Adbiz

More than a year later, Zoom burnout persists as virtual meetings have become a daily fixture of remote and hybrid work environments. This column from Rosemary Ravinal offers a half-dozen ways to combat Zoom fatigue.

During the 2020 Christmas season, a well-known brand of TexMex-style food products integrated some of its offerings into a Lifetime yuletide yarn. The products also found their way into one of Food Network’s top cooking programs.  Did those product placements translate to a bump in sales?

There aren't much week-to-week changes among the top paid advertisers using spot radio to reach consumers. That's a sign of media commitment to AMs and FMs. But, given the high number of iHeartRadio promotional spots seen, it also points to more opportunities for brands to take advantage of radio's hyped "reach" factor.

Hybrid shopping, localized travel, a focus on health and wellness, the rise of challenger brands and an increase in e-commerce in areas of higher infection, are some of the buying behaviors in the U.S. that remain in a post-pandemic era. Here's what this may mean for your advertising trends in 2022, courtesy of Ascential-owned research firm WARC.

Stay-at-home ordinances and remote work mandates eliminated the daily commute. As a result, Spanish-language in-car radio listening and ad revenue "plummeted" during the early months of the global COVID-19 2020 shutdown.  Now, dollars are surging, says Entravision's Angie Balderas.

Video communication engages two senses of our five: sight and sound.  But how can we stimulate the other three with the existing digital technology?  Longtime public relations pro Rosemary Ravinal says it can be done through the memory of how things taste, feel and smell. "Video calls favor what we see over what we hear by a ratio of 90 to 10%," she says. 

Small business, restaurants, retailers and numerous other industries are facing a labor shortage. Thus, Media Monitors says, looking at who’s advertising today on radio, broadcast television and local cable provides insights into the top companies looking to hire.

WARC has teamed up with iHeartMedia for a just-released study on media consumption and audio investment in the U.S. According to the report, "The Investment Gap: Understanding the Value of Audio," domestic consumers spend 31% of their media time with audio. But, brands allocate just 8.8% of their media budget on "audio," let alone Radio.

As social media and technology companies face criticism for not doing enough to stem the flow of misleading information on their platforms, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that some 48% of U.S. adults get news on social media sites “often” or “sometimes,” a 5 percentage point decline from 2020. 

What you wear during a virtual meeting can bring your confidence and executive presence to another level, veteran PR professional and "Zoom expert" Rosemary Ravinal notes in this column. "Large numbers of office workers continue to work remotely with video conferencing at the heart of the workday," she says. "So, the image you project can be critical to your success."

Why are you not you using a green screen when you Zoom? Public relations veteran Rosemary Ravinal recently conducted an informal poll on LinkedIn. What did she learn? More than 80% of respondents do not use a green screen with a virtual background. "That was disappointing, but not surprising," she says in this column.

What are some of the biggest brands using spot television and spot cable to best connect with consumers, and grow their sales? The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Reports are out for the week ending September 5. Click here to learn in just 30 seconds what categories and products are leading the way with viewers.

In this InFOCUS Podcast, Envy Gaming CEO Adam Rymer answers key questions many including our editor-in-chief has about eSports and its future, in particular for those on Wall Street seeking a real revenue driver for an industry seeking ways to combat declining traditional ad revenues. LISTEN HERE

In this RBR+TVBR Observation, our editor-in-chief takes a bold step by asking some big questions about the quest by the NAB and a host of radio broadcasting companies for more deregulation. Is it really what will help the radio industry solve its ad sales ills?

“The value of this new program cannot be overstated,” said Michelle Duke, NAB’s chief diversity officer. “The last year has made it clear that businesses need to take a more active role in creating and developing more inclusive and diverse workplaces, and we are excited for the role NAB has to lead a culture of change.”