The trends of Hispanic online consumerism

Understanding the trends of a target demographic can help insure that an advertisement is placed in front of the audience with the right medium.

While a broad generalization for media users is helpful, sometimes delving into a certain sector can be more so. The media company comScore recently conducted a study on online Hispanic consumers in the United States.

Reported by MediaPost, comScore’s study shows that 31% of Hispanic online consumers find enjoyment in watching online advertisements. This is compared to 19% of non-Hispanic online consumers. The enjoyment comes from entertaining and engaging ads with an underlying story. In fact, 48% of those surveyed expected online ads to be amusing; slightly behind were non-Hispanics with 39%.

A useful note for marketers is that Hispanic consumers had higher recall rates to non-Hispanics. Also, language doesn’t have to be roadblock in reaching this audience. Of those respondents, 52% prefer English as the main language, 26.1% choose bilingual, and 21.9% favored Spanish. Lastly, comScore reported that online Hispanic consumers often are younger than non-Hispanic consumers.

Understanding the trends of a target demographic can help insure that an advertisement is placed in front of the audience with the right medium. In this example, not only are Hispanic online consumers more likely to be influenced by advertising in making purchase decisions for his/her children, but overall, he/she enjoy watching online advertising.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

Why does it matter how college students spend money?

One lesson about the media industry is that advertisers primarily target people between the ages of 18-34. While other age demographics are desired, this is the group that receives a lot of attention. A reason explaining this lies within the Alloy Media + Marketing’s 10th Annual College Explorer Study.

According to MediaPost, the study explains that the number of people enrolling in college has increased by 6% from 2009. In fact, a steady climb over the last few decades has occurred. College students are primarily made up of people ranging from 18-34 years old.

The rise of enrollment is important in that it lends validity to the claim that discretionary spending will increase within the undergraduate population. It’s reported that college students will increase overall spending by 13% which translates from $270 billion in 2009 to $306 billion in 2010. In conjunction, the discretionary spending is thought to rise 10% to $69 billion. These figures alone show marketers how important the demographic is to a successful campaign.

Results explain that the main categories for spending were technology, entertainment, automotive, and personal-care products. However, the cell phone/PDA tier of technology actually stayed stationary. Male students tended to spend money on technology and entertainment while female students gravitated towards clothing, shoes, cell phones, and cosmetics. An interesting note is the fact that men have somewhat passed females in purchasing personal-care products.

Research results such as these reaffirm that college students have a steady grip on discretionary spending, therefore, are a front runner in determining an advertiser’s target demographic audience.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

What does the public think of digital outdoor?

Advertisers can harness the positive attributes of outdoor to better relay a branding message.

As the media landscape has, in general, upgraded to digital formats, outdoor is no exception. However, unlike the radio and television switch to digital, outdoor has received harsh review and even legal objection to digital boards being built. A new study done by the Opinion Research Corporation and Strategy One contradicted the criticism in that most respondents found digital outdoor to be helpful.

According to MediaPost, 80% of those surveyed felt that digital outdoor was practical in receiving important information. This includes tips like road condition updates, emergency information and traffic advisories. In regards to advertising, 63% utilized the boards for learning about restaurants, lodging, and local attractions.

Not surprisingly, when focusing on the younger respondents, that tend to be early adopters, those percentages rose. Note that 76% of respondents did not agree with the need to ban the outdoor billboards.

On the cusp of studies revealing that digital outdoor boards do not cause traffic accidents, this study reinforces that it is a relatively welcome and safe medium. Advertisers can harness the positive attributes of outdoor to better relay a branding message.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...

Can a TV ad be too creative?

While it can be tempting to produce a highly creative campaign, please keep in mind that if the audience doesn’t understand it, it is a very expensive waste.

Television has been around for decades. Likewise, TV commercials have been around vying for Americans’ attention. With that competitive spirit, sometimes the message gets lost in the shuffle of glossy creativity or just the congestion of other ads, and that leaves consumers confused.

According to MediaPost, Adweek and the Harris Poll worked together questioning TV advertising comprehension. Results showed that roughly 75% of Americans found at some point a commercial perplexing. More specifically, 21% of those polled felt that ads regularly lack clearness. In contrast, 55% say that he/she is not typically puzzled, and 14% never is confused with ads.

The poll also found that the percentage of confusion differentiated among age groups. In fact, about 30% of TV viewers that are 55 years old or older found commercials unclear. One can assume that the younger the audience, the higher the comprehension; the age bracket that had the best grasp, with 13% admitting misunderstanding, were people between the ages of 35 to 44.

While it can be tempting to produce a highly creative campaign, keep in mind that if the audience doesn’t understand it, it is a very expensive waste. The message must be clear to be effective. Just remember, clear messaging is not a synonym for boring.

Be sure to visit Ruth Burke & Associates’ blog to find the latest in media news and receive helpful tips to make your advertising campaign successful...