TV and Retail Are the Best Summertime Companions A Special Report from Media Group Online, Inc. A Season for Fun, Family and Relaxation Every season has its attractions and unique vibe, but the summer is particularly appealing. Nature is alive and green and the sun is warm, providing the perfect landscape and climate for endless fun, family gatherings and opportunities to relax and drain some stress and anxiety from our complex, busy lives. Some might think watching TV is the antithesis of summer compared to being physically active, enjoying the abundance of nature and exploring new places, meeting new people and broadening one’s experiences. Actually, they are very complementary. TV is an excellent resource to discover new adventures and to pique one’s curiosity and it is a calming activity at any time during a summer day, but especially during the evening, after hours of activities or a long, hot, tiring commute. Despite the ever-increasing sources of video content, TV still dominates and can often be found in virtually every room in the house. Consider these data points: • According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2017 American Time Use Study, watching TV continued to be the #1 leisure activity for all persons 15 years of age and older – or 2.8 hours/day EVERY DAY OF EVERY SEASON – and was more than 50% of all average daily time participating in leisure activities. • TV watching is a communal activity, which can be a driver for consumer spending. New research (November 2018) from GfK MRI revealed 48% of TV time is spent co-viewing and almost half (49%) of all adults 18+ are watching TV with at least one other person more than they did during 2016. Of even greater importance is the 60% of adults 18–34 who said their co-viewing has increased since 2016. • Multiple research sources indicate people pay more attention to TV commercials than any other form of advertising. As we understand much more about consumers’ purchase journeys, the awareness stage has never been more important to create an emotional connection with consumers and no medium generates an emotional awareness better than TV. By simply being what it has always been, TV is an invaluable education and consideration resource for today’s consumers.
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TV and Retail Are the Best Summertime CompanionsA Special Report from Media Group Online, Inc.
A Season for Fun, Family and RelaxationEvery season has its attractions and unique vibe, but the summer is particularly appealing. Nature is alive and green and the sun is warm, providing the perfect landscape and climate for endless fun, family gatherings and opportunities to relax and drain some stress and anxiety from our complex, busy lives.
Some might think watching TV is the antithesis of summer compared to being physically active, enjoying the abundance of nature and exploring new places, meeting new people and broadening one’s experiences.
Actually, they are very complementary. TV is an excellent resource to discover new adventures and to pique one’s curiosity and it is a calming activity at any time during a summer day, but especially during the evening, after hours of activities or a long, hot, tiring commute.
Despite the ever-increasing sources of video content, TV still dominates and can often be found in virtually every room in the house. Consider these data points:
• According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2017 American Time Use Study, watching TV continued to be the #1 leisure activity for all persons 15 years of age and older – or 2.8 hours/day EVERY DAY OF EVERY SEASON – and was more than 50% of all average daily time participating in leisure activities.
• TV watching is a communal activity, which can be a driver for consumer spending. New research (November 2018) from GfK MRI revealed 48% of TV time is spent co-viewing and almost half (49%) of all adults 18+ are watching TV with at least one other person more than they did during 2016. Of even greater importance is the 60% of adults 18–34 who said their co-viewing has increased since 2016.
• Multiple research sources indicate people pay more attention to TV commercials than any other form of advertising. As we understand much more about consumers’ purchase journeys, the awareness stage has never been more important to create an emotional connection with consumers and no medium generates an emotional awareness better than TV. By simply being what it has always been, TV is an invaluable education and consideration resource for today’s consumers.
A Summer of “Open” TV for AdvertisersAlthough the Summer Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and that no-holds-barred “sporting event” known as politics provide many opportunities for you to sell TV time and for advertisers to reach larger audiences, none of these events will occur during summer 2019.
The Women’s World Cup (June 6–July 7) will be the only event of this type, and it should certainly be on your radar and your prospects’ and clients’, as the popularity of this global competition has increased significantly.
Of course, as during any summer, baseball will be the dominate sports programming as well as the major golf and tennis tournaments, which are specifically useful for advertisers trying to reach upscale, higher-income consumers.
A survey of consumers from Fuel Cycle, a consumer-insights platform, uncovered some interesting details about people’s summertime TV viewing habits. Of special note, those interviewed were either members of Gen Z or Millennials.
For example, 73% of respondents said they watch more TV June through September, because they travel more and have more free time. Another 78% said they like to watch TV during the summer to view shows, or episodes of shows, they may have missed.
Watching comedy shows, for example, was respondents’ favorite content genre.
Consumers’ Favorite Summertime TV Programs, by Genre, 2018
Genre PercentComedy 39%
Drama 19%
Sci-fi/Fantasy 18%
Reality 11%
Romance 6%
Other 8%
Adotas (Fuel Cycle), July 2018 As has been highlighted in a number of recent Media Group Online reports, watching TV is a co-viewing habit with most people – and the Fuel Cycle survey reinforces this trend.
With Whom Consumers Watched Summer TV, 2018
Co-Viewing Partner PercentAlone 31%
Family 27%
Significant other 21%
Friends 13%
Pets 8%
Other 1%
Adotas (Fuel Cycle), July 2018
Another important trend to emphasize with your prospects and clients is “interconnected” rather “fragmented” is a more accurate and positive description of TV and other visual-content viewing. Many people are less concerned about what device they are using (TV, desktop, mobile) and more focused on watching their favorite content, regardless of how it is delivered.
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‘Tis the Season for EscapesSummertime is concert, festival, fair – and blockbuster movie – season, providing many opportunities for local advertising when they are scheduled in your market as well as promotional tie-ins for local advertisers.
TV and cinema advertising are very compatible advertising media. After the all-time box office record of $12 billion in revenues was achieved during 2018, 2019 will need some mega-releases to keep pace – and it appears this year just might.
Selected Major Movie Releases for Summer 2019
MovieRelease
DateAvengers: Endgame 4/26
Pokémon Detective Pikachu 5/10
Godzilla: King of the Monsters 5/31
Dark Phoenix 6/7
Toy Story 4 6/21
Spider-Man: Far from Home 7/5
The Lion King 7/19
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 7/26
The New Mutants (X-Men) 8/2
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 8/2
Rotten Tomatoes, January 2019
Many consumers are likely to enjoy more than just major movies this summer, as the nation’s arenas, festival sites and theaters will be filled with many major musical artists.
Selected Major Musical Artists Touring During Summer 2019*
Rock/Pop Rap/Hip HopGreta Van Fleet Snoop Dogg
Ariana Grande Vince Staples/JPEGMAFIA
Paul McCartney Nelly
Vampire Weekend Travis Scott
Twenty One Pilots Wiz Khalifa
Latinx CountryJennifer Lopez Alabama
Marco Antonio Solis Brad Paisley
Marc Anthony Carrie Underwood
Enrique Iglesias Kacey Musgraves
Ozuna Zac Brown Band
Concertful, February 2019 *some artists and dates yet to be announced
Local advertisers also have an opportunity to attract travelers and vacationers attending local and national festivals and fairs.
Selected Major Festivals and Fairs During Summer 2019
Event LocationJune: Chicago Blues Festival Chicago, IL
June: Museum Mile Festival New York City
June: Newport Flower Show Newport, RI
June: Smithsonian Folklife Festival Washington, DC
June: Summerfest Milwaukee, WI
July: California State Fair Sacramento, CA
July: Comic-Con International San Diego, CA
July: Ohio State Fair Columbus, OH
July: Oregon Brewers Festival Portland, OR
July: Snake River Stampede Nampa, ID
August: Lollapalooza Chicago, IL
August: Sturgis Rally Sturgis, ND
August: Elvis Week Memphis, TN
August: Alaska State Fair Palmer, AK
August: Colorado State Fair Pueblo, CO
Chase Calendar of Events 2019
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Road Trips with TVSummer is the traditional vacation/road trip season, but that doesn’t mean people will be leaving their TVs at home. Don’t expect to see a family with a 55” flat-screen TV in the back seat of the SUV, but the ubiquity of TV beyond the living room and the power of mobile devices will allow many people to take the “TV living-room” experience with them.
The out-of-home (OOH) viewing of TV content continues to increase, especially among younger audiences. According to Nielsen, 53% of total summer 2018 OOH linear TV sports viewers were 18–34, with an average age of 38 and a 62%/38% split of men to women. Plus, their average household income was $67,000.
Although much of in-home TV viewing is a social experience, it’s particularly the case with OOH linear sports TV viewing, as the Nielsen research revealed:
• 3.4 persons in an OOH/TV viewing group for all adults 18+
• 3.3 persons in an OOH/TV viewing group for all men
• 3.5 persons in an OOH/TV viewing group for all women
Engagement Labs, an industry-leading data and analytics firm, has found from its research that OOH/TV viewing is even more social than at home, which typically generated more conversations about advertised brands, significantly lifting brand awareness and recall. The company’s analysis also indicates OOH/TV viewers are less distracted than when they watch at home, as many are participating in hobbies, managing children, doing chores and even working while watching TV.
Some other important OOH/TV viewing research from Nielsen, which you should share with your prospects and clients, include:
• “A majority of OOH summer sport viewers paid attention to at least 50% of both the ads and the telecast.”
• “As many as 66% of OOH summer sports viewers were able to hear all of the program.”
Where OOH Summer/TV Sports Viewers Watched Programs, June-July 2018
Location PercentWatched only at a restaurant/bar 26%
Watch in both restaurant/bar and elsewhere 40%
Viewed in other places 34%
Nielsen, December 2018
Although there are some subscription and technical restrictions for watching content, including local stations and on streaming bundles, such as Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV and others, most subscribers are still able to access a substantial number of channels and programs when traveling.
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Help Retailers Make Summer Their Season in the SunAlthough 2018 was a good to above-average year for retail, various sources are forecasting slightly less overall growth for 2019. For example, the National Retail Federation is still forecasting a 3.8% to 4.4% increase in 2019 retail sales, or $3.84 trillion.
To be successful (and confident), retailers need a stable economy, and a forecasted moderate GDP increase of 2.9% will actually be more beneficial, as it should keep inflation low. In addition, employment gains are still substantial and the stock market has been performing better during January and February than Q4 2018.
Despite the continued, relative strength of the economy when this report was written, 2019 is likely to present retailers large and small with a few more challenges than recent years.
Deloitte’s 2019 Retail Outlook report provides some strategic insights and recommendations for retailers as they head into 2019. Share these with your prospects and clients, so they can use the summer to make any adjustments, evolve their businesses and test new ideas and ad messages. They will be better prepared for the holiday season and a possible recession on the distant horizon.
• With these conditions, now is the time for retailers to reassess their value propositions, understand their customers in as much detail as possible and focus on the products and/or services their prime customers will buy.
• The age of online shopping and deliveries as quickly as within the same day has influenced consumers to rate convenience as a major factor when determining where to spend their money. Local retailers, although it may difficult, have no choice but to make convenience an integral component of their customer relationships.
• As much as retailers should focus on their core business and customers, they must also be bold and inspired to look beyond their comfort zone. They may be able to add complementary products/services and target new audiences. There is no lack of competition in retail, but it is also a new era when retailers can form partnerships and joint business opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible or considered a good business practice during the past.
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Ad Tech Tools Are the Key to Local TV Dominance
Cable TV, Netflix, YouTube, etc. may have attractive video features and high-tech conveniences, but linear TV has more than a few tricks up its sleeve to remain an advertising giant.
Many Media Group Online reports have mentioned how 5G technology will not only change lives, businesses and society significantly, but also how TV stations may be able to sell 5G availability via its bandwidth and reap considerable revenues.
Dynamic ad insertion (DAI) and dynamic ad enhancement (DAE) are two newer technologies that could give linear TV advantages over competing media as well as create opportunities for advertisers and consumers.
Driving the adoption and benefits of these technologies is the fact that the vast majority of TVs in homes and being sold are smart, or connectable, devices.
Smart TVs generate what is known as non-personally identifiable information (PII), which is exclusive for each household, allowing the placement of commercial messages to different TV devices in the same home.
• DAI technology makes it possible to send different commercials/messages to different households. Although DAI is available today, it isn’t yet ready for broadcasters and advertisers’ industry-wide use.
• DAE interfaces with a smart device to add a technical layer to an advertiser’s pre-existing spot. The layer would generate a “popup” (for want of a better term) to the commercial, which would allow a viewer to interact with it by, for example, providing contact information to receive a coupon for the product featured in the commercial.
With such “high-tech” reach, the value of every DAI- or DAE-enhanced commercial message will increase substantially, allowing for higher commercial rates, which more advertisers, once they understand what the technology will do for them, should be willing to pay.
Not only is targeting more accurate, but also these commercials are being delivered to consumers who want the featured products and are in the best emotional mindset to decide to buy.
Your big opportunity is to become the local media “expert” of these new technologies and the summer is a perfect time to educate local advertisers about them. In fact, it may be valuable to schedule a Webinar or seminar during the summer to introduce these technologies to local advertisers.
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A Summer of Innovation for Local TV NewsLocal TV news programs are typically the “crown jewel” of any station’s programming slate, attracting the largest audiences and top advertising rates. Unfortunately, the structure and presentation of local news has remained largely unchanged for decades and is not compatible with how many viewers, especially young adults, search and access news.
With fewer big TV events scheduled for summer 2019, it is an excellent opportunity for local stations to start the process of evolving their news programming and try some new ideas to reach a wider audience.
Such are the findings, analysis and recommendations of a February 2019 report from Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Northeastern University’s School of Journalism.
Local TV news can take its cue from how the advertising world is moving towards a “storytelling” method from the old “selling” method, as a better method for engaging with TV viewers. Although, traditionally, telling stories has always been the essence of journalism, the way local TV news tells stories today resonates with fewer and fewer viewers, even those who are not young.
The report presented a plan to help stations evolve how they deliver the news based on the authors’ in-depth evaluation of local news at stations in 15 markets, large and small, and the more provocative and “hip” news content from Vice, YouTube and similar sources.
• “Take real risks.• “Break the production mold.• “Hire an animator.• “Infuse historical video to convey the whole story.• “Hire Millennial and Gen Z journalists and involve them
in all aspects of your newsroom.• “Tell relevant, innovative stores.• “Present your story in an authentic way.• “Achieve newsroom ‘buy-in’ at all levels.”
The authors also hosted a panel survey of 613 people from six cross-sectional markets and, most importantly, they were 18 to 49 years of age. Among their feedback was the strengths and weaknesses of the qualities of local TV news programs.
Panel Survey of Adults 18–49 Ranking the Strengths and Weaknesses of Local TV News Programs, September 2018
Qualities PercentFeels comfortable and familiar 75%
Has a news team that is warm and inviting 74%
The news team 71%
Delivers all of the facts you need to know 69%
Has earned your trust 69%
Tells news stories in an authentic way 69%
Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Northeastern University’s School of Journalism, February 2019
Promotional Ideas to Maximize Summer Retail SalesSummer is another great season for retailers’ promotional events, as it is generally much easier to motivate people to leave their homes. Here are a few ideas that may be applicable in your market or can start your creative juices flowing.
• Capturing more travelers – American roads are filled with summer travelers, and a number of retailers, such as convenience stores, sporting goods stores, etc., can attract more of them with a “Special Day USA” promotion. Retailers can choose a day, weekend or week to honor/highlight a state or city and provide a discount for travelers from that location.
Store associates can wear a T-shirt to promote the event and a special display or selection of merchandise from the state or representing the state can be featured for local consumers.
On social media, ask travelers to share what they like best about their state or city. Ask local residents to share their stories of visiting those places. Post a few short videos or stories about each state or city.
• Street party and fair – One or more retailers can host and sponsor a street party and fair in a neighborhood that could be selected via an online contest. A street could be cordoned, so tables and a large tent can be erected with food and beverages from one of the retailers or arrange for a number of local food trucks to participate.
Ask families and/or individuals, especially children, to create simple displays about their neighborhood or their hobbies and interests to generate more neighborly camaraderie. Add some street performers – jugglers, puppeteers, musicians, etc.
• An introduction to retail – Retailers can also use the summer months to support consumer/retail education among youth. Generation Z is not only the next generation of consumers, but also many have their first employment experiences at local stores.
Stores can host one or more Gen Z Days, inviting small groups of high school and/or college undergraduates to a retail learning experience: the importance of inventory management and helping to stock shelves, customer service by working with a store associate to assist customers, etc. Serve a lunch and provide each participant with an appropriate gift, such as a book about good financial and shopping practices for young adults, and/or an exclusive coupon for a future purchase.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Website, 2/19; GfK Website, 2/19; MediaVillage Website, 2/19; Adotas Website, 2/19; Mindstream Media Website, 2/19; TVNewsCheck Website, 2/19; Wired Website, 2/19; Rotten Tomatoes Website, 2/19; Uproxx Website, 2/19; Concertful Website, 2/19; Nielsen Website, 2/19; Forbes Website, 2/19; TechHive Website, 2/19; MarketWatch Website, 2/19; Deloitte Website, 2/19; CNBC Website, 2/19; Association of National Advertisers Website, 2/19; Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School Website, 2/19.
