'Green Teens' Make Desirable Marketing Targets, Study Finds

MediaPost Publications, July 31, 2007 — TEENS WHO CARE ABOUT THE environment aren't just socially aware. They are also a desirable ad/marketing target, says a new JupiterResearch report. The company obtained questionnaires from 2,091 online users ages 13 to 17 and found 38% of teens online are concerned about the environment, with 15% constituting an especially committed group of "Green Teens."

How Companies are Marketing Online:

McKinsey Quarterly, July 31, 2007 — McKinsey global survey of marketers shows that companies are using digital tools—from Web sites to wikis—most extensively for customer service, least in pricing. Two-thirds are using digital tools for product development, almost as many as are advertising online.

Respondents consider online ads to be as useful for brand building as for direct response. Spending is expected to increase on all types of online advertising vehicles over the next three years.

Account Planners at a Crossroads†

Former Agency Rock Stars Scramble to Keep Up With Fast-Changing Media

Advertising Age, July 30, 2007 — Pity the poor account planner.

Not long ago, planners were the undisputed rock stars of the agency business. But they're now mere mortals in "the middle of the maelstrom of everything going on — what communication, what media, how to compete and how to become versed in multimedia."

Coke Goes for a Good Old Cup of Joe†

As CMO, Tripodi Will Go Back to Basics, Focus on In-Store Efforts

Advertising Age, July 30, 2007 — After years of veering among different high-profile marketing executives, each of whom proselytized about a different high-minded marketing concept, Coca-Cola Co. has gone back to fundamentals.

Gatorade Takes a Gamble With Its Heritage by Heading Off Field†

While a Light Version Fizzled in 1990, Beverage Giant Has Learned Its Lessons Since Then (Think Propel)

Advertising Age, July 30, 2007 — PepsiCo's Gatorade owns a commanding 80%-plus market share of the $4 billion sports-drink category it created in 1967. But that also works against it, as its immense market share allows for little in-category growth. And with its sales recently lagging, Gatorade has little choice but to grow through new products — and new reasons to drink them.

Millennials Like Traditional - Not Just New - Media

Marketing Charts, July 30, 2007 — Millennials (those now age 18-24) have an affinity for traditional media, such as print publications and television - and almost 6 in 10 (58%) say they use magazines to find out about what’s cool and hip, such as clothes, cars and music, according to a study released earlier this year. Moreover, almost three-quarters (71%) of Millennials say they enjoy reading print magazines even though they know they could find most of the same information online.

No, the CEO Isn't Sir Richard Branson†

Virgin Atlantic's Ridgway Balances Profit, Innovation and Keeps the Planes on Time

Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2007 — Sir Richard Branson is the founder, chairman and brash public face of British carrier Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. But Chief Executive Steve Ridgway is the one who quietly keeps the airline running.

From Virgin's founding in 1984 with a promise to be a different kind of airline, it has grown into one of the world's most unusual carriers. It flies only long routes and offers more amenities than most rivals. Its "Upper Class" premium cabin — a blend of first- and business-class — grabs attention with innovations like inflight manicures and complimentary limo rides to and from airports.

NOT Made In China

Amid growing awareness of food perils, companies that spotlight where ingredients originate are enjoying new demand

BusinessWeek, July 30, 2007 — Earlier this year, Swiss ingredient maker DSM Nutritional Products launched a "premium" Vitamin C. The marketing gambit: It comes from tidy Scotland instead of sprawling China, which provides 80% of the world's supply. But it was a tough sell. "We were struggling to get the price we thought was justified by the quality," says communications chief Alex Filz.

A Social-Networking Service With a Velvet Rope

New York Times, July 29, 2007 — JUST now, the hottest startup in Silicon Valley — minutely examined by bloggers, panted after by investors — is Pownce, but only a chosen few can try out its Web site.

In a Highly Complex World, Innovation From the Top Down

New York Times, July 29, 2007 — USER-GENERATED content — from Wikipedia to YouTube to open-source software — is generating waves of excitement. But the opening of innovation to wider numbers of people obscures another trend: many of the most popular new products, like the iPod, are dominated by a top-down, elite innovation model that doesn’t allow for customization.

Wrigley bets on the box for new brand

Crain's Chicago Business, July 29, 2007 — Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. wants young chewers to judge its newest product by the cover.

5, which began hitting checkout aisles this month, is the first new gum line Wrigley has introduced since 2001. The company hopes it can help hold off Cadbury Adams USA LLC, which has made inroads into Wrigley's historical dominance of the U.S. gum business.

The sugarless gum is also the first U.S. brand to emerge from the company's Goose Island innovation center.

ANA's Integrated Marketing Conference Video

Video recap of the conference

ANA Marketing Maestros, July 27, 2007 — In 2007 integrated marketing was the number one issue on marketers' minds. With so many Web 2.0 technologies available see what the experts have to say about finding the right media mix for your brand

Behavioral Targeting: Not Quite Ready For Prime Time

MediaPost Publications, July 25, 2007 — THE PROGNOSTICATORS SAY 2008 IS supposed to be the year behavioral targeting hits it big in the U.S.--reaching the $1 billion mark in terms of online ad spend, according to eMarketer.

But at the Behavioral Marketing Forum Tuesday, it was clear that obstacles exist ranging from definition to education.

Harley Woos Female Bikers

Women are buying more motorcycles than ever, and Harley-Davidson is going after that market with a vengeance.

New York Times, July 25, 2007 — At a recent convention of Harley-Davidson dealers here, Delia Passi, a marketing consultant, was sharing the finer points of selling to women with her audience of about 150, many of whom wore boots, jeans and tattoos. One wore a T-shirt that read, “Born to Party, Forced to Work.”

Stakes high for Sony in its war of perception†

Financial Times, July 25, 2007 — A stunning Japanese model holds up the latest version of Sony’s PlayStation Portable, the consumer electronics group’s handheld games player. But she cannot turn it on. Before an expectant audience at a packed film theatre, she fumbles with the device before Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony’s games unit, calmly takes over and switches on Casino Royale. But even Mr Hirai cannot get the James Bond movie, which is playing on the PSP, to stream on to Sony’s flat-screen television.

The Many Faces of China

Grabbing the tiger by its Internet.

eMarketer, July 25, 2007 — "It is no exaggeration to say that the Beijing Olympics in 2008 represent the 'coming out' party of China," says Ben Macklin, eMarketer Senior Analyst and the author of the new report, China Internet Audience. "While China has enjoyed terrific economic growth over the last 20 years, and now is the fourth-largest economy in the world — and the second-largest in terms of purchasing-power parity — its international influence and reputation have not matched its burgeoning economic power. But all that is changing."

Barbie Gets Another Accessory: An MP3 Player and More Stuff on Her Web Site

A new doll hitting retail shelves is familiar in many ways, but this Barbie is a roundabout way of charging for online content.

New York Times, July 24, 2007 — First, Barbie had Ken. Now, Barbie has a docking station.

A new doll hitting retail shelves this week is familiar in many ways — she’s got outfits galore — but she also has some unusual features: this Barbie, who is smaller and less shapely than her standard namesake, functions as an MP3 music player.

Digitally Deficient CMOs Need Not Apply†

How to Ramp Up Your Online Smarts Fast

Advertising Age, July 24, 2007 — With digital media and marketing budgets growing at a compound rate of more than 20% annually, what steps are you taking as a CMO to build and develop your personal brand in an increasingly digital and integrated world?

After Buying Binge, Nestle Goes On a Diet†

Departing CEO Slashes Slow Sellers, Brands; 'No' to Low-Carb Rolo

Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2007 — Nestlé SA Chief Executive Peter Brabeck made two troubling discoveries last year: The food maker was churning out 130,000 variations of its brands, and 30% weren't making money. After 10 years running the world's largest food company, Mr. Brabeck worries that Nestlé has grown so big that it has become unwieldy and slow. Now, in the final months before he steps down as CEO next April, he is pushing an aggressive plan to jettison weaker brands and simplify the organization.

At Last, the Reviews Are in: Wal-Mart Wakes Up to the Power of the People†

Retail Giant Makes a Big, if Belated, Push Into the Social Web

Advertising Age, July 23, 2007 — The road to online retail dominance, as Wal-Mart is finally figuring out, is paved with customer content. The company's announcement that it's allowing consumers to review and rate products on its website is a big, if belated, push by the stodgy giant into the social web, following scores of other retailers who have realized the power of crowdsourcing and co-creation. But all Web 2.0 good vibes aside, the real benefit may turn out to be how it affects the performance of the Wal-Mart online store and the goods its sells in search-engine rankings, a crucial factor in the performance of online retailers.

Business paradigm shifts and free tequila shots

Yelp has two ambitions: Have fun and seize as much of the $100 billion local ad market as possible.

FORTUNE, July 23, 2007 — "I'm making a ton of money from Yelp, and it's freaking me out." Woe is Christopher Hall, the 34-year-old owner of Splitends, a hair salon in Orange County, Calif. Its chic décor is more architectural firm than beauty parlor. He has appeared on a reality show, in the L.A. Times, and on TV news segments. He's photogenic and has a quick wit. He serves beer to customers. So business, unsurprisingly, was decent as soon as he opened the place last December. Until March 6. That's when things got crazy.

Create a Stage That Attracts Your Very Own Brand Posse

In-Store Details: Keep Consumers Connected With Retail Evangelists

CMO Strategy by AdAge, July 23, 2007 — Gap's fall from grace is almost legendary, its missteps numerous — bad product, lack of differentiation and confusing store design, to name a few. Its struggle reminds us that it takes more than style, logo or store design alone to sustain a brand. What works is a combined experience. Knowing how to pull the strings on sometimes intangible assets can make huge differences in appeal for consumers — and for Wall Street.

Don't Be Afraid to Plunge Into Emerging Media

Prophet, July 23, 2007 — Color today’s marketers dazed and confused. It’s an understandable reaction to an environment that has become almost impossibly complex, making it difficult for them to figure out where to start (or much less how to go about) meeting management’s escalating demands for demonstrable returns.

Is Your Brand the Best? What Polls Really Mean†

Harris Survey Doesn't Say Much About Things Like Purchase Intent, Loyalty

Advertising Age, July 23, 2007 — In recent years, Sony Corp. has stood helpless as Apple eats its lunch in the portable-music-player category it created; as it was forced to recall 10 million defective laptop batteries; and as its next-generation video-game console flopped like a sumo wrestler. "The Sony brand has taken a beating," said one investor at a recent gathering of shareholders, where promises of an imminent turnaround were made, adding: "It's too early to say 'Banzai!'"

Splash

A toilet a work of art? Herbert Kohler has some novel ways to sell plumbing fixtures

Forbes, July 23, 2007 — A recent contemporary art show drew thousands of art buyers and gallery owners to the Merchandise Mart, a hulking building on the bank of the Chicago River. Some visitors, on their way to the ticket line, wandered into a store run by Kohler Co. , maker of plumbing fixtures.

The Latest Consumers You Need to Get to Know†

Influencers From the Pages of 'Karma Queens, Geek Gods and Innerpreneurs'

Advertising Age, July 23, 2007 — The consumer has a new face — again. Yet another wave of millennial consumer taxonomy is headed down the pike. Where once the terms "soccer mom" and "metrosexual" were enough for marketers to target stay-at-home matriarchs and young, urban males, a rise in new media and more-fluid career paths have led researchers to uncover new consumer targets.

There Are 12 Kinds of Ads in the World

Resist them all!

Slate, July 23, 2007 — In 1978, Donald Gunn was a creative director for the advertising agency Leo Burnett. Though his position implied expertise, Gunn felt he was often just throwing darts—relying on inspiration and luck (instead of proven formulas) to make great ads. So, he decided to inject some analytical rigor into the process: He took a yearlong sabbatical, studied the best TV ads he could find, and looked for elemental patterns.

Sports Marketing Is a Whole New Ball Game

Wait for a TV newscast to see if your favorite team won or lost? Na-a-a-ah! Go online and find out now.

eMarketer, July 20, 2007 — Although television continues to dominate — as both a distribution platform for sports content and an advertising medium for marketers who attach their brands to sports properties — online and mobile platforms are quickly evolving and becoming an important part of the media and marketing mix.

Holiday Inn chain gives itself a face-lift

USA Today, July 19, 2007 — The roadside Holiday Inns that became fixtures in towns across the USA beginning in the 1950s are disappearing. London-based InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), current owner of the brand that pioneered franchised motor hotels, is in the process of shedding roughly half the nearly 1,100 properties that it had in 2004, mainly by ending franchise agreements with operators of substandard properties.

TV Commercials Move Online

The line between online advertising and offline advertising is blurring.

eMarketer, July 19, 2007 — eMarketer estimates that this year US online video ad spending will reach $775 million, and grow from there. At 89%, 2007 will show the greatest year-over-year growth for US online video advertising. Coming from such a small base, however, makes this high rate relatively easy to attain. More important indicators come over the next four years, as spending continues to rise at rates of 39% or higher.

Behavior Defines Consumers†

Deeper Understanding: Don't Ask People What They Think; Watch What They Do

Advertising Age, July 18, 2007 — A couple years ago I interviewed a mother of four at her house. I wanted to gain an authentic perspective on what made her tick and why she was so loyal to my client's home delivery service. So I turned on my iPod's voice recorder and eased into a discussion about life in suburban Chicago.

Sharks Roam Manhattan†

IDEA SPOTTING: Moving Fin Projected on Skyscrapers for Discovery's 'Shark Week'

Advertising Age, July 18, 2007 — Just when you thought it was safe to spend a summer evening in Manhattan, sharks are swimming along the buildings. No, global warming hasn't kicked into high gear and submerged Manhattan — yet. But Discovery Network's 20th annual Shark Week starts July 29, which means the media push beforehand has brought the chondrichthyes (that's "cartilaginous fishes" to all you non-marine biologists) to New York en masse.

Study: Marketers Can ‘Buy’ Online Buzz

Marketing Charts, July 18, 2007 — A high level of blog interest, or online buzz, around new product launches is tightly linked to paid media spending, according to a new study by The Nielsen Company that analyzed blog buzz volume, ad spending, purchase intentions and actual product sales for newly launched consumer packaged goods (CPG).

Energizer Acquires Playtex for $1.9 Billion†

Deal Will Broaden Company's Competition with Giant P&G

Advertising Age, July 17, 2007 — Energizer Holdings announced plans on Friday to acquire Playtex Products, putting the Energizer Bunny in charge of a host of new categories ranging from tampons to sunscreen and children's sippy cups

Ford Seeking a Future by Going Backward

With its recent decision to entertain bids for Volvo, Ford appears to be dismantling the collection of luxury auto companies that it once assembled with such confidence

New York Times, July 17, 2007 — When Bill Ford Jr. beat out Fiat and Volkswagen eight years ago to buy Volvo, he declared the $6.5 billion acquisition a “meaningful step” to fulfilling the Ford Motor Company’s “21st-century vision” of becoming the world’s leading automaker.

GE-NBCU Invests in Healthline, Gaming†

Busy Peacock Equity Fund Shows a Penchant for Advanced Ad Applications

Advertising Age, July 17, 2007 — Putting at least $250 million where their mouths are, NBC Universal and GE Commercial Finance are placing bets on the web 2.0 world, having teamed up on a joint venture, recently rebranded the Peacock Equity Fund, to help identify young digital companies that could help them play in the advanced advertising space.

Green Clothing Maker Indigenous Designs Puts Fashion First†

Do-Good Message Is Subtle as Firm Attracts Retailers

Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2007 — Indigenous Designs Corp. prides itself as a truly green supplier. Its women's clothing is made from all-natural, sustainable materials, such as organic cotton, silk and alpaca. It adheres to strict fair-trade manufacturing practices overseas, runs its U.S. corporate office on solar power and encourages employees to bike to work.

But all that feel-good stuff isn't what the Santa Rosa, Calif., company pushed when it met with executives from the Dillard's Inc. department-store chain at a trade show earlier this year. Instead, the apparel maker talked up fashion, design, and price — mentioning the organic and fair-trade chit only as an extra bonus.

IHOP Buys Applebee's for $2.1 Billion†

Pancake Giant Looks to Right Floundering Brand Through Franchising

Advertising Age, July 17, 2007 — Pancake-flipping IHOP Corp. has purchased the struggling Applebee's restaurant chain for $2.1 billion, the company announced today.

Announcing the deal, IHOP said it intended to convert the bulk of Applebee's 508 company-owned stores to franchises, mirroring a transition IHOP itself employed to improve its own business in recent years.

Chief of Universal Finds Success at the Back of the Pack

Though profitable for the last nine years, Universal has been noticeably short on blockbusters to call its own. And that is largely by design

New York Times, July 16, 2007 — The hilltop theme park outside the 14th floor office of Ron Meyer, president of the Universal Studios Group, anchored by past glories like its “Jurassic Park” and “Backdraft” rides, could stand a makeover.

Flashback: Columbia Professor Blasts Influencer Model†

Brandweek, July 16, 2007 — Influencers. Connectors. Mavens. For years, it has been conventional wisdom that to create a buzz, you have to first target those archetypes to get your word out. The theory, outlined in Malcolm Gladwell's 2000 best-seller The Tipping Point, posits that a minority of the population, some say 15%, have an undue influence over the rest of us. Such influencers tend to have more friends than most and also have an urge to acquire social capital (i.e. exclusive information and products) before everybody else.

Networks Try 'Twittering' to Spread Their Message†

Web Community's Users Are Seen as Ideal Group to Help Promote Shows

Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2007 — TV networks are all a-Twitter about the latest marketing play for their new TV shows.

NBC, CBS, ABC Family and MTV are among several networks experimenting with the marketing possibilities of Twitter, a nascent social-networking service that sends messages in super-short bursts. Popular with young, tech-savvy consumers, Twitter lets registered users send brief updates to groups of fellow Twitter users simultaneously — via either text messages, instant messages, email or Twitter's home page. The service is free to use.

New Borders Wants to Load Your iPod†

George Jones Also Plans to Reopen Branded Web Site And Redesign Bookstores to Stress Digital Offerings

Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2007 — George Jones, chief executive of Borders Group Inc., is remaking the nation's second-largest book retailer as fast as he can. Since taking over a year ago, he has vowed to close nearly half the company's Waldenbooks outlets, sell or franchise nearly all of the stores Borders owns overseas, reopen Borders' branded e-commerce Web site and revamp the chain's computer system.

Mr. Jones, 56 years old, says even more changes are ahead as Borders tries to keep pace with Barnes & Noble Inc., Amazon.com and the big-box discounters

P&G's Global Target: Shelves of Tiny Stores†

It Woos Poor Women Buying Single Portions; Mexico's 'Hot Zones'

Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2007 — Every day, Martina Pérez Díaz spends about five hours sewing 70 pairs of black loafers by hand for a wage of 120 pesos, or about $11. When she wants to wash her hair, she walks to her local tiendita, or "small store," to buy a 0.34 ounce, single-use packet of Procter & Gamble Co.'s Head & Shoulders shampoo. The price: two pesos, or about 19 cents. "That I usually can afford," she says.

Shoppers like Ms. Díaz factor heavily into P&G's plan to conquer more of the globe. The consumer-products giant has a goal of increasing total sales by 5% to 7% annually over the next three years.

Raise Your Brand to the Level of a Peer

Be a Curator: Consumers Will Seek Out Products, Services That Engender Trust

CMO Strategy by AdAge, July 16, 2007 — It's time we give up on the word marketing. That implies a single-direction monologue that promotes, advertises and sells at an audience. It's an artifact from a time when companies controlled their brands as their sole guardians. But consumers now have a seat at the table, sharing this control. They have unprecedented power. And, if you think it's their purchasing power that makes this time unique in history, you need to look deeper.

Reaching More Customers With a Simple Text Message

When it comes to advertising on the mobile Web, online retailers are treading carefully. But some say they have found enticing success from early marketing efforts

New York Times, July 16, 2007 — ONLINE retailers were, for all the obvious reasons, the pioneers of Web advertising. When it comes to advertising on the mobile Web, though, they are treading carefully.

On the one hand, executives and analysts said, online retailers are right to be cautious. After all, few consumers are buying items through their mobile devices. But at least some online retailers say they have found enticing success from early marketing efforts, as long as those initiatives are aimed at simply keeping themselves on the radar of customers as opposed to trying to prompt an immediate purchase or a visit to the company’s Web site.

Reaching More Customers With a Simple Text Message

New York Times, July 16, 2007 — ONLINE retailers were, for all the obvious reasons, the pioneers of Web advertising. When it comes to advertising on the mobile Web, though, they are treading carefully. On the one hand, executives and analysts said, online retailers are right to be cautious. After all, few consumers are buying items through their mobile devices.

Readers and Owners Talk About Branding†

Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2007 — Small Business Link asked executives from two firms we profiled on July 2 — Mark Hellendrung, president of Narragansett Brewing Co., and George Wright, director of marketing at K-TEC Inc.'s Blendtec — to moderate a forum on branding on WSJ.com. Narragansett is reviving a New England beer by forging relationships with regional bars and beer lovers. Blendtec promotes its blenders by posting online videos of them blending golf clubs, iPods and other unlikely ingredients

Some CEOs Advertise the 'Me' Brand - With Limited Success†

Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2007 — Companies budget large amounts of money to develop brands that stir excitement and cement loyalty from customers. "Fly the Friendly Skies" still evokes United Airlines and an era of hassle-free travel. The "snap, crackle, pop" of Kellogg's Rice Krispies brand conjures up for many consumers an image of a cereal that's fun for kids.

Now, some top executives are branding themselves as distinctly as they brand their companies' products

Target Marketing Priorities Survey: Direct Marketing Generates Best ROI

Marketing Charts, July 16, 2007 — Direct mail and email generated the best return on investment among media channels in 2006, according to respondents - both B2B and consumer marketers - to a new Harte-Hanks survey administered by CSO Insights. Among business-to-business marketers, digital marketing - email, websites and online registrations, and search - are seeing increased investments, but a “continuing struggle with data quality” is a “major roadblock to success,” the study found.

What's Plaguing Viral Marketing†

Sorry, Malcolm, but the Tipping Point Might Be More Myth Than Math

Advertising Age, July 16, 2007 — Since the term "viral marketing" snuck into vogue in the mid-1990s, the ad business has been sold on sickness as the way to describe how information, ideas and influence spread through populations of consumers. Once a sideshow to traditional marketing, it has developed its own canon of research and books — most famously, Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" — and has become the order of the day in a world where people wear their social networks on their sleeves.

But now a long-taken-for-granted central principle of viral marketing — that large-scale changes in behavior can begin like disease epidemics, with just a few highly connected people — is facing its toughest challenge yet.

The Boat Is About to Rock (Again) in Internet Video

A new piece of software acts like a Web browser but displays only Internet video, presenting full-length shows and clips from the Web’s largest video sites

New York Times, July 15, 2007 — DMITRY SHAPIRO brings an unlikely gadget into meetings these days: a TV remote control.

As chief executive of Veoh Networks, an Internet video company based in San Diego, Mr. Shapiro uses the remote to navigate the company’s new software program, VeohTV, on his laptop. The software acts like a Web browser but displays only Internet video, presenting full-length television shows and popular clips from the Web’s largest video sites, like NBC.com and YouTube

Justifying $5 Smoothies: It’s the Juice

New York Times, July 14, 2007 — It is summertime, and the lines are usually long at Jamba Juice, a retailer of blended-to-order fruit smoothies. The company’s California-based parent, Jamba Inc., is growing quickly, especially after it fortified its capital structure through its merger with the Services Acquisition Corporation late last year.

Pricing Pills by the Results

Drug Company Offering a Type of Money-Back Guarantee

New York Times, July 14, 2007 — Drug companies like to say that their most expensive products are fully worth their breathtaking prices. Now one company is putting its money where its mouth is — by offering a money-back guarantee.

Johnson & Johnson has proposed that Britain’s national health service pay for the cancer drug Velcade, but only for people who benefit from the medicine, which can cost $48,000 a patient.

The bandwagon comes in various hues of green†

Financial Times, July 14, 2007 — It is now possible to pay for your organic food with a green credit card, to live in the tree house of your dreams thanks to green mortgages, and put all your hard-won lucre from saving the planet into a green bank account. Extreme, perhaps, but recently launched financial products now make it very easy for savers and spenders alike to feel they are doing their bit for the environment.

Virtual marketers have second thoughts about Second Life

Firms find that avatars created by participants in the online society aren't avid shoppers.

Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2007 — SECOND LIFE — a three-dimensional online society where publicity is cheap and the demographic is edgy and certainly computer-savvy — should be a marketer's paradise. But it turns out that plugging products is as problematic in the virtual world as it is anywhere else. At http://www.secondlife.com — where the cost is $6 a month for premium citizenship — shopping, at least for real-world products, isn't a main activity. Four years after Second Life debuted, some marketers are second-guessing the money and time they've put into it.

Confessions of Rockstar CMOs

ANA Marketing Maestros, July 13, 2007 — What an interesting week in the marketing world. The same week that an Ad Age article reports that CMOs have minimal impact on sales (!), the ANA and Booz Allen Hamilton release our joint publication, CMO Thought Leaders: The Rise of the Strategic Marketer.

European Online Marketing to Reach 16 Billion Euros in 2012

Marketing Charts, July 13, 2007 — Spending on online marketing in Europe will double in the next five years, from around 7.5 billion euros in 2006 to more than 16 billion euros in 2012, according to a new Forrester report, “European Online Marketing Tops €16 Billion In 2012.” Online marketing - email, and search and display advertising - will account for 18% of total media budgets in Europe in five years, according to the projections.

Executives Get the Blogging Bug†

More CEOs Openly Post Their Views on Work, Life; The Tale of a Colonoscopy

Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2007 — The Internet can be a dangerous place — even for a CEO. John Mackey, chairman and chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc. is the latest to learn that lesson, after he was revealed this week as the author, under a pseudonym, of pro-Whole Foods comments on an Internet stock-message board. Mr. Mackey also maintains a blog that has attracted the attention of federal antitrust regulators.

A Whole New Wal-Mart

Forbes, July 12, 2007 — Bentonville, Ark., retail giant Wal-Mart had some good news Thursday. The company said it outpaced expected sales growth with a 2.4% gain over June last year. Google its not, but it is better than the company's recent results.

Best Buy Moves to More Mobile Selections†

Chain Expands Choices for Handsets and Plans; Ringing Success, So Far

Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2007 — Like most of its rivals, Best Buy Co., the largest independent U.S. electronics retailer, used to sell just a small selection of cellphones with subscription plans from Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and AT&T Inc.

But late last year, the company decided to expand its offering to include more carriers and many more phone choices.

Kids Making Play for Online Purchasing Power

Marketing Charts, July 12, 2007 — Today’s tech savvy kids have redefined their position in the family and are, more and more, acting as cyber-assistant to parents - they’re shopping and placing online orders for the family and themselves, according to a new study.

Was Sprint's Sacking of 1,200 Customers Sound Business?†

Canning Chronic Complainers a Good Call, but Average Consumer May Get Wrong Message

Advertising Age, July 12, 2007 — Sprint Nextel's decision to "fire" some of its customers may be a good business decision — but could come back to haunt it in the long run.

Wrigley teams up with NBA in new marketing pact

Crain's Chicago Business, July 12, 2007 — W. Wrigley Jr. Co. has a new marketing teammate — the National Basketball Association.

The Chicago-based gum and candy company announced Wednesday a partnership that makes five of its brands the Official Chewing Gums of the NBA.

Claiborne Seeks to Shed 16 Apparel Brands†

Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2007 — Liz Claiborne, Inc is cleaning out its closet.

The long-acquisitive American sportswear maker, suffering from a downturn in department-store sales, announced today that it's seeking to divest itself of 16 of its 36 apparel brands representing $800 million of its $5 billion in annual revenue.

Navistar Takes Aim at Hummer†

Military Contract Should Help Marketer Build Buzz Around Rugged MXT

Advertising Age, July 11, 2007 — Hey, Hummer: Navistar wants to kick your ass.

Now that it's scored a $631 million contract with the U.S. Marines to phase out Humvees in favor of its mine-resistant MaxxPros, Navistar International Corp. intends to parlay that into consumer currency for its civilian version: the humongous, tough-as-nails MXT

Second Life Losing Lock on Virtual-Site Marketing†

As Users and Brands Head to Startups, Giant in Space Starts to Seem Outdated

Advertising Age, July 11, 2007 — If you want to take your brand virtual, you don't need to get a Second Life. In fact, the virtual world, along with some other social-networking sites, is already starting to seem a little old-fashioned

Selling Style From Sinks to Counters†

Martha Stewart, KB Home Lure Buyers Despite Slump

Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2007 — All across the country, home builders are gasping for air as sales plunge, inventories rise and profits disappear. But in one small corner of the housing market, the sales picture is a little brighter: There is steady demand for houses designed in part by Martha Stewart and built by Los Angeles-based KB Home.

Shop Online, Spend Offline

Big box stores benefit from online shopping

eMarketer, July 11, 2007 — Consumers who shop online for digital cameras and TVs spend 10% more on in-store purchases than consumers who do not search online, according to survey sponsored by Yahoo! Search Marketing and conducted by ChannelForce. Shoppers were interviewed when entering big box electronics stores like Best Buy and Circuit City.

Socially-Conscious Companies Garner Loyalty from US Customers, Employees

MarketingVox, July 11, 2007 — More than two-thirds of Americans say they consider a company's business practices when deciding what to buy, while American workers in increasing numbers say they want their employers to support a social cause or issue, according to the 2007 Cone Cause Evolution Survey, reports MarketingCharts. Its latest "Cause Branding" and corporate responsibility research indicates an evolution in consumer thinking about the ways businesses interact with society, according to Cone LLC, an Omnicom Group strategy and communications agency.

Study Compares Short, Long Of Branding Strategies

MediaPost Publications, July 11, 2007 — IF YOU HAVE A HEADACHE, you take a pain reliever. If the headache persists, you can either keep taking aspirin or start doing something about your long-term health. That's the kind of trade-off described in a new report out from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) that focuses on decisions made by consumer products companies as they consider short- and long-term marketing strategies. Sunil "Sunny" Garga, global services president at IRI, used the health care analogy in discussing with Marketing Daily the results of the newly released IRI report, "Long-Term Drivers Consortium Study."

The Viral Marketing Effect

Getting the word out.

eMarketer, July 10, 2007 — Of all word-of-mouth (WOM) tactics, viral marketing has probably drawn the most attention from marketers. And they have lofty goals for it. According to a 2006 study by JupiterResearch, cited in Internet Retailer, the biggest goal of viral marketers was to increase brand awareness (71%). Half also expected to drive online sales, and 44% hoped to drive offline sales.

7-Eleven's Simpsons Movie Stunt: Brilliant Cross-Promotion†

Kwik-E-Mart Gambit Took Incredible Marketing Courage

Advertising Age, July 9, 2007 — Let's just say you were running into the 7-Eleven to use the ATM, and you didn't notice the sign spanning the storefront: "Thank you for loitering. Please come again." Or the ones in front of the parking spaces: "5 Minute Parking. Violators Will Be Executed." Or the one over the ATM itself: "First Bank of Springfield. Misplacing Decimal Points Since 194.5"

CMOs Rapped for Having Zero Impact on Sales

Study Shows Difficulty in Measuring Short-Term Value of C-Suite Position

CMO Strategy by AdAge, July 9, 2007 — Pay attention, CMOs: If you've been fighting for more influence with top management, hide this publication — now. A study to be published in the Journal of Marketing that covered 167 companies including Procter & Gamble, Microsoft and Apple over a five-year period concludes that CMOs on top management teams don't have any effect on a company's financial performance.

If Brands Are Built over Years, Why Are They Managed over Quarters?†

Companies become so entranced with their ability to price and sell in real time that they neglect investments in their brands’ long-term health.

Harvard Business Review, July 9, 2007 — The numbers tell a sobering story about the state of branded goods: From 2003 to 2005, global private-label market share grew a staggering 13%. Furthermore, price premiums have eroded, and margins are following suit. Consumers are 50% more price sensitive than they were 25 years ago. In recent surveys of consumer-goods managers, seven out of ten cited pricing pressure and shoppers’ declining loyalty as their primary concerns.

What Price Reputation?

Many savvy companies are starting to realize that a good name can be their most important asset—and actually boost the stock price

BusinessWeek, July 9, 2007 — A recent print ad by United Technologies Corp. (UTX ) looks deceptively like an assembly diagram for a model helicopter. Study it more closely, however, and you'll notice that the color schematic of UTC's Sikorsky S-92 copter is embedded with messages aimed at Wall Street.

Xerox's inventor-in-chief

An innovation revival has lifted profits to $1.2 billion. Fortune's Geoff Colvin asks CTO Sophie Vandebroek: Can the company keep it up?

FORTUNE, July 9, 2007 — If all goes as scheduled, President Bush will hand Xerox's Sophie Vandebroek the National Medal of Technology at the White House in late July. It will be a sweet moment for her and for a company that was built on a world-changing innovation - xerography - but that lost its way for a while in the Digital Revolution.

BMW Drives Germany

Time, July 5, 2007 — Cloth seats or leather? Sunroof or spoiler? Walk into any auto dealership to buy a new car, and you'll be offered a multitude of options. If it's a BMW you're buying, however, there's a twist: you can walk out of the showroom and change your mind later. Perhaps you'd really prefer the poplar interior trim to the brushed aluminum.

Getting a Handle on Customer Reviews†

Brandweek, July 5, 2007 — hese days, what the customer thinks is hardly a secret. Consumer reviews and ratings are popping up on a growing number of Web sites, sites on which users treat brands like contestants on American Idol. Products are routinely rated on review-heavy e-commerce destinations such as Amazon.com, as well as on those that exist entirely for customer reviews and ratings, including yelp.com (restaurants), TripAdvisor (travel) and ConsumerSearch.com (which covers 250 product categories). Now, some brands are offering such reviews on their own sites as well.

Say ‘Hybrid’ and Many People Will Hear ‘Prius’

One reason for the success of the Toyota Prius may be that buyers want everyone to know they are driving a hybrid

New York Times, July 4, 2007 — A riddle: Why has the Toyota Prius enjoyed such success, with sales of more than 400,000 in the United States, when most other hybrid models struggle to find buyers?

One answer may be that buyers of the Prius want everyone to know they are driving a hybrid.

Children Of The Web

How the second-generation Internet is spawning a global youth culture--and what business can do to cash in

BusinessWeek, July 2, 2007 — It's a simple sales pitch, really: Hey, dude, spray Axe deodorant all over your body, and you will become irresistible to beautiful young women. But what Russell Taylor, the Axe vice-president, proposed doing with that straightforward idea was ambitious. He wanted to turn it into a truly global marketing message, one that would work in all 75 countries where Unilever (UN ) sells Axe.

Deere's Revolution On Wheels

Harvesting cutting-edge technologies, an old-economy business is rolling out one of the biggest advances in farming in half a century

BusinessWeek, July 2, 2007 — A lifetime ago, Deere & Co. (DE ) was leading the revolution in American farming as its iron machines replaced man and animal in the field. Today, concedes Deere Chief Executive Robert W. Lane, the 170-year-old company is often dismissed as "a museum piece."

Del Monte to Take Its Cues From Moms†

Company Mines Custom Social Networks for Insights on New Products

Advertising Age, July 2, 2007 — Del Monte is the latest marketer to find as much value in listening as in talking to customers. The company has already created a custom social network focused on dog owners to tap for insights into its pet-food business. Now the marketer is signing on for another network from the same market-research company, MarketTools, but this time targeting moms.

MySpace, Facebook: A Tale of Two Cultures

Emerging data suggest the two may not be direct competitors after all. Businesses that want to reach these audiences have more to learn

BusinessWeek, July 2, 2007 — The blogosphere is buzzing about a provocative June 24 essay by U.C. Berkeley researcher Danah Boyd suggesting that MySpace and Facebook users are dividing along race and class lines. Even as her timely ethnographic observations touch off debate among users and Web developers, they underscore a question businesses have been asking since MySpace first launched: Who really uses these sites and what are they doing there?

The Vacuum Man Takes On Wet Hands

James Dyson moves beyond cyclonic vacuums to bring the world a better hand dryer

BusinessWeek, July 2, 2007 — This test of James Dyson's latest invention is anything but scientific, but it's pretty convincing. You immerse your hands in water, shake them, and then dip them into the curvaceous opening at the top of a sleek, gray hand dryer mounted on the wall that looks like some sort of high-tech fingerprint reader. Infrared sensors trip the "on" switch, and intense jets of air squeegee the moisture off your hands as you slowly draw them out. Elapsed time: 12 seconds, less than half the time taken by conventional machines.