight times.’”

Want to read the whole article? Check it out
here

Cheers!

-Courtney

Speaking of Olympics, Michael Phelps will be on the box of …Frosted Flakes. And Michael Phelps has a million fans on Facebook. How can you leverage your brand and the power of social networking?

Social networking is all about finding niche areas where people find others who share the same interest. People are already talking about your brand online; engage with them, find out how to improve your brand directly from your customers, find out what’s working and why.

Here are 5 tips to get started:

1. Set up Facebook, MySpace and YouTube accounts for your brand

2. Find fans who love your brand and friend them

3. Send out bulletins & blogs to your online friends about promotions or events they will be interested in

4. To have friends you have to be a friend. Be active, but don’t try to sell – instead inform and let your friends make up their own mind

5. Offer online specials to your social networking friends only – reward them for being your friend

Social networking is wonderful way to communicate with your customers. It is a two way street on communication, once you make the commitment to join a social network site, make the commitment to be active and engage with your customers on their terms.

Here’s to being popular!

~Rebecca

In a recent New York Times article chronicling the success of NBC’s Olympics coverage , author Bill Carter identifies the critical moves the network made pre-Olympics to ensure viewership and cash in on advertising revenue. Certainly, as the article points out, the publicity surrounding the Olympics, the politics, the protests, the athletes and the expectations, all contributed to the event’s success.

But the driving success factor was timing.

With the support of U.S. swimming star and Olympic legend Michael Phelps , Dick Ebersol , chairman of NBC sports, not only convinced China and the International Olympics Committee to propose an August start date, he influenced them to schedule the swimming and gymnastics events in the morning so they would air live on NBC primetime. 200 million viewers and more than $100 million later, NBC concluded coverage of what was one of the most watched and talked about sporting events in recent history.

The main lesson to be learned from NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is not new. Timing is everything. The early date of the Olympics, which began August 8^th, meant school had not resumed. The weakened economy forced Americans to stay home and not vacation. The primetime coverage pulled in viewers and intrigued advertisers; many ran advertisements congratulating Phelps’ gold medals in the first commercial break following each victory.

When advertising online, especially in an e-commerce setting, advertisers should take advantage of timing to increase relevancy and decrease waste. Advertising where your consumers are most likely to buy is a cost-effective and powerful way to increase sales and promote positive branding. Just as Ebersol took advantage of a time when he knew viewers would be watching television to air Olympics coverage, advertisers should take advantage of online e-commerce applications to influence consumers where they are already going to buy.

Rachel

To read the entire article click here.

Most parents rejoice once the kids are off to school again but this usual occurs after the back to school errands are complete. New clothes, shoes, books, binders, pens, lunches, and snacks are just some of the many items parents purchase to get their kids ready to start the new school year. Who’s products are the buying? Well in an ideal world, yours. Companies make an investment when it comes to back to school advertising, it’s almost up there with the holiday season. So where do you start when building your advertising campaign? You have to go to where your target market is. What’s the point of launching newspaper print ads if your target market doesn’t read the paper? Targeting your message directly to your end users will enable success.

So let’s use Mom’s for our example. They are running around the last few weeks of summer getting their kids ready for school. How do you reach them with the products you want them to buy; the Internet. According to eMarketer, “40% of all women in the US who go online - some 35 million people - are mothers with children under 18 at home”. Moms are online everyday; a perfect way to send your message directly to them. The use of the Internet also increases once a child is born, “47% of women say that they go online more often once they have a child”.

Kids likes/dislikes change everyday and your business puts research, time, and money into new products that you know kids will want. Moms may not know what these are but that is where your advertisement comes to save the day and make these moms into Supermoms! Back to school advertising and the Internet has increased immensely, a Platform-A ADlytics Group study found that, “83% of back-to-school consumers are somewhat likely to seek in-store deals based on online promotions”. So get your message out there and be sure you’ve chosen the right media outlet to do so, remember if you’re targeting hearing impaired people it won’t be beneficial to run a radio advertisement

Cheers!
Courtney