Holiday Greetings!

As the year draws to a close, we wish to convey our sincere gratitude for your partnership and trust. In 2025, we celebrated a significant milestone—our 40th anniversary as a company. To honor this achievement, we have shared Success Stories from various markets, reflecting our ongoing commitment to your success! We hope you have found these stories to be valuable.

As we step into 2026, we eagerly anticipate continued collaboration and growth in the coming year. From our staff to yours, we extend our deepest appreciation for the opportunity to work together.

Designing an Effective Marshall Survey

When considering a Marshall Survey, remember that crafting an effective and successful questionnaire is not a one-week task; it requires ongoing effort throughout the year. By sharing your clients’ inquiries, observing market changes, and identifying opportunities, you enable us to gain a deeper understanding of your market. This collaboration helps us create a survey tailored to your specific needs while developing a reliable resource for your clients.

You also benefit from two significant advantages with Marshall: Customization and Market Exclusivity. The customization of your survey lays the groundwork for the success you can achieve through our research. This process begins with choosing the categories you’d like to include and, with input from local clients,
determining the questions to ask. With market exclusivity, you can provide local businesses with insights and sales strategies that are unavailable to your competitors!

To simplify the questionnaire design process, consider the following points for your upcoming survey:

Questions & Categories:

Reflecting on your last study:

• Which business categories yielded the most success, such as your top revenue generators? Remember, we can track many categories year-over-year. These trends can help you identify which clients are experiencing growth or decline in awareness and consideration within your market.
• Which clients have increased or decreased their spending? Are their awareness and consideration trends rising or falling? Are you receiving requests from clients for more information in their business category? Do we need to expand on that category?

For example, in health care, instead of merely asking, “Which hospital would you choose?” , we can delve deeper into specific health services or specialties gaining popularity in your market that deserve measurement: Cancer, Heart Care, Maternity, etc. The health care category is just one example; we can broaden any category that serves your needs!

Ideas to Explore:

• Market Changes: What shifts are happening in your market? Have any new businesses or industries moved in or out of your area? Are there questions we can pose to help navigate these changes and identify potential opportunities?
• Underutilized Categories: Were there any categories from the previous survey that didn’t receive full attention or didn’t generate revenue? If so, let’s consider either reducing those questions or replacing them with inquiries about other promising business categories!
• Alignment with Corporate Promotions: Are your questions aligned with what your corporate team is currently promoting?
• Future Purchases and Plans: Which upcoming purchases or plans would be advantageous to explore? Consider local travel destinations, events, fairs, or sports teams that could create revenue streams for your station.

Media Considerations:

• Streaming Questions: Are you including questions about Streaming Television (CTV), local D2 channels, or Streaming News?
• Local News Comparison: How does your local news stack up against competitors?
  Think about metrics like “Watched Most Often”, “First Choice for Severe Weather”, or “Favorite Local News Personalities”.

Remember, our aim is to equip you with valuable data that remains relevant throughout the year, not just for a few weeks after you receive your database! We are here year-round to discuss challenges and strategies that support your success and that of your clients.

The dental industry is generally experiencing growth. Factors that contribute to this positive outlook include an increasing awareness of oral health, an aging population, and advancements in dental technology.

The U.S. dental market is projected to experience significant growth, with spending expected to reach $216.33 billion by 2030, according to Fortune Business Insights.

With that in mind, there are two ways to determine consumer activity within the dental category:

1. Questions concerning what a consumer has done in the past year or 2 years. What have they purchased? Where have they made a purchase? Where have they shopped?

2. What do they plan to do? What will they consider?

For a dental client, asking a question concerning an office visit, a cleaning, or an x-ray will provide a broad clientele since these are routine procedures.

In the past 12 months, which of the following procedures have you had done?

In numerous cases, it is often more beneficial to ask about future intentions regarding these procedures rather than past activities. The most profitable dental procedures include smile enhancements, implants, and Invisalign braces.

The “consider” question produces a better picture of what consumers are thinking about their dental needs. It captures consumers at the top of the funnel and provides valuable data for a dental client.

There is also good news for local
dental practices. Consumers rank
“Local Practice” as one of the top two
important factors when choosing
where to go. This increases the
number of potential dental
advertisers in your market.

The “consider” question serves as a valuable tool for Marketing Consultants/Account Executives to categorize consumers by Lifestyle Group. This detailed profile provides your dental clients with an insightful snapshot of their potential customers, thereby paving the way for innovative and impactful commercial ideas.

With the data revealing what dental patients desire, what matters to them, and their demographics, it’s now essential to investigate where your clients should position their media to maximize their chances of success.

For these segments, Television and Internet emerged as the two “most influential” media types. Armed with this information, an Account Executive can effectively showcase strategies to engage key consumers through both TV and digital platforms.

In conclusion, incorporating questions that reveal consumer intent enables you to create profiles based on lucrative population segments, which can subsequently be cross-referenced with media. These inquiries, combined with awareness of top-of-mind, advertising, and brand image, will assist you in developing a robust strategy for your dental clients.

In a Northwest market, Mattress Store A and Mattress Store B are two fiercely competitive retailers. The Account Executive from our client station shared top-of-mind awareness data with Store A to reinforce and secure their 2024 purchase of $22K for TV and digital advertising. Upon reviewing the same data and noticing that Store A had a higher ranking AND knowing that Mattress Firm was a significant spender on Linear TV, Store B boosted their investment by adding an additional $5K for YouTube advertising, $5K for digital and another $15K for Linear TV.

In addition to the success with Store A and Store B, this awareness data was instrumental in securing a meeting with another local retailer. This highlights the competitive nature of the mattress industry.

Top-of-Mind awareness is crucial in the mattress market, given the long purchase cycle of 7-10 years.
Key considerations include:

• Infrequent Purchases: Brands must stay memorable over time to be the preferred choice when consumers decide to buy.
• Competitive Landscape: The highly competitive environment leads to price sensitivity; familiarity with brands helps customers trust and select recognized brand names.
• Digital Influence: A consistent presence on social media and digital platforms enhances brand familiarity during consumers’ sales processes.
• Health Trends: With increasing awareness of sleep benefits, brands that emphasize wellness features can attract health-conscious consumers.

In summary, sustaining top-of-mind awareness encourages long-term customer relationships, ultimately boosting sales and loyalty in this seldom-purchased category. Furthermore, if competition is intense and opportunities exist in your market, consider expanding the mattress category in your next Marshall survey!

There are several reasons a local dealer might decide to pause or cut back on their advertising efforts. Car dealerships may stop their promotions not only when they encounter difficulties in selling due to inventory shortages or economic conditions but also when they find themselves unable to effectively serve, represent, or fulfill customer expectations. The following success story occurred during the COVID pandemic.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency began on January 19, 2020, and officially concluded on May 11, 2023. Throughout this period, the automotive industry experienced significant vulnerability and negative effects, with U.S. vehicle sales dropping by 15 percent from 2019 to 2020. This decline was nearly double that of the 2008-09 global financial crisis, which saw an 8.1 percent decrease in sales.

During this time, the automotive sector encountered two major disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first was the initial closure of automotive facilities in the first half of 2020 amid the first outbreak in the United States, which severely restricted the supply of vehicles. The second disruption involved the persistent shortage of semiconductor chips across the automotive supply chain, which hampered production needed to meet the recovering consumer demand. As a result, vehicle sales in 2021 remained almost 12 percent below the figures from 2019.

The information below illustrates the pandemic’s impact on a local automotive dealer in the Northeast. 

Question: Are you aware of ABC Motors?

Note: Click to enlarge the image

When the automotive supply chain was disrupted by COVID-19, ABC Motors faced crucial decisions. With inventory dwindling and sales leads dropping; they had to determine the fate of their employees and overall operations. The choice was made to reduce staff and brace for the challenges of the pandemic.

Advertising was halted entirely for three years. The impact of having Marshall’s trending research during this period is illustrated in the slide below, highlighting the decrease in awareness across different trade zones around the dealership. Over three years without advertising severely impacted ABC Motors’ visibility, with the most significant decline occurring in the 11–20-mile trade zone, which saw a 16% drop from 2020 to 2023. After analyzing Marshall’s data from recent years, ABC Motors decided to restart their advertising efforts in the first quarter of 2024.

Their primary goal is to enhance the overall brand awareness of the dealership while strategically establishing a robust digital presence within the 11–20-mile trade zone.

Remember, you can always use your trending data to illustrate the awareness of a client when they are advertising versus a decline or cut in spending on your station. It’s like conducting a Pre & Post advertising awareness study.

The fact that the 6PM news has a higher reach than the top three stations in radio is a powerful statement worth sharing with all auto dealers (and other local clients you work with!) It is very important to continually have this type of data in front of all decision makers and decision influencers. There is plenty of attention being paid to all the aspects of digital/social advertising. Do not let that overshadow the impact of linear television.

 The final piece of this puzzle is showing how these three media work together for reach greater than the individual mediums alone. Here is the reach of the top TV program, top radio station, and the station’s website:

Every media channel engages distinct audiences. By integrating these channels, you can achieve a wider reach and strengthen your message. Media Reach effectively in the Marshall software will result in increased revenue for your station.

Client: A Smaller Law Firm

Mark Twain’s Famous Quip and a Modern Advertising Comparison

During a speaking trip to London in May 1897, Mark Twain discovered that the New York Herald had published an article about his supposed failing health and death. The Herald described Twain as “grievously ill and possibly dying” (Source: mediamythalert.com). Upon hearing of the report, Twain famously quipped, “The news of my death has been greatly exaggerated.”

Fast forward to today, and TV advertising might feel a bit like Twain—rumored to be on its deathbed. Amidst the meteoric rise of digital advertising, some might speculate that traditional TV advertising is “grievously ill and possibly dying.” But is it?

According to Jack Myers’ recent analysis through The Myers Report on MediaVillage, television advertising remains a resilient and effective medium despite challenges posed by digital transformations. Myers emphasizes that TV continues to excel in building brand awareness and fostering consumer trust, even as advertisers increasingly integrate multi-platform strategies.

Myers also points out that the synergy between traditional TV and digital platforms creates opportunities for advertisers to amplify their reach and target audiences more effectively. The adaptability of TV advertising, combined with its unmatched storytelling capabilities, positions it as a vital component of comprehensive marketing strategies​.

The Power of Consumer Insights

While television ratings and digital analytics excel at tracking what buyers do, they fall short of uncovering what buyers think. That’s where Marshall Marketing’s consumer data shines. By capturing top-of-mind awareness, brand image perceptions, and shopping behavior, Marshall Marketing delivers actionable insights into the consumer mindset—offering a dimension of understanding that complements the hard numbers provided by traditional and digital media metrics.

Three years ago, a small attorney in a Marshall Marketing station in the Northeast chose to leverage television to promote his practice and increase visibility. Despite the presence of several well-known, large law firms in the area, this newcomer wasn’t deterred. He embraced television advertising.

After collaborating with the station’s account executive to initiate a campaign, Marshall Marketing was employed to monitor awareness. Now, let’s examine the overall awareness of attorneys in the market:

This smaller firm knew that he would never compete market wide against his competitors. However, he was convinced he could carve out a strong business in his own backyard. After 3 years, below are the results among respondents in his trading area: