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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Radio: 2 hours (3%). I don’t spend nearly as much time with the radio as I did when I owned a car.
- 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.
- 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.