A Voice In the West

1. Media and Marketing Research Council Newsletter A Voice In the West NEW OTX STUDY ABOUT TEEN MEDIA HABITS • Earlier this year, OTX (in partnership with The Intelligence Group) conducted a nationally representative online survey of teens about their media habits, particularly those involving the Internet.  Some highlights from this study include: • Teens spend on average about 11.5 hours a week on the Internet (not including sending and receiving e-mail), and most of that time is spent just surfing.  Males (at about 12 hours a week) tend to be online more than females (at about 11 hours a week). • Teens are downloading more music than ever before and are beginning to spend more time watching online movies and television, although not as a replacement for TV.  94% claim to watch television in a typical week, with the average teen spending 8.4 hours in front of the set.  Almost two-thirds claim to be watching more or the same amount of TV vs. a year ago. • Teens’ most time-consuming media activity is listening to their own music on an iPod or a CD player, driven by females and older teens.  Among online activities, instant messaging is the most time-consuming, with the typical teen spending over seven hours a week on IM.   • The media activity with the greatest increase in time spent over the past year is texting, with almost two-thirds saying they are doing this more vs. a year ago.  Among online activities, about half say that they are downloading music, sending and receiving e-mail and using IM more than a year ago, while more than a third are spending less time creating/editing avatars, sending online greeting cards and participating in the virtual economy. • MySpace is still dominant among these teens; when asked on an unaided basis for their three favorite sites, almost two-thirds say MySpace, far outpacing runners-up YouTube (29%), Facebook (22%) and Yahoo (21%).  Almost all the teens in the study have been members of a social networking site, with the average teen belonging to over four sites in their lifetimes, and about two currently. • Although they still prefer shopping in physical stores, more than half of teens are making online purchases and reporting doing so more than last year.  They spend on average about $50 a month online, and are most likely to be buying music, clothes and electronics. • The majority of teens are going online without any parental regulation or Internet filtering software.  However, teens are not naïve about safety; most are aware of the possible dangers and are concerned about issues like computer viruses and identity theft.   • The study also details how teens interact with advertising online; their attitudes about the virtual world vs. the real world; their usage of widgets; and experiences with cyberbullying and teens’ responses to it, among other topics.  For more information, please contact OTX at apaquette@otxresearch.com or (310) 736-3454. MMRC Board Members Maureen Whitman, The Nielsen CoPresident Mary Beth Garber, SCBAVice President Sol Ortasse, Striker MediaTreasurer John Hegelmeyer, E-RewardsSecretary Samantha Marlowe, SQADSally Wu, UnivisionJuan LaTorre, Experian ResearchJana Steadman, MTV NetworksMark Pruett, TNS MediaElizabeth Lam, SCBA If you are interested in joining the board, please contact maureen.whitman@nielsen.com

2. Rolling Bailouts: The Economic Crisis and Shifting Consumer Values Iconoculture, October 2008 It’s been amassing for a while, and now it’s here: the perfect — and perfectly terrifying — economic storm. What’s happened and what’s next? What is next? We see the current crisis as deep and culture-shifting, with repercussions for years to come. Quite simply, folks will drastically cut back on spending because they will have no other choice. This decline in consumer spending will steepen and lengthen the recession, likely making it the worst global downturn since World War II. Following on the heels of the current storm, we are seeing a rewiring of the world’s economic system, including the likely near-nationalization of large swaths of America’s financial services industry. The financial system we have lived with since the Depression will change drastically. What replaces it, and for how long, is still a huge question. And by no means are we out of the woods yet. There remains significant risk that things could unravel further. For more perspective on how the current economic tribulations will reshuffle consumer values, we can look to the past, noting how other major shifts have made their mark on the culture: Great Depression: The stock market crash on Black Tuesday in 1929 kicked off a deep global economic downturn that most nations didn’t recover from for a decade. Consumer shift: Years of hard economic times created a nation trained for thrift and pragmatism, and resulted in the establishment of many of the programs that have shaped our economic environment for the past 60+ years. 1970s Energy Crisis: An OPEC oil embargo in 1973 caused prices to rise and lines at the gas pumps to lengthen. Consumer shift: Concern with energy prices led to a small-car boom and a wave of in-home conservation, as consumer values turned to independence, conservation and innovation to deal with high prices and shortages. 9/11: Terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001 shocked the nation, killed thousands and paralyzed domestic and global economies for months and years to come. Consumer shift: Americans circled the wagons, embracing values of safety and security in a time of great uncertainty about their own personal safety and emerging geopolitical strife. Hurricane Katrina: Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast in August 2005, causing widespread regional damage, breaking levees in New Orleans, and causing massive destruction and loss of life in the region. Consumer shift: Consumers seized on values of confidence and control as our collective belief in the government’s ability to help in times of need plunged. Looking ahead? The United States will emerge from the current crisis notably weakened economically — and that may not just be for the short term. Right now, our debt burden has skyrocketed, and our credibility is shaken. The days of the dollar’s unquestioned global centrality are numbered, and economies with strong balance sheets — notably China — have only gotten stronger. Beware inflation! The capital infusions from the Feds have many experts fearful that the inflation genie is out of the bottle. This will rob consumers of whatever spending power they have left and prolong the recovery. What follows is a high-level overview of changes already happening in various demographics. Iconoculture is available to further discuss how the economic downturn will impact consumer behavior and values. Implications Values Control: Global consumers are clamoring for ways to reestablish a feeling of control over their finances, material possessions, future and general anxieties. Security: What, me worry? Yes! Consumers around the world need partners in confidence like never before — brands and services that deliver reliability, trustworthiness and even an order of calm. Savvy: Consumers still want to find clever ways to beat the system, even though that system is already broken. Help your customers find the timeless delight in circumventing financial obstacles and getting the deal of a lifetime — or the week. Thrift: This is not a choice but a “new normal” mandate for all. Welcome to the age of pinching pennies and selective pampering. Self-sufficiency: Whom can you trust? Barely anyone. Consumers are finding subversive ways to take care of themselves and their own, because no one else will. Stability:Roller coasters were so last year. Today’s shoppers, more than ever, will value grounded practicality over the big ups and giant downs of chaos and uncertainty, thank you very much. New and returning members: Fox Broadcasting Media and Marketing Research Council Newsletter

3. Categories Money/Spending: A new thriftiness mainstreams online as consumers beehive in their shopping for the best interest rates, premiums, value and service. Expect more consumers to turn to nontraditional financial-services solutions, such as P-to-P lending, bartering and shared ownership. In a tough economy, financial-services industries need to amp transparency, education and innovation. Food/Beverage:Foodies will want to be shown the value in scratch cooking and authentic food; more mainstream eaters will look toward value without regard to quality of ingredients (call it “The Velveeta Syndrome”). Everyone will want to be led to the value in “cooking” at home (whether hardcore or halfway) and stretching meals further. Meanwhile, many of us could use a stiff drink. Automotive: Car dealerships will close their doors in large numbers over the next year. This will accelerate change in an already morphing marketplace, meaning online comparison shopping will reign for consumers, and car companies will need to pay extra attention to where they place their marketing money. Travel/Leisure: Flying gets suckier as the number of flights declines and operations go super low-budget. Both business and leisure travelers will learn to accept a staycation mentality for the long haul. Consumers will respond to cheeky value-based humor and armchair-traveling inspiration. Retail: Coupons rule, especially when they provide a feeling of subversive, savvy reward. Bling is out; practicality in. This holiday season, it’s one gift or none. Think value + customer service as the remedy. Media/Entertainment:Consumers are looking for good CPEH (cost per entertainment hour) value. Gaming has seen a growth spurt just over the last month, largely for that very reason. Expect Dark SideSM escapism to provide an outlet for our fears ("at least my neighborhood hasn’t been invaded by flesh-eating aliens from another solar system"). Technology: The Family Cave will get amped for maximum escapist nesting. For holed-up consumers, that high-def TV just might be the smartest purchase this year. Mobile devices and apps will take on a vital role in comparison shopping, as long as consumers have the bucks to keep up with them. Demographic Groups Millennials: The youngest Gen We members grow up in the New Austerity Age, knowing no previous Lush LifeSM (other than stories from their parents). Teens and college students grapple with a new “proceed with extreme caution” talk track from Mom and Dad when it comes to new purchases, while 20somethings struggle to find jobs in a layoff culture with global competition. Gen Xers: Used to feeling the squeeze and finding practical solutions, Xers will take a day-to-day mentality into the recession, fluidly changing household spending to fit the financial times and taking — as they always have — small indulgences, fun and luxury where they come. Boomers: Younger Boomers will open the door to evicted or laid-off kids or defer their dreams of career downshifting. Older Boomers watch their retirement plans deflate, and scramble to rewrite the future, which likely includes work, work and work. Matures: Retirements are getting delayed, often indefinitely. Healthcare costs become scarier, and even bankruptcy becomes more likely. Foreclosed homes will put a strain on nursing homes. Older seniors suddenly have true seniority when it comes to Depression-era survival tips. U.S. Latinos: Latinos are becoming increasingly pessimistic about their economic situation, as work shifts from full-time to part-time. They’re changing their grocery shopping habits to fight rising food prices. The hard-earned realization: The American dream is about not just buying a home, but being able to keep it. U.S. African Americans: Even if credit is loosened again, with better Wall Street and banking oversight, the reversal of fortune for African Americans, exacerbated by the loss of homes, property and small businesses — and their inability to re-attain them anytime soon — may cripple their economic welfare for generations to come. Iconoculture is the leader in consumer trend research and advisory services that enables innovation and business growth for clients.244 First Avenue North | Minneapolis, MN 55401 | phone 612.642.2222insight@iconoculture.com | www.iconoculture.com Upcoming MMRCLA Meetings: November 20, Judit Nagy, Fox Interactive Group The state of the interactive and online world December we are dark Media and Marketing Research Council Newsletter

4. Obama Wins on Economy But Race Isn't Over – American Pulse 10/24/08 It’s no question when it comes to the struggling economy that Obama wins with voters. According to the October American Pulse, (n=4,048, including 3,345 likely voters surveyed 10/17-10/21/08), 34.3% of registered voters who plan to vote say their confidence in the economy would increase if Obama is elected in November. 26.1% say their confidence would increase if McCain is elected. Although Obama leads overall among registered voters planning to vote in the November election, the Presidential race doesn’t appear to be over just yet. In fact, among some groups of likely voters, McCain trumps Obama. When asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, McCain leads Obama among 35-54 year old likely voters (41.9% to 39.9%) and those 55+ (44.4% vs. 38.4%). Among registered voters who voted in 2004, and plan to vote this year, it is a virtual deadlock at 41.5% McCain vs. 41.5% Obama. If the Presidential Election were held today, who would you vote for?                                                 Likely Voters* All18-3435-5455+John McCain                39.1%    26.6%    41.9%    44.4%Barack Obama             43.8%    58.7%    39.9%    38.4%Undecided                   14.2%    13.1%     15.3%    13.7%Other                             2.8%      1.6%      2.9%      3.4%*Likely Voters is defined as those who are registered and plan to vote in the November election. Source: BIGresearch, American Pulse, Oct. ’08. N=4,048 Other key findings about voters from the October American Pulse: 47.7% of McCain voters vs. 23.6% of Obama voters strongly agree they are concerned with voter fraud. 38.4% of likely voters feel it is the ‘American Way’ to tax high wage earners in order to spread the wealth around to low wage earners; 23.8% say this is a socialist concept. 70.6% agree that they try to learn as much as they canabout candidates’ backgrounds. Undecided voter makeup: 24% Democrat, 18% Republican, 48% Independent. 47.7% are over 45 years old and 54% are female. About American Pulse™ The American Pulse™ Survey is collected online by BIGresearch every month exclusively utilizing Survey Sampling International’s (SSI) U.S. panel covering topics such as politics, pop culture and the economy. Over 4,000 respondents participate, providing greater insights into how Americans really feel about issues they currently face. http://www.bigresearch.com. Contacts:BIGresearchSSIDianne Kremer                                                Diane Ursodianne@bigresearch.comdiane_urso@SurveySampling.com614.846.0146                                                     203.567.7236 Media and Marketing Research Council Newsletter