| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Taco Bell's Largest Marketing Campaign Ever Takes Shots at McDonald's
| | | The Mexican fast food chain has hired a bunch of real guys named Ronald McDonald, the same name as rival McDonald's mascot, and has them appearing in new commercials where they tout Taco Bell's new breakfast menu. The commercials, created by Deutsch Los Angeles, don't mention McDonald's. There is also a heavy social element being overseen by DigitasLBi.
Why This Matters: Market leader McDonald's owns a 31% share of the out-of-home breakfast market, according to research firm Technomic. Taco Bell president Brian Niccol tells Ad Age, "This is about getting people to understand that there's a great alternative to their breakfast routine," adding that the campaign spending will be more than what the chain spent on its Doritos Locos Tacos launch.
3 Takes: USA Today | Ad Age | MediaPost
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| | #2 | Blaming Advertisers, Say Media Slows Payments to Publishers in Ad Network
| | | Payments will now be made on a 120-day schedule, up from an average 85 to 90 days, effective April 1, Ad Age reports. Say Media's own sites and a handful of others will not be covered by the new policy, but more than 550 sites for which it handles ad sales will. Matt Sanchez, CEO of Say Media, says the new policy is being instituted to combat the "escalation of brands, agencies and networks taking longer to pay."
Why This Matters: The move is expected to have a negative impact on many of the smaller business sites in its network. But if they are willing to pay a fee, which Say Media wouldn't disclose, they can receive payments accelerated to 30, 60 or 90 days.
A Take: Ad Age
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| | #3 | LinkedIn to Help Advertisers Gauge Effectiveness of Their Content
| | | One tool measures "Trending Content" which will determine reach, frequency and engagement of how a marketers' content performs with a specific audience, how it compares with their competitors and how it changes over time, MediaPost reports. It will also offer a "Content Marketing Score," providing insight into the impact of paid and organic content on LinkedIn. The insights are free, but are only available to brands that currently have a LinkedIn account representative.
Why This Matters: Alison Engel, LinkedIn's senior director of global marketing, says the tools are intended to help brands plan their campaigns on the social network and to tweak ones that are already in progress.
2 Takes: MediaPost | Ad Age
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#4 Cox Media to Test Targeted Advertising (MCN)
#5 Dentsu Launches New Creative Content Unit (MediaPost)
#6 Clear Channel Outdoor Rolls Out New Mobile Platform 'Connect' (Adweek)
#7 Miller Lite Retro Cans Are Helping Revive the Brand's Sales (Ad Age)
#8 Vodafone Narrows Global Agency Search to Carat, MEC; Incumbent OMD Out (Adweek)
#9 Agency Strategists Say Crowdsourcing Is Not Always Good for Marketers (Digiday)
#10 Citing Digital Growth, Carat Increases 2014 Global Ad Spending Projections (MediaPost)
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|  | • 24.7
Percentage of U.S. smartphone users who, by the end of 2014, will snap a photo, slap on a filter and share their creations with friends on Instagram on a monthly basis.
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | Numbers Game: My Smartphone, My Wand
By Margaret Callcott, director, research & analytics, Scripps Networks Interactive
A recent evening found me, like so many others, wondering what was for dinner. I rattled off some options for my nine-year-old. We were low on supplies, but had odds and ends: apples, carrots, chicken stock, Fruit Loops… and some leftovers that were not well received upon their debut, let alone for an encore presentation.
"I wish we had a wand," said my Harry Potter-obsessed daughter, referring to a wizard's most valuable asset, without which powers are limited.
"You can't make something out of nothing," I said, reminding her that food was one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration (even for wizards, easy dinners are not a given), "but you can summon food if you know where it is."
I conjured up the Papa John's pizza app. Had I been a more enterprising muggle (non-magical human), I could have searched for a recipe that combined chicken stock and Fruit Loops. Or bought groceries for pick-up or delivery. Or summoned the Schwan's truck. Perhaps I had a wand after all!
Mobile Magic
By now, most of us are well acquainted with the magical properties of our smartphones, which bring knowledge and resources to our fingertips to such an extent that most of us now feel somehow vulnerable, our powers limited, without it.
ComScore's year-end mobile report shows unique visitor growth from mobile devices at nearly 34 million (to 155 million) in 2013, while PC uniques grew just 2 million (to 224 million). In addition, more people are using multiple devices to accomplish tasks: As of December 2013, multiple-device usage accounted for 56% of digital unique visitors, compared to 46% of digital traffic the previous January. And for the first time ever, people spent more time on mobile devices (53% of total minutes spent) than they did on PCs in December 2013.
As a research analyst for a content provider, I have a professional as well as personal interest in the magical properties of the third screen. Our phones have become indispensable as facilitators of information, social interaction, financial transactions and entertainment (you can still talk on them too), and as such, they touch most facets of the brands we commune with every day.
How have smartphones changed the way consumers access food information—and the way marketers and brands deliver it? And how has mobile changed the dynamics and demographics of which favorite-screen viewing?
For more, click HERE
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • JOSH BERMAN was named head of digital product development at media agency MEC. He was most recently director, brand strategy development for ad tech company Kontera. From 2009-12, Berman participated in the WPP MBA Fellowship program and during that time, worked with WPP's GroupM and MEC. He also worked with Millward Brown on the commercial development and marketing of its digital media solutions.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'Modern Family' Ticks Up to Win Night
ABC's Modern Family improved one tenth from its last original episode March 12 to finish as the top show on Wednesday night. The Middle was down one tenth and Suburgatory was down 13%, both compared to their last new episodes two weeks ago. Mixology finished up 42% from last week, when it was preceded by a rerun. Nashville slipped a tenth from two weeks ago. ABC finished second among the broadcast networks. Fox's American Idol dipped a tenth from last week to a new series low, but it was still high enough to put the network in first place. CBS finished third as Survivor declined 8%. NBC came in fourth, airing only the one-hour special Prince Harry's South Pole Heroes and reruns. The CW's Arrow improved one tenth from last week and The 100 declined two tenths from last week's series premiere.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'The Game' Puts BET on Top of Tuesday
BET's The Game was Tuesday's top cable original with a 1.4 adults 18-49 rating, matching last week's performance. Teen Mom 2 on MTV came in second with a 1.3 rating in the demo, an 18% improvement over last week.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Wednesday, March 26
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| SURVIVOR
| 2.3
| 9.8
| FOX
| AMERICAN IDOL
| 2.0
| 8.6
| ABC
| THE MIDDLE (9)
SUBURGATORY (9:30)
| 1.9
1.4
| 7.1
4.9
| UNIVISION
| POR SIEMPRE MI AMOR
| 1.0
| 2.8
| CW
| ARROW
| 0.9
| 2.6
| NBC
| PRINCE HARRY'S SOUTH POLE HEROES
| 0.8
| 3.8
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| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| MODERN FAMILY (9)
MIXOLOGY (9:30)
| 3.5
1.7
| 9.7
4.9
| FOX
| AMERICAN IDOL
| 2.2
| 9.6
| CBS
| CRIMINAL MINDS (R)
| 1.4
| 7.3
| UNIVISION
| LO QUE LA VIDA ME ROBÓ
| 1.4
| 3.5
| NBC
| LAW & ORDER: SVU (R)
| 0.9
| 3.5
| CW
| THE 100
| 0.7
| 2.3
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| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| CSI (R)
| 1.3
| 7.4
| ABC
| NASHVILLE
| 1.3
| 5.1
| UNIVISION
| QUÉ POBRES TAN RICOS
| 1.1
| 2.7
| NBC
| CHICAGO P.D. (R)
| 0.9
| 3.8
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| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • March Madness Continues on CBS, TBS
The "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tournament begins on Thursday with CBS and TBS each televising two games. The first game on CBS tips off at 7:15 p.m. with 10th seed Stanford vs. 11th seed Dayton in the first game, while the first game on TBS begins at 7:45 p.m. with Baylor (6 seed) vs. Wisconsin (2 seed). The second game on CBS tips off at 9:45 and pits top-seed Florida vs. 4th seed UCLA. The second contest on TBS tips off at 10:15 p.m. and has top-seed Arizona vs. 4th seed San Diego State. The tournament, through its first six days across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV, is averaging 9.2 million viewers, up 4% over last year's 8.8 million average and the highest viewership since 1993. The upshot: With two of the tournaments four top seeds playing on Thursday night and given all the upsets in the tournament so far, the viewership for the four games should add to the record amount of viewers watching so far.
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| • 'Surviving Jack,' a.k.a. Father Knew Best, Joins Fox Lineup
Christopher Meloni, mostly known for his dramatic roles in True Blood and Law & Order: SVU, stars in a new ensemble comedy premiering on Fox at 9:30 p.m. Thursday leading out of American Idol. In the series, Meloni plays Jack Dunlevy, a hardnosed, no-bull, ex-military guy who runs his family with an iron-fist. Then his wife goes to law school, leaving Jack to be a full-time parent of his son who's starting his freshman year of high school and his 17-year-old daughter. Jack has to deal with all the situations that arise in the lives of teenagers. The upshot: The old-school parenting by Meloni is meant to draw laughs, but it'll be interesting to see how the laughs play among viewers from more relaxed parenting homes. Fox is giving it a solid lead-in with Idol, so it will have every chance to succeed.
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| • 'Tat' Ain't Right Remains Right on TLC
TLC's America's Worst Tattoos premieres its second season on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. The series finds folks desperate to fix bad or big-mistake tattoos going to new tattoo artists for help. Among the experts on the show are Megan Massacre, Jeremy Swan, Tim Pangburn and Lisa Del Toro, who collaborate with their clients and come up with creative ways to cover up the original tat with a redesigned one. For example, in one episode, Jeremy converts a frog tattoo into an hourglass. The upshot: The series is not one of TLCs highest rated series—during season one it peaked at 1 million viewers per episode—and it targets a particular audience segment, but the network repeats it a lot, building a cume audience for advertisers.
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| Media Buyer & Planner Today
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Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
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Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
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