Charlie Buchwalter, Nielsen Online
Having been to just about every ad:tech show during the last 10 years, I have to say that the show in San Francisco this week was one of the best ever. The Moscone West venue was great, the keynotes were superb, and sat through a number of panels with top-notch panelists and moderators. And there’s nothing better than reconnecting with some of the great friends I’ve made over the years in the interactive space.
The folks at socialmedia.com hosted the ad:tech Chairman’s reception Monday night, and I gave …

During a recession, the conventional wisdom may be that brands suffer as consumers look to reduce costs and save money.  But while private labels have shown solid growth in many categories, brands continue to grow.  According to Nielsen, 75 of Britain’s top 100 brands continue to increase sales.
Britain’s top brand? Coca-Cola, which racked up £969 million in sales in 2008. Following behind – and showing impressive 16 percent growth – was bread brand Warburtons, with sales of £710 million.
“A strong brand, which focuses on its core value proposition, can outperform …

The NCAA Tournament, March Madness, is one of the most celebrated sporting events in the U.S, providing a tremendous opportunity for advertisers to reach a wide and relatively affluent audience.
Nielsen’s Guide To March Madness, tracks a range of consumer and media information surrounding the event including advertising trends and demographic reach of the multi-week event. Ad buys for CBS’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament have risen steadily over the last five years – from $434 million in 2004 to $580 million in 2008 – a surge of almost 34 percent.  …

President-Elect Barack Obama’s “V.P. pick” text message remains the most notable example of short code marketing in the U.S.  
According to a report released Monday by Nielsen’s Telecom Practice, Americans should expect to see more text message marketing in the future.  Given the immense popularity of texting in the U.S. and abroad, it’s not surprising that marketers have ramped up their use of the medium to engage their customers — where there’s an audience, marketers are not far behind.

Product placements on primetime broadcast and cable TV programs fell by almost 15% on primetime programming during the first half of 2008, as compared with the same time period last year, Nielsen reported Monday.
Broadcast television placements grew by almost 12% between January and June of 2008, while placements on cable television declined by 20%.
Changes in program line-ups accounted for the growth of broadcast placements — and the decrease in cable placements. 

Among the many Olympics winners so far are a handful of advertisers, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Ads created especially for the Beijing Games by Coca-Cola, General Electric, Oreo, and Visa were among the best-remembered and most-liked commercials during the first week of the Beijing Olympics, according to Nielsen IAG, which uses an online panel to track the performance of advertising.
A Coca-Cola ad in which animated birds use straws swiped from Coke bottles to construct a nest resembling the Olympic stadium in Beijing was especially popular with Olympics viewers, Nielsen reported.
An …

Olympics advertising featuring Chinese athletes like basketball player Yao Ming and hurdler Liu Xiang appear to be paying off for advertisers.
In a Nielsen survey of Chinese consumers conducted in May 2008, Olympics ads featuring celebrity endorsements by Chinese athletes were among the most recalled. 
Liu Xiang’s Coca-Cola ads were most frequently recalled by consumers — 62% remembered them, according to Nielsen.  Yao Ming’s China Unicom and Coca-Cola ads also proved memorable — 48% recalled them.  Meanwhile, diver Guo Jing Jing’s Coca-Cola ads were recalled by 36% of those surveyed.
But despite their …