| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Breitbart Calls for Boycott of Kellogg | | Just a day after the cereal maker announced it was pulling its advertising from the "alt-right" site because it ran articles that spurred hate, Breitbart News initiated an effort to get its readers to boycott Kellogg products. In announcing the boycott effort, Beitbart said Kellogg's decision to drop its ads from the site represents an "escalation in the war by leftist companies . . . against conservative customers whose values propelled Donald Trump into the White House." The site also published articles alleging Kellogg is complicit in child labor abuse. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Kellogg was not the first advertiser to pull its ad dollars from the site, but it was, perhaps, the highest profile brand. While Breitbart may curry some favor with its diehard followers, its action will probably mobilize more advertisers to pull out. Digiday quoted one anonymous ad agency exec as saying the Breitbart action was tantamount to a shakedown attempt. "It sets a horrible precedent and is a huge deterrent to future advertisers," the agency exec said. "They are essentially extorting their advertisers with the threat of boycott and bad press if you reduce your budget or decide to pull your ads." | | Three Takes: Adweek | WSJ | Digiday | | | | #2 NFL Viewers Want Fewer Commercials | | A survey of 2,088 people by Morning Consult finds fewer commercials in NFL game telecasts and shorter broadcasts could boost viewership by getting some of those who have tuned out to tune back in, the Wall Street Journal reports. Among those surveyed, 43% said they would be "much more" or "somewhat more" likely to watch NFL games if there were fewer commercials. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Despite these results, it doesn't seem like an overabundance of commercials is the reason why NFL games are being watched by less viewers this season. The number of commercials in each game telecast is pretty much the same as last season when ratings were higher. Instead oversaturation with the new Thursday night package might be a reason. Some 22% of those polled said they only tune in to NFL Thursday night telecasts if their favorite team is playing. | | A Take: WSJ | | | | #3 Micro-Influencers Under FTC Microscope | | Advocacy groups led by Public Citizen have contacted the FTC to express concern over Instagram posts from non-celebrity users that do not disclose they are being paid for the brand endorsements. The groups want the FTC to investigate how companies like Influenster and BzzAgent operate. They both specialize in connecting brands with regular consumers on social media to get them to post on their behalf, Ad Age reports. "Undisclosed paid endorsements from average consumers represents a dangerous trend that the FTC must address, since people generally place more trust in recommendations made by their peers and have no reason to believe that their friends, colleagues and family are engaging in paid product promotion," the groups wrote in the letter to the FTC. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The FTC may have thought it resolved the problem when it prohibited celebrity influencers on social media from being paid endorsers unless they disclose that fact, but this situation with "micro-influencers" opens up a whole new can of worms. The FTC has yet to respond to the advocacy groups, but it will clearly have to take some action to resolve the situation. | | Two Takes: MediaPost | Ad Age | |
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| | 47 | | Percentage of U.S. eCommerce shoppers who bought merchandise via their desktop computers on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe. Those desktop purchases accounted for 61% of Cyber Monday eCommerce revenue. Some 44% of shoppers bought on Cyber Monday via their smartphones, accounting for 25% of total eCommerce revenue. While 9% bought via tablet, accounting for 10% of revenue. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | 'Empire' Down But Fox Wins | By Michael Malone Fox won Wednesday night with a 2.2 rating in adults 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and an 8 share. NBC posted a 1.7/6, ABC was just off the pace at 1.6/6, CBS did a 1.5/5 and The CW scored a 0.8/3. Fox's Lethal Weapon drew a flat 1.6 and Empire was down 10% from its last fresh airing at 2.8. NBC was in Christmas mode, with Christmas in Rockefeller Center at 1.7, and the same score for Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors. The movie drew 11.5 million viewers; last year's Coat of Many Colors had a 1.8 and 13 million total viewers. ABC's The Goldbergs was down 6% to 1.7, Speechless fell 6% to 1.5, Modern Family was a flat 2.2 and Black-ish grew 13% to 1.8. Designated Survivor scored a 1.3, up 8%. On CBS, Survivor climbed 27% to 1.9, Criminal Minds posted a flat 1.4 and Code Black ticked up 11% to 1.0. On The CW, crossover-fueled Arrow shot up 85% to 1.3, while Frequency drew a flat 0.3. | |
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| • CLAUDIO de SOUZA was named VP at digital marketing agency Isobar U.S. where he will work on developing global accounts and also oversee the agency's General Motors account. DeSouza, a 14-year veteran of Isobar, was most recently VP of business and operations at Isobar Brazil. • JOHN HARROBIN has left his position as chief marketing officer of NBCUniversal's Content Innovation Agency. He had held the post for one year, coming to NBCU from Verizon, where he was CMO of the company's consumer and mass business operation. • ATIF RAFIQ has joined Volvo as senior VP, information technology, and chief digital officer. He was most recently chief digital officer with McDonald's. • AGATHE GUERRIER was named head of strategy at Bogle Bartle Hegarty Los Angeles. She was most recently with London strategic consultancy Tiny Warrior, but prior to that was a strategy executive at BBH's London office. • TRACY KAIN was named VP of national sales at Screenvision Media, where she will oversee a newly created sales team dedicated to the automotive category. Kain was previously headed ad sales for Screenvision's West Coast and Detroit regions. • PHIL KENT will be added to the Scripps Network Interactive board of directors. Kent was CEO of Turner Broadcasting System from 2003 to 2013, after joining Turner in 1993. He succeeds David Galloway, former president and CEO of Torstar Corp., publisher of the Toronto Star. • STACIE TURSI was named senior VP of affiliate partnerships and JENNIFER LUPO was appointed VP, affiliate partnerships to oversee National CineMedia's newly created affiliate partnership team. Tursi was most recently senior VP, eastern region sales for NCM. Prior to that she was with Procter & Gamble and Canon. Lupo was previously VP of advertising operations at NCM. | |
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