16936: Expertise For Engaging Black Audiences Without Employing Blacks.

 

Nielsen published Engaging Black audiences as part of its 2025 Diverse Intelligence Series.

 

For Nielsen and Adland, diverse intelligence sounds like an oxymoron—as cultural cluelessness is a primary condition of the industry’s ruling majority.

 

According to the report, Black audiences lead in engagement with TV, sports programming, and social media. Yet such information has never positively impacted the underrepresentation of Blacks at White advertising agencies or research firms. Hell, the data is questionable too.

 

All of which makes Engaging Black audiences feel like box-checking performative PR—just in time for Black History Month.

16074: Is Nielsen Restructuring Or Falling Apart…?

Advertising Age reported on changes at Nielsen, including the departure of five top executives and a reorganization into three units. Look for Byron Allen to split his lawsuit three ways—or triple the amount of money he’s seeking to collect.

15892: Not Surprisingly, Nielsen Gives Itself A Favorable Rating.

 

Nielsen boasts being comprehensive, accurate, unbiased. Has anyone asked Byron Allen to comment on that claim?

15775: Nielsen Rates Itself As Worth $16 Billion…?

 

Advertising Age published a report titled, “Nielsen To Go Private In $16 Billion Deal.” Somewhere, Media Mogul Byron Allen is huddling with his legal team to add more zeroes to the amount he’s seeking for his latest lawsuit against the measuring company.

 

15764: Byron Allen Says Nielsen Is Not Measuring Up—And Must Pay Up.

 

Advertising Age reported Byron Allen is now going after Nielsen, charging that the measurement company fraudulently sold faulty services. Wonder if Allen has considered turning his legal adventures into a reality TV series. Such a program would surely get high—albeit improperly measured—viewership.

 

Byron Allen Sues Nielsen Alleging Fraud Over Measurement Failures

 

Owner of The Weather Channel and other networks claims Nielsen promised it could measure accurately when it couldn't

 

By Jack Neff

 

Byron Allen’s media companies filed suit Wednesday against Nielsen, alleging the measurement company committed fraud by claiming it could accurately measure their TV networks when it really couldn’t.

 

The complaint, filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, claims Allen’s networks—including The Weather Channel and several high-definition TV networks—were given false assurances about measurement accuracy starting in 2017 from a team that included former Nielsen CEO Mitch Barns.

 

Nielsen declined to comment.

 

“Nielsen knew that, based on the limitations of its panel system and the fragmentation of television viewership, it could not reliably rate smaller networks,” the complaint said. “Nielsen concealed this highly material fact.”

 

Allen’s holdings include Allen Media Group, which owns 27 network affiliate stations in 21 U.S. markets; Entertainment Studios Networks, with 12 24-hour high-definition TV channels serving 220 million cable subscribers; and Weather Group.

 

The HDTV networks added Nielsen service in 2017 upon receiving assurances that their audiences were big enough to be measured accurately, but they weren’t, according to the complaint. The Weather Channel, acquired by Allen in 2018, also subscribed to Nielsen.

 

The Weather Channel once “had a sufficiently large viewership such that Nielsen could reliably rate the network,” according to the complaint. But audience erosion caused by “the rise of streaming” changed things.

 

“Unbeknownst to the plaintiffs until very recently, this erosion has led to Nielsen not being able to reliably rate even The Weather Channel,” the complaint says. “For example, by 2021, the sample error was over 50% for most of the timeslots reported by Nielsen for The Weather Channel. In other words, more often than not, Nielsen could not report data for the Weather Channel that had a minimum degree of reliability.”

 

The complaint said Nielsen received “millions in fees per year to provide fundamentally unreliable and flawed services” based on “false representations, half-truths and concealment.”

 

Allen’s companies “recently discovered Nielsen’s fraudulent practices when the COVID-19 pandemic exposed Nielsen and its panel system as fundamentally flawed and completely unreliable,” the complaint continued.

 

“As of April 2021, over 79% of all cable network individual half hour ratings had a sample error (or ‘Relative Error’) of over 50%,” the complaint said. “That means that Nielsen’s ratings could be reporting less than half of the actual television viewership for the vast majority of all of its ratings in 2021.”

 

It cites the Media Rating Council (referred to in the complaint as the “Media Rights Council”) as having found Nielsen undercounted audiences during the pandemic, and the subsequent decision by the independent industry organization to suspend Nielsen’s accreditation for national TV measurement.

 

The complaint notes a discrepancy in numbers even for the most widely watched program so far this year—the 2022 Super Bowl—in which Nielsen reported that 167 million people watched the game for at least one minute. A subsequent custom survey of 6,600 people conducted by the University of Chicago, on which Nielsen collaborated according to the NFL, found “an estimated 208 million-plus people watched the game,” which was 25% higher.

 

Nielsen CEO David Kenny told investors last year that MRC accreditation was not required in the company’s contracts with networks. But Allen’s suit seeks a “reformation” in its Nielsen contract, allowed under Illinois law when “a variation exists between the parties’ agreement and the writing.”

 

Allen’s agreement with Nielsen included as “a necessary and fundamental term that Nielsen’s ratings system would be accredited by the MRC,” the complaint said. It seeks changes to the written contract to provide for paying a lower rate “based on the value of Nielsen’s services without MRC accreditation.”

 

The suit also seeks unspecified damages from lost revenue.

15715: Nielsen & Procter & Gamble & Media & Racism.

 

Advertising Age reported Nielsen and Procter & Gamble are teaming up on the launch of “a Diverse Media Equity program to help bridge measurement and other structural gaps that have excluded minority-owned media companies from receiving their fair share of ad spend.” Gee, that sounds like a confession of systemic racism in the media world. The sudden spike in creating initiatives designed to bring equity indicates recognition of inequity. Surely Nielsen and P&G were aware of the “measurement and structural gaps” that led to crumbs for minority-owned media. According to Ad Age, P&G is providing seed funding for the effort. Um, it would probably make more sense to simply write a check to Byron Allen instead.

 

Nielsen And P&G Look To Help Minority-Owned Media Beat Data Hurdles That Block Ad Spending

 

The efforts include expanding access for minority-owned radio stations to Nielsen data, even if they can’t pay for subscriptions

 

By Jack Neff

 

Nielsen is launching a Diverse Media Equity program to help bridge measurement and other structural gaps that have excluded minority-owned media companies from receiving their fair share of ad spend.

 

The effort includes a new report quantifying reach and impact of diverse-owned media outlets and expanding access for minority-owned radio stations to Nielsen data, even if they can’t pay for subscriptions.

 

As part of the effort, Procter & Gamble Co. is joining Nielsen to provide seed funding for a $130,000 reimbursement program with the National Minority Supplier Development Council to help cover certification fees for diverse-owned media suppliers. The fund will help provide around 200 publishers with Minority Business Enterprise certification, often required by large companies to qualify for diverse investment.

 

This comes as Madison Avenue looks to shift more media dollars into minority-owned media companies, as media leaders like Byron Allen call for a more equitable share of those budgets. Over the last year agencies like GroupM and Magna, as well as brands like General Motors and Verizon, have made pledges to increase how much of their media budget they are allocating to Black-owned and minority-owned media channels.

 

Nielsen’s first report on diverse media reach and audience profiles finds Black-owned TV stations reach as much as 41% of all adults in smaller local markets where they’re present, while Black-owned radio reaches more than 1.2 million people ages 12 and up.

 

Hispanic-owned local TV reaches 61% of viewers 18 or older in the top 101 U.S. markets where they’re present, including 24% of Asian Americans, 33% of Blacks and 39% of Hispanic viewers, according to the report. Asian-American-owned TV stations reach more than 200,000 adults 18 and up in the top 48 U.S. markets, while Native American-owned radio reaches nearly 800,000 listeners across the U.S.

 

“These are our first steps to bring forward some of the most important metrics that the industry has asked us for about diverse media entities,” said Stacie M. de Armas, senior VP of diverse consumer insights and initiatives, DE&I practice, Nielsen.

 

“We have aggregated really important data for national television, local radio and local television,” de Armas said. “These essentially are numbers that can be used by planners and buyers looking to invest in diverse-owned entities in whatever market they're interested in.”

 

Canela Media, a Latina-owned media company that has participated in Nielsen’s pilot initiative, started initially with one measured campaign and increased that to five within one week.

 

“Our partnership with Nielsen has enabled us to deliver the granular level of transparency and measurement our clients demand,” said Isabel Rafferty, founder and CEO of Canela Media, in a statement.

 

Carlos Santiago, co-founder of the Association of National Advertisers Alliance for Inclusive Multicultural Marketing and president and chief strategist of consulting firm SSG, said in a statement that the Nielsen report data “gives media buyers a view into the impact of diverse media and will facilitate increased investment from media agencies and major advertisers.”

 

Marketers and agencies — including P&G, Unilever and WPP’s GroupM — have lobbied Nielsen in recent years for better measurement of minority-owned media as they look to increase spending there. But the media companies are often smaller players in smaller markets that are harder to measure accurately, and they often can’t afford subscription fees for Nielsen data, said Gonzalo del Fa, president of GroupM Multicultural, during Ad Age Next: CMO virtual panel last year.

 

In an interview last year, P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard said his company has been asking Nielsen “how big is the market, so we can really make sure we understand how much inventory and spending is actually available.” As part of that effort, Pritchard said P&G shared its own list of minority-owned media companies with Nielsen.

13763: Diversity, Meet Exclusivity.

Nielsen published a report titled, “Youth Movement: Gen Z Boasts the Largest, Most Diverse Media Users Yet.” Unfortunately, the advertising industry creating much of the media content boasts the largest, least diverse group yet.

13400: Adland Remains White Empire.

Campaign reported the following:

Between 2011 and 2015, ad spending for broadcast TV shows with predominantly Black audiences rose by 255%, according to Nielsen’s “Young, Connected and Black” report, which was released today. The primary reason is the explosion in Black-oriented programming on network TV, particularly in the last two years. Shows like “Empire,” “Scandal,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “Black-ish,” and even one-time events like NBC’s “The Wiz LIVE!” have provided advertisers with unprecedented opportunity to reach Black audiences.

No similar increases were experienced in terms of business for Black advertising agencies or Black representation in the advertising industry. In fact, the declines in such areas were probably recorded at much higher percentages.

11481: The True Crazy Ones…

Adweek reported the premiere episode of CBS series The Crazy Ones was a ratings hit:

According to Nielsen live-same-day data, the series premiere of [Robin] Williams’ new CBS comedy The Crazy Ones drew a staggering 15.5 million viewers and a 3.9 in the adults 18-49 demo, making it the biggest sitcom debut since the Tiffany Network introduced 2 Broke Girls in 2011.

The beneficiary of a comprehensive marketing campaign and a huge Big Bang Theory lead-in, The Crazy Ones made short work of the first of two episodes of NBC’s The Michael J. Fox Show. The 9 p.m. installment of MJFS drew half the audience of The Crazy Ones, averaging 7.52 million viewers and a 2.2 in the demo.

Looks like The Crazy Ones labels the show and its audience.

9097: Women Control Purse Strings. Not Much Else.

According to Nielsen, “Women control almost $12 trillion of the $18 trillion in global consumer spending.” Yet women barely control 3 percent of the creative director roles on Madison Avenue. This miniscule figure seems really wrong. Or maybe not. Regardless, the currently male-dominated creative departments are growing increasingly inept at effectively communicating to women—as any talking vagina hand will tell you.

8821: Brainless On Madison Avenue.

The New York Times reported on the recent Nielsen acquisition: NeuroFocus, a firm specializing in studying brain wave activity for marketing purposes. Ironically, the advertising agencies most likely interested in the service would register zero brain wave activity among senior-level executives.

A Nielsen Acquisition Focused on Brain Waves

By Stuart Elliott

The Nielsen Company has acquired the rest of a company, NeuroFocus, that specializes in the nascent realm of researching whether neuroscience can be applied to advertising.

Nielsen said on Thursday that it now owned 100 percent of NeuroFocus; Nielsen bought a 30 percent stake in the company in 2008. The financial terms were not disclosed.

NeuroFocus specializes in measuring brain wave activity. It is among several companies seeking to delve into the motivation behind consumer behavior.

Those research efforts have generated some controversy over how such research ought to proceed — and whether it is worth pursuing.

The deal was announced three days after Mediapost said it was going to be made. At that time, Nielsen declined to comment on Mediapost’s report.

NeuroFocus, which is based in Berkeley, Calif., will become part of the Nielsen product innovation practice, Nielsen said, and would continue to be led by its chief executive, A.K. Pradeep.

Mr. Pradeep was at the center of a recent dispute with the Advertising Research Foundation. The foundation had worked with neuroscience researchers to come up with its first standards for neuromarketing and asked NeuroFocus to participate.

Not only did NeuroFocus decline to participate, it issued its own separate neuromarketing standards.

Mediapost reported that the decision by Nielsen to buy the remaining 70 percent of NeuroFocus that it did not own came after WPP tried to buy NeuroFocus.

WPP, in addition to owning advertising agencies like Grey and Ogilvy & Mather, also has extensive holdings in advertising and marketing research like Kantar and TNS.

6900: Nielsen Rerun.

Nielsen is getting lots of play out of a single lame layout. Insert minorities here.

6383: Adweek’s New Bullshit Minority Report.

Adweek published the Nielsen report below. Scan it quickly and catch the MultiCultClassics perspective that follows.

Nielsen: Spanish-Language Ads on Rise

By NielsenWire

NEW YORK Advertising in Spanish-Language media is growing, according to a new analysis of multi-cultural ad spending conducted by Adweek parent the Nielsen Co.

Total spending in Spanish-Language media climbed 2.7 percent to $4.3 billion through the first three quarters of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007.

Procter & Gamble spent the most on Spanish-Language advertising through September 2008 with $133 million in expenditures.

Of the top-10 advertisers in this category, DirecTV stood out with the most growth, spending almost five times as much as it spent through the first three quarters of 2007.

The analysis also included a look at spending on African-American media, which dropped 5.3 percent through the first three quarters of 2008. P&G cut its ad spending in the category by 10 percent compared to 2007, but was still the top advertiser in African-American media with $63.3 million in expenditures through September 2008.

There was some notable spending growth within African-American media. Walmart, the No. 3 advertiser on the list, expanded its expenditures by 130 percent over the same time frame in 2007. Overall, the top-10 advertisers spent 2 percent more on African-American media through the first nine months of 2008 versus 2007.

This report plays loosely with the facts, and a cursory read creates misleading impressions.

In Spanish-language marketing, increased spending never translates to sufficient spending. Even a five times boost doesn’t warrant high fives. That’s the reality for all minority-focused expenditures.

It’s also interesting to see distinctions being made between minority media and minority advertising. Media dollars are up. But that doesn’t mean minority agencies are benefiting, as many White-owned media companies and advertising agencies are controlling the media duties and dollars.

Black advertising agencies aren’t likely to stay in the black. Overall media dropped 5.3 percent, while P&G’s ad spending dropped 10 percent. In this case, 5.3 percent + 10 percent = 100 percent screwed. Love the way the report tries to spin things in a positive light, declaring P&G still spends the most in Black media.

But here’s another dirty little secret to consider. Way back in Essay Two, MultiCultClassics noted a P&G initiative to better distribute assignments across its roster of agencies. The hope was that minority shops might even nab general market projects. Didn’t happen. In fact, White agencies continue to handle minority-targeted assignments, allowing the Black agencies to serve as “consultants” who review storyboards and give suggestions. It’s a pretty patronizing and cynical gesture from a corporation proudly proclaiming, “My Black Is Beautiful.”

As for the 130 percent jump for Walmart, it’s tough to say. Again, doubling the amount does not mean leveling the playing field. The Martin Agency is producing lots of work with Black casting—and probably placing the media too. Plus, the report compares current figures versus the same period in the previous year. Not sure, but wasn’t Walmart jerking around its multicultural shops back then, letting them twist in the wind while the Arkansas-based retailer concentrated on the review to appoint a new White agency?

The Adweek headline reads, “Spanish-Language Ads on Rise.” The bullshit is on the rise too.

6105: Nielsen Seeks Creative Advertising Help.

This actual job listing shows Nielsen is seeking a Global Creative Director. It would be mucho ironic if the company hired a Latino for the position.

Global Creative Director

About the Job
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com

Superior creative portfolio and 10 plus years experience in all aspects of trade marketing (both on and offline) copywriting and art direction

Capacity to develop vast range of creative, user-centered advertising experiences (direct mail, email, print, online, sales collateral, etc.)

Solid understanding of stated global business objectives, time management, and budget supervision.

Transparent, collaborative, and effective leadership style as well as the desire to mentor, inspire, and develop others.

Exceptional written, verbal, listening, interpersonal, and client relationship skills.

Adept at gathering information, expertise, and advice from multiple sources and perspectives.

Proven ability to analyze needs, provide solutions/alternatives, anticipate and minimize impact of problems, and take responsibility for actions.

Demonstrated credibility from building teams, gaining respect, giving feedback, and following through on deliverables.

Knowledge of and interest in emerging technologies and digital platforms.

Job Requirements
Responsible for overall quality, innovation and global creative vision for The Nielsen Company

Leads the effort to translate global business strategies into design strategies, interactions, and visual solutions.

Direct the activities of a team of producers, designers, and copywriters - providing day-to-day supervision and overseeing development of projects.

Participates as a Creative team member in new-business development efforts.

Maintains consistency across global corporate touch points.

Manages all steps in the creative development process, including staffing projects effectively (using both internal and external agency resources), providing clear creative direction, giving timely and helpful coaching to improve creative, and producing all work cost effectively and on-schedule.

6091: Minus Marketing y Medios y Multiculturalism.

In addition to saying hasta la vista to Marketing y Medios, Nielsen Media recently bid adios to former Marketing y Medios senior editor Della DeLaFuente and senior editor John Consoli—which essentially translates to no más Hispanic marketing expertise.

Not sure how these moves demonstrate the “new content development strategy to gather, report and analyze news and information from an increasingly diverse and complex marketplace.”

In the meantime, look forward to mucho fútbol y flamingos.

6075: Marketing y Medios y Adios.

Hispanic Market Weekly confirmed the news from Laura Martinez that Nielsen Media is completely eliminating Marketing y Medios. In roughly four years, Marketing y Medios has gone from monthly publication to monthly insert to weekly email to memory, as the website is also being dismantled. While it’s a dream come true for the Minuteman Project, the rest of us can look forward to quarterly Nielsen revelations like, “Latinos Love Fútbol!” Of course, there will be no reduction in Latino-related coverage spanking rival Arbitron and its controversial PPM. And as always, Nielsen didn’t even wait for the office cleaning lady to sweep up the piñata debris from the company’s Hispanic Heritage Month party before saying adios. If you need an expression to accurately describe this sad scenario, you’ll find plenty in Martinez’s book.

6058: Marketing y Medios y Menudo.

Laura Martinez reveals that Nielsen Media has killed Marketing y Medios. Where have we heard that before? No, wait, it was before that. Seems like there’s been more versions of Marketing y Medios than Menudo.

5127: Rock, Roll And Mariachi Bands.

That’s entertainment in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• John Mellencamp told John McCain to stop playing his tunes. Now another rocker asked Mike Huckabee to delete his music from the campaign’s playlist. Tom Scholz, the man behind 1970s rock band Boston, wrote a letter to Huckabee telling the candidate to cease using “More Than A Feeling,” also informing the Governor that he’s supporting Barack Obama. No word yet if Scholz will receive “Peace of Mind” or be “Feelin’ Satisfied.” However, given his support for Obama, Scholz could offer to give Huckabee “A Man I’ll Never Be.”

• G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo is not a child beater after all. Yayo had been accused of roughing up the 14-year-old son of a rival producer. But Yayo’s co-defendant in the case took full responsibility—and Yayo’s lawyer claimed he was actually seeking to defend the attacked boy during the 2007 event. In the end, Yayo received 10 days of community service for admitting he got out of his ride and glared at the kid. Well, if glaring is now a punishable offense for rappers, look for communities to be serviced like never before.

• A new Nielsen Company survey showed Latinos are almost twice as likely as Whites to lose TV service when the transition to digital broadcasting happens next year. Look for a public awareness campaign to be launched starring telenovela celebrities.