Travel Remains Hot With Greece and Canada Joining Top Ten; South Pacific Declines
BOSTON, MA – ChoiceStream, the top choice for brand advertisers in advanced target optimization and programmatic buying, today announced the next installment of its Audience Cost Calendar—a monthly exploration of media buying costs, segment trends and predictions that stem from ChoiceStream’s Audience Cost Index.
Breaking News Impacting Segment Ranks & Costs
Data from March shows that many travel segments – Middle East, Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Italy, United Kingdom, and Spain – remain constants in the top ten, while Germany and Greece join the leaders, replacing the South Pacific. The South Pacific segment drop may be an indirect result of the negative press attention brought on by the disappearance of Malaysian flight 370 in early March.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) “Traveling with Kids” segment was in the bottom ten in March, suggesting that advertisers are spending more money targeting couples, singles, and other groups of travelers rather than families. Another segment landing among the lowest ranked is “AntiVirus Software,” falling 13 notches, with segment costs dipping 29 percent since the month prior. This is likely to change in the coming month with news of the Heartbleed bug breaking in April.
“The warmer weather is bringing with it an interest in warm weather activities,” says Bill Guild, VP of Marketing at ChoiceStream. “Travel segments known as summer destinations are on the rise, as well as anticipated interest in convertibles and summertime events, like graduations and weddings.”
Weather & Outdoor Segments Heating Up
Spring is here, meaning outdoor activities are on the rise, and many Home and Garden segments will likely increase in rank and cost index. If last year’s behavior is any indication for next month, Gardening, General Home and Garden, Home Improvement & Construction, and Outdoor segments will all see an increase in segment cost.
Warm weather and rising temperatures may also be the reason for the rise in all Food & Drink segments. In the coming month, barbeques and outdoor picnics will likely increase as the nicer weather begins to pull people away from their indoor winter habits, and outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Also of interest is the decline of various automobile segments: Lincoln, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Chrysler, and Nissan experienced some of the largest decreases in cost segments out of all 300+ consumer segments. In contrast, media buyers are paying 88 percent more than the overall average for advertising convertibles to consumers this month. The Ferrari segment, specifically, has increased 48 percent since last month.
To view the full infographic for the month of April, take a look at ChoiceStream’s Audience Cost Calendar that can be found here.
Methodology
ChoiceStream tracks approximately 315 segments. Tracked segments are rollups of similar segments from multiple data providers including ChoiceStream’s Pollshare. Each segment receives a calculated index with the monthly average price set at 100. An index of 110 indicates that the segment traded 10 percent higher than the overall average that month. Beginning this month ChoiceStream has changed the way it calculates the audience rankings by reporting the cheapest segment (also referred to as the cheapest price index) as number one, and a higher price index will correspond with a higher-ranking number.
About ChoiceStream
ChoiceStream improves ad relevance and digital campaign performance by programmatically selecting optimum advertising opportunities based on a dynamic understanding of consumers’ active preferences. With an extensive first and third party data network enhanced by proprietary data, ChoiceStream can target and convert the most valuable consumers in real-time. ChoiceStream is headquartered in the Innovation District of Boston and works with industry leading brands and their agencies. For more information on ChoiceStream, please visit www.ChoiceStream.com.
