Channel M, an in-store video company, has released the results of a study conducted in partnership with Nielsen Media Research on the impact of advertising at retail locations. The study focused on custom programming that Channel M produces and distributes on 4,000 screens inside GameStop stores.
GameStop TV features talk-show segments with video game developers or personalities. Ads are sold to hardware or game manufacturers.
According to the Nielsen study, products advertised on GameStop TV increased sales between 19 percent and 36 percent in the store. Products that appeared in the programs, but didn’t have any paid advertising support, had an average sales increase of 20 percent.
“Modern consumers are flooded with advertising and marketing messages, but these numbers show us that Channel M’s custom programs cut through the noise and help retailers forge meaningful connections with their customers,” said David Teichner, Channel M’s chief executive.
The study showed that 65 percent of store visitors watched or listened to in-store programming. GameStop TV viewers spent 52 percent more time in the store compared with nonviewers.
L.A.-based Channel M has screens in 7,500 retail locations with monthly traffic of more than 100 million consumers.
RPA Wins Mandalay
Santa Monica-based RPA is the new advertising agency of record for the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The contract represents about $5 million in ad billings, according to Nielsen.
The RPA crew will develop an integrated campaign of TV, print, outdoor and online ads that will launch during the summer.
“RPA has demonstrated the expertise to develop differentiable positioning and the creativity to execute a distinctive, fully integrated marketing program,” explained Scott Voeller, Mandalay vice president of marketing.
RPA took the account from Glenn Group, a Nevada agency. Chairman John Glenn retired from active management last year.
Mandalay is owned by MGM Mirage Inc., which is controlled by L.A. billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.
RPA is the largest independent ad agency on the West Coast, with billings of more than $1 billion. Its other clients include American Honda Motor Co., La-Z-Boy Inc. and the other MGM namely, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. film studio in Hollywood, which is not connected to the casino operation.
Video Advantage
Avenue A Razorfish’s annual 2008 Digital Outlook Report predicts slower growth for Web advertising this year, but several trends bode well for the Los Angeles advertising crowd, according to Alyson Hyder, local media director for the online agency.
“The biggest growth opportunity is online video, and that’s particularly significant in L.A.,” she said. “You have lots of entertainment clients who run a ton of video ads. They tend to be innovators in the space, so we expect to see a lot of leading work out of L.A.”
The report also found that ad spending on entertainment-related Web sites grew 51 percent last year, the second-highest figure among all categories. “There’s still this consumer appetite to digest entertainment content like TMZ.com,” Hyder said. “That’s unique to the L.A. space and we see substantial growth going forward.”
Vista Media Sold
Entravision Communications Corp. will sell its billboard division to Lamar Advertising Co. for $100 million, according to Entravision’s latest quarterly report. The outdoor unit, which operates under the name Vista Media, rents more than 10,600 billboards in Latino neighborhoods of New York and Los Angeles.
In connection with the sale, Entravision recorded an $80.5 million impairment charge because in previous filings it listed the billboards with an asset value of slightly more than $180 million. Vista Media accounted for about 12 percent of Entravision’s 2007 revenues. The company plans to concentrate resources on its Spanish-language broadcast operations.
Agencies & Accounts
StreetWise Concepts & Culture, an online social marketing agency, won Best in Class at the Interactive Media Awards for Web site “I Am Immune.” The site promoted the movie “I Am Legend,” which starred Will Smith and was about a survivor of an epidemic that turns humans into zombies. David Gershwin, former chief of staff for L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti, has joined PR firm Cerrell Associates. He will spearhead the agency’s government and issues practice. Mendelsohn Zien Advertising in Los Angeles is the new agency of record for Advance Agro Public Co., a paper manufacturer based in Thailand. MZ beat DDB San Francisco and Ogilvy Los Angeles to win the account. Andrew Casa & #324;a has become a partner at PR shop Englander & Associates. Previously, Casa & #324;a was a lobbyist for the California Restaurant Association. Alex Godelman has joined Hollywood-based Gorilla Nation Media, an online ad sales firm, as vice president of technology. Godelman brings previous experience from Shopzilla, Time Warner Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. to the job. Christophe Louvion, Gorilla’s chief technology officer, also came from Shopzilla. Archetype Media Inc., an online social media agency in West Hollywood, has raised $4.1 million in funding led by VC firm Redpoint Ventures. PR agency Evolutionary Media Group has moved to 1111 N. Las Palmas Ave. in Los Angeles. Campos Creative Works in Santa Monica produced an event at the Chicago Auto Show for the debut of Volkswagen’s new minivan, the Routan. Campos also produced VW’s national dealer meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at
[email protected]
, or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
