Wait, When Are the Oscars Again?

So, what movies are up for an Oscar and do you still have time to watch all of them? Sure, why not? How many other shows or movies have you binged? Anyway, this is sort of a distraction from talking about placing ads in the show, but, hey, you need to do your research, right?

When will the Oscars be airing? The ABC network will feature the 2024 Academy Awards on March 10 at 7 p.m. EST and 4 p.m. PST.  That gives you nine days and a few hours to get all the viewing in.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences show will also be streamed on abc.com and through services like Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire TV.  In addition, some streaming options are Hulu, YouTube TV, and Fubo TV.  

The red carpet preshow will air at 6:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. PST and will run for 30-minutes.

Jimmy Kimmel will once again host the show. It will be the fourth time he has presented it. The only other hosts who have held that position for four years are Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon. Topping them in length of appearances are Johnny Carson with five, Billy Crystal with nine and Bob Hope with 19.

As always, if you want to place ads in and around the show, you’ll need to contact us because there are just too many variables to list any prices. So, you’re going to press the issue are you? Well, anyone can do a google search, and find a cost of $1.85 million but that’s for national and if you find it on the web, what kind of accuracy is that? Of course, this searching on web makes everyone these days have to be their own little sleuths to make sure what is being fed to them is real or false.

Anyway, the only way to really get a good cost is to do your research or have someone else who knows a few things do it for you. So, this goes back to that diversion of making sure you’ve watched all the movies before the big day.

Which movies should you have watched or be watching? Most of them can be viewed on streaming channels. (Source: USA Today)

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Television’s Not Dead

If you haven’t seen the news reports about Sunday’s 58th Super Bowl game, Nielsen is proving that Television isn’t dead, there are just more ways to view programming. The Super Bowl aired on CBS, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite and Univision along with streaming platforms on Paramount+ and NFL digital. All across TV channels, the report is that Nielsen recorded 123.7 million viewers of the big game. It is being said that it is the most-watched television program in history. Most of the viewers, 120.3 million, came from the CBS broadcast. Read more on the ESPN report.

To top it off, a favorite Super Bowl commercial of mine that I posted about on LinkedIn (if we’re not connected there please give me a request) has ranked, on some sites, as the number one, or at least in the top ten according to the USA Today ad meter.

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Your Ad at the Carlsbad Flower Fields

I’m excited to announce that I am representing ad sales for Carlsbad Magazine and Encinitas Magazine. 

Right now is a great time to become an advertiser. These magazines reach the Carlsbad and Encinitas resident communities as well as tourists staying at the hotels in the area. The March/April issue of Carlsbad Magazine will have bonus distribution at the Ranunculus Flower Fields, where visitors can pick them up from racks.

Be a part of the Spring issue by becoming an advertiser today. But hurry because the deadline is February 15. We can’t wait to meet you.

Contact Janene at 858-759-2779 or email [email protected]

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Planning For 2024

For many years I would take the week between Christmas and New Years to study what goals had been achieved the year prior and what plans would be made for the next year. A lot of times, I would use a template from the previous year, and the successes as a basis.

Then, things started to change. The strategies I had used to plan in previous years weren’t working, and somehow even the small goals I had made weren’t being met. I started to pivot, that lovely word that came out of the Covid crisis, and found new solutions and talents that had yet to be activated.

Growth years aren’t always seen right away. A lot of people use the analogy of roots being formed underground before something shoots up out of the soil. These years can be taxing. Since you aren’t seeing the fruit yet, you have to continue to plow the land in hopes for a future harvest. It’s hard work to do the waiting, but building strong roots can help a tree live a long time. I would guess, the same could be said about building a strong foundation for business.

I found a list of templates here on Indeed.com that might help with your planning efforts. Good luck and don’t be afraid to pivot, if you need to.

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Greetings

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New Product in Time For the Holidays

This new product evolved after time spent in Colorado researching business opportunities. It was made with the idea that eating at home and grocery shopping is not only more healthy but can be fun to search grocery mailers and discover new places. You can keep track of the money spent on food.

The book is called Food…Organizer. It’s made to keep track of expenses on dining out, grocery shopping and grocery lists. It also has a section to write down new places to explore, because when you’re on a budget you still need to find ways to have fun. It is set-up to be used yearly with monthly and overall goals in mind.

It’s the right size to keep in a purse or carry-on bag so you always have it close by. 

Here’s a link to purchase a copy, and/or share it with a friend or business you think might be interested.  Now go have some fun, whatever your budget.

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Happy Labor Day

The first Federal Labor Day holiday was in September in the late 1880’s. According to the US Department of Labor, it was started as a way to “celebrate the social and economic achievements of the American Worker.” Enjoy your day off.

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Last year, I highlighted the parent company, McCann Erickson, of an advertising agency I used to work for.

I thought I’d supply some updates on how McCann Erickson is still shinning in 2023. Not surprisingly, they are still gaining accolades. At this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, they earned 55 Lions in 18 categories. They even received a Titanium Lion which, “honours provocative, boundary-busting, envy-inspiring work that marks a new direction for the industry, 176 entries were received and the Jury chose to award 3 Titanium Lions…”

Watch Where to Settle here, which was an award winner for McCann Poland.

Now their name is shortened to McCann (McCann.com) and they have multiple offices in many locations so you’ll find a lot of websites for them. Established in 1930, the group has offices in 120 countries and is based in New York.

McCann‘s Famous Alma Mater: Thomas Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Neil Reagan (Ronald Reagan’s brother), and many other notable people who created books, films, TV shows, action figures and more. See list at Wikipedia.

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Ad Award Show Winners

Last summer we looked at a few awards shows that advertisers can submit their creative work to. Let’s take a look at some of the winners of this year’s shows.

Cannes Lions, International Festival of Creativity

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity show was recently held in Cannes, France June 19-June 23, 2023.  It is an annual prestigious advertising award show.

Google describes the festival this way, “Cannes Lions: The International Festival of Creativity – has been championing creative excellence since 1954 with the goal of providing a global destination and the definitive benchmark for creativity that drives progress.”

The Cannes’ site states that they have “been bringing the creative communications industry together every year at its one-of-a-kind event in Cannes to learn, network and celebrate.”

To view the current winners (your competitors?) click here.

Here is the The Grand Prix for TV/Cinema Film: Sectors-Consumer goods

Relax, It’s IPhone-R.I.P Leon Apple

There were many other winners from memorable brands like Ikea, Uber Eats, Levi, Ocean Spray, Skittles, Peta, Nike, General Motors, Netflix, Adidas, and McDonalds.

The Emmy Awards for Commercials

The Emmy’s give out an Outstanding Commercial award for ads that are between :30 and :120 seconds in length. The awards are announced in the Fall so this mention is for the 2022 winner.

•Gold winner 2022-Teenage Dream-Sandy Hook Promise

The One Show

According to The One Show’s website it is “…the world’s most prestigious award show in advertising, design and digital marketing. For over 40 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has had a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.”

The winner of the 50th One Show 2023 is

•Best of Show, The Greatest, Apple

The One Club, San Diego

There are also local Advertising Clubs in major markets. (If you don’t know about your local area’s club contact AAF) The San Diego Ad Club, The One Club, has an annual awards show. 

The award show is in November. At this time, there is no news about winners from 2022.

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Should You Test Market?

If you are trying to determine whether or not a media strategy will work for your product or service or you’re launching something new, you might consider conducting a test market media campaign. This type of campaign focuses on a small geographic area or audience to try out your plan. It can help determine if a bigger effort will make an impact, and if you are spending your dollars wisely.

The book Advertising Media Planning by Jack Scissors and Roger Baron describes a media test as “a simple field study of some advertising variable. An experiment is a carefully designed study in which the researcher controls and manipulates conditions to see how an experimental variable affects audience behavior.” The book says that most of the time, test marketing is done for consumer packaged goods.

One of the most memorable test market campaigns I managed was when the agency I was working for had the client Metabolife and they were launching new diet and energy bars. They had Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin, Perfectly Peanut, Downright Chocolate and Lemony Lemon flavors. Before we set out on a national television campaign we decided to plan local television advertising schedules to test out the response. We chose a few affordable TV markets to experiment on and found we were getting a good–enough response to launch the product nationally. We also found out which flavors were the most popular. 

If you are choosing a geographic test, I believe you should pick a smaller market, but not too small, that has a similar makeup as the larger market you plan on pursuing. You can find a list of Designated Market Area (DMA) television and radio markets here. DMA List Do some research to find out about the population.

The Advertising Media Planning book says that the Peoria, Illinois population has a similar population distribution as the United States as a whole, so marketers often use this market as a test.

There are a lot of things to consider when you are thinking about doing a test. You should ask questions like, what medium do I want to use? Should I use the internet, TV, radio or test out a new ad medium like coffee sleeves? Will I use multiple mediums or just one? What percentage of dollars will I allocate to each medium? Am I planning on doing a promotion or event? 

A lot of your answers should come from the research you did to find out what your target audience habits are so that you are getting your message to the right people. There are also considerations like how long will the test last and what will determine whether the test was a success or failure? Often your budget limits the options to how many mediums you will use and for how long.

Some marketers also test the message they are sending to see which one gets the most response. And, don’t forget that creativity can go a long way, like how Uber handled the Covid 19 crisis. They created a “Move What Matters” campaign that told people to stay home. Then they gave free rides and food deliveries to healthcare workers, older people and people needing help. Chiquita banana has also been creative in using transit to spread their message in Greece and London. In addition, they are creating memory recall by using blue stickers and also focusing on the color yellow or partnering with movies like Despicable Me. And, who can forget the timeless famous jingle?

So, now it’s your turn. Gather your team. Brainstorm. Answer the questions I raised and come up with creative solutions. Have fun.

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