ChoiceStream’s February Audience Cost Calendar Finds High Demand Generates Buzz for Public Relations Segment

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ChoiceStream, a leading innovator in targeted advertising solutions, today announced the next installment of its Audience Cost Calendar—a monthly aggregation of impressions traded on digital ad exchanges. The calendar is a tool to help media buyers and marketers understand the trends in the cost of their ideal online audience. This month explores January data and provides insights on driving value in the New Year through strategic audience targeting across top segments, including Travel, Public Relations and Health & Fitness.

“On the heels of a busy holiday shopping season, the cost to reach nearly every segment in ChoiceStream’s Audience Cost Calendar dropped dramatically in January with a few exceptions”

“On the heels of a busy holiday shopping season, the cost to reach nearly every segment in ChoiceStream’s Audience Cost Calendar dropped dramatically in January with a few exceptions, ” said Bill Guild, vice president, product management and marketing. “While this presents cost-effective campaign opportunities for advertisers and their media buying teams, it is important to take multiple data points in account to reach ideal audiences—and even discover new ones—to garner the most value from campaigns.”

Powered by the CRUNCH Audience Cost Index, the calendar provides marketers with a snapshot of how online audience segment costs are trending based on seasonality. The numbers represented in the Audience Cost Calendar represent the relative media costs of reaching people in a specific audience. A relative cost indexing above 100 represents a segment trading at an above average cost, while those below 100 are selling for less than the average cost. In January 2013, the spread between the highest cost audience segments and the lowest shrank—a stark contrast to the widening spread experienced in November and December and an indication that seasonal shifts in demand drive wider spreads, allowing a set of premium inventory to emerge.

Looking Back: Have Suitcase…Will Travel

The Travel and Destination segments were once again some of the hottest, with five of the top performing travel segments rising in ranking month-over-month. However, similar to nearly every segment in ChoiceStream’s Audience Cost Calendar, the cost to reach these segments dropped dramatically from December. For travel and hospitality companies, the cost is attractive to reach the right consumers who are looking to travel during the winter months for fun and pleasure.

Audience Segment	Relative cost	Change from December
South Pacific	165	-28%
Mexico, Caribbean, Central, etc.	165	-45%
Europe	165	-38%
Canada	159	-32%
Australia	158	-39%

Right Now: The Public Relations Segment Makes Headlines

In January, media buyers focused on reaching the Public Relations segment. Were they trying to find someone who would put a positive spin on the Manti T’eo fake girlfriend saga or snuff out the latest chaotic Kardashian episode? That’s not for us to say, but somehow Public Relations became a top 20 ranked segment, rising from #51 in December to #17 in January.

Audience Segment	January Rank	Rank Change from December
Public Relations	17	+200%

Looking Forward: Were All Those ‘Get Healthy’ Resolutions for Naught?

Getting in shape is a popular New Year’s resolution. Surprisingly, the relative cost to reach those folks fell as did their index ranking in the latest Audience Cost Calendar and it was relatively less expensive to reach people in the Health & Fitness segment in January (an index of 108) vs. December (an index of 128). The Dieting and the Fitness & Exercise segments also decreased in both cost and rank in January. Just wait until those people jump on the scales after opening their Valentine’s Day chocolates! Smart marketers of health clubs and diet plans take note.

Audience Segment	Relative cost	Change from December
Dieting	126	-15%
Health & Fitness	123	-6%
Fitness & Exercise	96	-4%

To view the infographic and the most active risers and fallers for the month of December, take a look at ChoiceStream’s Audience Cost Calendar infographic here.

About ChoiceStream, Inc.

ChoiceStream provides personalized marketing and advertising solutions that are proven to increase revenue and customer engagement for today’s leading brands. For more than ten years, companies like AT&T, Zappos, Tesco, Ticketmaster and MTV have relied on ChoiceStream to create a more engaging, personally relevant experience for their consumers. By transforming shopping behavior and media consumption into intelligence about a consumer’s unique preferences, ChoiceStream is able to help today’s biggest brands target their most qualified prospects with the right advertisement, email promotion and product recommendation. For more information, visit www.choicestream.com or @ChoiceStream.