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Ad Age Marketer Of The Year Is...HYUNDAI

Really?  Hyundai?  That little auto maker from Korea that makes those inexpensive cars?  Yes, THAT Hyundai.  And they won "handily" according to Ad Age beating Walmart, Mickey D's, Lego, and Amazon by getting 40% of the reader vote. 

A big reason was Hyundai's Super Bowl campaign which went right to the heart of the American economic problem: if you buy a Hyundai and lose your job/income you can return the car with no impact on your credit.  That was one bold claim and it got a lot of folks who were going through tough times to take a first, second, or even third look at Hyundai.  Clearly the campaign worked:

- Hyundai market share surged from 3.1% in '08 to 4.3% in '09 (first 10 months)

- In September Hyundai increased new car sales by 27% (the industry average was a drop of 22%)

Best quote from the article in Ad Age came from Scott Fink, chairman of Hyundai's national dealer council. "These same people that never would have been caught dead in a Hyundai...now they are very comfortable because the brand has been elevated.  We used to be a price player, but now we're a mainstream player."

I've got to admit...that new Genesis is a good looking car (dare I say it looks a lot like a Mercedes Benz?) and if I was in the market for a new vehicle I wouldn't certainly take a test drive.

Congrats Hyundai.

  

Google Buying Mobile Ad Network AdMob for $750MM

Google agreed to acquired AdMob for $750MM in an all stock deal yesterday.

Google's purchases are always interesting since they have enough cash buy just about any company and usually make good decisions.  This one is especially interesting for a number of reasons:

1. AdMob is a mobile display ad network - meaning they serve ads on mobile devices like your iPhone or Blackberry device - that was only launched in 2006 (nice payback for the investors and employees in short order)

2. Google is betting on the future of mobile and with this purchase will now have 30-40% market share in the mobile ad business 

3.  Without deep knowledge of AdMob's revenue I've got to believe they are paying north of 30X revenue which is quite a premium 

4. Google will now have a strong play (if not the strongest play) in search, display (thanks to acquisition of DoubleClick), and mobile.  King of the mountain status for sure.

It wouldn't surprise me to see other mobile companies get snatched up by the likes of Yahoo and Microsoft in order to keep pace with Google.

   

AOL's Outlook Way Up...Revenue Way Down!

If you attended the roundtable discussion on the "State of the Industry" last Wednesday at Ad Tech in NYC you would have thought this was boom time in the online advertising business.  Jeff Levick of AOL, Carolyn Everson of MTV, Amy Banse of Comcast (all representing the sales side of the house) and Joe McCarthy of Publicis (representing the buy side) all gave such rah-rah commentary on the state of the industry in general and their specific businesses in particular I thought I was at Ad Tech 1999, not 2009.  All 4 players talked up the need for relevant, trusted, and valuable content (especially video) along with better measurement tools to see advertising dollars continue to make their way online.

MTV's Everson said her company is seeing strong ad sales growth from retail, studios, games, and auto (yes, auto).  AOL's Levick mentioned auto (yes, auto) and cpg as 2 of their hotter categories.  And Comcast's Banse touted entertainment and local as strong areas for sales improvement.

Unfortunately it was hard to appreciate Levick's bullish comments as AOL's Q3 earnings came out the very next day and it was not the rosy picture he was painting.   Let's look at the stats:

- 18% drop in year over year ad revenue from $507MM in Q3 '08 to $415MM in Q3 '09

- 21% drop in ad revenue on AOL's own sites (including display and search) $288MM

- 12% drop in ad revenue from 3rd party ads sold through it's network to $127MM

On Thursday Jonathan Miller, CEO Digital Media Group of New Corp gave the keynote interview (by Drew Ianni), one day after News Corp's own disappointing news:

- 26% drop in digital revenue from Q2 to Q3 '09 (due to lower search and display ad revenue, the ongoing economic downturn, and much transition going on at the digital unit).  

I was a bit surprised that Ianni failed to ask even one question about the earnings report during the interview.  Meanwhile Miller projected double-digit online ad growth in '10.  Let's hope the reality of online ad revenues in 2010 match up to the hype heard at Ad Tech last week.        

   

Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, Speaks @ Ad Tech

Sir Martin gave the keynote address at the Ad Tech conference yesterday morning.  It was his first time attending the big Internet conference and my first time hearing him speak.  Although Sorrell thought he would be presenting to a "small intimate group" the auditorium at the Javits Center in NYC was packed.

Sorrell spoke without the use of PPT slides (which was a nice change), walked among the attendees, and discussed a variety of topics relating to the agency business ("we're not an agency anymore"), the Internet ("big change is coming"), the impact of the economy ("never in all my years in business have I seen clients so focused on cost") and the road ahead.  The Big 3 things on his mind (and therefore what should be on the mind of everyone of WPP's north of 100,000 employees) are:

1. New Markets - there is a "shift in power" to markets like China (China Mobile has more than 500MM subs), Brazil (just picked up the Olympics), and India (big numbers)

2. New Media - 25% of WPP spending is going to New Media which includes web, mobile (needs to be a shift in spending to mobile but so far it's been a "big disappointment"), video ("video content is going to be the most powerful force"), etc.

3. Consumer Insights - WPP spends $4B per year on data, analytics and measurement, this is one of the reasons WPP acquired TNS last year

A few other sound bites:

- Very few companies are making money today and those that are have done it "ugly" (cost cutting)

- In the future there is going to be an overcapacity of product and an under-capacity of people

- Watch out for retailers like Wal-Mart, Tesco and Home Depot (they are fastest movers)

- Internal company communication is critical ("robotic control doesn't work, control is a very un PC word")

- "Doing good is good business" (in talking about corporate social responsibility)

Sorrell spoke eloquently and provided a great deal of "food for thought" which was just what was needed at the beginning of a conference like Ad Tech.   I, for one, was engaged and impressed.

Can Marketers Really Learn From Pro Wrestling?

Let me start by saying I'm not a pro wrestling fan, have never been to a match nor watched a full one on TV.  Hulk Hogan is the only wrestler that comes to mind and his pro career hit its peak in the late '80s.  But pro wrestling still packs 'em in and has enjoyed consistent success for more than 30 years.  So I was intrigued when I read an article in Fast Company earlier in the week entitled "10 Things Corporations Can Learn From Pro Wrestling" and thought I'd share that list here:

1. An appropriate level of spectacle is crucial

2. Humor and charisma always make a connection

3. Create a serialized connection with your audience

4. Shiny new objects don't last

5. Your audience uses you as an excuse to build community

6. Your audience is always performing

7. Take every opportunity to listen to your focus groups

8. Your audience will tell you what they think

9. Don't ignore surplus audiences

10. Listening could lead to new business models

Some good ideas/concepts to take to your next executive team meeting from a business that has enjoyed tremendous staying power.

 

Marketers like to KISS

We've heard it before.  Keep It Simple, Stupid.  It's one of my favorite expressions in the working world especially when trying to determine a company's value proposition, how our product/service differentiates with others in the space, when putting together a sales presentation, and even running a meeting.  Yet people and companies still complicate matters and create too much complexity along the way...and that leads to confusion, frustration, and declining sales.

So I was happy to read an article on USAToday.com earlier in the day talking about companies who are, in fact, keeping it simple.  Companies like Haagen Dazs, Starbucks, Kraft, and Campbell's are simplifying by reducing the number of ingredients they are putting into their products.  Some examples:

Haagen Dazs: new ice cream line is called "Five" because it only contains five ingredients (the Vanilla Swiss Almond in my freezer contains 11)

Starbucks: their banana bread went from containing 15 ingredients to 10 (my favorite quote in the article mentioned how they are not using banana flavor anymore: "we can just put more bananas in and do the same job.")

Kraft: Triscuit crackers now contain just 3 ingredients - wheat, salt, and oil (the Ritz in my cupboard contains 15)

Campbell's: Their newer Select Harvest contains fewer ingredients and actually describes what each one is, which is helpful as some are rather confusing such as maltodextrin (it's a carb from potatoes or corn starch)

I like this trend and hope it continues.  Now I need to run out and try that new Five ice cream.

  
 

 

Happy Birthday Banner Ad!

Yes, it was 15 years ago today - October 27, 1994 - when the very first banner ad was served.  It was for AT&T and came with the headline "Have you ever clicked your mouse right HERE?  YOU WILL"  The ad ran on Hotwired.com.

Legend has it that this first banner ad received north of an 80% click through rate.  What marketer wouldn't like to see that kind of performance.  According to recent research the average banner ad (or leaderboard, skyscraper, rectangle) receives a .2% CTR.  How times have changed.

The AT&T ad was accompanied by a TV campaign that hyped future technology (I'm still waiting for the device that can scan your entire shopping cart at the grocery store without having to remove items).

If you worked at AT&T, Modem Media, Tangent Design, or Hotwired.com 15 years ago this has gotta be one proud day.  Congratulations for being at the forefront of what today is nearly a $30B industry.  For the rest of us who have worked/are working in the online space (I've been doing it since Nov '96) I can only say a heartfelt "thank you."

The Digital Hot List...

One of the things I love about MediaWeek is that they have a Special Report for just about everything under the sun.  They've got hot lists, top lists, outlooks, forecasts, all-stars, and plans of the year.  My favorite title so far: Media Outlook 2010 Crawling From the Wreckage.  That title says it all.

Well...they just came out with their Digital Hot List for 2009.  Top 10 are (drum roll please)...

1. Facebook - north of 300MM members and $500MM in revenue, and just 5 years old

2. Hulu - you want quality video content you go here, advertisers agree

3. Twitter - most talked about property, still trying to figure out their revenue model

4. Google - the hits just keep on coming, Google is handling over 60% of online searches

5. iPhone - single handedly changed the mobile experience (but I still don't have one)

6. Huffington Post - even without a Presidential election this year HP's audience keeps growing

7. Bing - it's share of search is growing even with the silly name 

8.  WSJ.com - subscription fee, growing audience, boost in ad revenue, leave it to Murdoch

9. Federated Media - hey, blogs can make money, too

10. AddictingGames.com  believe it or not Viacom's biggest Web property

5 stalwarts from last year (facebook, hulu, google, iphone, huffington post) and 5 new ones to the list (twitter, bing, wsj.com, federated media, addictinggames.com).  Congrats to all.  I wonder how many will stay atop the list and which new ones will be added in 2010.

  

Mobile Phones - Most Love 'em, Some Leave 'em

Couple of interesting studies and stories came out this morning on mobile phone usage.

First...Synovate's global mobile phone survey delivered some great stats:

- 82% of Americans never leave home without their mobile phone

- 36% of global population say they "cannot live without" their mobile phone (I see a reality TV show in the making)

- 68% of Americans use the camera function on their mobile phone 

There are also some amusing stats about how often people use texting on their mobile phones to break up (12%) and lie about their whereabouts/why they are running late (31%).  With advances in GPS and technology within mobile phones it will be harder to do the later.

Second...on the flip side there was an article in the NYT today entitled "The Cell Refuseniks" about that small subset of the population who don't have a cell (mobile) phone.  They prefer not to be bothered 24/7 and look at not being attached to a phone as a "luxury."  They also hate the annoying ring tones, very loud talkers (I can relate to both on Metro North Trains), and constant interruptions when they are having real face-to-face conversations.   The only time I enjoy that "luxury" is when I am on vacation out of the country as I haven't stepped up to a "world" phone yet.

Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...

Research from the Pew Internet Project came out earlier today measuring the growth of micro-blogging platforms like Twitter.  Turns out 19% of US Internet users are now engaging with these services, up 8 percentage points from April.  Some interesting stats coming out of the survey include:

- social networks users, mobile users and younger users (18-44) are responsible for most of the growth

- median age of a Twitter user is 31 (no change over past year)

- usage for the 18-24 demo jumped to 37% 

Most folks I speak to in and outside the online industry aren't that surprised by this growth since Twitter remains the "new shiny toy" of the day.  But I wonder about the following:

- How are people using Twitter today and has it changed over the past 6 months? (I use it mostly for research when I am prepping for interviews and sales calls)

- Has Twitter turned into one big celebrity tracking service? (anyone can follow Ashton, Britney, and MC Hammer...full disclosure - I do)

- When will Twitter get more serious (enough already with the "heading out to lunch" and "not feeling well" tweets)

- What is the current churn/abandon rate? (back in April Nielsen research said that 60% of US Twitter users bail after 1 month)

- Will Twitter be around in 5 years? (most CEOs I've talked to in the past 3 months say "no"...hmmm)

Time will tell what happens to Twitter.  In the meantime happy chirping.