NASCAR Fans Embrace Patriotic Brand Loyalty

While the American auto industry is no doubt facing an uncertain future, the Big Three can look to NASCAR for some positive news. Not only are the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Standings all driving American, but also NASCAR fans, long known for their brand loyalty, are staying patriotic when it comes to their vehicles.

According to data from Nielsen’s People Meter sample fused with the respondents of MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer, NASCAR race viewers in Q1′09 were more likely than the average consumer to drive American:

• Drivers of Chevrolet, sponsor of Tony Stewart and Hendrick Motorsports, had 70% higher ratings compared to the composite.
• Drivers of Ford, who sponsors one of NASCAR’s brightest stars in Carl Edwards, had 64% higher ratings.
• Drivers of Dodge, which is now partially owned by a Fiat, is still considered by many an American car, and had 59% higher ratings.

It should be no surprise that NASCAR’s racing teams work closely with the automakers not just under the hood, but also on ways to increase sponsorship visibility - including car signage, uniform apparel, and training the drivers to weave in audio mentions to their interviews - all in hopes of moving the needle when their fans head out to their local car dealership.

As the Big Three American automakers attempt to change public perception and get their cars back on the right track, NASCAR may be the best sponsorship vehicle.

Some Bright Spots For The Auto Industry

Two of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers have gone bankrupt.  Car sales continue to decline.  This would appear to be the most challenging period for the automotive industry in its history.  But despite the gloom, there are some bright spots for auto makers, according to new research from The Nielsen Company.

The re-designed Forester boosted sales for Subaru, while Hyundai and Kia launched new models appealing to younger drivers.  Existing models, such as the Sorento and Sedona posted strong sales growth (69% and 48%, respectively).  And Lincoln was the only U.S. brand to outperform the market (although sales remained in negative territory on a year-to-year basis).   Foreign automakers benefitted disproportionately from escalating gas prices because consumer perception that their vehicles, especially hybrids and diesel models, are more fuel-efficient.  Hybrids remain an exciting but emerging segment, as consumers take their time investigating the genre.  Meanwhile, consumer interest in the basic economy vehicle was solid when gas prices were high, but dropped sharply once gas prices dropped.

Read more about the positive developments in the auto industry in 2008, as well as consumer behavior with respect to shopping for and buying vehicles in the July edition of Consumer Insight

Glenn Beck, Stephanie Plum Series Lead Latest Book Sales

For the week of June 22-28, 2009, TV host Glenn Beck’s book, Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine topped the non-fiction charts as books from Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen and Fearless Fourteen dominated the fiction charts. Both authors also locked up the top three spots in the audio book category.
Continue Reading This Post »

Allergy Advertising Not Catching on as Much This Year

TV viewers seem more immune to pitches for allergy medications this spring when compared to the year before, according to a new study from Nielsen IAG. Overall, recall among allergy sufferers aged 25-54 for all the ads on air from January through May this year was 10 points lower than during the same period a year ago.

That’s not to say every ad in the category was unmemorable. An ad for Claritin featuring Nascar’s Carl Edwards was judged slightly more memorable than last year’s top ad for the category featuring the Nasonex bee. Still, the Claritin ad failed to motivate customers to consider Claritin to the same degree as the Nasonex ad.
Continue Reading This Post »

800,000 Homes Have Upgraded to DTV Since June 12 Transition

Since the June 12 switch to digital television, more than 800,000 homes have readied themselves to receive digital broadcasts. As 400,000 new homes upgraded in the last week, this now leaves only 1.7 million, or 1.5%, of U.S. homes classified as “completely unready” for digital TV.

% Of Homes Completely Unready For DTV

Interview: Mediaweek Freaks Out with MediaFreakBlog

With a focus on information and irreverence, Mediaweek has launched MediaFreakBlog.com, joining sister sites Adfreak and Brandfreak. Jim Cooper, Executive Editor, AdweekMedia and editor of Mediafreak explains the strategy behind Nielsen’s most recent blog offering.

What’s the goal of Mediafreak?
Jim Cooper: Mediaweek’s mantra has always been cover the content and follow the dollars, and Mediafreak will operate under the same mission-just in blog form. Our staff writers and freelance contributors will bring their deep institutional knowledge to bear to deliver an insightful, informative and entertaining counterpart to Mediaweek and Mediaweek.com.

Who is the audience? Is it broader than Mediaweek?
JC: Mediafreak is designed to appeal to a wide ranging audience of media professionals as well as a consumer and enthusiast audience interested in all things television, publishing and digital media.

How does it differ from the other blogs, Adfreak and Brandfreak?
JC: Mediafreak will solely cover the ad-support media business and, with our writers expertise and personalities, will be both distinct from and complimentary to its sister blogs.

Are you going to break news or is it largely to riff on the news?
JC: We will break news on Mediaweek.com and use Mediafreak as place where that news can be looked at through the prisms of context, insight, humor, outrage and a dash of snark — but we don’t want it to be gratuitously nasty in tone. We hope the blog will diversify our coverage of the media industry.

Brandfreak has an obsession with the brand Snuggies, what are some likely targets in Mediafreak articles?
JC: Well, we’ll always keep an eye on the general ad marketplace throughout the year, but issues like the future of media measurement and transition from traditional media to digital will always be broad themes behind our filings. The uncertain future of magazines, local broadcasting and newspapers will be ripe fruit for us to pluck as well. But the media industry is a vast waterfront to cover and fodder for Mediafreak will range from riffs on TV Land’s reality series The Cougar to insight on Supreme Court rulings. We’ll try to get freaky with it all.

Visit: Meadifreakblog.com

Primetime Broadcast Ratings, June 30, 2009

NBC’s “America’s Got Talent-Tuesday” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for June 30, 2009. The show drew just over 13.1 million average viewers Tuesday evening.

CBS’s “NCIS” and “The Mentalist-Tuesday” rounded out the top three with 10.8 and 10.5 million average viewers.

Continue Reading This Post »

Fourth of July Hot Dogs: The Latest Economic Indicator?

The effects of the recession may be seen on the BBQ grill this Fourth of July. Sales of hot dogs have been going up in recent months while register rings for more expensive bratwurst and knockwurst have been declining, according to new research from The Nielsen Company. This is a reversal of sales trends the past several years.

July 3rd traditionally has the highest sales volume for all three types of meat. Consumers were 50 percent more likely to buy hot dogs during the four-week period ending on July 12, 2008 than any other time over the year. The trend is even more pronounced for bratwurst and knockwurst last year, with consumers 106 percent more likely to buy the thicker sausages during the same period. Continue Reading This Post »

Survey: Call for More Corporate Responsibility in India

Indians are increasing their expectations of what companies should be doing with respect to corporate social responsibility (CSR) according to the latest Nielsen India Corporate Image Monitor.  CSR can be an effective way of building goodwill for a company, and survey respondents most admired Reliance Industries, the nation’s largest conglomerate, Tata Motors and Tata Steel.  These companies are most closely associated with promoting education, improving healthcare infrastructure and promoting environmental consciousness.

According to the survey, half of respondents said that better healthcare infrastructure is the top social issue that they believe corporations should tackle, followed by fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and cancer (38%) and education and adult literacy (30%).  Furthermore, 86 percent identified “countering terrorism” as a CSR initiative that should be taken up by corporate India.  Environmental protection is now expected and no longer identified as a CSR initiative by respondents.

More than half of respondents felt that corporations are honest toward their CSR activities, while one-third are skeptical of the motivations behind CSR, believing them to be simply publicity stunts.

“The public’s expectations of companies are on the increase as stakeholders see the significant impact they are having in various spheres, be it in educations, healthcare infrastructure or environmental conservation.  Their confidence in organizations undertaking socially beneficial projects is greater than their confidence in other channels that try to bring about positive social change,” said Vatsala Pant, associate director, consumer research at Nielsen.

The Nielsen Corporate Image Monitor is an annual survey of 1,800 people from a range of occupations in the top seven metropolitan areas.  Stakeholders range from the general public to media and policy makers.

Primetime Broadcast Ratings, June 29, 2009

CBS’s “Two And A Half Men”, “CSI: Miami” and “The Big Bang Theory” swept the top three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV with an average audience of approximately 9.3, 8.0 and 7.9 million viewers Monday, June 29, 2009.

Continue Reading This Post »