The media sector has been a bit weak, but there is not one particular influence for why it has been strong today.

In a customer centric media plan, the influence of media to make a purchase becomes a key component to determining the allocations to the various options, as marketers refine their focus on consumers, media planning will require more insights on how consumers behave and less on gross audience estimates.

We're seeing this growing. The strongest part of their influence is on the media: if something online suddenly becomes a story in the local press, then it matters.

I think they (the media campaigns) have a big influence, especially with the encouragement. Once a smoker makes up their mind that they want to quit, things like that can be very encouraging to help you think that you can do it.

You throw just one or two streaming media feeds into the mix and all of a sudden you're bumping up against your bandwidth limitations. In a medium-sized company it's not unheard of for one person who's streaming a video feed to affect network performance by 20 or 30 percent.

The media rose to the occasion, shone their light on the desolation and the needy, and kept it focused there until the cavalry finally began to arrive.