Companies that harness social media to collect customers’ feedback on products and services aren’t just ahead of the curve — they’re part of the “contribution revolution,” Pete Blackshaw, Nielsen Online Executive Vice President, argues in his latest Ad Age column.
Blackshaw cites a recent Harvard Business Review article by Scott Cook, founder-chairman of software developer Intuit, that credits customer participation with generating “tangible enterprise value.”
Intuit, Blackshaw notes, has created an innovative user-participation model that places “Live Community” user forums on every page of its TurboTax software.
Intuit has also put company resources …

As reported by Nielsen Online, YouTube delivered roughly 5.3 billion total video streams for the month of September, followed by Fox Interactive Media  with 242.4 million streams, and Yahoo! with 212.6 million.

Rank
(by total
video streams)
Brand
Total Streams
(000)
Unique Viewers
(000)

1
YouTube
5,352,898
81,865

2
Fox Interactive Media
242,428
19,250

3
Yahoo!
212,626
22,053

4
MSN/Windows Live
164,776
10,975

5
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network
162,924
6,148

6
hulu
142,261
6,323

7
ESPN
127,794
8,433

8
CNN Digital Network
117,690
9,441

9
MTV Networks Music
97,199
4,757

10
Disney Online
87,116
9,145

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 2008)

Note: Includes progressive downloads and excludes video advertising.  September results have been updated since their original release, reflecting the removal of video advertising streams from September Yahoo! results.

View the press release.

Good news for Sen. John McCain’s campaign: cheap, but effective TV advertising options abound, according to a new report by Nielsen PreView.
Chief among these thrifty advertising alternatives – the auto-themed Speed Channel, which Republicans are 52% more likely to watch, compared with the average American.
In comparison, Republican voters are 48% more likely to watch FOX News and 33% more likely to watch Country Music Television. 
The takeaway: well-placed cable advertising can reach core Republican constituents at a more favorable CPM.

In the home stretch leading up to the presidential election, Sen. Barack Obama is easily out-advertising his presidential opponent, Sen. John McCain.
In seven key swing states — Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Obama placed 150% more ad units (53,049 v. 21,106) than McCain between October 6 and October 22, 2008.
Obama’s advertising has been most prolific in Florida, where he ran 15,887 ads between October 6 and October 22, 2008, outpacing McCain’s 4,662 ads by 240%.

According to data from Nielsen IAG, a Bluefly tie-in with Bravo’s “Project Runway” was the most recalled new “hybrid” ad during the four weeks between September 15 and October 12, 2008.
Hybrid Ads include customized ads, branded promos, vignettes, interstitials, and micro-series where sponsor messaging is combined with program or entertainment content.
Recall refers to the percentage of television viewers who can recall, within 24 hours, a hybrid ad’s sponsor.

Rank
Brand
Hybrid Ad Description (Seconds)
Associated Program
Recall Index

1
Bluefly
You can win $10,000 shopping spree on Bluefly.com; Who should not go to Fashion Week?; get a Bravo …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Many in the media were hoping for a Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers World Series match-up, but the fans in Tampa and Philadelphia certainly aren’t complaining. 
In Philadelphia, the fourth largest U.S. TV market, 35.7% of all local households tuned in for the first game of the Series Wednesday night.  Viewership in the city of brotherly love has grown steadily throughout the playoffs.
That upwardly mobile TV ratings trend was also evident in the Tampa Bay market, where local …

Top social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn may be well-established, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped growing.
Nearly half of the biggest social networking sites are also among the fastest growing, according to data released Wednesday by Nielsen Online.
These top sites have also expanded beyond the youthful audience the social networking space initially captured — to find a place in older visitors’ professional lives.  Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reunion.com are most popular among visitors ages 25-34, 35-49, and 55-64, respectively, Nielsen reported.

Rank
(by Sept. YOY UA growth)
10 Fastest Growing
Social Networking Sites: Sept. 2008
Sept. 2007:
Unique Audience …

The troubled U.S. economy may be taking a toll on the growth of organic product sales, according to new data from Nielsen.
After several years of 20% to 30% sales growth, U.S. sales of organic products are showing the first signs of slowing.
While 52-week dollar sales of UPC-coded organics are up 21% vs. last year, the most recent four-week period ending October 4, 2008, shows growth of only 11.2%.  Last year, organics saw 27.1% sales growth during the comparable four-week period ending October 6, 2007.
Meanwhile, in Great Britain, organics sales growth has also slowed — to …

U.S. households earning $100,000 or more in annual income, spent more than twice as much on wine than average American consumers during the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2008.
Although they represent only 18.7% of U.S. households, high-income households represented 39.6% of wine dollar sales during the time period. 
Other categories skewing to households with high incomes include diet aids, liquor, and floral/gardening supplies.

Rank
(by highest index)
Top 10 Category Purchases:
U.S. Households
With $100,000+ Annual Income
Dollar Volume Index*

1
Wine
212

2
Diet Aids
158

3
Liquor
156

4
Floral / Gardening
155

5
Baby Needs
152

6
Snacks / Spreads / Dairy Dips
148

7
Baby Food
147

8
Skin Care Preparations
147

9
Fresh Produce
144

10
Juices / Refrigerated Drinks
142

*Note: “Dollar Volume …

With Nielsen Business Media’s Marketing to Men 18-34 conference convening in New York City Tuesday and Wednesday, Nielsen assembled a full round-up of TV, online, mobile, and gaming data to illuminate how these younger male consumers use media.
Television
-Men typically watch less TV than women their age — with one exception: male teens actually watch more TV than female teens.  Men ages 18 to 34 tend to watch more cable and pay channels, while women gravitate to broadcast networks.
-When it comes to sports programming on TV, men 18-34 are more attentive viewers (+12%) than women of the …