Targeted Studies the Trend in Media Research
Posted on Thu, Jul 08, 2010 @ 09:20 AM
It makes sense. The trend we're seeing away from looser, broad "everything" research to tighter, more focused studies targeted to specific issues. For example: how to recruit the early evening cable news audience to local news; messaging on the Web or in text alerts to recruit viewers to local news; which kind of topical promotion works best for each night's specific primetime lead-in audience; content that's most appealing to "information seekers" in the morning... to name a few.
Station budget constraints are part of the reason for the trend, but changing lifestyles are too. Viewers today are time starved but plugged into technology. So they're more willing and able to view a sample of the newscast, or new anchor candidates, or a different promotional approach... give their opinions and move on.
And the great thing about it is stations seem to be more focused too. They take their results and zero-in on a time period or one goal, like launching a new image campaign, or even targeting one segment of the audience. Many see immediate results. The more focused the study, the more specific the findings, which makes the tactical decisions easier for stations.
Yes, I'd say it's a positive trend. That doesn't mean stations shouldn't still measure the competitive environment of their markets or ask big picture questions. Effective positioning in today's media world is more important than ever. But if you want to focus on an issue and see a real return on a small investment, try one of our small, targeted studies. If I had to give it a name, I'd probably call it CJ&N Pinpoint Research. Hmm. Maybe not.
- Mary Beth Marks