With online consumer forums and personal blogs in ascendence, communications strategies are being redefined — and PR firms, for one, have to adapt. 
That’s the message Pete Blackshaw emphasized in a recent discussion with the editors of The Council of Public Relations Firms’ The Firm Voice. 
Blackshaw, Nielsen Online’s EVP of Digital Strategic Services, is the author of a new book, “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000” (Doubleday), which examines marketing in the era of empowered consumers. 
“I think PR firms are going to have to get much smarter and savvier about …

Mars Snackfood is introducing a new line of premium M&M’s, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The premium sweets, which have shed their traditional candy coating, come in five new flavors: mint chocolate, mocha, triple chocolate, raspberry almond, and chocolate almond. 
The Times reported that Mars hopes the new M&M’s will capitalize on the current demand for higher priced chocolate.  The story noted that Premium chocolate sales grew 17.8% for the year ended June 14, compared with 1.4% for non-premium chocolate, according to Nielsen.

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were, respectively, the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, August 6, 2008.
FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” was sandwiched between the two, in second place. 
ABC’s special presentation, “Primetime: China Inside Out,” also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
9,109,000

2
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED
FOX
8,960,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
7,028,000

4
GREATEST AMERICAN DOG
CBS
5,890,000

5
PRIMETIME:CHINA IN-OUT(S)-08/06/2008
ABC
5,367,000

6
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT 8/6(S)-08/06/2008
NBC
5,170,000

7
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
4,781,000

8
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS WED
UNI
4,625,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED
UNI
4,614,000

10
SUPERNANNY
ABC
4,169,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 6, 2008)

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of 8,960,000 viewers, while …

Most advertisers use demographic data to place their ads, but a new project at Nielsen aims to change that, Ad Age reported Wednesday.
Led by Jon Mandel (photo at left), the Nielsen Connect service mines data from Nielsen TV ratings panel members and matches it with comparable data from Nielsen’s consumer purchasing databases.
The resulting “fusion” data enables marketers to move away from demographic-based media plans and target consumers who use particular products.
That new approach allows advertisers to more directly influence consumer behavior, Mandel told Ad Age.
“What we are doing here is going …

To promote its Pure Life bottled water, Nestle is launching its first Hispanic-targeted marketing campaign, Adweek reported Wednesday.
Nestle’s campaign will feature Univision talk show host Cristina Saralegui as the spokeswoman for the brand.
Adweek noted that Nestle spent $30 million on Hispanic network and cable TV ads in 2007 — up from $20 million in 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
Read more about marketing to Hispanics in the U.S. in Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” newsletter.

Nearly 45% of U.S. and 31% of UK mobile video users will join the mobile audience for the 2008 Olympic Games, Nielsen Mobile reported Thursday. 
Nielsen’s data shows that U.S. and UK consumers are especially likely to view high-profile, short events, such as Track and Field and Gymnastics, on their mobile phones.  
The mobile Internet will also play a critical role in mobile Olympics viewing, with 23% of U.S. and 17% of UK mobile Internet users planning to track the Games through their phone browsers, according to Nielsen.
“Mobile media will change the …

The cost of advertising during the Olympics has increased by 40% in the 10 years since 1996, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Thursday. 
During the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, the average cost of a 30-second ad was $250,000.  In contrast, advertisers for the 2006 Torino Winter Games paid an average of $350,000 per 30-second ad.
Commercial time during Olympics Opening ceremonies has also increased in recent years, according to Nielsen. 
During the Opening Ceremony of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, NBC aired 35 minutes of commercial time.  That alottment jumped to 40 minutes during …

NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” again claimed the top Tuesday night slot by a wide margin.  The telecast, which drew an audience of 12.6 million viewers, placed first in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime broadcast TV programs for August 5, 2008.
CBS’s “NCIS” and ABC’s “Wipeout” were again ranked second and third, respectively, with 8.7 million viewers and 7.3 million viewers each.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT
NBC
12,611,000

2
NCIS
CBS
8,703,000

3
WIPEOUT
ABC
7,337,000

4
BIG BROTHER 10-TUE
CBS
6,445,000

5
CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD
NBC
6,121,000

6
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
5,929,000

7
HOUSE
FOX
5,558,000

8
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS TUE
UNI
4,767,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
4,692,000

10
I SURVED-JAPANESE GM SHOW
ABC
4,541,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 5, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an …

U.S. consumers are buying more wine in the $9 to $12 price bracket — with sales in this range up more than 12% from last year, according to Nielsen.
Noting that trend, the Chicago Tribune recently offered tips for selecting good but inexpensive wines. 
“With the economy nose-diving and costs rising, what we all really need is a good, cheap, drink,” Bill Daley, the Tribune’s food and wine critic, wrote Wednesday.

Vietnam is experiencing its highest inflation in more than a decade, but consumer confidence in the country is still relatively high, according to Nielsen. 
The Vietnam News Agency Bulletin reported Wednesday that the country ranked ninth in Nielsen’s recent survey of global consumer confidence.
The same study showed that Vietnam’s inflation rate climbed to 26.8% in June — compared with a rate of 8.3% a year ago.
“Although inflationary pressure will directly impact consumer behaviour within some product and service categories, mid-to long-term prospects in Vietnam are still very encouraging,” Aaron Cross, Managing Director …