The changes in media explored in this report suggest that the system of ad placement is on the verge of a significant change. Annoyance with television advertising is widespread, with 62% of Mintel’s respondents saying that they are not interested in the products in the commercials they see and 52% saying that they don’t like being forced to watch commercials. Digital cable and digital video recorders (DVRs) have given viewers more freedom regarding what they watch and when they watch it. Movies and original cable programming are now available commercial-free On Demand as a part of basic cable service in major urban markets. DVRs allow viewers to record programming with a single click and fast-forward through commercials, and the majority of DVR users do so. However, while DVRs pose a momentary problem for marketers, they may be the enablers of a future form of superior targeting, where consumers can “pull” entertaining commercials for voluntary viewing.

Already, internet advertisements based on a “pull” model offer superior targeting opportunities and accountability, whereby consumers themselves indicate what kind of advertising they would be interested in, such as on Google and other Internet search engines. Not only does pull advertising allow for superior targeting, it also gives sponsors a more accurate idea of how many consumers are actually paying attention to their advertisements by monitoring click-through rates. This measure of accountability has driven a boom in pay-per-click advertising in cyberspace.

This report provides insight into the merits of different advertising platforms by examining the consumer’s subjective impression of advertising across these platforms:

The Market Factors section provides a brief on perceived differences in attitudes toward advertising by generation, followed by a discussion of annual advertising spend by platform, and the trend of moving from push to pull advertising.

The Comparison of Media Types chapter compares respondents’ attention to the leading advertising platforms, including differences between television segments.

Attitudes toward Television Advertising examines the extent to which adult and teen respondents enjoy or avoid television advertising, as well as exploring reasons why some respondents find television advertising distasteful.

The final section of this report, Digital Video Recording explores DVR penetration, including commentary on expected changes to television advertising as DVR penetration increases.