The Media Consumption Diary

Earlier this year, Jeremiah posted about his media consumption diet.  I had a follow up idea in mind for about seven months and finally got around to it last week - the media consumption diary.

In my response to Jeremiah's post, I thought about my use of/exposure to (mostly) measured media channels.  For the past week, I have been keeping a diary of time spent with media.  What follows is a totally mundane post, so before I lose you, here's the value:

• Keep track of your own patterns using a spreadsheet like this one.  It's tough!
• Don't update more than 2 - 3 times a day; you'll likely bias your consumption.
• If you are a marketer - think about your diet vis-a-vis that of your average consumer.  Then recognize the biases that exist from your own habits and be aware when planning media in the future.

Here's my media consumption diary from the past week:

1. Internet:  35 hours (46%).  Mostly during the day at work, but also multi-tasking with TV at home/night.  Can't remember any ads I saw.
2. Outdoor:  17 hours (23%).  Some while commuting, but mostly while at sporting events.  I went to at&t park and Fenway Park (where the Red Sox beat the Yankees 10 - 1).  I remember at&t messages all over at&t and Covidien, CVS, and F.W. Webb in Fenway.  Although I feel outdoor ads are quite unengaging, brute force repetition gets the recall job done, I guess.
3. TV:  17 hours (22%).  Almost all while multitasking in the evening with a computer.  Except during last Sunday's football game.  Can't remember any ads.
4. Mobile:  4 hours (5%).  Usually while commuting, so counted most of these as multitasking with outdoor.  Can't remember any ads, although most content I use doesn't have any.
5. Radio:  2 hours (3%).  I don't spend nearly as much time with the radio as I did when I owned a car.
6. Print:  1 hour (1%).  This number surprised me the most.  I picked up a Boston Herald on Monday to read about the Patriots - Jets game.  I had this week's copies of Adweek and Ad Age, skimmed to make sure I didn't miss anything via RSS.
7. Direct mail:  0 hours (0%).  Other members of my household take care of it before I can.

What's a "typical" week?  I don't think one exists for me.

Comments

[Jeremiah Owyang]

This is interesting. So you don't own a car? How do you get around?

I watch very little TV, so this would be interesting. I like the column you have about ad recall.

[Peter Kim]

In a "normal" week, I take the train & subway to work, a taxi to/from the airport, and in a pinch hire a Zipcar.

I expect the TV consumption to decline slightly after baseball season ends (and the Red Sox win another World Series), but the new fall shows begin.

[Max Kalehoff]

Peter,
Have you checked out the Middletown Media Survey, conducted at Ball State University? It's pretty cool, and the extreme of total media comsumption. There's also the Apollo project, which is attempting to tackle some of these questions.

But the idea of tracking one's own patterns for life optimization -- and greater control over one's data -- is an interesting idea. A lot of apps and services do this indirectly, but there also have been some attempts to so directly, in both nonprofit and profit contexts. Take the Attention Recorder for example: http://www.attentiontrust.org/. There's also Google history. These examples are limited to the Web, but in that direction.

Max

[Peter]

Hi Max - I'm familiar with both, as well as the criticism leveled at Middletown by industry research experts. Self-reported media consumption may not be accurate to the minute level, but even keeping track at a half hour level provided me with some insights here.

For example - I spend WAY TOO MUCH time on the internet, even though it's a critical part of my personal and professional life. I also watch more TV and spend > 2x total hours with media than the average consumer. Bottom line - I need to get more of a FL and I'm not even active in SL!

[Marianne Richmond]

Pete,

REALLY interesting. I am going to start logging tomorrow. I am a bit intimidated about what I will find and I am very curious about how reality will compare with perception per my response to Jeremiah's post. Did you compare yours?

We have not had TV since July (another topic: customer service)) which immediately changed the entire household's media consumption.

One immediate benefit has been not having to listen to my kids recite tasteless TV advertising targeted at their demographic or ask to go to Taco Bell for the latest super extra disgusting burrito bomb. The downside has been an increase in movie viewing and the constant repetition of tasteless movie lines.

I believe there has also been a significant increase in resourcefulness on their part for finding things such as sports scores, highlights and even NFL games on line.

Thanks for the diary suggestion!
M

[Peter Kim]

Hi Marianne - in comparison, I underestimated my internet and TV time, while overestimating my mobile time. And while I was exposed to a great deal of outdoor - it's also the easiest to ignore...I guess engagement is key.

To you point about resourcefulness - it's not too long before the media industry realizes that the future of TV is search...