|
Dated: 01 January 2003
Seventy-five percent of U.S. consumers believe that the intrusion of advertising
into TV and movie content has increased over the past year — and many
find it a distraction, according to an exclusive Advertising Age survey.
The online poll, conducted by WPP Group's Lightspeed Research, found that consumers
of all ages felt that the line between advertising and TV programmes had become
increasingly fuzzy.
The result of the survey might surprise advertisers ramping up product-integration
initiatives as new technologies such as TiVo and other personal-video recorders
make it easier for viewers to zap traditional 30-second spots.
When consumers were asked whether they found product placement and integration
and other new genres, such as online ad films, entertaining or distracting,
62% said they were distracting, with only 38% finding them entertaining. In
a separate question, the majority, 72%, said the new genre was too pervasive,
though consumers in the prime advertiser demographic of ages 18 to 34, were
receptive: 46% of that group find it entertaining and 35% say it's not pervasive
enough.
"It's gratifying that consumers understand that advertising and editorial
[are] merging," said Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for
Digital Democracy. "The Chinese walls are being obliterated. The survey
is an indication that there is fertile ground for directing consumer anger and
getting the industry to clean up its act and be more vigilant about the relationships."
However, respondents to the online poll were almost evenly split about whether
advertisers' efforts to influence content was a good or bad thing. Fifty-two
percent -- a majority -- thought it was something that should cause worry; 48%
did not.
'Majority are concerne
Even so, Mr. Chester said, "in this sophisticated ad environment you'd
expect most people to say, 'What else is new,' but 52% is a very big number.
This shows the majority are concerned about it. This will give us ammunition
to be more bold in our criticism."
The Center for Digital Democracy was formed to encourage noncommercial and
public interest programming. Mr. Chester said the group will focus its fire
on food advertising directed at children in 2003.
The timing of the survey may have something to do with the responses of the
500 participants. It was conducted between Dec. 5-9, just weeks after the huge
box office opening of the latest James Bond franchise, Die Another Day. Ford
and Revlon's tie-ins with the movie attracted acres of press attention in the
weeks leading up to its Nov. 22 release.
Patti Ganguzza, president of New York-based AIM Productions, said neither advertisers
nor movie studios held as much power as actors, who routinely veto products
they don't like or wouldn't wear.
Ms. Ganguzza, who placed Post's Honeycomb Cereal in The Sopranos, said consumers
were no doubt more aware of product placement and integration because more and
more advertisers are opting to do it. "Consumers dislike it because their
defenses are down when they're following a storyline," she said. "They're
not sifting through placements." (HBO, however, said it does not accept
product placement.)
Recognizing that too many placements are a turnoff for viewers, Ms. Ganguzza
added, "I would never want the product placement industry to turn a sitcom
into a tattoo parlor."
As for PVR penetration, it was low among survey respondents, with only 3% reporting
they had T.V. or ReplayTV. But 63% of T.V. owners reported they skip commercials
all the time, as did 50% of Replay owners.
The survey of 500 participants was conducted Dec. 5-9 and has a margin of error
of 4.4%. It was commissioned with the intention of pinning down shifts in media
consumption over the past year, and it found more people are giving network
news a pass and instead using the Web as their primary source of news and information.
The number of people citing the Internet as the first place they turn to for
news has almost doubled over the past year, from 9% to 16%.
Only 31% of respondents cited network news as their primary news source, compared
with 36% last year. The changes were most dramatic among those in the 18 to
34 category, which showed a 10% drop within the past 12 months. Only 36% in
this age category continued to cite the network news as their primary news source.
Steve Marks, Lightspeed's national account director, said, "I think people
are turning to the Web more because it is more pervasive than a year ago; people
are surrounded by PCs and laptops. They're in an online environment more."
However, Mr. Marks doesn't think that network news is dead. He predicts the
Web will continue to grow as a primary news source, but will not break the 20%
barrier any time soon.
Respondents in the 35 to 44 age group are using cable TV less as a news source
than a year ago (22% vs. 26%), although those age 18 to 34, 45 to 54 and 55-plus
all said they are turning to cable TV more for news. Newspapers showed declines
among all respondents except those in the 35 to 44 age group, who reported a
2% increase in them as a primary news source.
More than half (52%) of respondents said they are spending the same amount of
time reading magazines as a year ago; 14% said they are spending more time reading
magazines and 34% were spending less time with titles.
By Claire Atkinson
Source AdAge.com
|
