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January 2, 2009

Holiday Recap: Spending Declined in Recession and Short Shopping Season

Perhaps not surprisingly, traffic to retail sites and consumer spending on those sites were both down during the holiday season, according to ComScore.

The research firm estimates total U.S. e-commerce spending declined 3 percent, the first ever drop reported by ComScore since it began tracking online retail spending in 2001. Total spending was estimated at $25.5 billion, compared to $26.3 billion in 2007.

"The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has mad this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online," said a statement from ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Some online retailers appeared to benefit from the bad economy -- at least in terms of traffic. Consumers hunting for deals online helped drive a 5 percent lift in visits to sites like Amazon (7 percent) and Wal-Mart (4 percent). Apple (19 percent) also saw an increase. The list of traffic losers included eBay (-4 percent); Target (-1 percent); and JC Penney (-11 percent). Best Buy's e-commerce site had no measurable change in traffic from the corresponding period in 2007.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dunkin' Donuts to Launch $100M Ad Campaign

Dunkin' Donuts -- where a 10-ounce cup of joe goes for about $1.30 -- will be investing 77 million times that amount – in an ad campaign that launches Monday.

"You Kin' Do It," will be the theme of the $100 million campaign for online, TV, and outdoor ads, according to a report on usatoday.com. The theme apparently plays off of Barack Obama's campaign mantra, "Yes we can," and the "kin'" from Dunkin'.

The brand will continue its participation in social media, such as Dunkin' Dave on Twitter.

Studiocom is Dunkin' Donut's online agency of record.

A spokeswoman for Dunkin' Donuts said the company doesn't break out its media spend, so the portion devoted to online isn't available.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How Time Warner Cable and Viacom Took Their Contract War to Web Users

Viacom and Time Warner Cable have resolved a bitter dispute that threatened to strip TWC customers of Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and other MTV Networks channels. Such negotiations are usually handled behind closed doors, but in this case the companies went all out with ads, on-screen pleas and online rebuttals meant to alarm TV fans and rally them to one side or the other.

The LA Times described a newspaper ad featuring a crying Dora the Explorer, taken out by Viacom, as well as an on-screen alert, warning viewers they may lose their favorite shows. A :30 spot, available on YouTube, had a similar message.

Digital media were heavily leveraged by both parties. Over at TheRiver.net, Pamela Parker posted the above screen shot from MTV.com and described bombastic copy (since removed) on a Time Warner Web site at TWCFacts.com.

“MTV please don’t do it!” Viacom is asking “you” to pay “millions” more, the site says, adding, “Those demands would be unreasonable any time, but given the current economic conditions, they are outrageous now.”

It's not clear to what extent either party used search marketing or e-mail to get their message out. If you noticed either over the past few days, feel free to post them here or email me and I'll post them here.

Multiple reports have noted that the dispute points to how important affiliate fees have become as the recession takes an increasingly harsh toll on network operators' ad revenues.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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