April marked the first full month of lock down for most of the world. As advertisers adjust TV spend and creatives to reach and engage with consumers watching increasingly more video across all screens, what trends have emerged?
eMarketer: Why TV Ad Spend Will Fall. Sports and Political Ad Spend.
More: https://www.emarketer.com/content/how-the-coronavirus-will-change-our-us-tv-ad-spending-forecast
Comscore: Surging levels of COVID-19 TV coverage driven by diverse audience
This year, I attended the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas. This conference gave “Money Revolutionaries” the opportunity to meet and discuss many challenges, including the following.
The major insight I extracted is how difficult it is to communicate brand appeal in the financial Industry because let’s face it, mortgages, loans and account services apps aren’t as enticing as the material presented in the entertainment or travel industries. Additionally,the industry uses very specific lingo that may not be easy to understand for the common customer. Because of these two obstacles, the concepts involved aren’t typically appealing throughout the digital/social media ecosystem.
But what’s the solution to this? TV advertising, of course! And we have three very clear reasons to believe it.
First and foremost,these “Money Revolutionaries” need to face their traditional competitors within their branding realm with a big brand-awareness push, getting the message out to the massive audience and there’s no other medium that could offer such speed and scale than digital and of course TV.
Secondly, we know that the synergy between DRTV campaigns and download rates is strong without high ad spend. Based upon the likeliness of the target market being a multi-screen user, the call to action response is more viable when the TV ad airs while having a mobile device in hand. These results are also more measurable. Having DRTV and Mobile within the marketing mix is simply a no-brainer.
Third, consumers have been losing the trust in the banking and financial sector throughout the years, and TV has been the king of media in relation to trust, giving these digital products/services the sense of reality.These new technology service providers offer new ways to manage finances, meeting the consumer’s needs and desires and moving away from the tarnished reputations of the “bad banks.” This evolution, or shall we call it FinTech Revolution, should be massively televised to build up trust!
Finally, the “cherry on top” for the FinTech data-rich and data driven industry, is that DRTV campaigns can be measured, analyzed and optimized as the “digital revolution” has brought to the marketing/advertising basics.
So for those Financial brands looking to create momentum, don’t wait anymore and contact us now! We will get your product/service where the high street banks are.
Sandra Valencia – Managing Director
sandra@modusdirect.com
A lot of time is spent behind the scenes coming up with great ideas for TV spots: internal brainstorming meetings, long calls and presentations with clients, focus groups, scripting, various rounds of revisions…. the list goes on and on. Don’t get me wrong, it is a fun process, even one of the main reasons I originally got into advertising. And, it is a vital process to make sure companies are putting the best product in the market to lure consumers into buying/interacting with their brand.
Unfortunately, many times, creative teams (and clients) get too caught up in the stories and aesthetics of the spots that they forget one simple element: Does the spot pass the Mute Test?
The mute test you ask? That’s right! At the end of the day, your TV spot and/or video must pass the test! Why? Because after all that effort, time, and money spent producing the spots, you need to make sure that, even with the volume down, viewers understand who you are (brand), what the story is about, and what you offer. Remember, viewers may be at home with their TV muted during the commercials, watching it on Social Media with their volume muted (default for most platforms), or at a bar or restaurant watching sports where, in most cases, only one game has the volume playing, and/or the crowd is so loud viewers may not hear the spot anyway.
Furthermore, it is crucial that your spots pass the test because you are paying for the media placements and impressions. So instead of “wasting” those media dollars with spots that may not get your message across, make the necessary adjustments to deliver the best spot the first time.
Here is the test:
An easy fix? Supers. Good ’ol supers that help tell the story; supers that highlight the main points of your message, and that are designed within your brand guidelines.
Then, put it to the test one more time. Passed?
Want to learn more? Let’s talk! Contact us at letstalk@modusdirect.com.
We see it and hear it every day, how do we reach Millennials? They consume media differently than other generations. But as you research how to target this generation, you may be missing out on what the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finance states is wealthiest demographic with 23x the net worth of Millennials and 1.3x as Boomers. This wealthy group are the 75+ age bracket largely made up of the Silent Generation.
And this demographic is spending their money. A recent TD Ameritrade survey reported that grandparents spend an average of $2383 annually on their grandchildren and according to the Kenan Institute, Americans age 65+ are now more than twice as likely to be caring for a non-elderly family member.
So how do you reach the wealthiest demographic spending money? Linear Television. Adults 65+ continue to spend more time on linear platforms than digital. According to Nielsen’s 1st Q 2018 Audience report, 7:24 hours is spent per day watching Live-Time Shifted TV compared to only 2:28 hours on digital platforms (this includes TV-Connected devices such as DVD, Internet Connected Device and Game Consoles).
If you still are thinking you don’t need to target the wealthiest demographic, there are recent key findings on why television is vital for all demographics:
Television continues to be a vital part of building brands, just ask the online retailers Purple Mattress, Adore Me, Uber and Stitch Fix who are now household names.
Want to learn more? Email us at LetsTalk@modusdirect.com and let’s connect!
Photo by Marisa Howenstine
With the fast growth of the Hispanic market in the United States, it has become more important for brands to market to that demographic. With overall population growth, higher HHI and a strong purchasing power, brands can no longer ignore that market if they want to grow their ROI.
However, it is not as simple as using traditional “techniques” used to market to the Anglo market. Latinx consumers behave different and it is the responsibility of the marketer (and their agency) to understand the Hispanic audiences first.
A little bit about this demographic:
Hispanics are the second-fastest growing demographic group in the United States * and it’s a young population as for over 50% of them are age 30 years old and younger *. This specific fact should be accounted for in how brands talk and reach out to this massive younger generation of Hispanics, since the majority of this audience, although being of Hispanic background, is born in the US and exhibits bi-cultural behaviors. With that being said, the greatest opportunity lies on a wider spectrum for creativity. Since this demo tends to be bilingual, Creative Directors get the chance to develop messaging in “three languages”, English, Spanish and “Spanglish”. In addition to the message, it is important to tailor messages specific to the platforms where Hispanics consume media. Brands have the chance to engage them where they are “hanging out”. For instance 74.5% of the Hispanic population consume media through TV Cable and/or ADS and Hispanics are the most avid radio listeners *.
Brands are always looking for loyalty and repurchasing tendencies in their consumers and according to the Experian Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study, about 56% of Spanish-dominant Hispanics agree that, “When I hear a company advertise in Spanish, it makes me feel like they respect my heritage and want my business.”
So, let me assure you that for the next two decades, brands that ignore the Hispanic Market won’t survive. They have to understand that this market has great growth potential; nevertheless, it remains an underserved demographic, and there’s where the GREATEST opportunity lands. It’s always a good idea to be the FIRST in doing anything. So, don’t wait and contact us; Modus Direct can become your partner in helping your business grow as never before, with our many years of experience and understanding of this Demographic Group, we will take your brand/product/service to the next level.
Sandra Valencia – Managing Director
sandra@modusdirect.com
*http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/18/how-the-u-s-hispanic-population-is-changing/
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/04/20/the-nations-latino-population-is-defined-by-its-youth/
http://fliphtml5.com/ifva/rjjy/basic
Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash
Do not stop to think about the reasons for what you are doing, about why you are questioning. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. Never lose a holy curiosity. Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives.” ~Albert Einstein
Had Albert Einstein and many others not asked all the question he did, where would we be today? We are not rocket scientists or philosophers in advertising, but it is equally important for us to ask questions to truly be the best partners that we can be. Agencies need to be asking clients questions, clients need to be asking agencies questions and agencies need to be asking their vendors questions. One of my mentors instilled in me to always ask at least one question in every meeting you’re a participant in.
Clients to Agencies
Clients should be encouraged to ask questions! Here at Modus we love an open dialog and enjoy educating our clients because as both client and agency become more educated results get better. Clients ask how media works if you don’t know! We love to help our client feel more comfortable and confident with how your marketing budgets get spent. Asking questions strengthen the relationship and eliminates any confusion between client and agency. If you don’t know how that Local Break works, ask! We will gladly impress our knowledge on to you. Ask your agency if who will be working on your account and what their credentials are. Ask about the strategy behind the creative execution? It is going to be effective or will it just earn that agency another creative award. Ask what type of reporting you will receive and on what frequency. You should ask what types of clients the agency likes to work with, what makes a good client? What is the agency’s culture, and would that mesh with yours so the relationship can be effective and enjoyable?
Agencies to Clients
Agencies should be asking clients TONS of questions especially in the beginning of the relations, but if the questions don’t continue the progress and growth will stall. Asking questions keeps the line of communication open and you know that the agency is engaged in your business. Agencies ask for as much data as we can possibly can. This isn’t because we are nosey, it is because the more information we have you’re your business the better decisions we can make. We will ask you for ALL of your marketing spending even on tactics that we don’t control, the reason why is that we can create predictive models, so we are able to see how our efforts effect the overall business because in today’s marketing world it is more difficult to convince someone to pick up the phone. Here at modus we will ask if your call center can handle Spanish speaking calls, we will ask about particular markets and how each of them are individually performing. We will ask what your goals are, what data you already have on your consumer base, what have you tried before, what your successes and failures have been? And yes, I said failures, because without some failure there is no growth. If you have any type of testing strategy, then you would have experienced success and failure.
I could continue to list questions that should be asked, but then you will be sitting there asking yourself why am I spending this much time reading this blog! There is always something that can be done better, collectively agencies with clients grow business in an active partnership. If you have questions, call us, (941) 552 6770! We will gladly answer your questions.
