Media Consumption Among Canadians of South Asian Origin – Part I

OPAL researched media consumption of South Asian-Canadians. The data was collected online in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas. Television, Radio, Print and digital media were studied. Media consumption by age, gender, city, time in Canada, HH income and education were reported.

We are sharing top-line insights of this study via a series of blog posts here. So stay tuned and visit us regularly.

• Internet and TV are the most widely consumed media, as 91% South Asians (SA) use Internet & 89% watch TV at least a few hours in a week.
• 75% South Asians read newspapers / magazines and 63% listen to the radio. However, engagement, time spent with these two media, is low.
• South Asians engage more with new media, as 70% use Internet for more than six hours a week, including 25% SA, who use for more than twenty hours a week.
• TV viewership is similar among SA in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) at 91% & the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) at 89%. Though TV engagement (time spent watching TV) is higher in the GVA.

• Radio listenership & Newspaper readership are higher in the GTA versus the GVA, as 64% SA in the GTA listen to radio versus 54% in the GVA and 77% read newspapers versus 70% in the GVA.

• Internet usage is also reported higher in the GTA, as nearly one out of four SA use Internet for more than 20 hours a week in the GTA versus one out of five in the GVA.
• TV watching “Most-often watched TV channel” is largely fragmented with no channel scoring more than 10%

• About half of the SA listen to both English and in-language radio programs

Please comment and let me know if the above insights are in line with your observations or findings, thanks.

Media Habits of South Asian-Canadians

OPAL conducted a market research on media consumption of South Asian-Canadians last year. The data was collected online in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas. Television, Radio, Print and digital media were studied. Report metrics includes media consumption by age, gender, city, time in Canada, household income and education.  The research was shared with our clients and purchased by other marketing companies.

We plan to share major findings of this study here through a series of blog posts. So stay tuned and visit us regularly to know media consumption habits of the South Asian market segment.

Cheers,

Super Bowl 2012 Commercials

Many of us watch Super Bowl more for the commercials than the game per se, especially if the teams are not one of our favorites. If you missed out or want to watch the whole line up of Super Bowl 2012 commercials, click at the link below and enjoy.

SUPER BOWL 2012 COMMERCIALS

Which ones are your pick of the commercials?

Media Habits & Attitude Study Among South Asian-Canadians

Are You Effectively Reaching & Connecting With Your Customers?

Find out by knowing recent insights on Media-consumption Habits & Attitude Among South Asian-Canadians:

• The Media South Asian-Canadians most-often engage with
• Popular TV and Radio Programs, Publications and Websites
• Best Times to Advertise and Print Sections to be in
• Media Ratings
• Media consumption by sub-segments; Age, Gender, Income, City, Ethnicity & Time in Canada

The study was conducted in August 2011 and includes men and women of South Asian origin, 18 years and older, residing in the GTA and the GVA.  This research helps in market and media segmentation for effectively targeting, reaching and connecting with your market. It will facilitate in achieving higher ROMI and satisfied customers / clients.

Please click here to visit us

Hyper-segmentation – a Caveat

We know from Marketing 101 that Marketing and market segmentation go hand-in-hand. Marketers start by segmenting the market to reach and connect with the customers with relevant products, communication, messages and media mix.  However, if the market segment is too broad, you lose the focus and relevance of the brand. If you cut it too tight, you lose the opportunity, economies of scale and profitability. Thus market segments should be balanced to be relevant and profitable.

Market segmentation is of jugular importance in multicultural marketing and there are 101 ways to segment multicultural markets. Few of these are: culture, language, religion, ethnicity, time in country, country of origin and more, and then sub-segmentation on the basis of age, gender, income, family size and education so on and so forth. This at times lends to hyper-segmentation, which I believe is expensive, time-consuming, prone to pitfalls and ineffective.

Take a short survey – You may win a $100 Gift Card.

We are conducting an online survey on media preferences and usage by South Asian-Canadians. If you are a Canadian of South Asian origin, 18 years or older, living in the GTA or the GVA, please click at the link below to take part in the survey. Your opinion will help in bringing relevant product and service information to you.

http://opal.checkboxonline.com/SA%20media%20monitor.aspx

Enter code # 608.

All completed responses will be entered in a draw for $100 gift cards. Also, we would share top line findings with you, upon request.

This Survey has ended!

Is Twitter a fad

Twitter is the buzz  word these days and possibly the fastest growing social platform. Results of a recent survey by Nielsen Online riased doubts on the long term potential of Twitter. I provided my two-cents worth on it few days ago. If you are interested in knowing more about Twitter’s status and future posibilities, click at the link below.

http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com/archives/2009/05/is_twitter_a_fad.html

 

Let us know what do you think by posting your comment on it.

Thank you,

Advertising in Recession

Some advertisers tend to pull back on advertising during economic downturn. I see several advertisers are contemplating to cut down on advertising and few have already done so. This knee-jerk reaction is natural amid news of slowing economy, job losses, turmoil in auto sector and sub-par (read sub-prime) performance by the financial sector. I believe that retrenchment decisions are largely influenced by emotional and psychological stimuli from the external environment. I would digress momentarily to share a joke with you in support of the above premise. A friend, Ahad Rasheed, sent this joke and I quote with some additions.

 

An old man used to sell hot dogs. His eyesight was weak so he neither read newspapers nor watched TV. All he did was selling hot dogs and he sold lots of them and had a good income. Old man son graduates from a business school and joins him in business. He tells his father that economy is not doing well and he should save some cash, as Cash is King! The old man started buying fewer buns and meat, closed his shop before sunset to save on Hydro bills and consequently his sales went down. His brother retired from a government job and had seen the old man prosper by selling hot dogs. So he wanted to invest in hot dog business too. He seeks old man advice. Guess what, the old man advised; the economy is slow and hot dog sales are down. It is recession!

 

Creative advertising IV

Life size images were stuck on glass doors at shops, airports in South Africa for the advertisement of glass and window cleaner I.C.U. The expression on the face is priceless.

Creative Advertising III

This is another creative advertising initiative. It was created in Vancouver during the National Non-Smoking Week. The car was placed at the Vancouver Art Gallery and the message reads ‘Death from car accidents: 370, Death from smoking-related causes: 6,027, Quit now before it kills you.’

The visual presentation is relevant and accentuates the clear and short caption. Visual and message convey that smoking kills and draw a comparison to establish severity of problem.

Good Analysis

I found a cool analysis and summary of my recent articles on South Asian Canadians posted by Jim on a blog. Thought you would find it interesting. Check it out by clicking on the following link – Thanks. 

http://influenceresources.blogspot.com/2008/07/south-asian-canadians.html

Yes, you can

Today a client graciously asked me if he could reprint and use one of my recent posts. I told him to use any of my posts, if he could mention the source.  

I would also like to advise you to feel free to reprint or use any of my posts and articles, as long as you include a credit line.

Thank you,

Creative Advertising II

Above is a creative point-of-sale ad and a possible impulse buying reminder. Life-size stickers of people were pasted on automatic sliding doors at a mall in Mumbai, India. When someone approaches the doors at the entrance, the doors move apart and it feels like the people on the door are moving away. The person enters to find the message ‘People Move Away When You Have Body Odour’.
 

Please rate the above ad on a scale of 1 – 10? Are there any constriants to this type of advertising?

What Every Good Marketer Knows About South Asian–Canadians

Inspired by Seth Godin’s “What Every Good Marketer Knows” I have come up with my list of What Every Good Marketer Knows about South Asian-Canadians:  

• South Asian-Canadians are the biggest visible minority in Canada at 1.26 million
• Ontario has the largest South Asians-Canadians population – 794,170 people
•  British Columbia has second largest South Asians population – 262,290 people
•  More than 80% of South Asian-Canadians live in the provinces of Ontario & British Columbia making it an easily accessible market segment
• South Asians population constitutes 25% of the visible minority group 
•  By  2017, the South Asians population will increase by 50% to 1.8 million 
• South Asians Canadians families spend 23% more on groceries than other households in Canada 
• South Asian population is younger than overall Canadians. On average, 73% are between the ages 25 – 49 years versus 46% of overall population 
• South Asian-Canadians have an estimated spending power of $12 billion and 80% of this could be targeted by focusing on Toronto and Vancouver markets

Creativity in Outdoor Advertising

 

 

Creativity by Subway in Outdoor advertising

 

This is an interesting billboard advertisement. Subway leveraged the often used and misused sex appeal creatively to attract attention and followed it with a short & direct statement. They used the advertising elements nicely – big heading, short copy, no clutter, nice layout, black letters on light background – making it easier for passersby to register the message. The big bold heading made good the absence of an image. The ad, however, looks like a tactical maneuver per se and not a part of a campaign. Still you bet the ad had a higher recall and built brand equity.

It enforces the advertising fundamentals that creativity is the king and copy matters. Please comment, what do you think of it?