SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Performance marketing and online advertising sales veteran Monty Hudson has joined pay-per-call provider RingRevenue as executive vice president of sales, the company announced.

“We’re very excited to have Monty joining our team,” said Jason Spievak, RingRevenue CEO. “We engaged in a comprehensive industry search that produced several high-quality candidates, but Monty was a clear choice. He brings deep industry knowledge, a broad network of contacts and experience introducing innovative technologies into the online advertising market. His thorough understanding of performance marketing will help him build successful partnerships that drive first-class results for advertisers, publishers and networks alike.”

RingRevenue’s patent-pending technology makes tracking phone calls easier than tracking clicks, allowing publishers, advertisers and direct marketers to make more money by connecting consumers with advertisers via phone. The company offers the only pay-per-call platform purpose-built for the performance marketing industry. With ad spending driving 20 billion sales calls a year in the U.S. and calls converting at 30 to 50 percent, top affiliate networks such as Commission Junction, LinkShare, ShareASale and others recognize the revenue potential of pay-per-call and became early adopters of RingRevenue’s technology last year.

“RingRevenue has developed the perfect solution to a substantial challenge faced by marketers, publishers and networks,” said Hudson. “The RingRevenue platform provides a turnkey solution to offline and online conversion attribution across search, display and traditional media. It is a key component in bridging the gap between online and offline marketing and could prove to be transformative for the direct marketing industry as a whole. I am excited and honored to join an experienced team so dedicated to improving ROI for advertisers, publishers and networks.”

Previously Hudson was vice president of sales and media for AudienceScience, where he managed the company’s national sales and media development teams and developed strategic network partnerships. Prior to joining AudienceScience, Hudson was a sales executive at online advertising networks Fastclick and ValueClick, where he led sales efforts and managed major agency and performance advertising accounts. Hudson also was national sales manager for a major business publication’s online properties, where he quadrupled online advertising revenue in his first year.

About RingRevenue, Inc.

RingRevenue tracks and manages calls even better than clicks, enabling affiliate networks and advertising agencies to track purchases made by phone. RingRevenue’s patent-pending pay-per-call platform makes it easy for online and offline publishers to promote call-based campaigns through the leading affiliate networks, and the company’s proprietary call quality processing engine ensures delivery of the highest-quality callers to advertisers. RingRevenue provides its pay-per-call platform to several leading affiliate networks and agencies. For more information about RingRevenue or to schedule a demo, please visit www.ringrevenue.com or call 866-943-6426.

“The ad market declined significantly in the first quarter, overtaken by a collapsing economy which prompted consumers and marketers alike to shut their wallets and conserve,” said Jon Swallen, SVP Research at TNS Media Intelligence. “While there are hopeful signs of general economic indicators bottoming out, the advertising sector still appears to be lagging behind. Available data from second quarter shows ad expenditures tracking on a comparable plane to recent months.”

“Given the struggling economy and the historic challenges being faced by key industry sectors such as automotive and financial services, and certain media categories, a decline in Q1 ad expenditures, while significant, is not wholly unexpected,” said Dean DeBiase, CEO, TNS Media. “But as has traditionally been seen in recessionary periods, some sectors and brands are approaching a depressed marketplace as an opportunity to gain share and are increasing spending accordingly. The advertising industry, too, while struggling, is understanding this is a period for innovation and we are seeing efforts to reboot their approach through the advent of new technologies and tools such as addressable advertising, and the first steps to integrating ad measurement in a synergistic manner across all media platforms.”

Ad Spending By Media

Local media suffered most with aggregate expenditures sinking 25.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009. The rate of decline was similar across Spot TV (-27.5 percent), Local Newspapers (-25.1 percent) and Local Radio (-26.8 percent). Each of these segments was ravaged by deep spending cutbacks in core categories such as automotive, retail and local services.

For national media, combined ad spending fell 8.5 percent versus a year ago. Within this segment, performance was sharply defined along the lines of print versus television versus online.

National Newspapers (-28.5 percent), B-to-B Magazines (-25.5 percent), Consumer Magazines (-19.2 percent) and other print media were clustered on one track and their revenue declines were driven by fewer ad pages.

Network TV (-4.2 percent), Cable TV (-2.7 percent) and Syndication (+0.2 percent) occupied a middle tier and each of these saw business improve slightly at the end of the quarter, paced by Motion Picture and Restaurant category spending. At an exclusive upper level, Internet display expenditures grew 8.2 percent as telecom, travel and local retail advertisers expanded their online marketing programs.

Source: TNS Media Intelligence

1. Figures are based on the TNS Media Intelligence Stradegy™ multimedia ad expenditure database across all TNS MI measured media, including: Network TV; Spot TV (135 DMAs); Cable TV (67networks); Syndication TV; Hispanic Network TV (4 networks); Consumer Magazines (226 publications); Sunday Magazines (7 publications); Local Magazines (24 publications); Hispanic Magazines (19 publications); Business-to-Business Magazines (362 publications); Local Newspapers (148 publications); National Newspapers (3 publications); Hispanic Newspapers (48 publications); Network Radio (5 networks); Spot Radio; Local Radio (32 markets); Internet; and Outdoor. Figures do not include public service announcement (PSA) data.

2. Spot TV figures do not include Hispanic Spot TV data.

3. Magazine media includes Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) data and reflect print editions of publications.

4. Newspaper media figures reflect print editions of the publications.

5. Local Radio includes expenditures for 32 markets in the U.S.

6. FSI data represents distribution costs only.

Ad Spending by Advertiser

The top 10 advertisers in the first quarter of 2009 spent a combined total of $4,019.5 million, a 5.7 percent decline from last year. Across the top 100 companies, a more diversified group of marketers representing nearly one-half of total ad expenditures, spending fell by 8.1 percent. The sharpest reductions occurred further down the rankings among the long tail of small advertisers who collectively account for the last one-fifth of total industry spending. Media outlays among this fragmented group tumbled 22.3 percent, a reflection of their sensitivity to economic and business conditions.

Procter & Gamble, despite slashing expenditures 17.8 percent, remained the country’s largest advertiser with $674.1 million in spending. The company pared TV allocations by nearly 30 percent across its broad portfolio of brands while leaving magazine budgets untouched.

Johnson & Johnson was the only other packaged goods marketer in the top 10 and it quietly increased total ad expenditures by 28.9 percent, to $397.2 million, its highest level of quarterly spend in two years.

Among the wireless telecommunication providers, Sprint Nextel aggressively hiked its spending by 30.3 percent, to $317.7 million, primarily to promote a new bundled value plan. Verizon Communications raised expenditures by 3.1 percent to $577.1 million while rival AT&T registered a small decline of 1.2 percent, to $459.4 million.

General Motors burned through $424.2 million of ad expenditures in the quarter, a 19.1 percent drop from a year ago but a smaller rate of decrease than most of its competitors.

1 Figures do not include FSI, House Ads or PSA activity.

Ad Spending by Category

The Top 10 advertising categories in the first quarter of 2009 spent a combined $16,735.6 million, down 13.6 percent from a year ago. The aggregate drop was skewed by the reduction in auto category expenditures, which nose-dived 28.4 percent to $2,309.0 million. Auto manufacturer spending was off 15.2 percent and dealer advertising was down a stunning 48.9 percent, paralleling a 38 percent decline in new vehicle sales during the period.

Only two top categories registered spending increases. Telecom expenditures rose 3.0 percent and reached $2,078.1 million with gains occurring across major wireless, cable and satellite TV providers. Restaurant ad budgets were up 2.5 percent to $1,415.5 million, paced by quick service establishments.

On the down side, Financial Services shed more than $400 million of spending and finished the quarter at $1,968.4 million, down 18.1 percent. Reductions were most prominent among loan products (-67.9 percent), credit cards (-41.0 percent) and retail banking (-20.7 percent). Other notable double-digit declines occurred among Local Services (-14.7 percent, to $1867.0 million), Direct Response (-17.4 percent to $1,635.8 million) and Travel & Tourism (-14.3 percent, to $1,140.4 million).

Source: TNS Media Intelligence

Note: Figures do not include FSI or PSA activity. The sum of the individual categories may differ from the total due to rounding.

1 Miscellaneous Retail does not include these retail segments: Department Stores, Home Furnishing & Appliance Stores

Branded Entertainment

TNS Media Intelligence continuously monitors Branded Entertainment within network prime time and late night programming. The tracking identifies Brand Appearances and measures their duration and attributes. Given the short length of many Brand Appearances, duration is a more relevant metric than a count of occurrences for quantifying and comparing the gross amount of brand activity that viewers are potentially exposed to in the program versus in the commercial breaks.

In the first quarter of 2009, an average hour of monitored prime time network programming contained 10 minutes, 35 seconds (10:35) of in-show Brand Appearances and 13:54 of network commercial messages. The combined total of 24:29 of marketing content represents 41 percent of a prime-time hour.

Unscripted reality programming had an average of 19:16 per hour of Brand Appearances as compared to just 5:31 per hour for scripted programs such as sitcoms and dramas. Late night network talk shows averaged 11:30 per hour. The combined load of Brand Appearances and network ad messages in these shows reached 29:40 per hour, or 49 percent of total programming time.

Source: TNS Media Intelligence

1 Figures include network advertisements, station promotions and PSAs. Local commercial time is excluded.

Among all monitored network programming during the period, The Biggest Loser: Couples had the highest average volume of Brand Appearance time at 48 minutes, 5 seconds (48:05) per hour. Rounding out the top five were Hell’s Kitchen (43:00); American Idol (40:49); Chopping Block (38:54); and Knight Rider (32:10).

About TNS Media

Established in more than 30 countries, TNS Media explores all media – print, radio, TV, Internet, social media, cinema and outdoor worldwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and offers a full range of insights, analyses and audience measurement services.

TNS Media combines the deepest expertise in the industry to provide media and marketing intelligence including advertising expenditure monitoring, advertising creation monitoring, audience measurement, market influence analytics, online consumer behavior tracking, news monitoring, sports sponsorship evaluation and more. The TNS Media companies track more than 3 million brands and provide vital market intelligence to 16,000 customers around the world. For further information, please visit www.tnsmediagroup.com

About Kantar Group and TNS

The Kantar Group is one of the world’s largest research, insight and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of more than 20 specialist companies – including the recently-acquired TNS – the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and actionable insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 80 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. For further information, please visit www.kantargrouptns.com

NEW YORK – At a time when financial institutions are pulling back on their advertising, a new study from Nielsen IAG shows that consumer confidence in the long-term health of these companies is dramatically influenced by advertising and marketing efforts.

Details from the study, including charts and a video of Richard Khaleel, EVP of Nielsen IAG’s Financial practice, are available at Nielsen Wire: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/nielsen-news/financial-company-ads-out-of-sight-out-of-business.

When asked about their own banks, insurance companies and investment firms, 55% of respondents who said they had seen more advertising for their financial institution reported having “complete confidence” in the financial health and soundness of their financial company and only 18% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company. However, among those who said they had seen less advertising, only 18% had “complete confidence” in their financial company and 45% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company.

“This research shows that ‘out of sight’ can mean ‘out of business,’” said Richard Khaleel, EVP of Nielsen IAG’s Financial practice. “The current economic climate makes it more important than ever for financial institutions to bolster confidence among their clients and this study clearly demonstrates the link between advertising and confidence levels. With constant scrutiny on the industry it’s clear that taking control of the message in advertising and press can make all the difference for a brand.”

“This recession is now driven by consumer spending,” said James Russo, VP Marketing, The Nielsen Company. “In 2008, Nielsen data shows that consumer’s concerns were around food and fuel. Today consumers are driven by fear aligned to the weakening job and equity markets. Companies that will thrive in this climate of fear are those that manage consumer confidence through the turbulent times. Companies that deliver a message of value will be key to turning around the economy and determining who survives in the months ahead.”

The study comes as data show year to year reductions in advertising expenditures in the financial services and insurance categories. Year over year ad spending on financial services and insurance was down 13.4% in 2008 compared to 2007. The drop off was even sharper (-23.3%) for the 4th Quarter of 2008 vs. the same period in 2007.

Total Ad Spending 2008 vs 2007

2007 Ad Spend    2008 Ad Spend    % Change
(millions)              (millions)
Financial Svcs                 $6,107.9                 $5,070.5                 -17.0%
Insurance                         $3,568.0                 $3,307.2                 -7.3%
TOTAL                                $9,676.0                 $8,377.7                 -13.4%

Total Ad Spending Q4 2008 vs Q4 2007

4Q 2007 Ad Spend     4Q 2008 Ad Spend     % Change
(millions)                       (millions)

Financial Svcs                                     $1,735.6                 $1,229.6                 -29.2%
Insurance                                             $1,029.0                 $889.9                 -13.5%
TOTAL                                                   $2,764.6                 $2,119.5                 -23.3%

More Study Findings

The study also found that confidence was linked to age and affluence as well as the amount of risk associated with the financial institution. Older adults aged 55+ and those with assets over $100,000 were more confident than average. Banks fared much better than life insurance companies and investment firms.

Overall, a minority of respondents said they had “Complete Confidence” in their financial institutions:

* less than 38% had confidence in their checking and savings bank
* only 28% were confident of the company that manages their investment or retirement accounts
* only 28% had confidence in their life insurance company

When asked what factors would increase confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution, respondents cited:

* Seeing regular advertising for that institution (25%)
* Receiving regular mail or email offers from that institution (25%)
* Regularly seeing internet offers/advertising from that institution (21%)
* Reading positive stories in the press about that institution (44%)

About The Nielsen IAG Financial Brand Confidence Study

The Nielsen IAG Financial Brand Confidence Study was a national online survey of 5500 U.S. respondents. Respondents were asked questions about their confidence in

* the bank where they have their personal checking and savings accounts
* the company that handles their investments and retirement accounts
* their life insurance company

Respondents were also asked about the amount of advertising they had seen in the last 6 months for their financial companies. Finally, respondents were asked about factors that might positively or negatively affect their confidence in these financial companies.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

- Real Time Content: ‘Advertising Is (Not) Dead’ (Gavin O’Malley for MediaPost)
“Looking to further establish its stateside presence, U.K.-based Web video ad technology provider Real Time Content is kicking off a multi-platform print and Web marketing campaign.” 

- Advertisers, Agencies Split On Overall Ad Optimism, Agree On Online (Joe Mandese for MediaPost)
“Advertising executives are growing increasingly pessimistic in their outlook for spending across the major media over the next six months, but marketers are significantly more pessimistic than their agency counterparts for all media, except online. Those are among the findings of a new ongoing tracking study of the ad industry’s confidence levels during the economic recession.” 

- IAB Preps Anti-Regulatory Campaign (Wendy Davis for MediaPost)
“As part of what appears to be a lobbying effort aimed at heading off regulation, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has created a video featuring small publishers touting the value of advertising. “