iHollywood

ESPN, Turner Opt Out of Nielsen

ESPN and Turner are opting out of a new Nielsen commercial ratings system, joining NBC Universal's cable networks in the flight from a system designed measure the average viewership for all the national commercial minutes that run during a program. The Wall Street Journal reports that the companies are concerned about the system's ability to accurately measure ads on cable.

TBS's research chief, Jack Wakshlag, sent this icy letter to Nielsen. Check out the reference to unfair treatment of cable networks.

"This note is to inform you that Turner and all of it's networks will opt out of being included in the evaluative commercial minute rating tape you plan on issuing beginning in December.  We will not consider opting in until such time as you treat cable and broadcast networks equally for local avails, and are satisfied that you are accurately capturing commercial occurrences."

The note goes on to say TBS has found errors in Nielsen's data.

"It's not that we do not support commercial ratings," said a Turner spokesman. "We would rather that the data be presented when it is fully accurate."

--Michael Stroud and Ben Nugent

Apple-Flavored Coke Coming Soon

Apple has teamed with Coke in Europe to give away 70 million songs in a bid to increase its visibility and the more than 10 million songs it sells there each week  The partnership also marks the end of mycokemusic.com -- one of the first music download services in Europe -- which it faded into oblivion since iTunes'  launch.

The partnership is reminiscent of the US Apple-Pepsi marketing effort in 2004, which attempted to give away 100 million songs. While that promotion saw little traction, much has changed in the intervening years and this promotion should prove a success.

Apple stands to benefit substantially from this partnership.  The marketing campaign could help cement Apple's status as market leader in Europe while finding new customers for iTunes. Offering free song downloads could convince non-iTunes users to download and use the software to acquire their free music. Apple has the opportunity to demonstrate to new users the breadth of the store offerings and how easy it is to integrate one's own music collection into iTunes. After that, the new consumers would clearly need an iPod to work with iTunes and ... Apple has found a new customer.

Coke has an opportunity to redefine its role in the online music space. As Coke continues to carve out niche identities for itself via MySpace and other sites, the company can potentially strike a chord with consumers on a large scale. With iTunes' success, consumers may opt to buy coke in lieu of other soft drinks to get a free music track. The end result should be a boost in sales of Coke, even if it is just for the short term and additional visibility for Apple, which may acquire new customers from the arrangement.

Toyota's Massive Yaris Plans

Massive has its first client for the newly launched interactive in-video game advertising opportunity, Toyota. Continuing its online approach to promote the Yaris (also featured on MySpace) Toyota will insert interactive ads into Anarchy Online. The ads will appear in a location pre-approved by the game developers and will not interfere with gameplay.

Toyota and others have recognized that when trying to reach the younger generation tried and true methods are a thing of the past. In order to embrace Gen Y, companies are beginning to investigate opportunities to redefine their brands online. MySpace, Massive, and others provide new ways for consumers to interact with a brand, seemingly empowering the consumer while decentralizing the power of the brand's pushed message.

Social networking websites and Massive Multiplayer Online Gaming provide opportunities for users to develop a closer relationship with a brand and better identify and relate to it than in the past. On the social networking front, consumer can relate experiences both good and bad and choose to relate to specific brands. Even the U.S. Marine Corps has started using MySpace to find recruits. Online gamers can suggest other players check out the interactive ad if it is interesting. This provides additional depth to a message as trusted thought leaders can become evangelists for a brand.

Other brands have already begun to take note of this trend and it is expected that moving forward multi-platform campaigns will gain momentum. New advertising methods will provide greater access to Generation Y by appealing to their sense of control over their relationships by allowing them to choose to interact with a brand and not vice versa.