The use of ad effectiveness measurements to buy and sell spots on the networks is one of the biggest trends in the TV ad industry. Lois Miller, President of Nielsen IAG Automotive, explained this new advertising “currency” to the Nielsen Wire, and why it’s become an important tool for marketers in the auto industry.
Q: An article in the latest BusinessWeek explains how program engagement and advertising effectiveness measurements are changing the way companies place their ads. How is Nielsen helping to change the game of TV advertising?
Lois Miller: Nielsen’s TV …

While gas prices in the U.S. have fallen by nearly half since May 2008, online interest in hybrid vehicles remains strong. The new 2010 Honda Insight was just released in March and is generating online interest from a younger audience than the Prius. The demographic composition of a hybrid shopper is moving closer to the mainstream vehicle shopper’s profile.
Some insights on the Insight
The 2010 Honda Insight is having a tough time breaking out of the Prius’ shadow as the majority of consumers often compare the two vehicles. However, …

By Joe Colacurcio
Recently, several online automotive enthusiast blogs have taken unique opportunities to directly engage with their audiences via live, combined chats, integrating commonly utilized platforms such as Twitter.com and the blogs themselves. This type of direct engagement shows the continually evolving potential for such enthusiast channels to form new “touch points” and influence online consumers in new ways.
On February 18, 2009, editors of the blogs Autoblog.com, Jalopnik.com, and KickingTires.com joined up for a live chat with online automotive enthusiasts to facilitate discussion and field questions regarding the viability plans …

Advertising expenditures dropped 2.6% overall last year, according to data released today by The Nielsen Company. “Given the state of the U.S. economy, a decline in ad spending was expected, but it’s not as bad as it could have been,” said Annie Touliatos, VP of Sales Development for Monitor-Plus, Nielsen’s ad tracking service. “The campaign season and the Summer Olympics were two big events that had a tremendous impact on advertising, especially on TV buys.”
The automotive industry’s ad spending fell hardest in 2008. The industry slashed its spending by almost …

Julie Enzweiler
On January 26, 2009 President Obama announced that emission standards could be decided at a state level. This decision has spurred on an extremely heated debate online among all communities.

Forty-two percent are positive towards President Obama’s decision, predominately driven by the Environmental communities, while 44% are negative.

Consumers provide in-depth reasoning behind their belief on reversing the Bush administration’s emissions ruling; however, there is a significant amount of confusion on the number of potential emission standards the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) would need to adhere to. Most consumers …

Within the whirlwind of negative news regarding the economy and the advertising outlook, I found a significant, welcome trend in the IAB’s recent revenue report covering the first half of this year. I’m scratching my head trying to understand why more hasn’t been made of this, because it portends hugely positive things for the online space.
The IAB recently announced a 15.2% year-over-year growth rate for Internet advertising for the first half of 2008. When you dissect the 15.2% number, some interesting details emerge. Out of nine industries tracked, only four …