Michael Carney's Marketing Week

Coming Up: Our New Webcast Series

August 13th, 2010 · marketing, webcasts

Every time we turn around, it seems there’s a new and irresistible gadget or some different business paradigm, especially online. Those geeks in their garages just won’t chill out watching telly and stop inventing for a while.

We do our best to cover many of the key developments in this blog and ournewsletter, but not everybody learns best via long copy.

We hear you. And we’ve decided to do something about it, with a series of half a dozen webcasts on today’s most important developments (at least from a digital marketing perspective), as part of our Marketing Rebooted training programmes.

We’ll be running these webcasts once a fortnight, from early September until mid-November — at which point we’ll stand down and let the pre-Christmas festivities fill your calendars.

WHAT ARE WEBCASTS?

Webcasts, at least as we’re offering them, are 60-minute interactive presentations shared over the internet amongst a small group of participants — between 10 and 20 people at a time, no more [we're limiting the numbers, for reasons we'll explain in a moment]. We plan to schedule the webcasts from 1pm to 2pm on Tuesdays at fortnightly intervals.

Each webcast will focus on a specific topic [see below] and will typically include an approximately 45 minute presentation of slides and videos, presented live and narrated live by Michael Carney. There’ll be around 15 minutes for participants to ask questions, discuss what they’ve seen and generally interact with the presenter.

Participants access the webcast via a web browser — no fancy software required — and interact via both typed instant messaging facility and voice (either VOIP/Skype or a standard telephone).

TOPICS

These are the six subjects we’ve identified as 2011’s most essential marketing needs:

Tuesday 7 September
Social Media – not as difficult as it looks
In this session we pull back the curtain on today’s hottest marketing topic and reveal the wizardry within. If you’ve been worried about social media, or in denial, or if you just want to develop a much better understanding, this is the place to start.

Amongst other things, we:

identify the five must-have attractions of social media for Kiwi marketers
analyse the numbers to show you which social media outlets matter (both locally and offshore)
slice and dice social media users into meaningful marketing segments that will change the way you communicate with them
identify some of the cool stuff already being done in the medium, by brands both leading and little-known
outline just what it takes to market yourself effectively in social media (if you can’t achieve at least these, walk away from the keyboard)
talk social media personality types (which are you and is that bad?); and
leave you with the seven most important elements in any social media campaign

Tuesday 21 September
Why the iPad changes everything (yes, again!)
It’s here, it’s flashy and there are a few local media (the Herald, North & South and Wilderness magazine come to mind) already strutting their stuff on Steve Job’s latest baby. But what does the iPad mean for Kiwi marketers? Isn’t it just another laptop?

Umm, no. Some food for thought:

The iPad is bringing the internet alive for demographics that were never comfortable online. Japan’s Hikosaburo Yasuda plans to buy an iPad to keep up with junior members in his computer club. Yasuda is 95.
Print advertising suddenly went “all-singing, all-dancing”. Wait till you see some of the iPad-enhanced magazine/newspaper ads already out there.
iPad advertising can turn transactional at the click of a button. Are you ready to generate clicks and sales?
Readership data by page, for every reader? Will your ads hold their attention as much as the editorial content or will publishers ask you to move to the back of the bus (or go away entirely)?
The iPad switches the Internet into lean-back-and-consume mode. What are the implications?
Anything, anytime, anywhere — and finally in an acceptable form factor. Watch that mobile media consumption explode.
Your brand bling suddenly got vital — beauty is in the i of the holder.
Our own personal media machine. What does that do to shared experiences and co-viewing?
On the other hand, remote social co-viewing suddenly surges.Which means?
How many iPads will be sold in NZ this year anyway? Enough to matter?
And then there’s iAds, Apple’s own iPad offerings. What’s so special about them, according to the early adopter advertisers wh have already signed on?

All this and more on September 21.

Tuesday 5 October
The seven secrets of Online Video
Every minute of every day, more than 24 hours of video are being uploaded to YouTube. Da Y-Tube is already New Zealand’s second most popular search engine (after Google) — and it just keeps growing.

But that constant flood of content means exponential increases in clutter. How can YOUR video get seen? Should you even use online video? We examine the medium’s effectiveness and talk about tactics to get noticed.

Why Marketers Shouldn’t Do Drugs

August 13th, 2010 · Social Media

It’s never much fun when parents receive a letter from the principal alerting them to the mischief that their young darling has been causing at school.

It’s a whole lot worse when the letter is to pharmaceutical company management, it’s from the American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the message is clear: cease and desist.

Drugmaker Novartis found itself in that extremely unpleasant situation last month, when the FDA demanded that the company remove a “Facebook Share” widget on the website for its leukemia drug Tasigna.

What? These widgets are at the heart of the new social web. Sharing via Facebook is virtually guaranteed by the American Constitution (or, if not, it should be). What’s going on here?

What this incident illustrates is one of the perils of today’s technology, especially if you’re in a closely regulated industry such as pharmaceuticals or (any day now) financial services.

As ReadWriteWeb pointed out, the “Share This” tool drew its content (the words that were shared with Facebook users) not from the material displayed on the Tasigna page but from its metadata, the content designed for search engines and not usually visible to human visitors to the web page.

Unfortunately that metadata just didn’t comply with FDA requirements. As the FDA’s letter points out:

The shared content is misleading because it makes representations about the efficacy of Tasigna but fails to communicate any risk information associated with the use of this drug. In addition, the shared content inadequately communicates Tasigna’s FDA-approved indication and implies superiority over other products. Thus, the shared content for Tasigna misbrands the drug in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and FDA implementing regulations.

Oh, is that all?

Well, no. The FDA also dinged Novartis for failure to submit the Facebook Share widget for approval as is required for pharmaceutical promotional materials.

Novartis removed the Facebook Share widget after the FDA’s request, but it also made another change. The company edited the description in the metadata of each page to conform to FDA rules.

The Bigger Picture

Pharmaceutical marketers around the world are facing some tough challenges, of which the “Facebook Share” incident is just a recent example.

In today’s always-connected world, consumers are turning to the web and each other (through social networks) for information on symptoms, diseases and treatments — self-diagnosing before they even visit a doctor. There’s a high risk of misdiagnosis and desperate need for expert advice.

Unfortunately, this cyberchondria is likely to go unchecked, at least in terms of input from the pharmaceutical companies. Their hands are tied by regulators, usually for the very good reason that typical advertising behaviour (puffery, unsubstantiated claims, unfettered performance promises) can have somewhat terminal side-effects in this particular industry.

As we noted when we last discussed the problem (in October last year, just before an FDA hearing to consider social media and the pharmaceutical industry):

Exactly how do you provide the usual slab of “prescribing information” (often hundreds of words outlining the risks associated with a given remedy) in an environment such as Twitter (140 characters) or even Google Adwords (12 words)? Must any ‘fans’ of a pharmaceutical product provide written disclaimers before going viral with their endorsements?

In its presentation to the FDA hearing, Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence arm made these comments:

1. How can marketers fulfill regulatory requirements with space-limited social media?

The space and real time limitations of social media make it unreasonable in some online communications such as Twitter to include full fair balance, Important Safety Information alongside any branded message.
Including fair balance, Important Safety Information that is the online equivalent of a “turn of a page” is reasonable.

The Suggested Solution:

The FDA should enforce the “1-click rule” – in effect ensuring the full fair balance, Important Safety Information is AT MOST one click away from any branded message.

2. What parameters should apply to posting corrective information on third party sites?

Marketers should not be responsible for policing any content that anyone posts online that relates to their products or brand that has not been developed by company.
The exception to this rule is if the content meets any of the “3 C’s Rule” noted below.

The Suggested Solution:

Marketers are not responsible for posting corrective information unless they are deemed accountable for that content under the “3 C’s Rule.”

3. What online communications should marketers be accountable for?

There should be a simple and consistent way for determining accountability for any content online.
Marketers should not be held accountable for content that is not under their control or influence.

The Suggested Solution:

Implement “The 3 ’s Rule” — marketers should be held accountable if the answer to any of the 3 “C” questions below is yes:
- Creation
  Did the marketer create the content and has it not been altered or excerpted in any way by a third party?
- Collaboration
  Did the marketer work directly or indirectly with any third party to create the message?
- Compensation
  Did the marketer fund the creation of the message or compensate the creator in any way?

The Health Professionals You See Most Often
The jury’s still out on the vexed issue of whether pharmaceutical companies should be allowed keys to the social kingdom. In the meantime, however, another industry sector has stepped up to the bat: pharmacy.

Earlier this month, two of America’s largest pharmacy chains, Walgreens and Rite-Aid, rolled out programmes in which their customers can use Internet chat to talk with pharmacists about medical advice 24×7. However the two chains have taken significantly different approaches.

Walgreens has given its pharmacist-chat-teams full access to its medical databases on patients across the country while competitor Rite-Aid took the more conservative route of limiting chatters to generic advice based on nothing more than what consumers choose to share.

As retail technologist Evan Schuman remarked:

Walgreens’ more daring approach has some huge potential benefits. For example, what if a consumer asks about a particular drug interaction with an over-the-counter (OTC) sleep aid but forgets to mention a long-term prescription? With the ability to see that consumer’s full list of medications, the pharmacist could spot a problem and potentially prevent a life-threatening combination. How much consumer loyalty is earned by a chat that proactively saves a patient’s life?

The ability to add in OTC drug questions and information to consumers’ databases is also medically valuable. It would allow their personal pharmacist in their local branch to flag OTC interactions, which those pharmacists otherwise would have little way of knowing (unless an eagle-eyed cashier happened to notice).

In our view, pharmacy does have a valuable role to play in social media, providing (as it does in the real world) a buffer between pharmaceutical companies and the public at large. There is the usual problem of “where’s the money?” — who pays for pharmacists to dispense free advice online? Government? Pharmaceutical companies? Users?

Resolution remains somewhere beyond the horizon …

→ No CommentsTags:Facebook·fda·pharmaceutical·Social Media

Consumer Protection Redux

August 13th, 2010 · Law

It’s not generally well-known, but transactions on Trade Me are sometimes protected by the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) — but mostly not. Regulators hate anomalies so the CGA has been going through a review process (of this and other necessary updates to the act) which is likely to lead to a makeover.

The CGA generally requires that any good or service offered for sale by businesses to consumers:

is of acceptable quality
is fit for its intended purpose
complies with its description
is similar in key particulars to any samples displayed
has repairs and spare parts reasonably available

The CGA also spells out remedies and rights available to consumers if goods or services do not measure up.

When the Act became law in 1993, the Internet was still just a spring chicken in New Zealand. Neither Trade Me nor eBay had been invented; and auctions typically took place in a poorly lit room with a hyperventilating auctioneer and a bevvy of secondhand dealers competing for underpriced bargains to resell at obscene profits.

From the perspective of the lawmakers at the time:

Under section 41(3) of the Consumer Guarantees Act, an item sold at auction or by competitive tender is exempted from the guarantees of acceptable quality, fitness for purpose, and the other guarantees under the Act.

Auctions are exempted because they are conducted on a buyer beware basis and on the understanding that there are no rights of redress after completion of the sale. A traditional auction is a method for determining the value of a commodity that has an undetermined or variable price, although in some cases, there is a minimum or reserve price; if the bidding does not reach the reserve, there is no sale.

Auctions are not defined under the CGA — legislators relied on the Auctioneers Act for that description. Unfortunately, the Auctioneers Act was passed into law in 1928, when neither Trade Me nor its ilk could have been reasonably foreseen.

Some curious anomalies arise with Trade Me sales as a result of the march of technology:

If you purchase an item on Trade Me by bidding in an auction, you are not protected by the CGA (although the Fair Trading Act does apply)
If on the other hand you use the Buy Now button (turning the auction into a fixed price transaction) AND you are dealing with someone who is operating as a business in their Trade Me deals, then the CGA does apply
Similarly, an item listed as up for auction escapes the CGA. However if that item fails to sell at auction and a fixed price offer is made, that offer DOES come under the auspices of the CGA

In other words, current CGA regulations create confusion and inconsistency.

As the CGA review which is currently taking place notes:

There would appear to be justification to clarify that Trade Me style auctions should not be exempted from the Consumer Guarantees Act.

Most likely outcome: bit of a makeover to tidy things up.

→ No CommentsTags:Consumer Guarantees Act·Regulation·Trade Me·update

Digital: Gone Legit Yet?

August 13th, 2010 · Brainy Breakfast

Some of us have been playing in the digital space for, well, rather a long time. For ye editor, it’s been more than twenty years. We recall some of our quaint efforts in the nineties to drum up enthusiasm for online promotion in the advertising and marketing industries — they all wanted to pick our brains but no-one wanted to spend much money on this still youthful medium.

We’ve come a long way, baby. Now digital has become mainstream and is a significant part of most marketing endeavours.

And yet, and yet.

For many marketers it still feels like half the challenge is getting the organisational buy-in and the necessary resources to start taking online marketing seriously.

Typical problems can include:

turf wars over digital responsibilities;
a lack of understanding by senior management; and
difficulties for traditional marketers over activities outside their comfort zone.

Good news, if those are some of the issues facing your organisation: the next Jericho Brainy Breakfast, from 7-9am on August 25 is going to make your day!

What’s a Brainy Breakfast? It’s a combination of a sit-down brekkie and a stimulating hour or so listening to leading Kiwi (and sometimes international) experts talking about the latest digital happenings. The Brainy Breakfasts, sponsored by email specialists Jericho, have been running for quite a few years now (about once every six weeks) and are a stimulating way to start the day, even if you’re not much of a morning person.

This next Jericho Brainy Breakfast, organised as usual by the NZ Marketing Association’s special interest group on matters digital, The eMarketing Network, has arranged for three expert speakers who will cover:

how organisations are overcoming the digital/marketing divide and structuring integrated teams
how to build organisational knowledge around digital
how to educate senior management and win over traditionalists
how to recruit the right skills for digital marketing and up-skill traditional marketers
the importance of selecting the right agency partners

The speakers:

Tui Fleming, Multichannel Marketing Manager, The Warehouse, will talk about “Starting the digital journey – fresh learnings from The Warehouse”

getting buy-in from sales and marketing teams
understanding the independencies, overlaps and tensions
making the transformation from silo to integration across the business
learnings from how a digital team operates

Rebecca Smith, Marketing Consultant and former Head of Business Communications, Telecom New Zealand, will take us through “Identifying and overcoming barriers when making the digital shift; how Telecom embraced social media marketing”

consider what you need to stop doing in order to shift gear into social media marketing
influencing and getting buy-in from across the organisation including senior management
how team structure and digital focus has evolved for a big corporate
overcoming obstacles: sceptics, headcount, resource, money, knowledge

And Richard Manthel, Managing Director, Robert Walters, will cover “Recruitment needs in digital marketing: sorting the tweet from the chaff”

resourcing: how organisations are structuring digital teams now and what skills they’re looking for
how the New Zealand employment market is reflecting the boom in digital and social media marketing
where the current recruitment needs lie within digital marketing
how the employment market is likely to evolve in the next 12-18 months
Richard will show NZ employment trends within a global context (from the perspective of a recruitment organisation with 38 offices in 18 countries)

This Jericho Brainy Breakfast takes place in a couple of weeks (on Wednesday the 25th of August) at Auckland’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. Marketing Association Members pay $65 + GST, Non Members $80 + GST.

For more details and to book your seats, head to the Marketing Association’s website at http://www.marketing.org.nz/cms/Events_and_Training/7020

Disclaimer: Just so you know, Marketing Week editor Michael Carney is Chairman of the eMarketing Network.

→ No CommentsTags:Brainy Breakfast·digital·eMarketing Network·Marketing Association·organisational challenges

Convergence Gets Real

August 13th, 2010 · Google TV

Got an iPad? Seen one — or at least heard the hype? Lots of folks out there think it’s a game changer, right?

Even before we’ve even scratched the surface of what the iPad can do (and actually that’s not a very good metaphor, considering the iDamage that would result), we thought we’d better give you a heads up — there’s another massive paradigm shift coming your way.

This one’s coming to your living room. It’s called Google TV.

Yeah, yeah, we hear you mutter. Heard about that. Another web/TV thing. Been there, done that.

Hold that thought.

Because Google TV is a bit different.

Okay, a lot different.

Firstly, because of who’s behind it. Google, of course. And Sony, providing the TV technologies (new sets that include the Google TV functionality plus a Blu-Ray player). Set-top box maker Logitech, providing a Google TV device to plug into those not very old HDTV set out there. Intel for the computing hardware grunt.

Secondly, because the Google TV platform runs on Android — the same technology that powers those snazzy new phones that compete with the iPhone. You can use your smartphone as a remote control for Google TV, or even as a preview device, finding something you want to watch and then “pushing” it to your TV for the whole family to watch.

Third, the Google TV Search facility is as smart as you’d expect the search giant to deliver. Search for your favourite TV series by tapping its name into your smartphone/remote keyboard and Google TV Search will give you a shortlist of (a) episodes currently available through any web source (eg broadcasters such as TVNZ On Demand or TV show sellers such as Amazon); and of course (b) future search — episodes listed on EPGs as coming up. If you’ve got a PVR such as MySky or TiVo connected, one click will set the shows up to record.

Take a look at this demo of the Google TV search facility:

Fourth, Google’s making the whole Android/Google TV operating system Open Source, and encouraging any developers anywhere to innovate and build new bells and whistles for the Google TV environment.

Fifth, Google TV is tapping into the exponentially-expanding social web so that you’ll be offered video/TV recommendations based on what your friends have watched or liked — or what you’ve watched in the past.

Sixth, YouTube’s millions of clips are being made available in a whole new leanback mode to push content at you (based on your and your friends’ preferences, favourites and likes) so you minimise your searching and maximise your viewing.

We could go on, but we hope you get a bit of the flavour.

Google TV is launching in the U.S. in “the Fall” (our Spring, not far away now).

Better watch for it. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

→ No CommentsTags:Google TV·paradigm shift·YouTube leanback

Cargo Cult?

August 13th, 2010 · 2010

Is our government’s commitment to fibre to the home and high speed broadband little more than a ‘cargo cult’? That’s the question that’s being posed by the Motu Institute at University of Waikato and the Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation at Victoria University.

As reported by Commsday:

Building on a 2009 study by the Motu Institute which found that whilst the move from no broadband to slow broadband yielded productivity gains, the move from slow broadband to high speed fibre based broadband had ”no discernable additional effect” Howell and Grimes have now gone further. In a recent paper “Feeding a Need for Speed or Funding a Fibre ‘Arms Race’?” they ask whether a broadband productivity paradox is now emerging that mirrors the more general paradox found within the ICT sector where massive investment has not yielded the expected productivity gains.

Chris Barton pours his own dose of cold water on the research in the NZ Herald:

Those who tut-tut that we can’t justify a fibre optic rollout in cost/benefit terms, or argue that the productivity gains from slow to fast broadband are negligible, betray a terrible lack of understanding of what this thing called the internet is.

Personally, we don’t care. We just want our fibre thanks, and decent speeds to bring the world closer to us. Let’s not get too hung up about little things like ROI.

→ No CommentsTags:fibre to the home·research·ultra fast broadband

Are You Overlooking the Oldies?

July 23rd, 2010 · consumers

Much of today’s marketing is aimed at the younger end of the population. Popular trading demographics include 20-39s, 20-44s 18-39s or 18-49s. If your target audience is really skewing older, you’ll daringly opt for those aged 25-54. Talk about covering all the bases.

However, as Nielsen USA has just reminded us, older folk not only have feelings, they have disposable dollars as well. In particular, the Baby Boomers (currently aged 46-64) “are an affluent group who adopt technology with enthusiasm (think about the number of parents or grandparents who regularly send e-mails or upload photos to Facebook and other sites). They have also shown a willingness to try new brands and products”.

In the US they spend 38.5% of FMCG dollars — yet less than 5% of advertising is targeted their way.

Nielsen points out these facts about Boomers:

Dominate 1,023 out of 1,083 consumer packaged goods categories

Watch the most video: 9:34 hours per day
Comprise 1/3 of all TV viewers, online users, social media users and Twitter users
Time shift TV more than 18-24s (2:32 vs. 1:32)
Are significantly more likely to own a DVD player
More likely to have broadband Internet access at home

The Nielsen analysis concludes: “At a time when most analysts are predicting much slower growth in consumer spending, manufacturers and marketers need to look at every opportunity to grow market share. Boomers can represent tremendous potential to those who know how to reach them.”

As Baby Boomers ourselves, we think it’s great to be ignored by marketers — we get to make our own choices and not have endless sales fluff thrust upon us. Putting on our marketing hats, however, we grudgingly admit there’s a lot of money left on the table if you’re not attempting to extract it from the older generation.

Realistically, however, we don’t imagine the industry at large will let the facts get in the way of a good youth-skewed marketing strategy.

→ No CommentsTags:Baby Boomers·demographics·target

Catching the Black Swans

July 23rd, 2010 · Trends, travel

The UK’s Office of National Statistics is reporting that 30% fewer British holidaymakers headed to New Zealand last year.That’s part of an overall drop in foreign travel by UK residents that saw 10.4 million fewer trips abroad in 2009.

Our own Ministry of Tourism (observing that major economic reforms in the UK and Europe are now inevitable and economic growth rates are likely to remain low over the next 6-12 months at least) forecasts a further 5% drop in UK visitors in 2010, an 8% increase next year (thanks in large part to the Rugby World Cup) and then a return to 2009 levels in 2012 and 2013.

Overall, however, in its just-released “Forecasts 2010-2016″ document, the Ministry is predicting a 3.7% increase in NZ inbound tourism for 2010 and a 6.8% increase in 2011.

According to that report, the long-term outlook has improved markedly in recent months due to the following factors:

A shorter, shallower global economic downturn than previously anticipated and the expectation of a more stable economic climate in 2011 and beyond

A range of new long-haul services operated by foreign carriers which will open up new markets and increase competition on key inbound routes.
The emerging long-haul low cost carrier model (e.g. Jetstar, AirAsia X) which is likely to deliver major benefits for remote locations like New Zealand.

The report notes that amongst the challenges that have faced the New Zealand tourism industry in recent years, “New Zealand’s share of voice has been diminished by competing destinations and an absence of promotional pedestals such as the Americas Cup and Lord of the Rings”.

In comparison, the projected improvement in tourism numbers is largely predicated on structural and economic changes rather than what we might call Black Swan factors (Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s label for high-impact, hard-to-predict and rare events). Which makes for more accountable forecasting, even if the results aren’t as headline-grabbing.

By definition, Black Swan events are rare and difficult to predict – and thus no basis for a solid business case, whether for a brand or a country.

However one of the measures by which Black Swan effects can at least be considered goes by the name of Scenario Planning. Call it the “What If?” strategy – asking a series of “What If?” questions to examine the different possibilities if various likely or unlikely events came to pass. The practical implications of a wide range of outcomes are explored, and appropriate responses considered, at least on a conceptual level.

And that can be well worth the effort, as much for a marketer as for a government official.

→ No CommentsTags:Black Swan·Tourism·Trends

The Old Order Changeth

July 23rd, 2010 · Television

Forgive us if we shed a tear for times gone by. Last month, for the first time since John Logie Baird had a bit of a brainwave, there were NO sales of analogue TV sets in the UK, according to the latest figures from Digital UK (the organisation responsible for helping viewers switch).

We suppose we shouldn’t feel too badly. In place of “any colour you like, as long it’s black and white” models (and their multicoloured successors), now our British brethren can purchase digitally enhanced versions that are sleeker, smarter, brighter and breezier — and come in a dazzling array of options and acronyms, including LCD, Plasma, OLED, SD, HD, 3D, 4K, 400Hz, internet-connected and even Skynet-ready Terminator T300 variants (still in the lab, we’re told). And, actually, most of those choices are available to us, too.

But there’s a price: not just planned but programmed obsolescence.

Where once we might have clung to our Philips K9 Colour sets for a decade or more, now we can expect to swap out our tellies every year or two just to keep up. That 46 inch might have been okay for the FIFA World Cup, but you’d better get serious for 2011 — we’re talking Rugby, you know. Anything less than 150 inches, 3D, and you’re just not a true Kiwi.

DIGITAL UPDATE

So the UK’s running out of analogue (they’re in a phased closedown mode, switching off region by region) and the US has already gone completely digital. How are we doing in Aotearoa?

A quick check with Freeview tells us that (at last quarterly count) 23% of us have Freeview-capable sets or set-top boxes in our home; and around 48% of households are now 100% digitally served by Sky.

We can’t quite add the two figures together and conclude that 71% of the country is now digital-ready, because many of those Sky homes have gone Freeview as well. Our own estimates suggest that the real unduplicated number is closer to 60%.

In other words, by our calculations 40% of Kiwi homes are still resolutely analogue. The Ministry of Culture and Heritage is apparently indulging in some more robust digital tracking analysis, quantifying the real numbers of luddites and bleeding-edgers out there, which we may find out in a month or so. Till then, we’ll stand by our calculator.

By the time the Government announces the analogue switch-off date (the announcement, not the switchoff, is expected in 2012), we’re picking that total digital penetration will be around the 75% mark. It’ll probably take another three or four years to get above 90% and minimise collateral casualties of the analogue kind when the final vacuum tube is unplugged.

UP, UP AND AWAY

Television’s on a bit of a roll at the moment, with TV spend figures in recovery mode (up 7.7% YOY for the second quarter, according to the Television Broadcasters’ Council) and overall viewing figures (per TVNZ) “at the highest levels for week 28 ever for All People 25-54″.

And we’ve recently spotted a couple of new channels hitting the airwaves – Asian channel TV33 on Freeview, Christian broadcaster DayStar on Sky. Clearly their backers still believe the old televisor has a future.

Guess we haven’t all switched our affections to YouTube, then.

→ No CommentsTags:digital television·Freeview·Sky·switchover

MarketingWeek.co.nz

News, Trends, Insights and Opinions for Kiwi Marketers

Consumer Protection Redux

August 13th, 2010 · Law

Digital: Gone Legit Yet?

August 13th, 2010 · Brainy Breakfast

Convergence Gets Real

August 13th, 2010 · Google TV

Cargo Cult?

August 13th, 2010 · 2010

Are You Overlooking the Oldies?

July 23rd, 2010 · consumers

Catching the Black Swans

July 23rd, 2010 · Trends, travel

The Old Order Changeth

July 23rd, 2010 · Television

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