When planning for your next fiscal year or campaign, are you shifting more dollars into digital media? If so, is your media team searching out sites/blogs/networks where your target audience is convening online OR are you replicating your print buy to online? Depending on your goals/objectives, either strategy could work for you. But, before you replicate your current print buy you’ll want to see an audience comparison. Sometimes there is an assumption that the audience demographics of readers of print publications translates to the same audience who view the content online or on mobile devices. This isn’t always the case. For instance, readers of the print edition of The New York Times and consumers of the same publication’s online content are roughly the same age (median age is 49) with the male/female split practically even, but[...]

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. airport passenger volume is on the rebound after a rough start in 2011. As of July 2011, roughly 41 million passengers passed through major U.S. airports, up from a low of 29 million in February of this year. That’s a lot of passengers with time to kill and money to spend (unless you’re a last minute arriver like some people I know!). While this seems like an obvious place to connect with consumers, it’s not as easy as it looks. Given the volume of required flight/safety communication, cutting through the clutter in airports takes some creative thinking on the part of marketers.[...]

<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-6430 aligncenter" title="Social tv blog" src="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Social-tv-blog1.jpg" alt="" width="587" height="213" /></p>
Forget that old image in your head of the typical couch potato. In today's society, the normal TV viewer is no longer a lazy figure; rather now the normal TV viewer is busy multitasking between watching TV and being on their laptop or smartphone. The blending of TV viewing and social media has been a trend that seems to be long in the making. More TV viewers are using <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/social-media-and-tv-whos-talking-when-and-what-about/" target="_blank">social media</a> "as a platform to talk about and engage with TV content" and more marketers and media companies are finally paying attention.</p>
Consider some of these statistics about current trends in TV viewing and how social media plays a part:

- 90 percent of <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/160653/90-of-tv-viewing-live-even-with-dvrs-in-44-of-ho.html" target="_blank">TV viewing is live</a>, even though about 40 percent of U.S. households have at least one digital video recorder

- <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/social-media-and-tv-whos-talking-when-and-what-about/" target="_blank">TV buzz</a> is highest in January and September (9.3 and 9.1 percent) when most shows have premieres; and then in April and May (9.1 and 9.5 percent) with show finales<a href="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/?p=6428">[...]</a>

<img class="alignleft size-large wp-image-6159" title="br single" src="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/br-single-1024×704.jpg" alt="" width="403" height="276" />When marketers intend to reach millennials, it's often all about the d—digital, digital, digital. But when it comes to channel planning, there's another "d" that deserves attention- direct mail. Our Managing Director, Lamont Swittenberg, recently addressed this issue with the United States Post Office publication <a href="http://www.delivermagazine.com/" target="_blank">Deliver Magazine</a>. Lamont notes that “Sending something by direct mail is a way of breaking through the clutter because they [millennials/boomerangers] do receive so much communication that comes digitally. And you still can’t replace the personal touch from direct mail.” The Deliver Magazine <a href="http://www.delivermagazine.com/2011/09/direct-mail-makes-an-impact-on-generation-y/" target="_blank">article</a> cites a 2010 finding by Epsilon that <a href="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/?p=6158">[...]</a>

If you’ve been watching ESPN lately, you will probably have noticed that there is a lot of coverage devoted to the Little League World Series. ESPN is now covering every single Little League game, which is huge expansion over the coverage of just the final championship game a few, short years ago. The tournament stars 16 teams (half from the regions of the U.S. and half from the different continents of the world) that compete over 10 days in an “Olympic village” center in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

This is a particularly clever piece of marketing that leverages both ESPN’s rights to broadcast the series while also rekindling the joy of watching kids play America’s pastime. [...]

<Please be advised that I’m about to release my inner Geek>

The iPad–and its ever-growing list of competitors–are going to make learning more fun than ever!

Correction: the innovative companies responsible for reincarnating stagnant traditional concert with the iPad, etc.–are going to make learning more fun than ever.

By next year, xplana.com projects that digital textbook sales will reach 5.5% of total textbook sales, and by 2014 nearly one-in-five textbooks purchased will be of the digital variety. That’s a whole bunch of students captivated by educational content (assuming they’re all doing their homework). Because I’m a natural ideator, I couldn’t help but wonder how marketers might view this as an opportunity to connect with this young adult audience. Before anyone bemoans this notion as educational sacrilege, hear me out; here are a few strategies that could benefit marketers and students alike. [...]

In a highly competitive marketplace, it is critical that education brands continually seek ways to reach prospective students. One underutilized channel to consider is connection planning through mobile channels.

Recently published data from the Pew Internet Project show smart phone usage among 18-24 and 25-34 year olds is higher than any other age group. Of adults ages 18-24, 49% use a smart phone, while 58% of adults 25-34 use the device. Not only do we know how many Americans use smart phones, but recent statistics from comScore give insight into what consumers are doing on these mobile devices. Among mobile subscribers 13+, the top three uses of smart phones are to send text messages to another phone, access a browser, and download apps. As of May 2011, 39.8% of mobile subscribers were using mobile devices to access browsers and 38.6% used their mobile devices to download apps.

Given that younger consumers are also prime candidates for purchasing (or heavily influencing) higher education offerings, education brands should consider deploying mobile marketing campaigns to reach them.[...]

<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-5070" title="coca-cola-plant-billboard" src="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/coca-cola-plant-billboard1.jpg" alt="" width="484" height="341" /> When you think of the environment, is soda the first thing that pops into your head? Probably not. Yet, this is exactly what Coca-Cola is trying to negate with a new out of home effort, an execution resulting from its recent partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Coca-Cola recently unveiled a state-of-the-art billboard in the Philippines that is truly environmentally friendly. <a href="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/?p=5067 ">[...]</a>

I’m a gal who doesn’t eat to live—al contraire, I live to eat. Naturally, I love to throw a good party as this affords a totally acceptable reason to feed my obsession. Among my friends, I’m well known for experimenting with new recipes within my preferred culinary category of tapas/hors d’oeuvres. So you can imagine my delight when I was invited to the launch party for a new content partnership between Rachael Ray and online publisher eHow. [...]

I’m a sucker for a good street team. I love when marketers pull “stunts” and often find myself zoned out while observing brands at work among the people. Luckily for me, Luminosity’s NYC neighborhood is a magnet for this kind of stuff; in the past few months, I’ve seen brands from Triscuit to Jamba Juice to Delta Airlines’ “Delta Dugout” (for the MLB Subway Series) intercept consumers in the throes of daily life.

USA Network recently deployed a particularly smart street marketing effort. While strolling by my favorite building (the Flatiron—isn’t it majestic?), I noticed a large, bright blue freight container branded with the network’s “Characters Welcome” tagline. At first I wrote this off as glorified outdoor advertising collateral…until I was invited to watch a short film. In a shipping container. In the middle of the city[...]