Navigation and Antivirus Software Declined in Month of May
BOSTON — American Express’s all-in announcement and Procter & Gamble’s recent assent, make it clear that programmatic media-buying is quickly becoming mainstream. Industry research confirms this – 96 percent of marketers are currently using programmatic display, according to a recent report by AdExchanger.
As real-time bidding is the most popular form of programmatic, it is important for brands to know the costs of various consumer segments in order to assess the price value of their target audiences. ChoiceStream facilitates this with the release of its monthly audience cost report, which provides data and observes trends.
Data from May shows that Gift Giving Holidays are back in the top ten after dropping 50 percent in rank last month. It seems that as summer approaches, consumers are ready to buy presents for birthdays, weddings, engagements and other occasions, while brands are willing to spend more to reach the right consumer. Additionally, Diesel Cars remained in the top 10 out of 315 total segments, suggesting that advertisers are paying much higher than average to serve ads to this emerging consumer segment.
Contrary to expectation, Pro Ice Hockey did not earn a top ten spot as it did last June, though it did rise 85 percent in cost index since the month prior. However, ChoiceStream predicted that Automotive: RVs would join the top 10 this month, and that forecast held true.
Segments on the rise this month included General Health and Fundraising. The General Health segment saw a 112 percent increase in cost index from the previous month, which could be attributed to the coming bathing suit season, or, perhaps a general uptick in people’s consciousness around wellness and healthy living. The Fundraising segment experienced an even higher increase in cost index this month: 123 percent, pushing it up 269 places in rank. With charity walks and other fundraisers for specific causes taking place during this time of year, this is no surprise.
The biggest spike in price out of all segments though, came from the Automotive: Wagon segment. It appears that parents are choosing this time of year to purchase new station wagons for their families. Either that, or advertisers are willing to pay more to reach this intended audience.
“The automobile industry is exhibiting interesting behaviors this year,” says Bill Guild, vice president of marketing at ChoiceStream. “While major car brands like Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, and Chrysler all fell in cost at the beginning of this year and then increased through March into April, trends are disparate now. Chevrolet and Chrysler have continued to increase in cost, while brands like Audi and Scion have seen deep drops in rank – both fell over 200 places in rank out of 315 total segments.”
Among the bottom segments in rank this month are Scholarships, Antivirus Software and Navigation. The Scholarships drop can be explained by the fact that it is nearly summer now; education organizations have the season off, and will pick back up in the fall. The other two segments are interesting, though. ChoiceStream took a closer look at performance and noticed that Navigation and Antivirus Software exhibit similar trends.
“Both are standalone features that are becoming absorbed by other technologies, but whose advertisers are still spending more money during the holiday season to promote,” says Guild. “It will be interesting to see how these two segments play out through the rest of 2014 and into 2015.”
About ChoiceStream
ChoiceStream delivers top-of-plan results for online, video, and mobile advertisers. Unique real-time polling finds the ideal audience. Real-time bidding and real-time machine learning optimize the buy, and real-time creative engages the audience with dynamic and relevant ads. ChoiceStream’s concierge level services include creative development, campaign management, complete transparency, and custom insights. Companies like AT&T, Zappos, Dunkin’ Donuts, and AAA use ChoiceStream to drive results. For more information on ChoiceStream, please visit www.ChoiceStream.com.
