MM Connect

By Philippe Generali

Before creating Media Monitors, I remember asking around if there was a need for a spot monitoring service. Sales Managers would tell me: "My sales people are already listening to the competition. I have all the data I need..." We knew we had to make the information so complete, quick and easy to retrieve that it would be irresistible. The formula of being online 24/7, delivering instant reports on spots or music and providing real time data with a couple of clicks was the benefit of Media Monitors that helped get that person listening to the competition back on the street selling.

It wasn't long before we added newspaper, Local Cable and Broadcast TV. As we expanded into more complete media coverage, we also reached out globally. Media Monitors provides competitive intelligence information for markets in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand India and South Africa.

Back in the US, as electronic audience measurement for Radio rolled out, we married Arbitron's Portable People Meter data with the song spins across the nation from Media Monitors and invented the Mscore - an index measuring the behavior of radio listeners when they are exposed to music.

Local Internet is the latest of the Media that we monitor. At the NAB show this last April we became the ONLY company to offer LOCAL Internet ad analysis. According to BIA Kelsey, US Local Online Advertising is projected to grow from $21 Billion in 2011 to almost 40 Billion by 2016. They project an annual growth rate of 12.7%. The early feedback on our Display Internet service is glowing.

We've built the ultimate strategic weapon to help you get a bigger slice of the growing local online advertising pie. Our Director of Development, John Fulbright, will discuss the project in more detail in this issue of MM Connect.

In the meantime, we hope to be always more relevant to your business. If we've missed something, let us know, we're open 24/7, every day of the year.

By Chad Pfeiffer

Our customers are a savvy bunch and ask pertinent questions everyday to our support department. I wanted to share a few of the most common questions I hear in this column. And remember our support team is always available to personally answer questions and provide ways to maximize your experience with the Media Monitors Web site. If you have a 'Dear Chad' please drop me a line and I will answer you and may very well highlight your experience in our next edition.

Q: How do I find out who is running on other media outlets but not my own?
A: Use the Zero Share filter in the lower left hand corner of any analysis report. Look for "Display advertisers," check the box and select "not on" and pick your media outlet from the drop-down (tip: your media outlet must be included in your initial Media Selection or it will not appear in the Zero Share filter).

Q: What's the difference between a Current and Gold Mscore?
A: These are two different calculation methods. Broadly, Current Mscore is intended for songs that get higher turnover. The Current Mscore is calculated using the most recent four weeks the song had a minimum of 6 spins. Gold Mscore is more appropriate for songs that get less turnover. In this case, the most recent 13 weeks in which the song had at least one spin are considered (tip: you can increase, but not decrease, the spin count for either Current or Gold).

Q: Why does a Chicago account appear in my New Accounts E-mail? I'm in Dallas.
A: When an out-of-market account appears, it is generally because of shared creative. For example, Live Nation runs ads for a concert tour that are identical market-to-market with the exception of venue and date information. Our detection process can't distinguish these minor variances in the audio, it takes a human being. That's why our data is constantly reviewed and verified. The New Accounts E-mail is raw data, totally unverified. It's trade-off between accuracy and immediacy. More often than not, by the time you open that E-mail, the error has already been corrected in Media Monitors (tip: to "opt-in" for the New Accounts E-mail, go to Preferences in Media Monitors and check the box).

By John Fulbright

LOCAL AS LOCAL CAN BE

Sometimes I feel that we've been on an epic journey worthy of Homer's scribing that has culminated in me being able to tell you that Media Monitors now has Local Internet display advertising in our reports!

Yes. Local. We physically place our data collection equipment in the markets we monitor to ensure that we are capturing any geo-targeted advertising.

We review each market and select those locally targeted web properties that we feel will give an accurate view of in-market advertising. We currently have equipment installed in 12 markets and have plans to expand to the top 50 markets.

Each local data collection server is running proprietary software, called a Web spider, that "crawls" through the websites that we have identified in each market and collects advertising data from the pages that make up each website, making multiple passes daily to achieve an accurate representation of what is being advertised.

When the Web spider finds something that looks like an ad it downloads the creative along with various other relevant pieces of data. We only look for display ads that adhere to the web banner sizes that have been standardized by the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau).

We can also determine if the ad is being served by the local web property or by an Ad Network and will give you access to that named Ad Network within our reports.

An automated process runs on a nightly basis to scrub each creative observation against our existing database library and identify previously seen "known" advertisements. The previous day's newly observed data for known creative is available in Media Monitors the following morning.

Brand new creative is then reviewed by our Discovery staff to identify the display advertising content and title it properly. Data for new creative we've not seen before is typically available within two to three days.

Currently, we show daily unique creative instances and all the associated data. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. As this data and process matures, we will look at more ways to make this information even more valuable to you. Our goal is being local as local can be.

By Dwight Douglas

The G.P.S. of Media Time-Buys

One of the great things about writing for Media Monitors each week is that I get to learn about how the products of our culture are being sold in America. When we first started out, we created the SPOT TEN_® as a way to give Radio people a quick look at the top advertisers. It didn't take long for this to spread to Broadcast TV and Local Cable.

And with the advent of the Competitive Face-Off and the Spot Trends, we were able to dig into the advertising habits of specific products. Looking back 12 months, we can offer a glimpse into the strategy of each company and how their campaigns play out on Radio, Broadcast TV and Local Cable.

We know the power of The Home Depot, GEICO and McDonald's on the radio each week, but we also see the combined efforts of groups like the Automobile Dealer Associations and Auto Manufacturers on the national radio economy. In Broadcast TV, we can see the comparison to how some advertisers invest heavily in TV and Local Cable, but may not use radio to propel their products and service.

One of the things that stands out is how many advertisers pour on their messaging during certain months of the year. Beyond the obvious seasonal buys such as Tax Preparation firms leading up to April 15 each year or Gardening Outlets clearing more spots in the spring, we see some quirky planning reflected in the weekly reviews.

There are some companies that begin the year with a bang, such as weight loss programs, while other sponsors link themselves to a sport. And as summer begins each year, the US Department of Transportation will run schedules on driving safety, rules and warnings.

The weather affects what products are being advertised, such as Chapstick in the winter months, or Tamiflu during flu season. As a sales person at a Radio station, TV channel or Cable system, you need to study these shifts and know when to call on these clients. With Media Monitors archives, you can go back and see the reports from the last few years and learn the habits of the airtime buyers. See here.

Also, shifts in the economy can drive certain product lines to the top of the charts. When money was tight for some, many consumers would repair their car rather than buy a new one. That sent Auto Parts businesses to the top of the SPOT TENS.

One of the drivers of ad buys has always been competition between two companies going after the same target. For example, when we saw Wal-Mart come on strong, it wasn't long before Lowe's returned to the top ten.

There are some luxury cosmetic brands that choose to display their products on TV and Cable and not buy radio. And then there is a whole range of advertisers like the Federal government that uses radio exclusively for seat belt safety announcements; or the US Postal Service trying to get their message out there.

To all those people who read the articles each week, thanks for reading them. And for all those people who aren't aware of our weekly offering, well now you know. Now go sell something.