Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

The Wall Street Journal reported that Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), one of the countries largest advertisers, is not going to commit any of its ad dollars to this year's upfront, while the Coca-Cola (KO) Co. is also considering the same thing. They seem to be backing out of the traditional upfront way of doing things.

So much has happened so quickly in the last year, with the continuing and exploding convergence of media, that the word "TV" really can't even begin to include what is happening. The change of advertising by these companies speaks more than words about what this is beginning to mean.

For example, Johnson & Johnson is holding back 20 percent of its advertising budget for alternative media. That may not seem like a big thing to you, but there budget is $500 million which means they are marking $100 million for other outlets. Nobody is having the guts to say it but let's say it now: it's marked for the Internet.

That is $100 million less dollars that television will be receiving. That is just from one company. Coca-Cola spent almost $200 million on TV last year; they aren't saying where their dollars are going.

A J&J spokesman said: "As the media landscape changes and consumers adopt new media technologies, we do recognize the need to adopt new media communications strategies to connect with our customers. With that in mind we're working with our partners in broadcasting and advertising to help develop these new approaches. And it's really important that all of our communications both online and offline are seamless. And we're working with our partners to synchronize our messaging across media."

The nice way of saying this is that they are moving toward a year-round buying cycle. Ok. In other words they want money to put into alternative media i.e. Internet. If they commit upfront, their results could clobber them and it could be a fiasco. So let's just call it a "year-round buying cycle." That sounds better.
 
While there has been talk in the past of this, few have been willing to take the chance as they felt that this would leave them short in the prime-time spots which they so desperately needed in the past to communicate their message. NO MORE. This will change things forever.

Not only are people going to the Internet increasingly for their entertainment, but the means of measuring the advertising on the Internet is so superior that it isn't even close. The targeting and precision is beginning to increase the efficiency so much that it is blowing by the networks faster than they really even no how to respond to.

This power shift is further along than anyone realized, and it will not stop.