Charity Also Breaks the Top Ten Rising For the First Time to Join the Usual Travel Segments as the Highest Cost Audience Segments in February
Boston, MA – ChoiceStream, the top choice for brand advertisers in advanced target optimization and programmatic buying, 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.
Though the demand for college basketball has dipped in past years as March Madness approaches, March 2014 is slated to break the trend as Sports: College Sports rose from a rank of 12 in December to 225 in February. Additionally, Sports: College Basketball and Sports: Professional Basketball are showing a rapid increase. If this rate continues, these segments have solid potential to secure top ranks on the chart in the coming month.
“The ChoiceStream Audience Cost Calendar reminds us that despite the dismal weather, spring is nearing with the return of interest in March Madness and spring break,” says Bill Guild, VP of marketing at ChoiceStream. “Interestingly, this also seemed to be a popular time for non-profit organizations.”
For the first time Charity: Fundraisers breaks the top ten with a rank of 310, well above its usual performance somewhere between 100 and 200. The top performer last month remained in the travel category with inspiring destinations and sunny weather prevailing over unrest to lift Travel: Middle East into the top spot, followed by the usual Travel segments Travel: Australia & New Zealand and Travel: United Kingdom to name a few.
College students may also be responsible for another rising segment, in addition to boosting basketball, due to the approaching spring season with the Holidays and Events: Spring Break segment showing a dramatic increase from January to February. The spring break crowd appears to have picked up the slack for other usual travelers as Travel: USA saw a slight decline and Travel: Business Travel recorded a minimal increase.
Surprisingly, Holidays and Events: Religious Events is one segment price that may remain low over the next couple months if current trends are any indication, even with the arrival of Easter. In 2012 the segment almost always earned a high rank, but throughout 2013 the same segment dropped significantly and continues to maintain its low position recording just a minor uptick for the 2013 holiday season.
To view the full infographic for the month of March, 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. ChoiceStream 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 woks with industry leading brands and their agencies. For more information on ChoiceStream, please visit www.ChoiceStream.com.
