TV viewing still strong

The Nielsen Company, New York, reported that television tuning during the 2006-2007 television year (September 18, 2006 to September 23, 2007) remained at the record levels set the previous year. Viewing nearly reached the record levels of a year ago, and the number of homes with digital video recorders (DVRs) more than doubled.

According to Nielsen, the total average time a household had a TV set tuned during the 2006-2007 television year was 8 hours and 14 minutes per day, the same amount of time as during the 2005-2006 season (September 19, 2005 to September 17, 2006) and a record high.

The average amount of television watched by individual viewers during the 2006-07 television year dipped by 1 minute per day to 4 hours and 34 minutes.

The number of households with digital video recorders has grown steadily over the past several years, and currently stands at 20.5 percent of Nielsen’s National People Meter sample. This is up from 17.2 percent in May 2007. When Nielsen began including households with DVRs in its samples in January 2006, DVR penetration was estimated to be approximately 8 percent of households.

Marketers can buy blog “buzz”

Marketing strategies that separate advertising and paid media from pure word-of-mouth tactics can be severely misguided, according to a study by the Nielsen Company, New York, which found that high blog interest or buzz around new product launches is tightly linked to paid media spending. The collaborative study was led by researchers from two Nielsen services - Nielsen BuzzMetrics and BASES.

After analyzing blog buzz volume, ad spending, purchase intentions and actual product sales, Nielsen found the best predictor of buzz for newly launched consumer-packaged goods (CPG) is a large advertising budget.

The study evaluated nearly 80 new CPG products across several subcategories, launched in the U.S. between 2005 and 2006. On average, the top 10 percent of products with the most buzz spent nearly $20 million on paid media for the launch. In contrast, the companies that generated the next 40 percent of blog buzz spent an average of $15 million and the companies that generated the bottom 50 percent spent an average of only $5 million.

Not all CPG subcategories and products generated buzz at the same level. In fact, 10 percent of brands accounted for 85 percent of total CPG buzz in the study. Over-the-counter drug brands have higher buzz, partly driven by consumers’ higher level of involvement with them. Edgy brands were also among the top 10 percent of products with the most buzz.

Buzz tends to occur very early in relation to a new product launch, with peaks in buzz preceding peaks in sales two-thirds of the time in the launches studied. For the select products that generate substantial buzz, this study provided evidence that buzz volume can positively influence sales. In a regression-based sales forecasting experiment, incorporating actual buzz levels can result in accuracy improvements to forecasting models of as much as 20 percent, Nielsen claims. As more cases are available, further work will be done to adapt BASES forecasting models to accommodate buzz.

While a formal model for predicting buzz is not yet available, some factors appear to have predictive value. Beyond media spend and distribution, category familiarity (as indicated by higher purchase frequency) and product distinctiveness show value when attempting to anticipate or predict buzz. The full report - “The Origin & Impact of CPG New Product Buzz” - is available at no charge at http://nielsenbuzzmetrics.com.

FGs give mattress makers sleepless nights

As reported by Furniture Today’s David Perry, focus groups have helped execs in the bedding industry see how prospective mattress shoppers really feel about the purchase process. Some nightmares are likely to ensue.

Held as part of a national promotional tour undertaken by furnishings maker Leggett & Platt, the sessions painted a bleak picture on key issues such as retail bedding sales associates and how they are perceived. At one of the sessions, for example, the all-female panel gave sales associates failing grades.

As the L&P delegation watched and listened on the other side of the glass, Kurt Ling, president of Atlanta-based Customer Kinetics, led the groups, asking the women what they recalled about the last person who had sold them a mattress. “Sharky,” “pushy” and “a used car salesman” were some of their responses.

Each of the focus groups consisted solely of women, who are viewed as the key decision makers in the mattress purchase process.
The focus group that zeroed in on sales associates found few positive feelings about them - or the mattress shopping experience. Ling asked the women what emotions they were feeling before they walked into a mattress store. One woman said she felt “excited“ about the prospect of shopping, but another said she had a sense of “drudgery” and a third reported feeling “indifferent.” Perhaps the strongest comment came from the woman who said, “They [the sales associates] are going to be swarming over me.”

The women had various criticisms of mattress salespeople, saying they act like robots, don’t connect with them on an emotional level, recite sales pitches, steer them to the most expensive beds and accept kickbacks from manufacturers.

The women indicated that the sales associates were more focused on meeting their own needs - making the most money on each sale - than in meeting customers’ needs. “I want to know that a salesperson is thinking about me,” one consumer said.

Reflecting on what he had learned from the focus groups, Mark Quinn, group executive vice president of sales and marketing in L&P’s bedding group, said he has a renewed appreciation for the fact that consumers buy mattresses for various reasons. “This is not just a logical decision these people have to make. It is an emotional one as well. We need to understand how to communicate with consumers on that level and shine a light on the fact that the mattress-buying decision could make a huge difference in their life and play a big part in improving their quality of life.” 

“Mattress Retailing 101: Consumers: Sales Associates Don’t Meet Their Needs,” Furniture Today, October 19, 2007