A recent report by Nielsen concluded that the sum total of screens that occupy such public places as elevators, health clubs, gas pumps and movie theaters deliver a larger total audience than primetime television. The “Fourth Screen Network Audience Report” examines the impact of place-based media–what it refers to as the fourth screen–after televisions, computers and mobile devices. While at first blush the opportunities for direct marketers might seem limited by the venues and, in some cases, the lack of sound accompanying the sight and motion, it is yet another example of media fragmentation that cannot be ignored, and ought to be explored.
Who, What, Where, When, How
While the merits of direct response television media have traditionally been evaluated on the basis of cost-per-lead and cost-per-sale data, this is changing with the migratory habits of consumers to the web. With as much as 70 percent of total sales now occurring via Internet-based e-commerce, the ability to attribute specific consumer inquiry or buying behavior by television broadcast airing is being significantly eroded. In addition, many brand advertisers are using direct response as a hybrid of direct and brand image advertising, and seek to measure their efforts using traditional Madison Avenue yardsticks such as reach and frequency and cost-per-rating point. It is into this atmosphere that the new Nielsen report steps in, giving place-based networks the opportunity to compete head-to-head with broadcast and cable television networks.
 The initial report, which will be updated quarterly, measured audience data for 10 of the largest such networks including the dominant movie theater advertising networks NCM and Screenvision, bar and restaurant networks Zoom Social and AMI, even The Hotel Network, during the fourth quarter of 2009. Remarkably, these networks delivered audiences that ranged from roughly 9 to 35 million adults 18+ during the period measured and, collectively, at least one impression against half of the entire U.S. adult population (see chart).
Given the disparate manner in which the various networks are distributed and viewed, not to mention such variables as the size of screens and the ability for the consumer to control channel, sound and the like, the validity of the report has been questioned by some in the advertising community. For example in health clubs, not everyone who checked in at the front desk was counted among the audience, just the hearty folks huffing in front of the screens on cardio machines. A sampling of participating audience members were interviewed to extrapolate demographic data for each of the networks, much like Nielsen does with its in-home TV “Nielsen family” sampling.
Nonetheless, according to a Nielsen press release that quotes SVP Terrie Brennan, “For the first time ad buyers and sellers have a single source to evaluate digital place-based advertising networks in reaching key age and sex demographics, and compare these to other video sources such as TV.” And the numbers compared to TV are impressive, although not exactly apples-to-apples: as reported in The New York Times, a typical primetime TV spot delivers an average of 3 million adults 18+. That means the delivery of eyeballs from a monthly flight on the two largest in-cinema networks delivers an audience that is the equivalent of 20 commercial airings in primetime broadcast TV. The former aggregates repeated airings across the span of 30 days, much like cable TV broadcasters would combine audience data from multiple airings in its fledgling days when it could barely garner a Nielsen pulse.
 Act Now or Act Later?
Because DR media does not carry an audience guarantee liability for the broadcaster, it is heavily discounted by as much as 50 percent or more. It remains to be seen whether the place-based media outlets will be willing to conduct business on the same basis, particularly given the heady nature of this new Nielsen data. And while evaluating such opportunities strictly based on a cost per action seems unlikely to pay out in the traditional direct marketing sense, the idea that a single DRTV impression–regardless of length–is going to close the sale as it once could, seems quaint amid the modern universe of consumer choice and limitless access to opinion.
In today’s environment, multiple consumer touch points are the new necessity, and such place-based networks simply represent additional opportunities to reach and influence the public. Like direct response radio, locales that include dark cinemas and even elevators can become new venues for direct pitches where consumers will use their smart phones to punch in toll-free numbers they will then act upon later. Alternatively, the impression may convert to an online sale later, a scenario that will be challenging to measure, but one that reflects the new direct-to-consumer reality. Still, on a venue such as The Hotel Network, there’s no reason why a buyer might not call and order on the spot, as he or she sometimes does with a traditional DRTV buy.
Nielsen has plans to add other location-based networks to the mix that will hopefully include the ubiquitous screens in retailers such as Bed, Bath and Beyond, Costco and Walmart, that are so vital to “As Seen On TV” products. Given the compression of time in the product distribution life cycle from “exclusive TV offer” to the appearance of a product on the shelf at mass retailers, the ability to measure such opportunities with sophistication has already rendered the loop running on a combo 10-inch TV/DVD player obsolete.
Lest anyone think these opportunities sound far-fetched as a direct marketing proposition, recall that some 25 years ago cable was considered a joke. Today, Comcast is buying one of the crown jewels of that formerly dominant broadcast world, NBC. Times change–and so to the media usage habits of consumers–as evidenced by this latest Nielsen report. If history has taught the direct response community anything, it is this: as attention spans go wider, the opportunities expand as well.
Peter Koeppel is president of Koeppel Direct, a full-service direct response media buying agency based in Dallas. Contact Koeppel at (972) 732-6110, at pkoeppel@koeppelinc.com or twitter.com/DRTVBUYER.
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