New niches and targets? New research on online & mobile

There have been several interesting reports on how various segments of the audience are using, or are impacted by, aspects of the evolving media world.

  Mentioned in a previous post was the interesting finding that college students felt that advertising is still the most influential medium for ads, although.  New research reported by the Association of National Advertisers suggests that company and product websites are the best way to reach multicultural audiences.  And consulting firm Altman Vilandria & Co.  is reporting that use of tablets for TV and movie viewing is growing most quickly among older viewers. The use of tablets for video viewing grew, in the last year, from 11% to 19% among those 55 or older, and from 15% to 24% for those in the 45 to 54 age group.

“The implications for marketers and the future of advertising are profound: video advertising on tablets can be more timely (inserted at time of viewing), more targeted, and more interactive than has yet been possible with TV advertising,” said Jonathan Hurd, author of the (Altman Vilandria & Co.) study.

There's other interesting research coming out about "second-screen" viewing (watching TV & video on a device other than a TV set). Research from TDG suggests that second-screen viewing doesn't detract much from regular TV viewing - they found that in key demographics there was little impact on regular TV viewing (only a "negligible" proportion of those 50 or older reported a decline in normal TV viewing, while for the key 18-49 demographic, only 15% reported a decline in regular TV viewing. In fact, for that demographic, 39% of those watching video and TV on tablets said that their tablet viewing led them to increase their regular TV viewing. The idea that tablet or mobile TV viewing supplements traditional TV viewing rather than acting as a substitute is also supported by the recent Nielsen Cross-Platform Media Report (see this post).
  And then there's the MediaMind study results that suggest that online video ads are much more effective (in generating click-throughs) than online banner ads or rich media ads.

What all of these results suggest is that "second-screen" TV viewing through online and mobile devices may be more efficient and effective outlets for marketers and advertisers who are interested in targeting particular niche audiences. As these outlets continue to develop, they should be able to attract advertising and marketing dollars - especially once reasonable audience measurement metrics emerge.

Sources - Tablet Viewing Rising In Popularity For Older Viewers, Not Hurting TV Viewing, VidBlog
Digital Marketers Reach Multicultural Demos Best On Web Sites, OnlineMediaDaily