I’m in a bad mood today. Could be post holiday doldrums, could be post move letdown, who knows. I decided that rather than stick around and snap at everyone for everything, I would break the cycle, get out and try to attitude adjust.

What could be better than to head out to a local eatery with a good book and enjoy a nice relaxing lunch? And it did seem to help. I even declined the waitress’ invitation to try an extremely tempting bloody mary – opting instead for the more sensible virgin mary. And it still helped. 

Even though it is 18 degrees out I decided to take a bit of a post luncheon stroll. I found myself in a local gift shop and selected a few choice items. Feeling even better now!

Time to head back to the office. As I reached my car – the one parked at the meter I had just recently stuffed with coins, I saw the bright color of a $16 parking ticket. &*%%#$$%&!!!

Never before had it occurred to me that a parking ticket was the price of supporting local retail establishments. Somehow, in an economy where every store is offering deep discounts to stay afloat, it seems as though we’re sending the wrong message when we encourage folks to hurry back to the car or risk getting a parking ticket the second the meter clicks off. Not to mention the fact that whatever fallout occurs on my end – it’s on your head Ms. Meter Maid!

Starting last week many online companies launched “Ad Choices” (Advertising Option Program). This program is part of an industry wide effort to implement consumer-friendly principles and enforcement standards regarding Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA).

This program was initiated to provide consumers with a better understanding of and greater control over ads that are served to them based on their online behavior. Consumers can click on this Ad Choices icon to essentially opt-out of receiving online behavioral advertising.

So What Does This Mean

Effective last week on some online sites, ALL behaviorally targeted placements will automatically display an “Ad Choices” icon in the corner of the ad unit. The icon implementation process requires no additional creative time on the advertisers end.

This icon will be automatically included on all ad creative running for behavioral targeted campaigns on sites that mandate this. Rest assured that other sites will follow in the coming months.

*Currently Google does not require this icon to be added to retargeting ads but this could change at any time.

For more detailed information about Ad Choices please visit http://www.aboutads.info/

Bozell, a creative marketing communications company, recently was awarded one award of excellence and five awards of merit at the 2010 Nebraska Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Paper Anvil Awards Gala. Awards were received in the categories of marketing communications campaigns, internal communications campaigns, blogs and direct mail/direct response.

Bozell received paper anvil awards for work on behalf of the Borsheims, Menologues, Red Mango, Right at Home and Tate and Lyle.

“Winning the awards was the culmination of an integrated, agency-wide effort to produce outstanding work for our clients, “said Kim Mickelsen, Bozell managing principle. “We are honored to be recognized by PRSA.”

Awards of excellence were reserved for outstanding entries that did a superior job of meeting the stated goals and in achieving results. Awards of merit were determined by the judges as entries that met stated goals and demonstrated good results, according to PRSA Nebraska.

About Bozell

Bozell is a creative marketing communications company with offices in Omaha, Nebraska and Overland Park, Kansas. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

The New Location: 1022 Leavenworth

We spent the first workday of the new year in our new office space. The place is a mess of boxes and stuff that still sits where the movers put it down, but the place feels great. And as we get it all put together it will be amazing.

The move was quick, but it was a long time in the making. We first starting pondering a move to a less corporate space when we bought the company back from Interpublic Group in 2001. But the cost of a big move combined with debt from the buyback put the dream on the back burner. In 2005 we checked out several spaces but found nothing that thrilled us enough to justify the cost and disruption of moving. In 2008 we started looking again, but as the economy slid into depression so too did our dreams of open, collaborative spaces and a more creative neighborhood.

The "Before" photo. When Halo was in the space.

When we started looking again in the summer of 2010 we didn’t want to draw it out. We wanted to make a move fast. And we did. Mainly because we lucked out in finding a space we fell in love with before it went on the market. And while it needed some work and upgrades, it was something that could be done in mere months — not a year like most spaces. So we made the decision in September and swarms of movers descended upon us last Thursday. We thought the last week of the year would be somewhat slow in terms of workload, but it turned out to be a busy one.

They say hope for the best, plan for the worst. Well it’s so nice when everything goes right and the best happens. We found a great space that was exactly what we wanted. We were able to find reserved parking for all our staffers right nearby. We had a great architect (Randy Brown) and contractors that did everything at light speed — from wiring to HVAC, to an all new phone system and room buildouts, to custom building 60 workstations and book cases, not to mention worktables and more. And the weather even cooperated on the days of our move. Everything worked like clockwork.

Boxes. That pretty much sums up what the place looks like right now. But soon it will emerge.

Fantastic Bozell teams organized the entire process, and all things considered, the whole thing went incredibly smoothly. We even had full network access the day we moved so that those who had impending client projects and deadlines could work without disruption. We have amazing people and I thank all of them for all their hard work and never-ending passion.

We love being downtown near the Old Market. The creative atmosphere is strong. The neighborhood is energizing. And the lunch spots…well they beat the heck out of West O.

As we put the place together, we’ll post some photos. And stay tuned, because we’ll have an open house to share some food and drinks and show off the new digs.

Happy New Year!

More on our move:
Silicon Prairie News
Bozell on Facebook

New peaks in spending each year through 2014

After 2009’s downslide, US online ad spending in 2010 will rise by 13.9%, reaching a record $25.8 billion. And in that same vein, internet ad spending will hit new peaks in each of the following four years, passing $30 billion in 2012 and breaking the $40 billion barrier in 2014.

The more granular quarter-by-quarter picture shows a record spend of $6.42 billion in Q3 2010, as reported by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers (IAB-PwC), followed by a new record of $7.25 billion in Q4, according to eMarketer projections.

“A spending peak in Q4 is likely, primarily because Q4 has been the biggest quarter for US online ad spending every year but one since 1999,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report, “US Ad Spending: Online Outshines Other Media.”

Such spending will bring double-digit growth to online advertising for five consecutive years. The internet is the only major ad medium that will experience annual spending increases so high.

“With multiple ways to go online and with more activities once they get there, people spend more time online,” said Hallerman. “Simply put, marketers increasingly know that to reach their target audience, they need to advertise more online.”

Online advertising is recovering more rapidly than the overall economy, as evidenced by online’s gain in share of GDP. Internet ad spending’s contribution to the GDP increased by 10% or more every quarter from Q3 2003 through Q1 2008. Then came the recession, and both online ad spending and the national GDP declined. However, in Q3 2010, online ad spending’s share of the GDP rose by 11.66% year over year.

By contrast, total media ad spending is less robust. Ad dollars toward all major media will increase by only small amounts from 2010 through 2014, with an average annual growth rate of 2.9%.

Source:  eMarketer

Snuggie, the much-mocked but also much-purchased blanket with sleeves, will spend an estimated $12 million on holiday advertising this year.

The brand spent $34.8 million in advertising throughout 2009, according to Kantar Media – and the marketing is apparently paying off: by the end of 2010, Snuggie will have sold 25 million units, reports The New York Times.

In 2008, when Snuggie was first launched, it sold about four million units. But instead of dying out after its initial launch, as many popular as-seen-on-TV items do, the blanket only picked up steam. With its campy infomercial ads that were the basis of jokes by Jay Leno and other TV personalities, the product went viral online. Now there are 15 styles of Snuggie, and rather than being sold exclusively through an 800 number, about 95% of Snuggies are now sold in brick-and-mortar stores.

A key to the success of the brand was that the company did not get touchy when it became widely ridiculed, says Thomas Haire, editor of trade publication Response Magazine. “They were able to laugh at themselves, and I think the American consumer sensed they were in on the joke, too.”

As-seen-on-TV items, touted in sometimes oddly compelling ads, can be popular products – but just 12% of consumers are willing to purchase items from TV, according to Samir Kulkarni, owner of Showcase, the world’s largest chain of as-seen-on-TV products. Showcase stores can be found in 61 major shopping malls across Canada, and plans to grow to 100 outlets in the next two years, writes CBS News. “Through TV alone, the advertisers cannot capture the entire market,” Kulkarni says.

Last December, Showcase sold one Snuggie every 13 seconds, and people were lining up outside the stores to purchase the quirky blanket. The retailer does about 25% of its annual sales in the month of December.

Source:  mediabuyerplanner.com

(OMAHA, Neb. – Dec. 15, 2010) – Bozell, an integrated marketing communications company with offices in Omaha and Kansas City, will relocate its Omaha office to downtown Omaha at 1022 Leavenworth on Jan. 1, 2011.

After 11 years at 13801 FNB Parkway, Bozell will now share the Old Market Lofts building in the Old Market with other local businesses including Nomad, Urban Wine Company and Anytime Fitness.

Bozell has worked closely with Randy Brown Architects to design a collaborative, open workspace to inspire creativity and big ideas. “We are excited to relocate to a space with a vibrant environment and great surroundings,” said Kim Mickelsen, Bozell managing principle. “The space will reflect Bozell’s integrated approach to developing innovative and creative solutions to meet our clients’ needs.

For more information about the move, please read the Omaha World-Herald article.

About Bozell
Bozell is an integrated marketing communications company with offices in Omaha and Kansas City. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

DVR Penetration Means Time-Shifted Viewing Is Up

Television time-shifted viewing is growing this season — for almost all shows.

NBC’s “The Office” is the most time-shifted program; in terms of its overall percentage, it grabbed 38.8% more viewers — up to seven days of time-shifting. Overall, NBC comedy was also first in 2009, with 37.5% compared to 29.0% in 2008.

In terms of actual time-shifted viewers, ABC’s “Modern Family” had the highest number with 5.465 million; ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was next at 5.067 million. Both shows topped last year’s number for ABC’s “House,” at 5.038 million.

Among first-year shows, NBC’s “The Event” was best in time-shifting — in terms of percentage — 34% or 3.083 million viewers. CBS’ “Hawaii 5-0” had the most time-shifted viewers overall for a new show — 3.976 million — accounting for 27.1% of its total seven days audience.

One of the biggest upward movers was ABC’s “Modern Family,” which doubled its time-shifted viewership to 5.465 million in 2010, from 2.613 million in 2009. Fox’s “Glee” also climbed high — to 4.8 million from 2.969 million. And CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother” doubled its time-shifted viewers over the last two years.

What Do We Know About DVR Homes?

•          DVR homes tend to be younger; more upscale BUT more than 38% of DVR users are over age 45

•          Very highly concentrated in digital homes

•          DVR ownership stands at 38% of all US TV Households

•          More Co-Viewing occurs in playback than in live

•          When DVR playback is included, DVR households watch more primetime programming than non-DVR households

•          DVR playback peaks at 9pm and 10pm

•          The majority (71%) of DVR homes have only one unit, a quarter (24%) of DVR homes have two, and 5% have three or more

•          DVR penetration by Race/Ethnicity – (40.3% White, 35.4% Asian, 30.3% African-American, 29.8% Hispanic)

•          Top ranked time-shifted genre is Science Fiction followed by Sitcoms and General Drama

Growth in spending on online display ads will outstrip that for paid search through 2014, eMarketer forecasts, though search will continue to take the greater share of dollars.

In 2010, both search and display will see increases greater than the rise in total US online ad spending, estimated by eMarketer at 13.9%. But between 2011 and 2014, eMarketer projects online display spending will grow faster than overall online spending, while search spending will lag slightly behind.

The increase in display advertising will be driven partly by the dramatic rise predicted in online video advertising, set to grow by at least 34% every year through 2014. Banner ads will experience more moderate gains of between 7% and 16.2% annually, while rich media spending will stagnate.

In 2010, eMarketer estimates US advertisers will spend $12.37 billion on paid search, compared with $8.88 billion on online display ads. Search will still get the most dollars in 2014, at $18.84 billion, but display will have closed the gap somewhat and reach $15.92 billion in spending that year.

“The growth of display doesn’t necessarily mean that advertisers are spending less on search,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst. “Much of the display ad spending gains are new dollars coming online—which is part of a bigger trend towards more spending on branding, rather than spending focused on direct response alone.”

Display ads like static banners have a bad reputation for low clickthrough rates but still serve an important branding purpose. “Banner ads today mainly have subliminal effects on the audience,” said Hallerman. “That makes banners difficult to measure directly. However, the uptick in search results due to banners from the same advertiser is a long-standing pattern seen by sophisticated digital marketers.”

Source:  eMarketer

My Two Cents

I agree that much of the display ad spending gains are new dollars coming online but you must also note that display advertising also carries a higher price tag than search advertising.  Especially video or rich media advertising.

With rich media you also have to pay a third party to serve the ads which increases your overall cost.  Not to mention additional costs incurred on the production side of it. I am a firm believer in running parallel display and search campaigns to maximize your overall web exposure to convert a higher ROI.

There was always something magical and amazing about Santa’s visit at our house when we were kids. Our family would go to church and then celebrate our gift-giving and togetherness as our own family unit on Christmas Eve so that on Christmas Day we could pack into the car and make the drive to Grandparents’ and Relatives’ houses. I loved starting off the evening with church and Christmas songs and the spiritual side of Christmas. It made it all the more real, and let us all be together.

I still love that tradition. Just my family on Christmas Eve, together, and sharing great food, drink, music, stories, and exchanging gifts. Of course, the fireplace being sully stoked and ready for the occasional cardboard box or wrapping paper ball is part of it. Nothing else burns quite like corrugated cardboard, as the material heats up and flames shoot gently out of the corrugated edges.

As kids, we’d anxiously await the moment when the steady stream of food tapered off and it got to the point where we just knew that it was going to be time to open presents. The temptation of seeing all those brightly colored packages wrapped up under the tree for weeks was always too much to bear, but we knew that waiting would be worth it. Plus, there was no other choice.

We’d take turns handing out presents and opening everything. We were never the everybody-rip-into-it-at-once type of family. We’d all take turns opening something. I appreciated how that made the entire experience take longer. I sure wanted to rip them all open, but it was really nice to be able to actually see one brother fake pleasure at getting socks or another actually freak out over getting the chemistry set he’d always wanted.

Then there was that One Special Gift that I just knew would be the thing that would make this the Best Christmas Ever. Inevitably, though, after all the unwrapping was done, that One Special Gift would not be part of the pile. The feeling I had at that point was quite mixed. Disappointment for not having received something that I know I clearly indicated I wanted. Guilt for wanting one MORE thing when I had a pile of presents at my feet. But there was something else – hope. Hope that when Santa visited overnight, maybe that One Special Gift would be the one thing that Santa remembered.

Santa is very special. He’s a guy that dedicates his entire life to making and delivering the special things that kids want most for Christmas. So it wasn’t until I was a little bit older that I noticed that nearly every Christmas Eve, there was one thing that inevitably wasn’t part of the family gift giving experience. One thing that I still held out hope for. One more thing that I could anticipate, and grow excited for.

Christmas morning, I was usually the first one up. I liked being the first to see whether Santa had come, and I liked having a small portion of the morning to myself. I also knew that the sooner I got up, the sooner I would have some clue as to what Santa had left for us.

Running out into the living room, the fireplace doors would be ajar, there would be soot tracked on the hearth, and the cookies for Santa and carrot for Rudolph were always nibbled on, but not always gone. Santa also would always leave a note. It was exquisitely written in handwriting that could only be Santa’s. I’d never seen it anywhere except for on Santa’s note.

Then there were the packages. And Stockings. Santa had special wrapping paper that everything he ever brought us was wrapped in. I had no idea how there could be that much wrapping paper that Santa’s gifts were wrapped in it every year, but he also has flying reindeer, so  he can pretty much make anything happen. And the stockings were so overloaded with small, fun things and candy and treats that they had been taken down from hanging under the mantle and laid on the hearth. They would nearly be bursting!

So I would survey the scene. Which ones were for me? Which ones were for my brothers? Was anyone else awake yet? How long would I have to wait? At least I’d already turned on the Christmas Tree lights. Their multi-colored glow being the only light in the room. It was really very peaceful and comforting to be the only one awake at that time, knowing that I got to have that moment to myself to feel so lucky that Santa had visited us. That I wasn’t too much of a problem kid that I still got something from Santa at the end of a year.

Then I would see it. The one package that looked like it could be the One Special Gift that I’d been hoping for. I knew that I’d need to save that one for last when we started opening Santa’s gifts. Then my brothers would get up, and Mom and Dad would roll out of bed, too. That’s when the anticipation would grow. But of course, coffee had to be made first so that Mom and Dad could settle into their chairs and brace themselves for the rest of the day. I always thought that the coffee excuse was just another part of Santa’s Plan on how to make the experience more intense.

When we started opening, this was more of the every-man-for-himself flurry of gift wrap. We’d work our way through the stockings and then onto the last couple things that Santa had left. Then I’d have to pause to consider the last package in front of me.

Was it The One? What if it wasn’t? Could I be happy enough with whatever it was that Santa wouldn’t think I was just another greedy little kid? Could I fake enough excitement that my parents wouldn’t be able to tell that I was actually let down? I mean – I surely already had enough great gifts that I shouldn’t be sad. If the inverse had been true, and I got the one thing I wanted and nothing else, then I would have been disappointed in another way. Well… there was only one way to find out. Open it.

What I know now is that Santa was a master of experience design. He had his hooks in your mind for as long as you could remember. He had songs that reminded you that you’d better be good for goodness sake. But it was more than that at our house. It was special. Everything about Santa was like a symphony. The parts all went together to build to this crescendo that left you there, with your family in the glow of the Christmas Tree on Christmas morning with the feeling that you were truly loved and that even though that elated feeling was related to having received a thing, that I still knew behind all of it, it wasn’t about the thing at all. It was about how you were supposed to feel.

And it felt good.

So this year, as I look at Christmas approaching, I am very excited for my own son’s experience with Christmas and Santa. He’s old enough now that it’s all sinking in, creating wonder and amazement. I know he already loves the tree and lights. The music. The colors and decorations. I can’t wait to see his face on Christmas Morning. I can’t wait to see him witness Santa’s exquisite handwriting. I can’t wait to sense that he feels the magic that all of these elements of the Christmas season bring. And to know that hopefully, he can experience the joy and love and amazing sense of warmth and wonder that I felt – and still feel – at Christmastime when I’m with my family, friends and loved ones.

And I’ll do everything I can to help Santa in his job of letting everyone have a wonderful experience at Christmas. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas as well.