Prepare elections with a book

Yesterday I picked up a free copy of the book from the Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt about his eight years of premiership. His liberal party printed 300.000 copies of the 194 pages book that were distributed via newspaper kiosks in Flanders. In explaining this surprising move -less than three months prior to the elections- the liberals argue that the budget of € 500,000 invested in the book is more effective than using for example large billboards. Having heard that I'm curious to know how they will spend the advertising budget in the weeks prior to the elections in June. (By the way the book includes some pictures of Verhofstadt with other glasses than his much discussed Gucci designer glasses he received from his wife).

Google Master Plan

In November I wrote about the movie made by The Museum of Media History on the impact of Google on the online and off-line media. Two students from the University of Ulm (Germany) have now produced a movie called the Master Plan, about the power of Google. It is a sceptic view of Google' mission of making the world a better place. Expressed with nicely made graphics and a compelling story.

The paradox of choice in media planning

Media planners have a difficult job, the number of options to "touch" consumers explode. Consumers are confronted with advertising all day long, and creativity is put to the extreme to reach and start a dialogue with them. A campaign in Manhattan for example used HDTVs and Bluethooth technology integrated in busshelter walls to promote Discovery Channel.
Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL dominate online ad spend in the USA -they have 92% of all spend, traditional media brands go online and online media brands start off-line, the number of television channels and pay per view options increase rapidly, television, video, music and games can be viewed and listened to via different platforms. The choice is inflating.
And the planner has not (yet) the tools to measure all of these new media the way he can with traditional media.
Touching consumers is getting more complicated, less reliable, less effective, more trial-based and above all more expensive. That might explain why certain advertisers decide to stick to the tried and trusted media. Unilever and Heineken announced some time ago that they would do so and recently Gini - a drinks brand from the Orangini Group - also announced that it would shift its media budgets away from television. Television simply requires too much budget to be effectively seen by consumers.
Question is whether the online advertising opportunities will not be doomed to the same scenario. The enormous amount of digital data as estimated by the IDC/EMC research this week illustrates the difficult task of the planner. How can he select the most cost efficient places to promote his clients brands? Today he does so by not choosing - he stays with Google, Yahoo, MSN or AOL.

Martin Lindstrom' extra sense applied

Lindstrom' book Brand sense argues that appealing to different senses at the same time will strengthen the brand experience. Singapore Airlines does so with a cabin scent, other companies think about the sound the door of car makes when closed or the sound of crushing cornflakes.
A 1940's style poster for the Sutton ski resort in Canada applies this thought by using scented pine cones and a poster with a "trompe l'oeil" effect. Together with the Sutton beer the brand experience was complete.
Hope they were having any snow this year.

Mayor Janssens in dialogue with 2% of voters

Earlier this week I attended the award ceremony for the "Gouden Veer" (Gold Feather) for the best written Flemish sales letter. Former colleague and current mayor of Antwerp -Patrick Janssens- introduced and handed over the award.
He "outed" himself as a great believer of one-to-one communication, which was surprising for an ex ad-man having worked on image campaigns for blue-chip clients. He estimated that he answers about 2000 letters a year. All of them are personal. He referred for example to a letter and handmade drawing he had sent to pupils of a local school which generated very enthusiastic feedback from the school. He sees this contact as essential in achieving his goal of creating understanding among the various communities in Antwerp. And acknowledged that the written word in one-to-one communication is probably stronger than an ad campaign.
By the way the award was won by a football club of the third provincial division FC Wieze for a letter to potential supporters.

Newspapers: more titles and higher circulation

The newspaper world is going through a contradictory development. On one hand the advertisers are more and more turning away from newspapers as a medium to advertise their brands. (Newspapers' share of total ad spend was down from 38% in 1996 to 31% in 2006). At the same time plenty of innovation is taking place in the newspaper industry. Just to mention the two most important: the reduction of the size and the growth of the free-newspaper category.
During the period between 2001 and 2005 the number of paid-for dailies worldwide jumped over the 10,000 mark the first time, representing a total circulation of over 450 million copies (+13%). The free newspaper market includes 189 titles with a total circulation of over 28 million in 2005 (+137%). This upswing in circulation includes the decline of one-size-fits-all newspapers. Newspaper are becoming more targeted and complementary to broader audience newspapers.
Now they have secured readership print publishers will need to rethink how to position their brands towards the advertisers and agencies audience. The advertising revenue model will need some rethinking to regain share of the advertising spend.

Paper, pixels and profits

I'm working on a major project that analyses the relationship between (off-line) print media and online media and came across the Deloitte Media Predictions 2007 brochure. Finally a point-of-view that is not over-estimating the hype of what is happening online, but presenting a more realistic and down-to-earth view of position and development of both media. It is clear that online will not substitute newspapers or magazines. Paper and pixels will coexist -and as Betsy Frank of Time Inc mentions- print will be the new new media. The real innovations take place in the print world. New formats, free newspapers, changed editorial approach, product development and integration of online are some of the domains of innovation. Online publishers are also discovering the value of the printed word. Some of them published the web content in books and boost their revenues in such a way. Print publishers should be more aware of the strengths of the printed word: practical, portable, foldable, inexpensive and lightweight. With 439 million people buying a newspaper everyday print is a real mass medium.

Print successful online

I have been writing a couple of times about the revised business model of the print industry, now there is strong evidence that print is successful in this change. Print demonstrates to be a strong provider of local news not only in print but also online. Online video is booming as a local advertising medium and the print news providers are taking a major share of this category. Of the US local online video market the print brands take a two-and-half times higher share than the television news providers.