|
 |
|
|
|
Este informe no está disponible en español. CARIBBEAN BUSINESS Move over mass marketers The digital age blurs line in reaching consumers through TV, radio, newspapers, and the Internet By LORELEI ALBANESE of Caribbean Business August 11, 2005 Digital age blurs line between advertising, direct Marketing, interactive promotion, and public relations Move over mass marketers. Make room for laptops and cellphones, devices that more consumers are using to access content and advertising. Over the past decade, marketing has morphed into many fragmented parts and has become segmented, customized, and personalized. The Internet, a growing source of advertising spending, is making the world a village and empowering its individual inhabitants. Today, Internet-savvy consumers call the shots, enabling them to design their own cars or Barbie’s living room. That isn’t to say the media of the masses–television, newspapers, magazines, and movies–are going out of business. TV networks, local newspapers, and consumer magazines in the U.S. account for almost half the $141 billion in advertising expenditures for the past year, reports TNS Media Intelligence, headquartered in New York City. In Puerto Rico, newspapers and TV account for the lion’s share of the approximately $700 million spent on advertising in 2004. "The Internet gets a very small piece of the TV dollar," said Francisco "Paco" Vargas, new business developer for WAPA, WAPA America, and MTV Puerto Rico. "Remember, the Internet is a young phenomenon, especially in Puerto Rico. We want to tap into this market from its very beginning," he added. In the U.S., ad spending on the Internet was just $7.4 billion in 2004, yet Internet advertising grew 21.4% compared to the previous year, twice the growth of TV-network advertising and three times that of local newspapers. This year, TNS forecasts a 3.4% increase in overall media advertising in the States, significantly slower compared to almost 10% during 2004, the year of such special events as the Olympics and the U.S. general elections. Internet ad spending, after two years of double-digit growth, is estimated to increase at a modest 7.6%, a little more than twice the average forecast and more than six times TV advertising. As more people turn to the new medium, the robust Internet-advertising market becomes more attractive. TV networks have gone online to capture consumers and ad dollars. In Puerto Rico, the main TV stations are mixing innovation with the traditional. For instance, Televicentro (Channel 4) combines an Internet link with a segment of its newscasts that allows viewers to send questions on such topics as health and financial services via their cellphones. Pavía Hospital is a sponsor and provides medical experts. In addition, three years ago, Televicentro started selling its newscast headlines to Verizon Wireless, giving the carrier’s subscribers an alternative medium to access TV news. Telemundo (Channel 2) gives viewers an opportunity to buy a moment of fame. They can send a personal message to the station that is placed on a scroll bar at the bottom of the popular variety program No te duermas for 99 cents. There is no turning back, the experts say. Around the world, micromarketing has added diversity to the media mix, and marketers and their clients are learning how the digital dimension is changing their relationship with consumers. "We aren’t consuming media the way we used to," said John J. Raevis, president of De La Cruz Group (DLC), an affiliate of Ogilvy. Consumers can surf the Internet using a television set, make telephone calls on laptops, and listen to radio via computers and TV sets. Young people who grew up playing video games and instant messaging via the Internet now send and receive text messages and photos and download video games via cellphones. They are used to doing many things at the same time and, when they want to, Raevis said. "It is all about control, more control for the consumer. They decide when and how they access content and the accompanying advertisement." Not your average couch potato, digital consumers are hard to target. They are a different breed of consumer, 18 to 24 years old, and in the vanguard. This group has adopted new media more readily than any other age group and, more than others, uses it to make buying decisions, according to BIGresearch, an online market intelligence unit. More than 22% of Internet users in Puerto Rico are in the 18- to 24-year demographic, according to the 2005 study on Internet access commissioned by the Puerto Rico Sales & Marketing Executives Association (SME). According to the survey, approximately one-third of the population 12 years and older–1,016,500 individuals–have access to the Internet. In addition, approximately one-third of those without access said they plan to connect within the next year. (See accompanying story about the SME survey.) "We see the future of marketing communications in a world where digital technologies are mainstream and digital marketing is no longer new media, but central to people’s lives and businesses everywhere," said Carla Hendra, president of OgilvyOne North America, speaking in June at "Verge: The OgilvyOne Digital Summit" in New York City. In San Juan, a Spanish version of the event, translated as "Vértice: la convergencia digital vista por Ogilvy," was presented by Rosalyn Gaztambide and René Juan de la Cruz, who brought a digital dimension to the agency his father founded and chairs. Gaztambide and de la Cruz, co-directors of DLC Digital interactive services, talked about the changes brought on by the rapid growth of digital media. "Soon, it won’t be necessary to talk about the digital consumer," said Gaztambide, "rather the consumer in general, without the adjective digital." The trend toward a convergence of communications channels has blurred the lines that separate advertising, direct marketing, promotion, interactive, and public relations as these channels are reinvented digitally, explained Hendra in New York. For instance, today, TV commercials can be adapted for multiple uses: over the Web, on mobile networks, or as part of an in-store promotion, she noted. "So, do we call that TV advertising, retail advertising, interactive advertising, or promotion?" What’s more, the Internet is being used as a medium to launch TV commercials, said Vargas of Televicentro. To meet the new technology challenge, Ogilvy studied a series of families in Latin America, focusing on their attitudes toward the new communication devices and the effect of these products on their lifestyles. How they use the Internet, email, instant messaging, cellphones, and video games, and why they have been so eager to adopt the new technology is explored in almost 400 hours of video-taped interviews of 32 families at home in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. The local De La Cruz unit DLC Digital taped more than 100 hours with seven families in Puerto Rico. "It is surprisingly similar how digital media are used in Latin America, including Puerto Rico," said Gaztambide, DLC Digital director. "Understanding the digital consumer will help us develop effective strategies," de la Cruz said. "We have to tell a story in new ways and seek alternatives to the standard 30-second TV spot, the full-page newspaper ad, and the 30-second radio commercial." Search is big business Online search engines are among the most profitable markets, with Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. global leaders. In Puerto Rico, the award-winning, bilingual Spanish-English Internet site PuertoRicoWOW (www.prwow.com), owned by Casiano Communications Inc., pioneered the online search market. The one-stop information bank covers business and consumer interests, from industry directories and retail outlets to recreation and entertainment, maps, and the CARIBBEAN BUSINESS newspaper archive. As part of its digital fare, a company listed on the site can buy a link to its own website. Clients including Banco Popular, Condado Travel, H&F, Metro Island Mortgage, and St. James Security already are using PuertoRicoWOW to advertise their services. Its major attraction is its WOW News Service, with national and international news. It carries full stories of today’s news as it is happening, beating televised news and tomorrow’s newspapers. "I tell clients it is important to have a website as part of their media mix," said Lizbeth Rodríguez, an independent marketing specialist who collaborated on analyzing consumer behavior and habits in Puerto Rico for the SME Internet study. Yet, it isn’t enough to just have a website, she said. A company needs to create communication tools to learn about its customers and to interact with them. "Once you have a person on the website, it is important to create interest about the product," she said. An invitation, such as "For more information, register," does that. If the Internet user answers the questions for registration, then information about the customer can be collected. Questions aren’t just related to demographics, but also to occupation, hobbies, and topics that interest the customer. There also should be a question about whether the customer would like to receive information about your product, she said. Customers can "opt in" (receive information from the company) or "opt out" (decline to receive info). "Permission marketing" aims to target consumers more efficiently by providing them with information relevant to them. The approach to these digital consumers is important, DLC Digital’s Gaztambide said. "We don’t want to turn them off." Ogilvy researchers have embraced new methods of discovering what drives consumers to buy a particular product. Acting as cultural anthropologists, they videotape consumers, observing their attitudes and behaviors on the Internet, cellphones, playing video games, and talking about their experiences in their own living room, kitchen, or office. It is a way of going deeper into the consumer’s mind and emotions, explained Gaztambide. "Sometimes, people say they do something, like drink one cup of coffee a day, but upon observing them, you find they actually drink three cups a day," she said. From Buenos Aires to San Juan, the Ogilvy-De La Cruz tapes show Latino students, professionals, homemakers and mothers, youngsters and oldsters, rich and middle class adopting and adapting to the new technology with gusto. On the Net daily As part of the videos, for instance, a middle-age woman from Puerto Rico tells how she uses the Internet every day to find information and to read the news and her emails. She is one of about 600,000 Internet users who connect daily, the SME study reports, and is part of a growing segment that connects with a bank to check their balances. Internet and mobile banking are growing channels, said Mariel Arraiza, senior vice president of Popular Inc.’s Customer Contact Center. Arraiza estimates 133,000 Banco Popular (BPPR) clients actively use the Internet for banking–about 12% of the customer base of Puerto Rico’s largest bank. "You get addicted," Arraiza said. "Once you do your banking via the Internet, there is no turning back." Banco Popular gives customers the option of making payments to about 5,000 merchants, including the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. In February, BPPR launched mobile banking services, allowing cellphone users to pick up their bank balances (a paid call) and receive alerts (such as when a checking account balance dips below a certain amount, which is a free call.) She pegged growth at 33% compounded. Pending is a bill-paying service that is available over the Internet and fund transfers between accounts. Pay with a cellphone From Toledo, Ohio, to Tokyo, the mobile phone is the communications option young people prefer. In Puerto Rico, "they are talking on the cellphone and reading a text message at the same time," Arraiza said. In Japan, cellphones are equipped with a "smart" chip so consumers can use their phone as an electronic wallet, purchasing goods and services, including transportation and tolls, the banker explained. Offering mobile banking service is "another way to expand the way customers can communicate with us," Arraiza said. To receive the mobile service, customers must have a cellphone with SMS capability (short message service with the ability to send and receive text messages via mobile phone) and a service contract with one of the participating carriers–Centennial, Cingular, MoviStar, or Verizon. Even though people often won’t leave home without that cellphone, Arraiza doesn’t believe it will replace the computer for Internet banking; instead, it will be used for transactions that need to be done at the moment. "There are limitations to the small screen," she said. In the U.S., 53% of active Internet users, or 74 million people, conduct financial activities online, according to Nielsen / NetRatings financial data. Financial services led the top-three online advertising categories during June: financial services websites, $80.3 million; Web media sites, $74.7 million; and retail goods & services, $72.8 million. A portion of distance-banking clients doesn’t use a computer. R-G Premier Bank allows customers to perform transactions through a DirecTV station. Clearly, the new media have allowed us to communicate in ways that were completely impossible a very short time ago, she added. A developing ad medium "As an advertising medium, the Internet isn’t yet developed," said Fernando Alcázar Santa-María, partner with Sajo García & Partners. He estimates clients spend a nominal amount online, from 5% to 10%. Most clients assign a budget to develop a website that complements the traditional media and vice versa. The youthful demographic wants interactivity, de la Cruz said. They want advertisers "to talk" to them. As an example, he told about a Spanish telephone company’s successful advertising campaign in 2000 that allowed Argentine TV viewers to select from two story endings. They were creative through their use of two TV channels, he said. Alcázar said, "Young people are more demanding about what they want out of a website experience." The interactive Medalla website, created by Sajo García & Partners, fulfills users’ expectations, he explained. "We have to create a richer environment. I want to provide a good enough experience for them to come back to the website over and over again. It is all about content." The agency uses traditional media to support its online strategy. Following an event, for instance, the agency will use print and radio to promote visits to the website "to check out the photos–to see if you are there." Lizbeth Rodríguez, formerly with WING Puerto Rico, handled an interactive advertising campaign for Pearle Vision in which Internet users could fit glasses to their face shape. The online strategy was supported by print medium carrying special offers and coupons. Zap that commercial Digital video recorders, such as TiVo, allow viewers to skip commercials but also to choose to receive more information about a company’s products as well as put in an order. Long-form advertising provides companies with data on viewers and their habits. TiVo technology isn’t prevalent in Puerto Rico, yet its development is expected to bolster Internet advertising. "As TiVo develops, advertising on the Internet is going to become more relevant," said Vargas of Televicentro. The main ad effort will be online, and then matched on TV, he said. Video games also have potential as an advertising medium, although it still is being tested to target guys age 18 to 34. A Mexican falling within this age group tells an Ogilvy interviewer that playing video games after work helps relieve stress. The Ogilvy videos also show young boys playing video games on laptops and desktops at home. "I don’t remember learning to play. I started when I was so small; it is a habit," said one. A young father noted, "It is their way to communicate...with a screen and a keyboard." A girl in braids in front of a TV monitor takes part in a virtual reality production: "Well, it teaches you how to live." Gaztambide said, "Kids make no distinction between technology and how they express themselves. We have to understand the future generation to whom we are going to be marketing." Cellphones have become such an integral part of people’s lifestyles that when they go on the blink, their owners become disoriented, frustrated, and steamed. In the Ogilvy videos, which include interviews with Puerto Ricans, one 20-something woman interviewed expressed utter disbelief that her cellphone was out of service. "What a tragedy!...What are cellphones for, but to be reachable at all times?" Another confided she takes her phone everywhere, even to the bathroom. A Brazilian businessman displayed a variation of the "I love you, Papi" text message he sends his father each day. An elegant woman seated with her husband on a sofa described the cellphone as a blessing, and a mother praised the device for keeping her connected to her preteen daughter. A young man told the interviewer that his girlfriend made him get a cellphone. Seated beside him, she then explained she hadn’t been able to locate him and felt as if she had lost him. So, he bought a cell. We all know what happens when a consumer leaves the mobile unit charging at home. As soon as possible, the phoneless consumer returns home to retrieve the mobile unit. A Verizon Wireless TV ad humorously shows how consumers can feel naked without their cells. The music industry, struggling against piracy, is looking to exploit the trend toward mobile communications. Industry executives are waiting for the new generation of cellphones that will let consumers buy music through their service provider plan, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now, cellphone owners can download 30-second ring-tone excerpts, but not a full-length song. Twenty years ago, cellphones were big and bulky and carried by a privileged few; nowadays, there are between 1.8 million and 2 million customers carrying pocketsize cellphones in Puerto Rico, many equipped with cameras, email, and the capacity to download games. Yet, the SME study shows less than 1% of the island’s Internet users access the Internet through cellphones. An equally small number use hand-held computers such as personal digital assistants. Part of the reason is these advanced devices are still very expensive compared to a typical cellphone with rudimentary capability to receive email and limited access to Internet news sites. Not surprising, shopping online also is gaining acceptance among Internet users in Puerto Rico. Forty-three percent of those with access to the Internet made purchases online and the median amount spent was $388, according to the SME study. More than 40% of those surveyed said they got a better price or saved money buying online. The big advantage, however, was the convenience of finding where to buy the product in just minutes, without having to run from mall to mall. Among the top items purchased online are: airline and cruise line tickets, car rental and hotel reservations, books, electronic products, tickets (movies, events, concerts), music, clothing and accessories, computers and computer programs, movies / DVDs, articles for home and decorating, and office supplies. (See Top-10 items chart.) Puerto Rico Internet users have a median family income of $26,818, which is 65% higher than the local general population’s $16,543 median income, according to the 2000 Census. That makes an attractive target for advertisers. In addition, online shoppers appear open to electronic messages, so long as they request the information. More than one-third of the Internet users in the study prefer email to other forms of direct marketing. Apparently, more U.S. Hispanics use the Internet to make decisions regarding purchases than their general-market counterparts, 63% to 52%, according to the third annual AOL / Roper Hispanic Cyberstudy. About 30% of bilingual Hispanics agreed with the statement that they "pay more attention to ads when they are in Spanish than when they are only in English." As for the impact of an online advertisement, Dynamic Logic Market Norms found there is a 2-to-1 probability that consumers have better recall of an ad with video and audio than an Internet ad without those components, said Patty Lyon, executive vice president of OgilvyOne Worldwide, on a recent visit to San Juan. The more senses you can engage, the more consumers tend to remember. "It goes back to the troubadours, the storytellers," said Lyon. "People remember stories because they were told in an engaging fashion." Interviewees in the Ogilvy study say they develop affection for this technology, bestowing on the computer, for instance, human characteristics. This isn’t far-fetched when considering how attached people are to their cars, sometimes giving them a name. One young woman described her computer as her child. "She talks to me, tells me jokes, burns CDs, movies, and connects me to the Internet without any cables." Young and middle-age Internet users equated communicating through the computer keyboard as talking. One woman notes she can tell a lot about the other person by "the tone" of voice used in "chatting." A Mexican factory employee talks about telling his sister in an email what he couldn’t tell her to her face. An adolescent says it is easier to communicate with chicas through the Internet. A child shows how to send a Feliz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday) text message. In Puerto Rico, advertising on the Internet is only now starting to boom, said Luis Rodríguez, general manager of economic consulting firm Estudios Técnicos and a member of the SME Internet committee. "In advertising agencies this year, they have Internet as a media mix, as part of media planning, but these are processes that take time." Said DLC’s Raevis: "I believe clients will become daring enough to try the new vehicles." The rise of the Internet in Puerto Rico On a typical workday, an Internet user spends more than six hours online between work and home, and is likely to have the radio and a television on at the same time, according to the most recent study Puerto Rico’s Internet Status (2005 Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet User). On the weekend, time on the Internet drops to a little more than three hours a day–the amount of time spent on work stuff plummets from three hours and 42 minutes on a typical weekday to 49 minutes on a weekend day. Nearly one-third of the population 12 years and older is online, the Sales & Marketing Executives Association (SME) survey found. That adds up to 1,016,500 people. Half the homes polled had a computer and, of those with computers, more than 55% were connected to the Internet. The main barrier to going online is the lack of a computer, the study found. Nonetheless, 31% of those without Internet–about 640,000 people–said they planned to get hooked up within a year. By 2008, Puerto Rico will have 1,479,569 Internet users, according to the survey. The projection is conservative, said Anitza Cox Marrero, social analysis director of Estudios Técnicos Inc., and is based on an average growth of about 14% yearly. With nearly one-third of those 12 years and older online, the Internet is becoming an integral part of the media mix, Cox said. "If you look at the big picture, the Internet is one of the first three options for information, entertainment, and product & service information," Cox said. In a pioneering study in 2000, Research & Research found 550,000 individuals online; however, that number isn’t comparable to the 2005 survey because there was no age restriction for users. A second study, done in 2002 by Research & Research, Nobox, and the Internet Society, also didn’t limit those polled to age 12 or older. Instead, that study included the entire population based on the 2000 census. In addition, the earlier studies were done by telephone, while the 2005 survey was conducted house to house. Despite the differences in methodology, earlier surveys offer a frame of reference. In 2002, the number of netizens was 968,000, which would be 25% of the total population at all ages. In 2002, the average time spent on the Internet was 14 hours a week, mostly spent searching for information, compared to more than 36 hours a week in 2005. According to the SME survey, the Internet has become a primary source for information, entertainment, and news. Indeed, Internet users are also voracious consumers of other media, said Luis Rodríguez Báez, general manager of Estudios Técnicos. Rodríguez can be on the Internet and watch TV in the same breath. Television remains a main source of local news for 55.8% although the online crowd watches less local TV–2.6 hours on weekdays and 2.2 hours on weekends compared with 3.6 hours and 3.2 hours for those without an online connection. A larger percentage of Internet users read magazines and newspapers and watch cable TV; however, nonusers spend more time on these media. For instance, nonusers who watch cable TV spend an average of three hours and 24 minutes, compared to two hours and 54 minutes for Internet users. The typical Internet user in Puerto Rico is between 25 and 39 years of age with income and schooling above that of the general population, the SME study found. Considering Internet accounts range from $15 to $23 a month, it isn’t surprising that users have higher incomes than the general population and are better educated, too. Among those surveyed, 92% of families making $75,000 or more yearly were online, while only 18% of those earning less than $15,000 annually were online. The same holds true for education. The more education, the more likely the individual is hooked to the net. One hundred percent of Ph.D.s surveyed enjoy an Internet connection. As for the consumption of modern devices, 93.3% of Internet users own cellphones compared with 65.2% of nonusers of the Internet. The SME study includes Internet nonusers–a little more than two-thirds of those surveyed who don’t have access. As a group, Internet users purchased more DVDs, speakers for their computers, color printers, video-game systems, and digital cameras than nonusers. The comparisons are: DVDs, 92.3% vs. 61%; computer speaker systems, 83.3% vs. 22.6%; color printers, 82.5% vs. 20.8%; Game Boys, Nintendos, PlayStations, XBoxes, or GameCubes, 67.3% vs. 47.6%; and digital cameras, 62.2% vs. 21.7%. Puerto Rico lags behind U.S. Hispanics in the adoption of broadband, which allows a faster Internet connection. About 52% of stateside Hispanics who use the Internet at home have a broadband connection, according to the third-annual AOL / Roper Hispanic Cyberstudy. In Puerto Rico, about one-third of users have a broadband connection; 16.4% use DSL, offered by Puerto Rico Telephone; and 16.2% use a cable modem. Cable-TV companies haven’t offered this service until fairly recently. Of the two-thirds with dial-up modem, 34.8% are interested in obtaining a more rapid connection. Among the main barriers is price. The Internet eliminates geographic borders and prejudicial attitudes, said Cox of Estudios Técnicos. One avid Web surfer who has a disability told her that on the Internet he felt like an ordinary person. "He told me, ‘The person with a disability is the one with the slower modem’." When it comes to personal communication, the telephone wins Telephone 70% Email 13.8% Based on those surveyed who indicated they have an email account. Doesn’t differentiate between cellphones and land-line phones. Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet User) Internet cuts TV-watching Internet users reduce time spent on these activities* Activity: Users Watching TV: 35% Reading books: 18% Exercising: 16.2% Sleeping: 12.8% Watching movies: 9.8% Reading magazines: 9.0% *16% of respondents said going online didn’t cut into any activities. Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet User) More money, more Internet users Annual Family Income: Internet Users Less than $15,000: 18% $15,000 to $29,999: 44% $30,000 to $49,999: 55% $50,000 to $74,999: 78% $75,000 or more: 92% Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet User) Internet users & education Education level: Internet users Eighth grade or less: 9.5% High-school studies: 20.0% High-school graduate: 26.9% Associate degree: 35.9% University studies: 52.6% Bachelor’s degree: 54.3% Master’s degree: 85.7% Doctorate: 100% Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet User) Most Internet users work & study Employment status: Internet users Employed & study: 72.7% Employed: 43.4% Student: 42.0% Homemaker: 18.0% Unemployed: 13.6% Retired or disabled: 11.1% Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet User) Top 10 items purchased over the Internet
Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet User) Media used in the last week* Internet users / Nonusers Internet users: 93% / – Radio: 78.7% / 75.3% Local TV: 71.3% / 85.1% Newspapers: 66.3% / 58.9% Cable TV: 64.5% / 41.1% Magazines: 41.8% / 27.1% *Survey conducted 3/05 Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet) Internet access in Puerto Rico Age 12 and older 32.9% / 1,016,500 67.1% / No access Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet) Median age of Internet user is 32 years 25-39 years: 32.1% 40-54 years: 26.1% 18-24 years: 22.4% 12-17 years: 9.7% 55-64 years: 7.3% 65 years or older: 2.4% Source: SME’s Puerto Rico’s Internet Status 2005 (Profile & Consumer Behavior of the Puerto Rico Internet) This Caribbean Business article appears courtesy of Casiano Communications. or
|
