Larry John Wright

Coca-Cola, General Motors, AT&T, Liberty Mutual

and Smucker’s are among the advertisers who have

already committed to the 2014 Winter Olympics on NBC

and the NBCUniversal cable networks. NBC Sports

EVP of sales & marketing Seth Winter told the Wall

Street Journal and Ad Age that NBCU is projecting that

ad revenues from the games in Sochi, Russia will be a

record $800 million, topping the $700

million-plus collected for the 2010 Winter

Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. About

75-80% of inventory is already sold,

which puts NBC Sports well ahead of

schedule. But Winter admitted he was

surprised that Anheuser-Busch InBev

has not signed on

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Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, has launched

a new national television and digital advertising

campaign to boost its corporate image. The ad blitz

and accompanying website, therealwalmart.com, are

designed to demonstrate “how people across America

count on Walmart to save money on the products they

want and need, how the company provides tremendous

career opportunities for its associates and how it creates

efficiencies and works directly with manufacturers to help

deliver low prices.” One spot features a 19-year-old hourly

associate from Chicago describing his ambitions, another

the diversity of Walmart’s shoppers, and yet another how

dealing directly with manufacturers keeps

prices low……Ruffles potato chips, from the

Frito-Lay division of Pepsico, has launched

a new television, cinema and digital campaign

to introduce a new variety, Ruffles Ultimate

Tangy Honey Mustard flavored potato chips,

and unveil a new cast of characters to promote the brand.

Ruff McThickridge and his closest buds, Bo Dato, Mora

Crunchy and the Bomb-Defusing Sloth, a group of self-

described hotshots, appear in the comical ads styled after

1970s action movies. The current campaign has :15, :30 and

:60 spots on-air, online and in theaters. More TV ads and

content will debut in 2014 as Ruff and company continue to

take center stage…… Molson Coors reported

first quarter net sales up 19.8% to $828.5 million, with beer

volume up 20.3%. U.S. segment (MillerCoors) saw sales

increase 1.6% to $1.78 billion, income fell 1.2% to $271.9 million.

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With Burger King expanding delivery service to more

markets, it is hardly surprising that McDonald’s is looking

at the idea as well. In an interview on CNBC McDonald’s

President and CEO Don Thompson called delivery “a big,

big opportunity.” McDonald’s already has delivery service

in some foreign countries. Also in the CNBC interview,

Thompson said McDonald’s was looking at expanding

its breakfast hours – perhaps to the extent of offering the

breakfast menu all day……Apple’s new ad for its iPhone

5 tries to recapture some of the device’s and

the company’s magic with a claim that more

people use the phone to take pictures than

any other camera. The campaign showing

people taking photos with their phones here,

there and everywhere comes amid a slide in

Apple’s reputation, both technologically and on

Wall Street……In a conference call with Wall

Street analysts, Amazon CEO Tom Szkutak

refused to comment on any plans to expand

AmazonFresh, but said he was “very pleased”

with the grocery delivery experiment in the

Seattle market. For the entire company, first

quarter sales rose 22% to $16.1 billion, with $9.4 billion of

that in North America……Dollar General has partnered

with Procter & Gamble to honor Maria Segura of Florida

as its Every Day Hero for May. Dollar General will feature

Segura in a national marketing campaign, including a

spotlight in May on Oxygen’s Live Out Loud on-air vignette

and in People magazine for putting two children through

college and now seeking her own degree after coming from

a family of immigrant farm workers……Auto retailer Penske

Automotive Group reported the most profitable quarter in

its history. First quarter 2013 revenue was up 7.7% to $3.4

billion. On a same-store basis, retail revenue increased

7.4%. The revenue growth was driven by strong performance

across each business area, the company said, including a

9.9% increase in total vehicles sold (6.8% on a same-store

basis). Penske has 174 dealer franchises in 18 states.

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Coke Zero, with zero calories, is already a big seller
for Coca-Cola. Now a version is coming with zero caffeine
as well. Caffeine Free Coke Zero will begin appearing on
shelves in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchants
nationwide in mid-July, and will be available coast to coast
in August. It will be packaged in 12-packs of 12-ounce cans
and 2-liter bottles……A broadcast TV and cable campaign
for Avis by Leo Burnett Business enlists celebrities such
as Gabrielle Reece, Nigel Barker and Steve
Stricker to carry on the “It’s your space” theme
that replaced the “We try harder” tagline last year.
Ads running on tablets direct users to a game
where players “drive a mile” in the celebrities’
shoes……Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) has
struck a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice
to settle an antitrust lawsuit and move forward
with acquiring the remaining 50% of Mexican beer
giant Grupo Modelo for $20.1 billion. Under the
settlement, Constellation Brands will acquire
Modelo’s U.S. businesses for approximately
$4.75. The biggest brand involved is Corona, which will
be sold by Constellation in the U.S. while ABI expands it
as a global beer brand……McDonald’s is expecting April
to be another sluggish sales month after reporting that
first    quarter    same    store    sales    in    the    U.S.    declined    1.2%.
The fast-food giant has been focusing on discounting, with
its “dollar menu,” and has added some new items to its
non-discounted menu, but continues to have a tough time
luring custspending.

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Kool-Aid is changing the look, sound, vocabulary

and personality of the Kool-Aid Man spokesman used

by the brand since 1954. The company wants the

pitcher to appeal to moms in concert with “the evolution

of the new Kool-Aid Liquid product line,” including this

year’s launch of squeezable drink mixes. The makeover

at the Kraft Foods brand includes a Facebook page

and a YouTube channel for the new Kool-Aid Man. New

TV and print ads will offer a look into the “everyday life”

of the Kool-Aid man. One spot already posted online

shows him getting a gym workout,

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“As the annual TV upfront ad-selling process gets

underway, the tone of the US TV advertising market

remains relatively resilient and healthy,” say Barclays

analysts Anthony DiClemente and Bo Tang.  They said

in a note to clients that this could be another solid upfront,

although perhaps not as robust as last year.

The analysts are predicting that broadcast TV network

upfront revenue will increase 0.5% year-over-year. Cable

is expected to fare slightly better, with a gain 2%.

Looking at the changing media landscape and multi-

platform viewing, the analysts see good news for broadcast

and cable. “While viewership on linear platforms has been

slowly eroding over the last few years, we

believe that better measurement on other

platforms (tablets, smartphones, VOD) will

improve monetization,” they wrote.

For the Big Four networks, look for CPM

increases of 6.5% for CBS, 6% for ABC,

5.5% for FOX and 5% for NBC. The Barclays analysts say

the ad market remains resilient, so they are maintaining

their U.S. total advertising estimate of 1.9% growth in 2013

– “which represents an acceleration from last year when

adjusted for political and the Olympics.”

Cable’s share of the Upfront has been growing from

only 18% in 1992 to 52% last year. The analysts expect

that 52% share to repeat this year, which translates to

$9.99 billion for cable and $9.20 billion for the Big Four TV

networks. Recent trends have been similar to a year ago,

with scatter prices up in the mid-single-digits from scatter of

a year ago for the netwNetworks Interactive.

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GROWTH PREDICTED FOR TV ADVERTISING

eMarketer’s latest ad spending forecast projects continued, if moderate, growth for U.S. TV ad spending, which will remain larger than digital ad spending through at least 2017. But digital video ad spending is growing much faster, especially on mobile devices, it says.

According to eMarketer’s forecast, U.S. advertisers will spend $66.35 billion on TV (broadcast and cable combined) this year, up from $64.54 billion in 2012 and set to rise to over $75 billion by 2017. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 3.7% between 2011 and 2017 – far short of the growth of digital advertising spending, but enough to keep total television ad dollars far above the amount going to the entire digital ecosystem, including all ad formats served to PCs and mobile devices.

Digital video ad spending is growing fast, though. eMarketer estimates spending on video ads served to PCs and mobile devices will reach $4.14 billion this year, more than twice 2011 levels. By 2017, spending will more than double again, to $9.06 billion.

Much of that growth is coming from mobile, including tablets. Mobile video will account for just 12.6% of all digital video ad spending this year, or $520 million. But it’s growing much faster than desktop-based digital video ad spending, at a pace of 112.4% vs. 35% for online video this year. eMarketer expects growth for both types of digital video to moderate in coming years, but predicts the mobile portion of the pie will continue to increase at a faster rate. By 2017, 29.7% of all digital video ad spending will go toward mobile ads (including ads served to tablet devices).

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Recent reports say digital ad spending is growing

by leaps and bounds and increasing its share of total

marketing budgets. You might think that has to be bad

news for television, but another new report says television

is not being displaced and continues to be the number

one medium for marketing dollars.

“Online and digital advertising is growing fast, but

not at the expense of television. To be sure, the landscape has

changed. tThe advertising mix,

previously dominated by traditional media,

has seen U.S. Internet ad spending grow in share from

15.4% in 2009 to a projected 25.6% in 2015.

Even so, television will continue to grab the lion’s share

of advertising dollars, estimated to capture $68 billion in

total U.S. spending and 39% of total share through 2015.

While many had predicted that online video viewing,

made possible through services like Hulu, YouTube

and Netflix, would take viewers from traditional TV, the

whitepaper says it seems we have an insatiable appetite

for media, with more people interacting online about their

favorite TV shows — and 40% using an Internet device

while watching TV. With American’s strong appetite for video

entertainment, experts are predicting a boom in growth

for high definition (HD) TV advertising. Until now the cost

of distributing an HD ad has been 5-10 times that of a

standard definition (SD), so many advertisers have been

running SD ads, which look cut-off or shrunken in HD.

A survey of 250 marketers found that

their companies now devote an average of 25% of their

marking budget to digital efforts. Multiple digital channels

are being utilized, including company websites, social

media and digital advertising.

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SAM’S CLUB, AMAZON.COM RANK HIGHEST

Sam’s Club and Amazon.com scored highest among

retailers in the 2013 Tempkin Group ratings of customer

experience – tying with an 81% rating against the retailing

average of 74%. That average, by the way, was up from

71% the previous year.

Ace Hardware, Costco, Nordstrom, PetSmart, BJ’s

Wholesale, Dollar Tree, Walgreens and AutoZone filled

out the top 10. Of the 44 national retail chains included in

the survey, RadioShack ranked last for the third straight

year. And despite all of its hipness and hype,

Apple Store was next to last, based on Temkin’s

survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

For the wireless industry, TracFone topped

the customer survey for the third straight year,

although that was only a 66% rating, followed by

Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile, US Cellular

and Metro PCS. Three wireless companies

earned “poor” ratings for customer experience:

AT&T, Sprint and, in last place, T-Mobile.

The grocery store industry had the highest

average rating, 78%. Publix topped the list at

84%, followed by Trader Joe’s, Aldi, H.E.B. and Save-a-

Lot. Stop & Shop was last of the 16 chains ranked, with

Piggly Wiggly and Food Lion tied for next to last.

Chick-fil-A led the fast food industry at 82%, followed

by Dunkin’ Donuts, Sonic Drive-In, Little Caesar’s and

Subway. KFC was in last place of the 18 chains, just

behind McDonald’s.

The survey ranked consumer experience with 246

companies across 19 industries. The 10,000 customers

were asked to rate the companies for functional, accessible

and emotional elements of their experience.

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The Following will be back for a second season on

FOX. The network announced the renewal after just six

airings, noting that the freshman drama is already the

number two broadcast drama and number three drama

overall this season in Live+7 ratings……FOX has picked

up comedy series New Girl, The Mindy Project and

Raising Hope for the 2013-2014 TV season. It will be the

third season for New Girl, second for Mindy and fourth

for Raising Hope……Vortexx on The CW, an affiliate of

Saban Brands, announced the addition

of The New Adventures of Nanoboy,

an Educational and Informational (E/I)

program, will make its way onto the kids

programming block this Saturday, March

9, with back-to-back at 7:00 am (ET).

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