The past season of American Idol saw many changes; with Paula gone and Ellen joining the cast, the show’s ratings dropped 9 percentage points. FOX executives have taken note of the decline in viewership and are listening to what the Idol audience wants in order to save their most profitable TV show.

FOX’s research has shown that viewers are tired of the long drawn out results show and are interested in shorter programming. Next season, producers are hoping to spark interest again by shortening the Wednesday results show to 30 minutes while keeping the entertainment portion focused on Tuesday’s 90 minute performance shows.

Now with Simon leaving, Idol’s fate could be in greater jeopardy. Executives are currently looking to see who would be a good replacement. This summer, finding a judge that exudes industry expertise with the shock and awe factor will be their main priority to ensure that Idol’s ratings do not dip any lower.

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There has been much debate recently about the fate and future success of the Conan O’Brien Show. After the news of TBS beating out FOX network to land Conan, comes speculation of how well the show will perform in its new home at the 11 o’clock hour.

Capitalizing on their already successful prime-time, TBS has begun to re-vamp their late-night line-up since signing the high-profile deal with O’Brien. Typically, known for running repeats of network comedy shows, such as The Office, Family Guy and Seinfeld, TBS is shifting focus to late-night with hopes that Conan will be their golden gem. With the high viewership of Family Guy leading into Conan followed by the George Lopez Show which already has a strong young Hispanic following; The O’Brien show is being set-up for success.

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Cause Marketing has been around for ages, but within the last year it has been springing up in numerous social media ad campaigns. I am pleased to see that brand affiliation with small charities is on the rise, and has become a consumer expectation. This expectation most likely comes from the fact that consumers are getting more involved.

Social media can have a big impact on the success of a cause marketing campaign. Marketers are always looking for channels to best communicate with their customers. Discussing a cause gives brands a chance to start a conversation in a way that is meaningful and relavent to the consumer. Pepsi’s resent Refresh Project has done just that; in the last month they have doubled their Facebook fans and are making lasting relationships with the hopes to gain brand followers.

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By the end of 2010, Forrester Research anticipates that 30 percent of online advertising will go through advertising exchanges.  Simply put, ad exchanges are technology platforms for buying and selling online ad impressions.  This is good news for the advertiser, because it will enable the opportunity to target banners to specific online audiences.

For over a decade, display-advertising units have fallen short of allowing marketers to put their ads consistently in front of the right consumer.  Now, exchanges such as Google’s Doubleclick and Yahoo’s Right Media are working to increase their share of publishers unused ad space by offering a real-time display bidding.  Advertisers will need to put a bid on how much they would be willing to pay for a certain audience (i.e. Women 25-45 who are interested in a Honda).  The exchange would then search through the data system comprised of information about the site’s user and would serve the most compatible ad.

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Like the majority of advertising investments, the decision to advertise in the Super Bowl comes down to return on investment. With the average cost of a 30 second national spot running around $3 million, the decision to advertise is not an easy choice.  Repeat advertisers warn that it is essential to re-evaluate yearly campaign objectives, and past results to determine if the hefty investment will be beneficial year over year.

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Over the past 5 years, there has been a steady increase in seniors’ use of online media. So, it is no surprise that as of November 2009 there were about 17.5 million active persons 65+ using the Internet, which accounts for the 55% growth from November 2004.

A new report released by Nielsen suggests that not only are seniors Googling and engaging in their “normal” habits, but more revealing is that they are adapting to the mainstream social media networks. Facebook was ranked as the number three site visited by people 65+ on the Top 10 Online Destinations list. This is a big shock, considering that just a year ago Facebook came in at #45.

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Microsoft’s gaming subsidiary Massive Inc. has recently teamed up with ComScore to develop a standardized in-game ad measurement tool, which will offer advertisers tangible campaign data. ComScore and Massive have recently submitted a claim to the Advertising Research Federation (ARF) for approval of their new metric that will help determine brand engagement during online game play and post-game actions.
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An increased number of companies are using email marketing, but many are not using it to its full potential. Before jumping into an email campaign, it is essential that the advertiser have a focused direction of who they are looking to reach. Here are five important tips to keep in mind when building an efficient email campaign.

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Since the recession hit, online coupon redemption has increased 300 percent (Promotion Marketing Association). The spike has been driven by the sluggish economy, dwindling newspaper readership, and widespread availability of the digital coupon; making online coupons an appealing outlet for consumers, and the paper coupon a tactic in decline.
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