Intelligence Briefs

Domestic ad spend for the pharmaceutical and healthcare category is forecast to be $11.1 billion this year, WARC notes. What does this mean for brands, consumers and the healthcare system? The research firm took a look, and has this report.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting partnered in a study designed to better understand how young people are engaging with media today. Roughly 50 tweens and teens were asked, among other things, how they find new shows, apps, or videos. Their findings conclude that young people crave authenticity as they grapple with the issues of today.

Esteemed GroupM Global President of Business Intelligence Brian Wieser has singled out three key areas that have been transformed the most for his firms clients over the past months. While e-commerce and "responsible investing" are two of these areas, it is the third — linear and Connected TV — that deserve the industry's attention.

Today we take a dip into the RBR+TVBR Mailbag, which includes a letter that was worth sharing with our readers. The topic: the lack of presets on a brand-new Sport Utility Vehicle's snazzy OEM in-dash entertainment system. According to this industry CEO, it's a problem. Is this leader overreacting?

Standard Media Index's Q1 2021 "Anglo Market Report" takes a deep dive into ad trends across North America, Australia and New Zealand, and the United Kingdom but not Ireland. In these locales, SMI finds, combined ad spend has lifted 4% above the total recorded in Q1 2020 and 1% above the pre-COVID Q1 2019 period.

"A year after most of us were forced to work from home, I cringe when I hear from online meeting managers that they still struggle to get participants to turn on their cameras," says noted communications and PR veteran Rosemary Ravinal. "Speaking to a black tile on screen is a morale crusher." These tips could aid in your virtual team building needs.

"The equity markets have transitioned from looking to buy COVID winners in early to mid-2020 to seeking re-opening plays post the announcement of new successful vaccines last November to this current amorphous period of aimless drift," notes Analyst Michael Nathanson. "In our world, the question is what should media and internet investors do now?"

While the "whip antenna" on two General Motors truck lines gets attention for the one and only reason the automotive company kept it there for its newest models, GM is also attracting eyeballs for something that could eventually impact in-car audio consumption. Self-driving vehicles are coming.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives have reached full tilt across Corporate America. Now, there is a growing realization that "DEI," or D&I, action is no replacement for marketing and advertising to ethnic consumers. That's the crux of a statement being sent by the Hispanic Marketing Council today to Fortune 1000 Chief Marketing Officers and the media.

U.S. broadband providers are carrying considerable momentum out of the pandemic despite increased competition and impending service maturity with penetrations nearing 90% of occupied households. That's according to the updated forecast from Kagan.

In the view of American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Mark Jamison, White House control of FCC regulatory analysis is a bad idea. A better idea, he says, is to set transparent standards for such analyses, including public review.

As you read this, our Editor-in-Chief's mother-in-law is driving from South Florida to New York, as thousands of Snowbirds do each Spring. In years past, she could be tuning to a multitude of radio stations in between CDs. Today? Nope. This begs the question if Radio is missing out by not courting highway travelers, as it desires to be more local than ever.

In an investor note, Craig Moffett discusses how, for the first few months of the year, investors focused on the threats to Cable. "All the talk was of fiber builds, fixed wireless broadband, and regulatory risks," he says. "In recent weeks, the narrative has turned."

How did it go for popular audio streaming company Spotify in the first quarter of 2021? Futuresource Consulting lead market analyst for music and audio Alexandre Jornod digested the numbers early today from London, and offers up the details.

International marketing intelligence service WARC's latest Global Advertising Trends report has been released. In it, WARC outlines "the new, long-term shifts in e-commerce, social media, online video and gaming for brands and consumers." What's the key takeaway for broadcast media executives? Linear television advertising plummeted.