Pick me! Pick me! Me! Me! - Donkey

After eMarketer’s findings, Jupiter Research revealed their own study that the media and entertainment category will indeed outspend other groups on online advertising. The 4 leading categories (M&E, financial services, travel and automotive) are estimated to spend a total of $11.5B on online advertising in 2011. Of these categories, only M&E is most relevant to those under 25. Further breakdown of the study reveals that M&E is estimated to spend more money on search advertising than the other 3 categories.

This is a no-brainer I discussed in my previous post that young people (ala the targets) are spending more time online than traditional entertainment. They are not surfing aimlessly but are focused on finding what they want quickly. So, search would be the right tool to acquire those targets. Generation Y/Millennials consume more than 24 hours of media each day, even with their limited free-time, because they have been trained throughout their formative years to multitask way beyond our adult comprehension. How else could they juggle 6-plus homework assignments nightly, extracurricular activities, keeping up with friends, etc… and still maintain their sanity?

Harris Interactive and Teenage Research Unlimited conducted a study in June 2006 and found that 13-24 year-olds spent 17 hours a week on the internet while only 14 hours a week watching television. This may be a more generous bias towards television than in reality. This is because television is the passive media playing in the background while other more interactive platforms consume more of their attention (Hence, the multitasking skill). This is where the lean-back experience of current television will come back and hurt them. Television has the content but interactive television what time-strapped consumers will pick to engage in. So what if the numbers are smaller than before? These consumers actively sought you out. That type of consumers is a keeper. [Disclaimer – I work with the Interactive Television Alliance)