- Continued shift from television to other entertainment outlets (particularly video games and the Internet)
- Going online and watching TV are equally popular in this segment for the first time
- The group is gravitating towards adult stuff, music, auctions, sports and consumer electronics retail
What does it mean for businesses and their advertising programs?
Good news: As I analyzed in Developing a search engine advertising strategy, it is far cheaper to advertise on the Internet and such advertising can be more targeted. Plus, you only pay for performance. Television advertising, which was already quite expensive, continues to become even more expensive. It would have been fine if it were being more effective but as technology allows viewers to skip ads and viewership continues to decline, it is high time that companies became more selective about television advertising and moved their ad dollars elsewhere as a lot of companies are already doing.
Bad news: This segment is also increasingly tuning out advertisements. Even on the Internet, the click-through rates for banners are close to zero. Search and contextual advertising are comparatively far more effective but still the clickthrough rates are in single digit range.
What can advertisers do?
- Get creative. Turn your ads into entertainment. No one has the time and patience to watch "awareness" advertisements.
- Reach out to niche websites that are frequented by the target segments and work with them to incorporate your offering into their content. Mind you, this group of 18-34 males is technologically savvy and is smart enough to figure out if it is an advertorial. You will need to take more of a product-placement strategy. It will also not be easy to approach these websites one-by-one but if you can reach out to even 100 good websites, you will have created tremendous value for your advertising dollars. Many of these websites already carry Google Adsense ads or are part of affiliate programs but take the initiative to become more proactive in working with them directly rather than using a consolidator. Put a couple of marketing assistants in your office to approach each one of the websites individually, invite the publishers to your office on an all-expenses paid trip, demonstrate your products, and then work out customized programs with each one of them. While this may sound too complex than just putting it all on your advertising agency (which is much better at dealing with large media outlets), I am convinced that the power now lies with the "small guy". A writer on a website or a blog has far more power today in influencing people than an ad in a magazine or television.
- Leverage the power of bloggers. They have far more influence than many advertisers realize. Even a casual mention can make a big difference to your brand awareness. The effect is even more remarkable when a blogger recommends your product.