Even as U.S. consumer price inflation has begun moderating, advertisers and planners and buyers are seeing their costs move in the opposite direction -- especially for TV and "print" media -- according to just-released first quarter media price inflation estimates form ECI Media Management. While TV ad costs continue to be under water and moving in a deflationary direction, the erosion of TV ad pricing power has improved from -5.1% in 2023 to -3.1% this year, according to ECI's tracking. ...

Email is a major conduit for getting videos to customers. But it is hardly the only tool supporting video marketing, judging by the State of Video, 2024 Report, a study by Wistia. First, let's look at the big picture. Of the firms surveyed, 93% rate video as an important part of their business. Moreover, 57% are investing more resources into video this year, and 38% are are remaining the same. Only 4% say they foresee a reduction. And audiences are responding: total plays have ri...

Social media is important in product discovery, especially among younger consumers, but it's only part of the picture—marketplaces, search engines, and brick-and-mortar retail also influence where and how consumers find new products. Here are five charts on what brands need to know about product discovery across digital and physical channels. 1. Younger consumers turn to social media, family, and friends Over two-thirds (67%) of US 16-to 24-year-olds say they've learned about a...

Target is one of many retailers rethinking its commitment to self-checkout Self-checkout's moment seems to be fading fast. Retailers, who had been experimenting with the technology for a decade, piled on during the pandemic. Human-less checkout seemed like a perfect antidote to the COVID era's never-ending labor shortages and a way to ease the long lines that irk so many shoppers. Yet Target has announced it is limiting self-checkout to 10 items or less. Dollar General is cutting back. And C...

Email is at least somewhat popular with consumers, the older generations being particularly fond of it. But it pales beside social media, which now has 5.04 billion users worldwide and a growth rate above 5% judging by Digital 2024: Global Overview Report, a study by Meltwater. Of 8.08 billion people on earth, 5.35 billion are now using the internet, 66.2% of the total global population. And the percentage has hit 97.1% in the U.S. But overall growth has slowed to 1.8%, perhaps because user...

Despite vast changes to the advertising landscape over the past 20 years, the world of sports marketing has remained remarkably consistent. The Super Bowl, as recently demonstrated, remains the premier ad event of the year and broadcast and reach media form the backbone of the industry. Yet thanks to a spate of new technologies, new money and even some new sports, 2024 promises to be a year of disruption. All of which means new opportunities for marketers. New sports, new audiences...

As the media and marketing landscape continues to evolve, one thing remains constant: the importance of understanding our audience. Over time, as media consumption habits changed and more media budgets moved to digital marketing, so did our research and measurement strategies. The allure of digital platforms and their promise of real-time measurement led to a rapid shift in research priorities and marketing KPIs, driven by an unprecedented ability to measure performance. Cookies as a ...

The news: Shopping ads appear above Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) snippets over 80% of the time, according to a new study by SEO platform SE Ranking. The study, which examined 100,000 keywords across 20 distinct niches, looked at the placement of ads within search engine results pages (SERPs) now that SGE is a core component of those pages. SE Ranking's analysis revealed key insights: Ads commonly appear at the bottom, regardless of whether SGE snippets are present. ...

When people fall in love, they do so by getting to know their partner's values, character, and personality. The same holds true for creating brand love. If you want to build a lasting, authentic and emotional relationship with your consumer, it must be based on who you are and what you stand for as a brand. In a world of quarterly reporting, data analytics and KPIs, many brands have lost sight of their purpose and have abandoned the top of the marketing funnel. It is still extremely impor...

The news: OpenAI is developing an AI-powered search engine with the goal of competing with Google, according to reporting from The Information this month. There's been scant news about the in-development product, but the suggestion of its existence begs the question: Does an OpenAI search engine have a shot at taking on Google? Furthermore, how likely is AI to fundamentally shake up the search market? We've collected what we know about OpenAI's search product and consulted with In...