In This Issue

"Hmm. I haven't seen a commercial in nearly 30 minutes."

2015: Any surprises here?

Extra, Extra! NY Times Digital sees decline

This is not up for Debate

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Check Heart Rate

Hey Chicagoland! Come out to meet and greet the beautiful Calendar Girls from all over the country! Hooters will have the Cover Girl and Miss Hooters International, the Centerfold, Ashton plus many other feature Calendar Girls and local Chicago Calendar Girls. All the girls will be signing the 2016 calendars and taking photos with the crowd! $1 of every calendar sold will be donated to breast cancer research and awareness. For more information, go to originalhooters.com. #HootersCares

Stagestruck City at The Newberry Library

Stagestruck City explores how Chicagoans' demands for more and for better entertainment led to the birth of the "little theatre" movement and, eventually, the Goodman Theatre!

Exhibition events begin Oct 7th

For more information, visit

https://www.newberry.org/stagestruck-city

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Welcome to the November issue of Key Notes - Marketing Keys' monthly newsletter. Hope you are enjoying this beautiful stretch of weather! Our goal is for you to be informed and entertained with the latest media and marketing happenings quickly and efficiently.

"Hmm. I haven't seen a commercial in nearly 30 minutes."

Next year, Turner Cable Network will significantly reduce its original programming advertising by almost half. What used to be 18-19 minutes of ads will now be 10 to 11 minutes. The network will have the lowest average commercial and promo time in all of television.

This approach will change how the industry views ad sales. The decision to cut down ad times will create a premium environment. This means that ad rates will rise to reflect the ongoing changes. However, the raising costs per ad will not be able to make up for the 47% decrease of inventory.

According to industry experts, the changes have come along due to the brand's total refresh last fall. The slogan "Way More Fun," and its signature show "Impractical Jokers" are two reflections of the recent rebranding. TruTV says its 18-49 audience has increased 45% since last November, while adults 18 - 34 are up 55%. The network has brought on 50 new advertisers that are mostly in the automotive and retail categories.

TruTV feels that by creating a new and enhanced user experience they are doing a service to their ad clients and building a unique premium space for them to place ads that will be impactful.

NIKE has 'app'etite for weather

Nike has turned to the Weather Channel for advertising. The sports apparel retailer will be placing ads & offering suggestions based on local weather conditions.

For example, if it is cool and dark, consumers will see a reflective running vest and a base layer from its Pro Hyperwarm line. The app sends consumers to Nike's website and primes them to be ready to check out. Both the desktop and mobile site will allow consumers to see all of the products categorized based upon weather conditions.

This strategy was born when the retailer noticed the growing interest in apps. Users who use apps tend to be more engaged which makes them an ideal audience. Starbucks and State Farm have been using the weather app as an advertising medium long before Nike stumbled upon the idea. Retailers see higher online transaction rates with in app ads than other types of mobile ads.

Nike said it is expecting its e-commerce business to increase to $7 billion from $1 billion in the next 5 years with mobile playing a big role in this increase.

The only concern about mobile growth and consumer interest is ad blocking. Most blockers block ads from browsers but not apps.

Interested in running an in-app campaign? Please contact roger@marketingkeys.com to have your business featured in various apps.

2015:
Any surprises here?

In the first 6 months of 2015 ,domestic digital advertising surged 19% to 27.5 billion. Although the Interactive Advertising Bureau began tracking information a mere two decades ago, these numbers mark an all time high.

Second quarter revenue also rose by 22.5% to 14.3 billion. Advertisers are clearly continuing to pour money into mobile, as revenue climbed to 8.2 billion for the first half of 2015 which is roughly a 54% increase from the first half of the year. Mobile is 30% of the digital advertising revenue pie.

On the forefront are other mediums such as the ever rising social media, which reached $4.4 billion during the fists half of 2015.

Trends that experts are beginning to notice are the shifts in consumer behavior. The 'connected consumer' is more relevant now than ever before.

Digital video, a major component of display -related advertising, reached $3 billion in the first half of 2015, a major 35% jump year-over-year increase.

Extra, Extra:

NY Times Digital sees revenue decline

Although the New York Times posted third quarter profit that topped analysts' estimates and had its biggest increase in digital subscribers in three years, ad revenue still fell 2.1% in the quarter. Digital Ad sales specifically dropped 5%.

Despite the decline in digital ad spending revenue, CEO Mark Thompson mentioned that with better performance in print, it was their best advertising quarter of the year and feels strongly that digital will spike in fourth quarter.

The publisher has been trying to attract more digital subscribers and sell online marketing messages that are designed to mimic actual news stories! Earlier in the month, the New York Times outlined a plan to double digital revenue by the year 2020. Currently, the publisher has more than 1 million (online only) subscribers. This 1 million is attributed to the 51,000 digital subscribers it recently acquired in its quarterly addition since the fourth quarter of 2012.

Part of the Times efforts to attract digital subscribers include joining forces with other publishers like Facebook, Apple and Google to load stories more quickly on smart phones.

The publisher reported over all net income of $9.42 million or 6 cents a share.

This is not up for Debate

Did you happen to watch the debates last week? Did you feel that the debates were hostile and poorly moderated? If you did, you weren't the only one.

A new development has risen due to anger over how CNBC handled the GOP debate last week. According to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, the debate had been conducted in 'bad faith.'

The RNC has taken offense to the questions asked by the moderators during the debate on CNBC Wednesday night. RNC Chairman Priebus wrote an open letter to NBC stating, "While debates are meant to include tough questions and contrast candidates' visions and policies for the future of America, CNBC's moderators engaged in a series of 'gotcha' questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates."

While the RNC did recognize that NBC does not hold full editorial responsibility over the CNBC's journalistic approach, because the network is an arm of the organization they felt the need to make the separation public and immediate. RNC officially has suspended their partnership with the news network.

14 million viewers got to experience the heated debate, setting a record for CNBC. This loss for NBC is not being taken lightly as they have promised to try and resolve the new development with their debate broadcast partners at Telemundo.

Tweet of the Month
Lunching with @MasonAndRemy this afternoon. They have great table manners. #KeepingItCountry #MakingRadioMagic #BIG Follow us on Twitter!

Until next month, may all of your marketing dreams and goals come true! And - if they don't - we are here to help.

Sincerely,

ROGER KEYS
MARKETING KEYS