Jon Gibs
Last week I was on a great panel at DPACIII on the changing nature of online adverting. There were a lot of good case studies on what has worked up to this point. There were some interesting points both from friends and competitors (and those who are both) about the role of creative executions in the effectiveness process. I chose to spend my time a bit differently; I think this post on the digiday blog sums it up: Online Advertising is Broken.

CBS’s “CSI” and “Flashpoint Thursday Special” were the number one and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV Thursday, May 21, 2009 with 9.9 and 7.4 million average viewers.
FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance-Thursday” was ranked second with 8.8 million average viewers.

While Americans have always enjoyed television, high definition (HD) TVs are opening a new chapter in that historic love affair. Not since color TV was introduced more than 50 years ago has a new TV technology been so rapidly adopted. And despite the recession, Americans seem willing to continue to spend their hard-earned money on this new technology.
As of February 2009, slightly more than one-third of American TV homes had at least one HDTV, a marked increase from November 2008, when 29.2 percent of homes had one, and …

Despite recent optimism about a turnaround in the global economy, consumer activity in the United States and China showed significant declines during the month of March. The change was led by a continued decrease in shopping trips and consumer transactions, according to the Nielsen Economic Current scorecard. The U.S. decline may be partially attributed to the Easter holiday occurring in March last year, while it took place in April this year. Similarly, the drop in China may have been affected by the Chinese New Year (a high sales peak), which …

FOX’s “American Idol-Wednesday” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for May 20, 2009. The show drew just over 28.8 million average viewers Wednesday night.
CBS’s “Criminal Minds” was the second-ranked program with approximately 14.0 million average viewers while NBC’s “Law And Order” rounded out the top three with 6.7 million average viewers.

Americans may choose to consume video on the “best screen available,” yet traditional TV remains the screen of choice.
The recent results of Nielsen’s Three Screen Report – a quarterly analysis from Nielsen’s Anywhere Anytime Media Measurement initiative (A2/M2) – show that the average American watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month at home, a 1.2% increase from last year. In addition, the 131 million Americans who watch video on the Internet watch on average about 3 hours of video online each month at home and work. …

Web sites like Drugstore.com have been on the scene in the U.S. for several years now. But Germans have now taken to the convenience of ordering over-the-counter (OTC) medications over the Internet. According to Nielsen new MailTrack Pharma service, nearly 48 million OTC packs were sold through mail-order pharmacies in 2008 in Germany, accounting for 5.2 percent of total sales volume. On a value basis, share is even higher, with 7.3 percent or €521 million in sales.
“These numbers confirm the acceptance and attractiveness of mail order. Indeed, one in two …

FOX’s “American Idol-Tuesday” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for May 19, 2009. The show drew just over 23.8 million average viewers Tuesday night.
ABC’s “Dancing W/Stars Results” was the second-ranked program with 20.3 million average viewers while CBS’s “The Mentalist” rounded out the top three with 16.8 million average viewers.

Toyota is tops when it comes to positive brand advocacy among major automotive brands, according to Nielsen Online’s new “Brand Advocacy Quotient” research. This quarterly measurement of consumer advocacy looks at online survey data and customer experiences shared through online buzz. Results, based on responses from more than 2,000 consumers, are indexed on a scale of -100 to 100.

Thanks to raves about its quality, size, style and dealer experience, Toyota achieved the highest rating of 69 followed by Honda (68), Lexus (68) and Acura (67).
Creating a positive brand image online …

2008 was a year of highs and lows for China – the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing were a monumental achievement while the Sichuan earthquake in May was tragedy.   The economy recorded 9 percent growth – the first year of single-digit growth since 2003 and below the average rate of 9.8 percent in the past 30 years.  Contrary to experiences in other countries, metrics actually rose in the last quarter of 2008: industrial output, private consumption, retail sales and bank lending all increased.  For the whole year, ad spending posted …