Media as Usual? In Your Dreams.

Monday February 12, 2007

by Karen Albritton

I drifted into a sweet dream the other night watching Cosby re-runs on Nick at Night. I was back at my first agency putting together television buys the old-fashioned way—with stacks of Nielsen books, buying worksheets and a big adding machine.

It was great—family sitcoms were king. A new show starring Bill Cosby had catapulted NBC’s Thursday night to ratings in the 20s.

I could roadblock by placing three spots at the same time on three networks and reach 70 percent of viewers.

There was an upstart network called Fox selling “21 Jump Street” starring a new heartthrob—Johnny Depp. But nobody thought a new network could succeed against the Big 3.

My dream turned darker. We began to worry about these new devices called VCRs. Would consumers tape shows and then fast forward through commercials?

People meters were showing that the Big 3’s ratings were not what we thought. Cable ratings did exist and people watched re-runs on indies more than they said in their Nielsen diaries.

Media fragmentation? Zapping? Sounded scary but might as well have been science fiction.

Dream over. That future is now and for media buyers, TV sales people and marketers, it feels a little like a nightmare.

Fragmentation is here and increasing. The upstart networks and the cable networks have succeeded and their success is continuing. Who would have believed that a Fox talent show would trump Dick Ebersol’s Olympics on NBC?

Even worse than fragmentation is the very real fear that no one is watching—commercial avoidance.

To zapping, add multi-tasking. A 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation showed that one in four teens regularly do something else while watching television. This is up from 16% in 1999.

Forget awkward VCRs. Think TiVo and DVRs packaged with cable and satellite services. Add in alternative content delivery systems like video games, Internet, satellite and podcasting. Now you’re talking sleep deprivation.

So how can marketers sleep at night? There’s no magic pill, but here are five remedies:

1. Get really clear about your target and as narrow as you can. You don’t have the luxury of reaching them all, so know them and go after them with their mix of media.
2. Do your own research. Nielsen is okay for providing a standard unit of measure for buying—but the old reach and frequency models developed in the ’60s are not realistic today. Marketers must do their own research to know how advertising affects their business objectives—whether it’s sales, awareness, traffic, or a combination.
3. Television is no longer the one-shot wonder. Do not expect another medium to replace it. Not the Internet or magazines or iPods or word of mouth. It’s going to require all of your communications working together—especially public relations. (Note to marketing directors: Make friends with the folks in corporate communications.)
4. No communications channel is more important than internal marketing if you’re going to generate authentic word of mouth. There’s no magic to this. It’s hard work, but the great companies have done it all along.
5. Finally, pay more attention to those media buyers who are investing millions on your behalf. Media buying isn’t as sexy as producing commercials, but it is every bit as important.

Though Karen Albritton leads Capstrat’s account teams, she spent 15 years focused on media. Even in her sleep, she still thinks about better ways to reach the right audiences.