Ex-crooks dole out advice on new Discovery Civilization series
A new 15-part, hour-long series uses former burglars’ expertise to improve home security. The show begins airing on Discovery Civilization on Saturday, March 18 at 8 p.m. It Takes a Thief joins former burglars Jon Douglas Rainey and Matt Johnson as they demonstrate how thieves can get inside houses.
SMG study: 50-plus not being served by media or marketers
Marketers haven’t made an effort to be relevant to 50-plus consumers and media outlets are also missing the boat, according to Joanna von Felkerzam, insights director for Starcom MediaVest Group in Toronto. She says this large and lucrative demo want the usual things out of media – relevance, information, and entertainment – but that the agency’s latest 50-plus research indicates that there is no real relevant, highly-enjoyed content for them.
‘They are not excited by media. As a matter of fact, the lack of targeted media is a reflection of a larger social conundrum we are all facing today and it needs to be fixed now.’ Von Felkerzam says other findings of the Surveillance fiftyplus survey that impact media selection for the 50-plus demo include:
Énergie drink puts Astral Media radio brand in your hand
How about a radio brand in your hand? This was the thinking behind the launch yesterday of Énergie, an energy drink launched by Montreal-based Astral Media Radio’s network of the same name. The product, which carries the same logo, branding and graphic elements as the radio network, is an equal partnership between Astral Media Radio, Cott Beverages in Toronto and Laval, PQ’s Couche-Tard chain, targets the radio net’s bullseye demo – the 18-34s. The partnership deal was done in-house.
‘This is a wonderful marketing tool for us,’ says Charles Benoit, Astral Media Radio’s VP of programming. ‘It’s a total brand extension. [Our research shows] that more than 40% of people do their listening in the car and the Couche-Tards are everywhere.’ He also says that Astral Media Radio’s research [culled from BBM RTS] has shown that energy drinks are very popular with the 18-34 set and though Red Bull may be the number one brand in the energy drink market, he hopes for ‘a strong number two’ with this product. Benoit says the company is planning to spend $1.5 million in radio airtime value to promote the new drink between now and the end of May. Énergie will be available at all 536 Couche-Tard stores all over Quebec. The radio network of the same name reaches more than 1.7 million listeners per week.
Vaseline invites folks to get touch-y via interactive exhibit
Unilever’s Vaseline brand is really putting the touch in touch screens. Last month, the company worked with Toronto-based Harbinger Communications to roll out a branded, 900-square foot interactive display at Toronto’s Fairview Mall called The Science of Touch. The display has four interactive stations designed to have mall visitors interacting with the brand. The first station features a 32-inch touch screen complete with audio that grades folks on their ‘touch quotient.’ The next station uses ‘Bob,’ a specially-built interactive mannequin with designated touch points. Visitors can touch each point and video bubbles appear, providing touch-y factoids about that body part. Another station houses a photo booth where folks can get a photo on the custom designed Vaseline couch as well as a product coupon. Finally, for more brand interactivity, visitors got to sample Vaseline products, while having their skin’s touchability assessed.
‘The brand’s studies show that there’s a touch deficit in Canada and Vaseline is trying to explain that without the hard sell so we decided to take a science centre approach,’ says Ian Gadsby, VP, production for Toronto-based Fourth Wall Media, the tech company behind the project. The traveling exhibit has just touched down in Calgary today and will remain there until March 12. Promotions for the exhibit were done online via vaselineskin.com and Unilever’s e-newsletter and website at homebasics.com. The Science of Touch targets busy moms, which is why the exhibit was unveiled at shopping malls, says Lisa Pasquin of Harbinger Communications.
BBM Commercial GRP Tracking: Montreal Franco January 2005-2006
Please click on the link below to view BBM’s Commercial Television GRP Trending by week and broadcast month for Montreal Franco covering the broadcast months of January 2005 to January 2006 inclusive.
Smart Cell Phone preparing to battle PPM in the U.S.
Arbitron’s PPM may be in for some competition south of the border as testing of The Media Audit/IPSOS Smart Cell Phone continues to get positive results. The first series of tests conducted by RAJAR, the industry organization that manages radio measurement in Britain, found that the ability of the Smart Cell Phone to pick up codes inserted on a cross section of music and talk format stations met the same thresholds as did that of Arbitron’s Portable People Meter. The Smart Cell Phone (SCP) – like the PPM – has been designed to be a multi-media measurement tool to read embedded audio signals in radio, TV, and the Internet in addition to OOH via its GPS component.
New York-based Arbitron says studies of how consumers use cell phones show that too many people do not have their cell phone with them all the time or do not have their cell phone turned on all of the time. It also says that less than 30% of consumers keep their cell phones with them at home. Cell phone on/off times and carry times vary widely by age and in the prime demo of 25 to 54 year olds, off times increase with each 10-year age group. While 61% of those aged 18 to 24 have their cell phones on all the time, that figure drops to 53% amongst 25-to-29-year-olds, 43% with those 30 to 44, and 39% with 45-to-59-year-olds. (Source: ‘Ownership and Usage Patterns of Cell Phones: 2000-2005’, by Peter Tuckel, Hunter College, CUNY and Harry O’Neill, NOP World, February 2005.) Arbitron contends that the option for consumers to turn off their phones would greatly bias radio survey results. On the other hand, the company says its PPM is always on and always listening. As far as compliance, Arbitron says its market trials show that people do carry the PPM consistently across all age groups.
The Media Audit of Houston, Texas is a syndicated service of International Demographics, a multi-media and marketing survey conducted in 85 cities across the U.S. It will begin field tests of its passive cell phone system in the U.S. mid-2006. With the omnipresence of cell phones today, The Media Audit believes the SCP will encourage a greater degree of compliance by panel participants because it’s an item they are likely to carry with them normally. Arbitron, which has been refining, researching and testing the PPM for the past 10 years, believes a cell phone would actually work against the device and is citing research to back that up.
BBM Media Snapshot: Canadians and figure skating events
* 1.9 million Canadians (7%) attend live figure skating events either regularly or occasionally, when in season.
* 57% of figure skating attendees are 55 years old or over (1.5 times more the national average).
* Only 25% of figure skating attendees are male.
* 7% are regular figure skating attendees.
* When analyzing their favourite clothing stores, those who attend figure skating events are at least 1.5 times more likely to shop at Talbot’s, Laura (any), Cotton Ginny, La Senza Girl and Reitman’s.
* Figure skating event attendees’ top specialty channels watched in an average week are A+E (36%), Discovery Channel (32%), the Weather Network (31%) and CBC Newsworld (28%). They are also 1.5 times more likely to watch WTN (The woman’s Network).
* Their top four media by yesterday exposure are: TV (90%), radio (86%), daily newspaper (59%) and Internet (56%).
* Figure skating attendees are 1.6 times more likely to prefer adult standards, when comparing their favourite radio formats to national averages.
Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’04 / Spring ’05
The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 60,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada: cdorning@bbm.ca.
YTV gets in the spy zone with new series
The X’s, an animated Nickelodeon spy series aimed at the 6-11 set, makes its debut on Thursday, April 6 at 4:30 p.m. The series follows four of the best secret agents in the world. Then, on Friday, April 7 at 10:30 p.m., Case Closed will be making its debut. The anime series chronicles the adventures of Jimmy Kudo, a famous detective still in high school. The show targets 14+.
Life Net puts Women on Top and gets X-Weighted
Life Net is putting Women on Top beginning Monday, April 10 at 8:30 p.m. The weekly, half-hour show chronicles 13 women in drool-worthy jobs. On Tuesday, April 11, X-Weighted makes its debut at 9 p.m. In the vein of The Biggest Loser, X-Weighted is an hour-long chronicle of Canucks fighting their fat.
Billable Hours debuts on Showcase
The comedy series that follows the young, overeducated and bored, Billable Hours, makes its debut on Showcase on Sunday, April 16 at 9:30 p.m. The show takes place at a law firm and follows young lawyers spicing up their lives to avoid the mundane.
National Geographic to premiere Mad Labs
Canadian series Mad Labs debuts on National Geographic, beginning Sunday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. and unmasking the geek in all of us. The half-hour show unveils germs that can make you fat and fish that use flatulence to communicate. Fascinating stuff.
Tapp moves up at OBN; hires one
The Outdoor Broadcast Network (OBN) has promoted Judy Tapp to the position of VP, advertising sales from her previous post as general sales manager. Tapp will be responsible for the management of the sales team and for growing sales revenues for the net. Tapp has also hired Rachel Tan as national account manager. Tan was previously at Starcom Worldwide where she held the broadcast investment buyer post for that company’s film and home entertainment sector.
PMB Factoid
Korean-made car owners; by household income
On the MIC with Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts: Do you Sisomo?
New York-based Saatchi & Saatchi CEO, worldwide, Kevin Roberts’ new book Sisomo: The future on screen, outlines what he ‘calls the biggest and most exciting opportunity to connect with consumers since TV.’ Namely, he speaks about how marketers should and could capitalize on the fact that screens surround us – in-store, in cars, on mobile phones and so on. A term invented by Roberts, Sisomo stands for ‘sight, sound and motion’ and is meant to connote what brings a screen to life. Roberts, who has worked as a senior marketing executive at Gillette and P&G and was also once CEO of Pepsi Canada, has enlisted Brett Channer, CEO/ECD at Toronto-based Saatchi & Saatchi, to act as an early adopter for the rest of the network, because ‘in places like Canada, this revolution will take place in the year 2006.’ For his part, Channer says he’s already been working towards this goal, and cites the Toyota Uncle Yaris campaign, and a new two-minute Toyota Camry ad that will run during the Academy Awards and push consumers online, as recent examples. Strategy editor Lisa D’Innocenzo caught up with both men in Toronto to hear more.
