El surgimiento de nuevas plataformas de comunicación fragmenta a la industria dificultando la creación de estrategias publicitarias efectivas.
Mientras que en el pasado el presupuesto publicitario se distribuía principalmente entre televisión, radio y gráfica, en la actualidad hay nuevos medios online como redes sociales, tablets o smartphones que al mismo tiempo conllevan múltiples opciones. Y para analizar la eficacia publicitaria, hay que tener en cuenta variables como el alcance, la resonancia y la reacción que genera en los consumidores cada uno de ellos.
Conocer y comprender todos los nuevos desafíos es de suma importancia para las empresas, dado que la inversión publicitaria representa una gran porción de sus gastos totales.
Debido a la convergencia de numerosos medios de comunicación, la publicidad multiplataforma se perfila como una tendencia importante tanto en la actualidad como en los próximos años. De hecho, investigaciones de Nielsen han arrojado que los anuncios con exposición simultánea en televisión y medios online consiguen mejores resultados y niveles más altos de recordación que si se expusieran solo por TV o por medios online, incluso aunque la frecuencia de exposición sea la misma.
Dentro de los nuevos medios, los smartphones se han convertido en un gran soporte publicitario y, solo en Estados Unidos, más de un 70 por ciento de los teléfonos móviles son inteligentes y los usuarios destinan en promedio 34 horas mensuales al uso de estos dispositivos, lo que representa un promedio de siete horas más que el tiempo dedicado al uso de computadoras.
Uno de los principales desafíos que se le presenta a la industria en la actualidad es poder encontrar métricas equivalentes para medir la efectividad de las campañas en los distintos medios o plataformas. En este aspecto las tres variables básicas que cualquier campaña multiplataforma debería poder medir para optimizar sus resultados son el alcance duplicado –la audiencia alcanzada al mismo tiempo en medios online y en TV–, el alcance no duplicado –la audiencia alcanzada solo a través de la TV o solo a través del medio online– y el alcance incremental –la audiencia alcanzada en medios online que no ha visto la campaña en TV.
Más allá de los soportes, es recomendable que el mensaje siga siendo el núcleo de toda comunicación. En este sentido, hay que tener en cuenta ciertos factores para generar impacto en los consumidores.
Por un lado, es importante el storytelling. Una gran publicidad debe contar una historia, tener argumentos convincentes, comprensibles y entretenidos.
Asimismo, la simplicidad es fundamental ya que las construcciones complejas confunden y oscurecen el mensaje.
En tercer lugar, es recomendable generar identificación hablándole directamente al consumidor. De esta manera se involucrarán más fácilmente.
El humor, siempre y cuando sea afín al público objetivo, también favorece la recordación.
Por último, el branding. Los mejores anuncios suelen tener una marca fuerte por definición, que a través de personajes, colores, música y demás recursos hagan que se reconozca siempre a la marca.
Estas cinco premisas, si bien no constituyen una receta infalible, son una constante siempre presente en los mejores anuncios. No obstante, la creatividad y la intuición son y serán la base de los mejores conceptos publicitarios.

Every generation has its music, movies, fashion and impact on society. They are so distinct that they have names, and many marketers make set-in-concrete decisions based on generational stereotypes.

Do that at your own peril, because recent research is shattering myths about the demographics of our country today.

An example: Many of us think that millennials largely live with their parents. Think again.

“Real estate website Zillow predicts millennials will overcome Gen X as the largest group of home buyers this year — more than half of 18- to 34-year-olds said they plan to buy a house in the next one to five years,” wrote personal finance reporter Hadley Malcolm in USA Today.

Many people believe that most Hispanics in the U.S. are new immigrants. That was true 15 years ago when 60 percent were foreign born, but more than two-thirds are native born today. Overall, one-third of all children born in the U.S. this year will be Hispanic, and they will grow up bilingual and bicultural.

“Bicultural Hispanics grew up taking part in two cultures and have adapted attitudes, behaviors, languages and values of each. They enjoy combining and blending aspects of both cultures,” wrote Monica Ramirez Nadela for CampaignLive.com.

Do you believe that everyone over age 50 is a baby boomer? Wrong again. This is the year Gen Xers start turning 50.

“When you grow up, your heart dies,” said actress Ally Sheedy in “The Breakfast Club,” a Gen X hit movie in 1985.

Death not withstanding, more and more Gen Xers are meeting cardiologists these days.

Generation X was the first group to grow up with digital technology. Gen X women were early adopters, and they continue to upgrade. Eighty-four percent of them bought new smartphones in 2014, and 71 percent purchased tablets.

A recent survey of leading-edge Generation X women found that more than three-quarters of women ages 45 to 50 define their feelings about aging in exclusively positive terms.

A common misconception is that baby boomers, many of whom have reached retirement age, are the biggest consumers of media.

Again, look at the research. According to a Nielsen study for Essence magazine, African-Americans consume more content than any other group.

“In a consumer marketplace cluttered with options, African-Americans choose the best-fit media outlets for news gathering and entertainment purposes, reporting above-average consumption across each platform,” said Jack Loechner, analyzing the study for the Center for Media Research.

African-Americans watch nearly 200 hours of television per month. They also are 30 percent more likely to be magazine readers than the general population.

Another media study from Nielsen found that African-Americans are heavy listeners to radio. They tally more than 12 hours per week. That’s 5 percent more than the total audience.

This trend does not stop with what some may think of as traditional media.

More than 80 percent of African-Americans have smartphones, outpacing the total population by 7 percent.

Social media numbers also trend high. More than 80 percent support brands using social media, and three-quarters post reviews and ratings online.

Finally, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported a surprising statistic from the “super senior” demographic. Medicare spending per capita peaks at age 96.

What should this seemingly random information tell you as a marketer?

It tells you to put aside your own experience, take off the blinders and really understand who your customers are. Customers evolve, despite what you may think.

David Bohan founded Bohan Advertising in 1990. He has worked in marketing and advertising since earning a degree at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1970.

Smartphone Sales Represented Two-Thirds of Global Phone Market in 2014

In Fourth Quarter of 2014 Samsung Lost No. 1 Position to Apple in Global Smartphone Market

Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users had a record fourth quarter of 2014 with an increase of 29.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013 to reach 367.5 million units, according to Gartner, Inc. Samsung lost the No. 1 spot to Apple in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2014 (see Table 1). Samsung had been in the top spot since 2012.

In 2014, sales of smartphones to end users totaled 1.2 billion units, up 28.4 percent from 2013 (see Table 2) and represented two-thirds of global mobile phone sales.

“Samsung’s performance in the smartphone market deteriorated further in the fourth quarter of 2014, when it lost nearly 10 percentage points in market share,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Samsung continues to struggle to control its falling smartphone share, which was at its highest in the third quarter of 2013. This downward trend shows that Samsung’s share of profitable premium smartphone users has come under significant pressure.”

“With Apple dominating the premium phone market and the Chinese vendors increasingly offering quality hardware at lower prices, it is through a solid ecosystem of apps, content and services unique to Samsung devices that Samsung can secure more loyalty and longer-term differentiation at the high end of the market,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.

Table 1

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q14 (Thousands of Units)

Company	4Q14 Units	4Q14 Market Share (%)	4Q13 Units	4Q13 Market Share (%)
Apple	74,832	20.4	50,224	17.8
Samsung	73,032	19.9	83,317	29.5
Lenovo*	24,300	6.6	16,465	5.8
Huawei	21,038	5.7	16,057	5.7
Xiaomi	18,582	5.1	5,598	2.0
Others	155,701.6	42.4	111,204.3	39.3
Total	367,484.5	100.0	282,866.2	100.0

Source: Gartner (March 2015)

*The results for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by Lenovo and Motorola. 

Table 2

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2014 (Thousands of Units)

Company	2014 Units	2014 Market Share (%)	2013 Units	2013 Market Share (%)
Samsung	307,597	24.7	299,795	30.9
Apple	191,426	15.4	150,786	15.5
Lenovo*	81,416	6.5	57,424	5.9
Huawei	68,081	5.5	46,609	4.8
LG Electronics	57,661	4.6	46,432	4.8
Others	538,710	43.3	368,675	38.0
Total	1,244,890	100.0	969,721	100.0

Source: Gartner (March 2015)

*The results for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by Lenovo and Motorola.