Consumers' log will help advertisers pitch message

More than 1,000 Irish consumers are to begin keeping a week-long, daily media consumption diary in which they will record not only what media they use and when, but also the mood they are in at the time.

The research, which begins in April, is being undertaken by Universal McCann, Ireland's newest media communications company, which is starting business in Dublin today.

The firm contends the so-called "Media in Mind" research strategy will give it the edge in the Irish market, given its capacity to measure not just audience and readership numbers but to track their mood, attention levels, time spent, and where and with whom they read, listen to or watch the media. Universal McCann is the media wing of McCann Erickson Worldwide and its new Irish venture will be headed by Ms Frances Marsh, who has been in charge of the agency's media department since it came to Ireland in 1992.

There is an international network of Universal McCann offices across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In London, McCann set up its own separate media division as far back as 1995 but the Dublin agency has held off following that path until now.

According to Universal McCann's international research, consumers have seven distinct mood categories ranging from happy to lonely. Ms Marsh points out that mood matters when it comes to how, or even if, the advertising message is consumed.

Consumers tend to multitask, particularly when they are in their home, so someone who is watching TV while he prepares the dinner might not be as receptive to a television commercial as the numbers-led audience viewing figures might suggest.

Media in Mind research in other European markets has already come up with some interesting results which will have significant effects on McCann's Irish media planning if they prove to be true for this market.

For example on RTE radio, Morning Ireland carries premium advertising rates but Universal McCann in Germany found that 45 per cent of people listening to German radio between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. said they were tired and tense and therefore unreceptive to most advertising messages.

Conversely, evening radio programmes, which traditionally have few advertising breaks and low advertising rates, scored higher in the quality of listener attention because people usually had made a conscious decision to listen.

In Italy, Media in Mind research found that 49 per cent of television viewers between 6 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. are involved in other activities including cooking and talking while they watch the television.

For a media buyer this has clear implications, as it refines traditional cost per thousand measurements.

It could also affect the creative side of advertising as it could suggest the type of advertisement in terms of complexity and length to which consumers will respond.

The research will be conducted across all media, including electronic and print.

"For a media buyer," says Ms Marsh, "finding out when and for how long a daily newspaper is read is extremely important in that it will affect the cost of the advertising." Universal McCann's Irish operation will employ a team of 14 people and the target billings for 1999 are £20.2 million with up to one-third of this business coming from media only clients, which include Coca-Cola and the cosmetics company Garnier.

McCann Erickson's media billings have grown substantially since it arrived in Ireland, from £3.2 million gross media billings in 1992 to £17.3 last year.

Apart from giving a more comprehensive media service to its existing clients, the agency hopes that having a separate media division will increase all-round pitching power, allowing Universal McCann to win clients who might normally be seen as in a conflict of interest with the parent agency.

An Irish market research company will be appointed in the next two weeks to conduct Media in Mind research here and Universal McCann in Dublin hopes to begin using it as supplementary research in September of this year and for all planning by next year.