One to watch: APTN
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN)’s viewing numbers are on the rise, positioning the net as one to watch – literally. BBM’s People Meter service revealed last week that APTN’s weekly reach has grown from nearly 1.6 million (between January to October 2004) to just over 2.1 million viewers (over the same 10-month period one year later). This represents a growth of 35% for the net’s secondary audience group consisting of non-Aboriginal viewers. And just last November, APTN began to be measured in Quebec resulting in an increased reach to more than three million viewers per week.
Montreal gets revamped city mag
Montreal-based Maisonneuve magazine, which has been nominated for 14 National Magazine Awards in just two years, and won four, including Magazine of the Year in 2005, is taking a new focus. Currently a national high-end general interest publication, beginning in September the book will focus on Montreal city life and culture. Currently, Maisonneuve’s circulation is 10,000 (all paid). Projected circulation for the fall is 30,000 including 20,000 paid. Total readership is estimated to be 240,000.
Maisonneuve’s readers now are primarily between the ages of 25-39, live in large urban centres, and are split 50/50 male and female. Over 50% make over $50,000 per year. The target audience for the revamped pub is English-speaking Montrealers with a passion for their city. The skew will be youthful, urban, sophisticated, active and affluent.
Maisonneuve is privately owned and is published by the Maisonneuve Magazine Association.
www.maisonneuve.org
Decima: 2005 tally of Canadian digital TV subscribers expected to exceed five million
Decima’s The Digital Domain quarterly digital TV report estimates there were more than 4.9 million Canadian digital TV subscribers by the end of the third quarter of 2005 and predicts that figure will exceed 5.1 million when the final numbers are in for the year. The accelerated rate of growth is credited to the ongoing efforts of cablecos to switch analog subscribers to digital and to Bell ExpressVu satellite TV, increasing subscribers by 148% during the third quarter of 2005 over same period the previous year.
Key findings include:
* The number of digital TV subscribers (cable and satellite TV combined) in Canada increased by an estimated 242,000 or 5% in the third quarter of 2005, compared to 178,000 or 4% in the same period last year. Digital TV subscribers now number more than 4.9 million Canadians.
* The number of digital cable subscribers increased by an estimated 143,000 or 7% in Q3 2005, compared to an estimated 100,000 or 6% in the same period last year.
* The number of satellite TV subscribers added in Q3 was more than double that added in Q3 2004.
* The number of households capable of receiving high-definition television (HDTV) programming and those with personal video recorders/digital video recorders continues to grow as cablecos and satellite TV companies see strong demand for higher-end digital set-top boxes with HDTV and PVR/DVR capabilities.
Top TV advertisers: Eloda ad analysis
New to the Eloda analysis feature this week is a comparison between the English and the French market in the top three categories with the most new advertisers. For the week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2, the English market saw the financial and insurance services category take the number one spot at 21% followed by restaurants at 16%. The French must make entertainment their priority as that category takes the top spot (at 27%) in the same time period. Categories schooling, and travel and transportation both take the number two spot at 18%. Check out others topping the charts, and which brands had the most new spots. This info was gathered through Montreal-based ELODA’s online TV ad tracking, auditing and viewing services. All data supplied is based on the ELODA recording grid.
http://www.eloda.com
Top radio advertisers: Media Monitors ad analysis
Media Monitors ups the ante on its charts this week with a ranking of new radio advertisers for the Toronto market for the broadcast week of Jan.29-Feb. 4, 2006. At the top sits the live theatre category with nine new entrants this week. Amusements and events take the silver with five, while third place goes to beauty and health at four entrants this week. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market for the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
WFN hooks a partnership with Izumi
The World Fishing Network (WFN) has announced a marketing partnership with Canadian fishing icon Bob Izumi. Izumi will serve as the net’s spokesperson and will be the focal point of WFN’s marketing and promotions. According to Chris Doyle, VP of marketing at the net, a national consumer promotion leveraging the new partnership is on tap to launch in spring of 2006, just in time for fishing season. The net targets men 18-49.
U.S. brands losing favour with teens around the world: Energy BBDO study
U.S. brands are no longer the global brand leaders amongst teens, and a new echelon of world brands – including Sony, Nokia, and Adidas – are taking over. So says the new GenWorld study from Energy BBDO of Chicago, a survey of the attitudes, preferences, and outlook for the future of teens in 13 countries. In fact, 62% of teens around the world are downright apathetic about brands and no longer view them as status symbols. The top 10 global brands amongst teens are, in order of preference: Sony, Nokia, Adidas, Nike, Colgate, Nestlé, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, M&Ms, and Kodak. U.S. brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Disney still have worldwide brand awareness but amongst teens, that doesn’t necessarily equate to popularity. The report interprets this to imply that, ‘Plastering a brand logo everywhere doesn’t guarantee a connection and in fact may have the opposite effect. Whispering, rather than shouting louder than the competition may do more to earn this generation’s respect.’
Instead of just striving to stand out, the report suggests that brands must seek to stand for something important and give teens something to care about by having a cause, mission, or difference-making purpose in the world. Teen values have also undergone change. They have moved on from the edgy, gritty urbanism that coloured the last decade of teens to more conservative, traditional values and expectations. Religion and living to high moral standards is an expectation of nearly 60% of U.S. teens and one-third of teens globally. Expectations of marriage and parenthood are also high: 83% and 74% in the U.S.; 58% and 52% globally. Companies marketing to American teens could find that brand messaging around familiar teen themes of cynicism, irony, and sexuality will fall flat amongst this very large group of traditional teens. Around the world, technology is a fact of life for teens and there are no ‘new media.’ They know how to leverage new technology to benefit their everyday lives. The report concludes that it’s time for the brands that want to reach this group to follow suit.
SportsCentre to go HD
TSN is switching its flagship news and information program, SportsCentre, to high definition, beginning Sept. 5. The new format will begin with the studio portion of the program as well as select reports and highlights from the field. The rest of the program will gradually be changed to HD over time. The move means almost 50% of TSN’s programming will be in high definition for broadcast on TSN HD. Meanwhile HD programming is also confirmed for such popular properties as the NHL, NFL, NBA, CFL, IIHF World Junior Championship, Blue Jays baseball, Golf, NASCAR, U.S. College Football and poker.
Discovery Health in the Know in April
Discovery Health Channel is rolling out a Dr. Know marathon on Sunday, April 16 at 2 p.m. The nine-part series, featuring Dr. Paul Trotman, aims to debunk the medical wives’ tales we grew up with. Can you catch nasty bugs from public washrooms? Is a dog’s mouth really as clean as a human’s? Dr. Know susses out the truth. The series rebroadcasts Tuesdays at 12 a.m., beginning April 18.
Northern Lights gets a media director
Julie Di Gironimo has joined Northern Lights Direct Response TV as media director. In her new role, Di Gironimo will manage all aspects of media planning, buying and reporting. Di Gironimo was previously at MDG Computers’ internal media buying department. She has had previous stints at Mindshare and at Interwood.
Event
February 21
Breakfast Seminar: Search Engine Marketing
Toronto
416.760.3344
info@aimscanada.com
www.aimscanada.com
The Association of Internet Marketing & Sales presents this meeting on a medium whose worth will grow to $11.6 billion by 2010, fueled primarily by its targeted, pay-for-performance structure, which aids measurement of ROI. The focus will be on incorporating search into the overall marketing effort and how marketers can make their sites more visible across search engines.
Changing TV consumption a good thing: pundits react to IBM global study
Anheuser-Busch is using this Super Bowl weekend as the launch pad of ‘The Bud Screen,’ a new direct-to-consumer channel that offers viewers ads, programming and branded content downloadable to computers and iPods. CBS just announced the availability of Survivor on CBS.com for $1.99 per download. This would seem to support the findings of an IBM study recently released, The End of Television As We Know It.
Global repackages its news
Global’s reintroducing its news, creating a new national and local ‘get ’em as they eat dinner’ news package. The new news, complete with a new logo, advertising and on-air presentation will be unveiled beginning Monday, Feb. 6. Across Canada, Global National with Kevin Newman will reside in the 5:30 p.m. slot (6:30 in the Maritimes), followed by a rebranded 6 p.m. local News Hour and News Final at 11 p.m. A 5 p.m. Early News show in the Calgary, Edmonton and BC markets will also air. ‘The rebrand is Global’s strategy to position the network as the television brand that Canadians turn to first,’ said Steve Wyatt, senior vice president of news and information for Global Television. ‘The strength and growth of our news programs allow us to aggressively compete with other networks especially in the crucial suppertime news hours.’
Pizza Pizza gets cheesy with Valentine’s Day-themed promos
Pizza Pizza’s getting cheesy just in time for Valentine’s Day. This week saw the launch of the pizza chain’s ‘Cheesiest Lines’ contest. Participants are invited to text in their cheesiest line to a short code to enter the national contest. Pat Finelli, VP of marketing says text submissions will be posted on the Pizza Pizza site so that participants can compare their cheesy lines with others. The cheesiest line scoops a two-night stay at the Niagara Falls Sheraton or a chance to win one of ten Italian Style deep-dish pizzas. Finelli says the text message component targets a younger demo, such as teens that are big into SMS. Toronto-based Impact Mobile is supporting the back-end.
To raise awareness of their high-end signature pizza line, while hoping to nab the upscale consumer, Pizza Pizza also launched a national promo last week, giving away three diamond rings and a trip for two to Paris. The Valentine’s Day promo is also the first time the chain is using gift cards as part of a CRM effort. Finelli says: ‘Some pizza promo deals come with a Valentine’s card. Inside it, is a gift card preloaded with $2. We draw folks to the website to register their gift card, and enter their info and this automatically enters them into the draw for the prizes.’ The chain is hoping to sell more than 75,000 pizzas throughout the campaign. Pizza Pizza’s Valentine’s Day contest runs through until February 19. The deals were done direct.
