New CW Show – Gossip Girl

I have been seeing a lot of previews latley for new Fall shows on TV. I was seeing a lot of commericals for a new series on Channel 9 in Chicago (WGN) which is the CW network. It’s called Gossip Girl. And the country does seem to be enamored with a lot of Gossip these days. Maybe it is a timley and relevant subject? The first season of Gossip Girl will premiere on Wednesday night, September 19, 2007. Gossip Girl is an upcoming American television teen drama created by Josh Schwartz, creator of The O.C., and Stephanie Savage. The show is based on the novel series by Cecily von Ziegesar. It is kind of a teen age soap opera type show. The lives of these rich, socialite privledged kids in NYC (ok college or HS age, I say kids because I am in my 30′s now) has to be interesting and a bit of an escape from the daily lives of people like us. Sometimes I like mindless entertainment. I want to sit down and relax and enjoy something purely with entertainment and escape value. No hard issues, no thinking, just frivolous fun. And I think this might be the perfect mid-week show for that. So, check out Gossip Girl on The CW next Wednesday, I know I will.

Ads Offline lead to searching Online

A new study shows that advertising offline leads to searches online. This study at the center for media research showed that spending money on TV, Newspaper, Billboards and other outdoor advertising led to more searches online for the products.

According to a the “iProspect Offline Channel Influence on Online Search Behavior Study,” conducted by JupiterResearch, 67% of the online search population is driven to search by offline channels. It also revealed that 39% of online searchers who are influenced by offline channels ultimately make a purchase. This 39% conversion rate suggests a synergistic relationship exists between search and offline channels, concludes the study. 

So basically the offline spend that you find is so hard to defend with your boss really does work. They just need to read the research!

Marketing to Diversity Groups

I have been reading that more companies are trying to pursue marketing to diversity and minority groups. This is helpful only if you segment your markets and find that diversity and minority groups either are part of your customer base or could potentially be and you want to reach out to them.

Several strategies are available in this area and many are exactly the same as mainstream marketing, just with a different user base and different media properties. It is always good to use specific creative that shows the diversity group in your ads. An ad for a latino audience is not going to resonate if it is all enlgish with caucasians pictured in the ad.

Latino dempgraphic: Telemundo, Univision, Latina Magazine, Lat Pro and Hoy are all media properties that specialize in reaching this market.