Article Abstract
News and notes on marketing and research: DVRs; grocery stores; in-bar advertising and TV
Belly up to the bar TV
In-bar advertising has traditionally conjured up images of neon-lit signs promoting beverages for sale. The new bar landscape features a wide range of non-endemic brand messages designed to take advantage of the young, upwardly-mobile crowds these establishments attract.
A significant number of American consumers are exposed to bar-based media on a regular basis. More than one-half of U.S. residents age 21+ have been to a bar or lounge in the past month, and 32 percent of adults have been to a bar in the past week, according to New York research company Arbitron’s Bar Media Report, which was generated in conjunction with Edison Media Research, Somerville, N.J. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of young adult men age 21-34 have been to a bar in the past month; 43 percent have been to a bar in the past week.
Bar visitors may be more difficult to reach through traditional TV ad campaigns because they are more likely than the average adult to watch TV shows on alternative platforms including DVD, Internet download, online (streaming) and video-on-demand. Bar visitors are also more likely to use a DVR (digital video recorder) when they do watch programs on their TV at home. A considerable amount of bar visitors also watch TV outside the home - while at the bar. More than 40 percent of weekly bar visitors have watched TV in a bar in the past 30 days. Half of all young adult men age 21-34 have watched television in a bar in the past month.
Those exposed to bar media are more likely to listen regularly to online radio, subscribe to satellite radio and own an iPod or other MP3 player. Subsequently, bar visitors spend more on digital music purchased through online retailers such as iTunes; 19 percent of all adults age 21+ have purchased music for download; and more than one-quarter of weekly bar visitors have purchased songs and albums online.
Can your DVR improve your marriage?
DVR (digital video recorder) owners have ranked the DVR as the second-most essential household technology item, and more than 70 percent report that they cannot live without it, according to a recent study conducted by London research company Consumer Analysis Group on behalf of The NDS group, a Middlesex, U.K., digital technology company. The survey has revealed DVRs as the second-most indispensable item available today, the first being mobile phones. The survey involved 
1,012 people from the U.K., U.S., Italy and Australia, age 18-70, who have a DVR at home.
DVR owners watch on average slightly more than four hours of recorded and live television a day, and nearly 61 percent of consumers think that a DVR is much easier to operate than a VCR. Almost 58 percent of DVR owners find they are watching more interesting TV programs, and many respondents with only one DVR are likely to purchase a second one. Eighty-nine percent of Americans, 81 percent of British, 80 percent of Australians and 78 percent of Italians reported that the DVR has improved how much they enjoy watching television.
When asked to rank relative importance of a list of household appliances, apart from the washing machine and the microwave oven, no other household item was deemed more essential than the DVR in today’s homes. Intriguingly, the vast majority of respondents would rather give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio and MP3 player than their DVR.
The survey also reveals that over 60 percent of DVR owners with a partner felt that having a DVR had improved their relationship. In the U.S., U.K. and Australia, respondents attributed this improvement to having the ability to watch their own programs while sharing their favorites with each other. Surveyed Italians feel that their improved relationship happiness is due to the DVR allowing them to plan their viewing better. More than three-quarters of DVR owners in the U.S., Italy and Australia with families also feel that having a DVR has improved their family relationships, eliminating arguments over TV and allowing for the whole family to join the dinner table. In Britain, around two-thirds of DVR owners felt this way.
Grocery stores evolve via high-tech makeovers
As shoppers across the U.S. scramble to save money, grocery store chains are losing market share to supercenters and warehouse clubs. But Stop & Shop, a Quincy, Mass., grocery store, and Maryland-based grocery chain Giant are fighting back by introducing a new logo, additional products, updated store décor and a handful of high-tech innovations designed to help shoppers feel they’re managing their grocery budgets better.
Consumers got their first look at the changes at the Giant store in Bethesda, Md., in August 2008, but the changes will roll out fully at both chains, owned by Dutch retailer Ahold, over the next year. Among the new introductions are expanded private-label offerings, an increased number of fresh prepared foods, including soups, new fresh-flavored rotisserie chickens and more hot and cold side dishes. The store will also offer shoppers a handheld scanner device they can use throughout the store that checks prices, keeps a running total and generates brand-related coupons for products as they shop. The company is also making a bigger investment in convenience: a Delivision kiosk allows shoppers to place deli orders when they enter the store, so they don’t have to wait as long in line.
As part of the updates, the company is also testing a family-friendly lane. In many stores, that simply means that the checkout lane is tabloid- and candy-free and offers healthy snacks such as yogurt, animal crackers and bottled water. The company describes the changes as “a further step in Ahold’s global strategy to create powerful local consumer brands,” adding that it shows the company is “committed to providing great food and meal solutions at low prices every day.”
