More advertisers are using online media and yet some old media still flourish. That is the gist of a new report from market research firm Outsell. Among the findings, which are based on a survey conducted in November of 1,200 advertisers that control $2.4 billion in advertising:

— online ad venues are now used by 80 percent of advertisers, as newspapers and TV lose ground;
— smaller firms are following the lead of big firms and moving more money to the Web;
— but some “old media are far from dead” reports Outsell, which lists “trade magazines, events, and direct mail marketing” as the “three most effective tactics for both branding and lead generation.”

A free 29-page summary of findings is available for download.

Attention shoppers: The Outsell report calls to mind a related bit from Vertis Consumer Focus, an advertsing strategy firm, which released a report in January that said old-fashioned Sunday advertising inserts remain a popular way for consumers to comparison shop.

The firm provided few details about study method so I wouldn’t stress the numbers so much as the notion that old habits may die hard when it comes to shopping. And I have to admit that the Vertis finding squares with my behavior especially when I’m looking for consumer electronics. Could the insert be an age-related practice on the decline? A fuller summary is available in PDF form if you wish to satisfy that or other curiosities.

Beltway business: While one congressional committee will be roasting Internet companies for complying with China’s speech-suppression policies today (see my colleague Verne Kopytoff’s report from DC), another group of lawmakers will be gathering testimony on video franchising, notes Paid Content editor Staci Kramer. “I’m not sure where these panels are going but it’s worth keeping track when core issues are in the glare of the Senate gaze,” she writes, adding details and links to a Web cast. So what is video franchising: here is a link to the Federal Communications Commission policy paper. My quick reading suggests it has to do with whether and how local governments can hand out cable television franchises — an issue that will ultimately affect about 7 out of 10 households.

Tom Abate
MiniMediaGuy
‘Cause if you ain’t Mass Media, you’re Mini Media