Paul Sage's Marketing Work and Observations
An update on my post from five years ago: https://paulsagemarketing.com/2013/12/11/no-more-waiting-at-the-deli-counter/
The kiosk is dead. Long live the kiosk. Self-service IS customer service.
Update, March 6, 2019: I think the new technology that Kroger has introduced, including online ordering (click and pick up) and scan-as-you-go, may have eclipsed the need for the old kiosk. But I still miss it.
The high school graduates of May 2018 are about to move into their college dorm rooms, and many won’t be taking a TV with them. This year’s university freshmen don’t watch TV and don’t use TVs. Instead, they watch prepackaged video content, on demand, and on their laptops and phones.
In my survey of 36 new freshmen, all who are recent high school graduates ready to move into college community housing without their snoopy parents, 39% said they do not expect a TV in their college housing room. Fifty-six percent of female students surveyed won’t have a TV in their room. In a world of big high-definition televisions, these sharp-eyed young adults gravitate to the small screen. More than three fourths (77%) expect to spend most of their video-watching time on a laptop or desktop computer. Another 20% prefer their mobile phone, and only 3% rely primarily on a traditional or smart TV. Nobody watches video on their tablet or iPad.
We’re seeing a major shift not only in device preference, but in content selection as well. The new collegians are not watching live or same-day video. Eight-six percent of all surveyed and 94% of females say more than three-fourths of what they watch is not live and did not just become available that day. A study of viewing habits from 2017 showed teens spent 34% of their video time watching YouTube, 27% watching Netflix, and 14% watching live TV. Young people spend about twice as much time watching Netflix as live TV, and even more time on YouTube
They’re watching YouTube and Netflix on their laptops.
Broadcast and cable networks rely heavily on live sports to capture a real-time audience, especially during October when Major League Baseball reaches its crescendo and all forms of football are at full throttle. But only half of the rising college freshmen surveyed said they expect to watch 3 or more hours of live sports during the whole month of October. That’s not even one full college game. Whoa, Nellie, Keith Jackson, what happened to the young’uns?
There are big differences between men and women in this narrow age group. Seventy-eight percent of males plan to watch at least three hours of live sports in October, whereas only 22% of females expect to spend this much time viewing live games. And don’t forget about the game consoles like Xbox and PS4. None of the 18 females surveyed expect to have a game box in their room, while half the young men are planning to squeeze in some Fortnite or FIFA between study sessions. As a side note, those game consoles can also stream video services like Netflix, if you don’t mind using the clunky controller that’s better suited for Madden NFL 19.
The pipelines of content aren’t what they used to be. Only 23% of those surveyed expect to plug a cable into their TV. Only 11% of males and no females will have a Blu-ray or DVD player. When they actually use “a real TV,” these young adults rely on smart TVs and over-the-top streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast. With wall-to-wall WiFi on modern college campuses, we don’t need no stinkin’ cable.
I didn’t ask if anyone planned to use a TV antenna. I wonder if they know what one is.
Survey Response Stats
Total Respondents: 36
Females: 18
Males: 18
All data collected August 9-11, 2018
TV or Not TV?
Will have a TV in their room 61% (78% of males; 44% of females)
Won’t have a TV in their room 39%
Device Most Used for Watching Video
Laptop or Desktop Computer 77% (82% of females; 72% of males)
Mobile Phone 20% (22% of males; 18% of females)
Traditional or Smart TV 3% (6% of males; 0% of females)
Tablet or iPad 0%
Content Delivery Device Expectations (Multiple Responses Allowed)
Smart TV Apps 46% (56% of males; 35% of females)
Streaming Device 43% (53% of females; 33% of males)
Game Console 26% (50% of males; 0% of females)
Cable 23% (29% of females; 17% of males)
Blu-ray or DVD player 6% (11% of males; 0% of females)
Live/Same Day Content
More than 75% of what I watch is NOT live and did NOT just become available that day 86% (94% of females; 78% of males)
25-50% of what I watch is NOT live and did NOT just become available that day 9%
Less than 25% of what I watch is NOT live and did NOT just become available that day 6%
Live Sports October 2018 Viewing Expectations
3+ Hours 50% (78% of males; 22% of females)
Less than 3 Hours 50%
© Paul Sage – Sage Advice, LLC – 11 August 2018
The Old Grey Wolf says it five days a week, with professional fluidity and consistency, yet most of us P1s can’t recite more than a few words of it. It varies ever so slightly day to day, but here is the general script.
Three thirty-three is our time. Thirty-three minutes past 3PM Central Standard time according to the tower of the friendly mercantile. The tuner is on America’s favorite radio station, Sportsradio 1310, The Ticket.
Warmest greetings, Tickheads and Ticketchicks, it is Thursday, the 9th of March.
Time to heed to, trice up, mill about smartly throughout the premises making certain every radio in sight is set to America’s favorite station for music and news and in doing whatever you must to ensure that this remains the case in perpetuity.
This is Mike Rhyner, speaking to you today from the nurturing biosphere of the mothership, alongside the The Knox City knocker, the Terlingua comic, Dingu, Ty Walker, the great beast in his natural habitat and the dancing bear at first base getting things ready to roll with that Ticket Ticker this afternoon.
At the helm, guiding us out to sea, sober with his hands on the wheel, the young gunslinger, David Mino.
Becca will be along in just a bit with traffico, traffico, and I will be here, but right about now it is time for us to bring in the Cobra.
For more of my gentle musings on The Ticket, see https://paulsagemarketing.com/2013/01/24/my-best-brands-birthday/
Mike Rhyner, Greatness
Maybe you’ve heard the story. Maybe you’ve seen the photos. In case you haven’t, here’s the recap:
Forty-two years ago today, early in the morning of December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley showed up, unannounced, at the gates of the White House to deliver a letter he had written to President Richard Nixon.
Transcript of letter from Elvis to President Nixon 12 21 1970
Elvis wanted to meet with the President and he wanted the title and badge of Federal Agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Elvis got everything he asked for. By lunchtime. That day.
How did Elvis do it?
THE BRAND: By 1970, sixteen years into his show biz career, Elvis Presley had evolved into Elvis. The bejeweled, cape-wearing, “See See Rider” singing, Vegas-playing Elvis. Elvis was a brand that everybody recognized and many respected. When Elvis showed up at the door — even the…
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A friend of mine was recently asked, “If you could have any career you wanted, what would you be doing?” My friend said, “After all I’ve done in the last 20 years, I still have no clue what career would make me happy?”
My sage advice to him, and to anyone trying to answer this question, is to think back to the period in your life when you weren’t responsible for generating an income, say from ages 6 to 22. What did you like to do when nobody was telling you what to do or what you SHOULD do? When did that tuning fork go off in you heart? When did three or four hours pass so quickly you didn’t even look up? When were the times you surprised yourself and your peers that you could do something not everybody could do? For me those activities that resonated all had something to do with communication to an audience — writing, speaking, advertising, “slaying the great dragon of ambiguity” to help define and clarify something. What dragons do you like to slay?
I’ve been getting a lot of Brazilian visitors to this blog recently. I don’t know why, but the stats don’t lie.
“Obrigado” and “Feliz Natal” to my friends in Brazil.
Abraços,
Paulo
Kroger sells a product they call “Fat Free Half & Half.” Half & Half is supposed to be half cream, half whole milk, with a butterfat content of about 12%. TWELVE PERCENT. What’s the story, Kroger?
I invite spokespeople from Kroger, all members of the dairy industry, and anyone who has ever tried this product to comment.
Happy Halloween! I didn’t fall off the blogosphere. I’ve just been mighty busy. Many irons in ye olde fyre. I’ve added TEACHING to my resume in addition to “real world” work. Those who do also teach.
I hope to share some thrilling Sage observations with you in November. In the meantime, take a trip down memory lane with my three most popular posts from 2012-2014:
#1 https://paulsagemarketing.com/2013/01/24/my-best-brands-birthday/
#2 https://paulsagemarketing.com/2012/12/21/how-elvis-met-nixon-is-how-branding-leads-to-sales/
#3 https://paulsagemarketing.com/2014/04/15/ozarka-is-made-in-texas-that-aint-natural/
Have a safe night of bite-sized fun!
If you don’t live in Arkansas (and there’s a good chance you don’t) you’re missing the fun of Arkansas advertising. Today in my fair city of Little Rock I was listening to a local radio station and the spokesman for a Chevrolet dealership pitched the Impala as “the car for the man who’s not trying to impress anybody.”
I doubt that’s what the folks in Detroit had in mind for copy, but you have to admit it’s unique. Not unique in the way Rosser Reeves intended for a USP. I’d bet nobody else positions it the way we do in Arkansas. The 2014 Impala. Shown here in Razorback Red.
Sage Advice, LLC 