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Advertising Age, February 29, 2008 — WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — The Center for Science in the Public Interest is threatening to sue Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing Co. in state court unless they cease "unfairly" marketing "adulterated" alcoholic energy drinks.
Wall Street Journal, February 29, 2008 — Victoria's Secret likes to ask in its marketing, "What is sexy?" Now the lingerie chain is trying to figure out, "What's too sexy?"
The chief executive of the brand known for its provocative televised fashion shows and alluring stores made an admission yesterday. In her mind, the brand has become "too sexy" — or at least the wrong kind of sexy.
"We have so much gotten off our heritage," CEO Sharen Jester Turney said in a conference call with analysts. Responding to the past year's weak sales and focus-group feedback, she said, "We will return to an ultra-feminine lingerie brand to meet [customer] needs and expectations."
Mediaweek, February 29, 2008 — IT'S NO SECRET THAT VICTORIA'S Secret is struggling. The division of Limited Brands, like so many other retailers, has been wrestling with declining foot traffic at malls, and an economy that isn't exactly sending women screaming for new dainties. This week, it announced that same-store sales in the fourth quarter fell an extremely unflattering 8%.
But for once, a retailer isn't blaming all its problems on high gas prices and a scary economy: During a conference call with investors, CEO Sharen Turney conceded that the brand has strayed too far from its roots, getting too young and too sexy, with a product assortment that just isn't tempting shoppers the way it used to.
New York Times, February 29, 2008 — These days, designing a new mobile phone can seem like something out of an episode of “Dr. Phil.”
LG Electronics, the maker of the Chocolate and Voyager phones, begins by asking focus groups to keep a journal, jotting down feelings about features they like most. Participants can call a toll-free number to share their emotions about the phone they are testing. And sometimes they are asked to draw pictures that represent their mood when they hold the phone.
“Our job is to be behaviorists and psychologists,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, LG’s vice president for product strategy and marketing. “We constantly have to be reminding ourselves that we tend to be geek types and our customers are not.”
Executives and industry analysts say it has become... continue reading
Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2008 — College student Zoey Colson joined social-networking Web site Bebo.com last summer for one reason — to watch Bebo's hit video series "KateModern," a mystery show about an art student.
To promote the show, whose first season drew an average of 1.5 million video views per week, Bebo relies on the interaction among the Web site's users. It sends alerts to members to tell them when new episodes are posted. And it allows members to send messages to characters, like the one the 20-year-old Ms. Colson wrote telling Kate's roommate to cheer up when a plot twist didn't go her way.
"You feel like you are part of their world," says Ms. Colson.
Bebo and other social-networking sites like News Corp.'s MySpace are taking the plunge into original Web series at a... continue reading
Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2008 — Target Corp. is finding that its "expect more" message doesn't go over as well when shoppers are facing a possible recession.
After long benefiting from an image more upscale than that of archrival Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target finds itself on the losing end of the marketing game as Wal-Mart hammers home its "Every Day Low Prices" mantra to shoppers ready to cut back on cheap-chic.
MediaPost Publications, February 27, 2008 — WHILE WEB-RELATED FINANCIALS WERE TYPICALLY sparse, CBS head Leslie Moonves did provide key insights into the company's digital dealings during Tuesday's fourth-quarter earnings call.
Illustrating his belief that an "Internet audience is additive to our core audience," CBS Corp.'s president and chief executive pointed to the network's cross-platform coverage of the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament.
Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2008 — Internet advertising may be showing itself more vulnerable to a consumer slowdown than many in the industry had hoped, according to new search-ad data released this week.
The report from research firm comScore Inc. showing a decline in the number of consumer clicks on Google Inc. search ads in January amplified existing concerns about the effect of a broader economic slowdown on the Internet. Many online-ad experts have played down such worries, predicting any economic weakening will be offset by a continued shift in ad spending from traditional media to the Internet. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said the company hadn't seen any impact from macroeconomic softening when the Internet company reported earnings Jan. 31. But some investors and analysts... continue reading
New York Times, February 27, 2008 — At Starbucks stores across the country on Tuesday night, it was time for the corporate version of re-education camp.
In its campaign to revive the intimate, friendly feel of a neighborhood coffee shop, Starbucks orchestrated the closing of 7,100 of its American stores at precisely 5:30 p.m. for a three-hour retraining session for employees
Advertising Age, February 26, 2008 — Arbitron and Nielsen Co. have pulled the plug on Apollo, one of the most ambitious, expensive and heavily hyped market-research programs in history.
Apollo aimed to determine once and for all how exposure to a wide variety of media and marketing tactics influence purchases by tracking consumers' combined media and purchasing habits in a single-source database.
New York Times, February 26, 2008 — Being part of a “Nielsen household” has long been a point of pride for people whose television habits are monitored by the Nielsen Company. In exchange for token compensation, these viewers know that their personal taste influences Hollywood and Madison Avenue.
But now that Nielsen wants households to let it eavesdrop on many more activities — from Web surfing to cellphone use — how far will people open their doors?
As television watching has waned as a component of media consumption, Nielsen has been trying to retool the way it collects ratings, to keep the figures relevant to the advertisers and media companies that are its clients.
Advertising Age, February 26, 2008 — Positive online buzz for cars and trucks doesn't necessarily translate to volume sales, according to marketing-data firm BrandIntel.
Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2008 — What do Matt Damon and an animated piece of phlegm have in common? Viewers seem to remember them especially well, according to a new test that measured what people recall about TV ads, even when they're zapping through them.
The test is part of a continuing effort by General Electric's NBC Universal to measure the effectiveness of television ads that viewers skip through with their digital video recorders. The bottom line: Viewers still remember the spots — or at least some elements of them — even when they're watching at up to six times the speed of regular live TV.
Advertising Age, February 25, 2008 — How many more ways can marketers possibly target "enhanced" water? At least two: for kids and dogs.
Cott Corp. earlier this month introduced Fortifido, described as the "first-ever fortified water for pets with real functional benefits." The brand comes in vitamin-enhanced formulas to promote healthy bones, healthy skin, fresh breath and healthy joints in flavors including spearmint, parsley and peanut butter.
Meanwhile, Bot Beverages, which markets a line of kid-targeted waters in orange, grape and berry flavors that have no artificial sweeteners and preservatives, is looking to support its growing distribution with an inaugural marketing campaign.
Advertising Age, February 25, 2008 — As proof that it's spending its marketing dollars wisely, Kimberly-Clark Chairman-CEO Thomas Falk told analysts last week that the company expects to spend only 46% of its marketing budget on TV this year, down from 60% in 2004.
If you looked two or three years ago, out of our top six consumer brands, TV would have ranked as the most popular channel for all six," Mr. Falk told attendees at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York last week. "Today, TV might be ranked as the best channel for only three of those brands."
Package-goods titan Unilever also is out to prove it can spend more effectively, in part by using TV more cannily.
New York Times, February 25, 2008 — LITTLE-KNOWN private company, Akoo International, is setting up a network of digital screens that can send and receive messages from cellphones. The company aims to transform mobile devices into universal remote controls that can select on-demand content from big-screen TVs in airports, bars and restaurants.
With Akoo’s network, named m-Venue, cellphone users can send a text-message request for a music video, sports clip or fashion show to be delivered to their phone or played on a nearby Akoo television screen, which would act much like a high-tech jukebox.
In return, companies can deliver digital coupons and promotions to the cellphones.
By Scott Davis, February 25, 2008 — It’s time to rethink the “customer is king” thing.
With the rapid advance of new media, customers have growing control over when, how and where they interact with brands, media and information. Increasingly, they’re also willing to partner with you as you build your brand, design your products and create your ads.
Successful marketers are listening to what customers want. They’re creating personalized and customized brand experiences that pass the authenticity test, trusting the brand to... continue reading
MediaPost Publications, February 22, 2008 — In particular, the entries on starbucksgossip.com make for lively reading, from current and former baristas, including one who asks: "Any baristas out there who resent this 'training session' or feel insulted somehow? As in, 'tell us something we don't know!' Unless entirely new methods of preparation are introduced, aren't you feeling like this is just a PR move? Somehow I imagine the three-hour training will be mainly a three-hour break."
BusinessWeek, February 21, 2008 — In the annals of customer service, 2007 will go down as the year fed-up consumers finally dropped the hammer. In August a 76-year-old retired nurse named Mona Shaw smashed up a keyboard and a telephone in a Manassas (Va.) Comcast (CMCSA) office after she says the cable operator failed to install her service properly. During her first visit to the branch outlet, the AARP secretary says she was left sitting on a bench in the hallway for two hours waiting for a manager.
BusinessWeek, February 21, 2008 — In the annals of customer service, 2007 will go down as the year fed-up consumers finally dropped the hammer. In August a 76-year-old retired nurse named Mona Shaw smashed up a keyboard and a telephone in a Manassas (Va.) Comcast (CMCSA) office after she says the cable operator failed to install her service properly. During her first visit to the branch outlet, the AARP secretary says she was left sitting on a bench in the hallway for two hours waiting for a manager. She returned, armed with a hammer, and let loose the rallying cry "Have I got your attention now?" Afterward, she was arrested, fined $345, and became a media sensation, capturing the hearts of frustrated consumers everywhere. (Says Comcast: "We apologize for any customer service issues that... continue reading
New York Times, February 21, 2008 — Hoping to earn more from its vast advertising network, Google said it planned to begin selling ads to appear inside videos on sites across the Web.
While the money spent on Web video ads is a small fraction of the $20 billion spent on Internet ads in the United States, Google is hoping to capitalize on both the explosion in online video and the scale of its advertising network, which analysts say includes a vast majority of Web advertisers and hundreds of thousands of Web sites.
The new program, called AdSense for Video, could help Web publishers in that network make more money off their video clips.
Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2008 — In a recent advertising spread in Italian Vogue, a model poses while the contents of her handbag — including several cellphones — spill into the street. A caption explains that she is wearing "tutto Derercuny."
Not quite "all Derercuny." There is Samsung in there, too. Unbeknownst to many followers of high fashion, Derercuny, a three-year-old Italian label that is garnering attention during this week's Milan fashion shows, is part of South Korea's sprawling Samsung Group. Best known for Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest seller of televisions and second-largest seller of cellphones, the group also includes Cheil Industries Co., a huge textile and chemicals concern that owns Derercuny directly.
Fast Company, February 21, 2008 — Google is different, even on a list of distinctive companies. Here, more than a dozen describe what life is like at a place where no goal is too audacious, agility means more than power, and even cafeteria food represents an opportunity to change the world.
Fast Company, February 21, 2008 — We canvassed the experts, analyzed the products, and crunched the numbers. From visionary upstarts to storied stalwarts, here are companies that dazzle with new ideas — and prove beyond a doubt how business is a force for change. We call them the Fast 50.
BusinessWeek, February 21, 2008 — It began with plain, "Greek style" yogurt, which has a somewhat sharper taste than the traditional American kind. Then came the nonfat version and one mixed with honey. Soon, a cornucopia of new flavors appeared. Strawberry, fig, and the truly yummy apricot/mango blend.
MediaPost Publications, February 20, 2008 — THE MAIN TAKEAWAY FROM THE just-released results of the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLEI) is that brands are more indistinguishable than ever, according to Robert Passikoff.
"Ties between brands used to be the exception, but there are more ties than there have ever been. This speaks to commoditization," says Passikoff, founder of the Brand Keys consultancy and creator of the CLEI system. "Many brands are now just placeholders. It's nice to be number one, but people don't perceive any differences between number one and number two in many cases. People know the brand names, but they don't know what the brands stand for."
MarketingVox, February 20, 2008 — Blogger and founder Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware has published 10 tips for organizations aspiring to blog. "The entire concept of [blogging] as an effective and responsible marketing tool is still in its infancy," Baggott stated. "2008 will be the breakout year, and we'll see a lot of innovation, benefits and even some mistakes. My advice is to embrace it all."
Advertising Age, February 20, 2008 — Whether traditional TV advertising has truly lost its power, marketers and advertisers are already eager to find alternatives. The Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research's fourth biennial TV and Technology survey shows a dramatic loss of confidence in the medium as the industry gears up to explore new ad formats and forms of video commercials.
Indeed, two thirds of the C-level-executive respondents said they are watching the medium closely, up from just half two years ago, and 87% of respondents said they were going to be spending more on web ads in the coming year
Marketing Charts, February 20, 2008 — Most marketers say television advertising has become less effective in the past two years, but many are interested in exploring new ad formats and forms of video commercials, according to the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research.
Marketing Charts, February 20, 2008 — Advertisers would be well advised to pay more attention to what their customers say influence their purchases - particularly new media options that are growing the fastest in wielding influence, according to BIGresearch’s Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM 11, Dec. 07). While traditional media still rank on top in purchase influence, many are declining and some are showing double-digit losses in influence over the previous year; on the other hand, many new media options are showing double-digit growth, BIGresearch found.
Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2008 — Zara stores have set the pace for retailers around the world in making and shipping trendy clothing.
Now Pablo Isla, chief executive of parent company Inditex SA, says Zara needs to speed up.
As rivals catch up, Mr. Isla is attempting one of the fastest global expansions the fashion world has ever seen, opening hundreds of new stores and entering new markets.
BusinessWeek, February 20, 2008 — When we published "Blogs Will Change Your Business" in May, 2005, Twittering was an activity dominated by small birds. Truth is, we didn't see MySpace coming. Facebook was still an Ivy League sensation. Despite the onrush of technology, however, thousands of visitors are still downloading the original cover story.
Forbes, February 20, 2008 — When tumbling home values and high gas prices already have consumers spending less at stores, car dealerships and airline ticket counters, how does a company minimize the pain?
One way is to offer superior customer service, the better to compete for the fewer number of dollars out there, and set yourself up with loyal customers for the inevitable economic rebound. A new report finds a lot of companies like Wal Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Home Depot (nyse: HD - news - people ) seem to have a different plan.
Marketing Charts, February 19, 2008 — Behavioral targeting, search engine optimization (SEO), and direct email using house lists are the best-performing tactics in online marketing, according to MarketingSherpa’s annual survey of ad:tech attendees. Marketers also report strong ROI from paid search and direct email from rented lists, albeit less so than last year.
Financial Times, February 19, 2008 — It may have taken 1,000 years to create them but it has taken far less time for marketers to fixate on "millennials", the generation born after 1980 who entered the workforce at the start of this decade. Like baby boomers, generation X or other previous tags used to denote groups identified as sharing both a similar age and outlook, the millennials moniker excites almost as much disagreement as it does recognition.
Advertising Age, February 18, 2008 — CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — What happens when you ditch a legendary, iconic and recognized ad strategy synonymous with your brand for decades?
Absolut resurgence.
FORTUNE, February 18, 2008 — It wasn't long ago that the ad biz was ruled by black-clad creative types who could charm an old lady into dropping her last $10 on a jar of get-younger cream. But those days are over. Now, with digital media at the center of the action - Google, Facebook, Microsoft's blockbuster bid for Yahoo - it's all about numbers. And one bookish media buyer is king. His name is Irwin Gotlieb. But we might just as well call him the $59 billion man.
Adweek, February 18, 2008 — Last week, a Google Android prototype was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, giving the industry its first peek at the software that aims to bring the power of desktop computing to handsets. Google wants Android to become the predominate operating system for what is expected to be the world's largest communications channel. Android's open-source platform allows developers to create any number of applications for mobile phones, which are expected to debut in the second half of this year.
BusinessWeek, February 15, 2008 — Herman Miller CEO Brian Walker talks with Corporate Design Foundation Chairman Peter Lawrence about tapping the creative network for insights and breakthrough ideas.
eMarketer, February 15, 2008 — Getting objective opinions has never been easier for consumers. If they don't personally know someone who has used a product or service, they can go online for the thoughts and experiences of millions. Most online buyers do just that.
MarketingVox, February 14, 2008 — The vast majority of ad clicks are generated by a small percentage of online users, according to a report from comScore, commissioned by ad agency Starcom and AOL's Tacoda. The study finds 80 percent of online ad clicks are generated by 16 percent of internet users. Furthermore, that 16 percent is not representative of the online population as a whole.
Marketing News, February 14, 2008 — Packaged goods giant Mars will become the first advertiser to sell actual products on Facebook, a move aimed at building the commercial credentials of the social network. The deal follows the recent backlash around the launch of Facebook’s Beacon, an advertising platform that allowed brands to pump ads without user consent. Facebook was forced to change the service to include an opt-in element.
eMarketer, February 14, 2008 — Everyone has been talking about mobile search for years. But now talk is being replaced by action. The number and variety of searches on mobile phones jumped during the second half of 2007, causing eMarketer to raise its global mobile search revenue forecast up from $83 million in 2007 to $3.8 billion by 2012.
Detroit Free Press, February 14, 2008 — Borders' new concept store gives shoppers a lot more to do than browse books and drink lattes. The first of Borders Group Inc.'s future stores opens in Pittsfield Township today with a fresh, user-friendly approach to blending technology and entertainment. Want to publish your own book, but don't know how? There's a kiosk in the store's new digital center that walks you through it.
Marketing Charts, February 13, 2008 — Spending on branded entertainment grew 14.7% year over year, to an all-time high of $22.3 billion in 2007, nearly doubling in size over the last five years as brand marketers shift budgets from traditional advertising to alternative marketing strategies, according to a PQ Media report.
No longer confined to just TV and film, branded entertainment marketing represented approximately 8 cents of every marketing services dollar spent in 2007, PQ Media said.
New York Times, February 13, 2008 — Southwest Airlines, with a raucous corporate culture that is the exception in the grim airline industry, stands to look even wilder as some of its big competitors contemplate mergers that would only further muddy their corporate identities. For proof that Southwest is sticking with its oddball ways, look no further than its chief executive, Gary C. Kelly, who transformed himself from a buttoned-down C.P.A. to one of Corporate America’s most colorful bosses.
Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2008 — The candy industry is rolling out new sweets packed with more than just sugar.
Buzz-inducing candy, spiked with caffeine and, often, vitamins, are the low-growth, $29 billion U.S. candy, gum and chocolate industry's answer to surging competition from energy drinks. And just like those beverages, the caffeine-infused candy often sports a controversial name that critics say evokes illegal drugs.
MarketingVox, February 12, 2008 — Blog advertising company Chitika has released a viral branding unit designed to get people talking about brands right inside the ad. The unit acts as a vessel for banner ads or video. Components include tabs for commenting on the brand or product, and the ability to rate and share opinions across social networks of choice.
MediaPost Publications, February 12, 2008 — WHILE IT WOULD BE EASY to blame the world's increasingly negative view of America and its brands on politics, a new report from consumer research firm Iconoculture says that Gen Y is also part of the unraveling.
Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2008 — Johnson & Johnson is one of the largest television advertisers in the U.S. But to promote its best-selling baby lotion, the company is putting most of its effort into a different approach: Web cartoons.
In one of its animated Web videos, as a mother starts massaging her daughter's feet, legs and chest, her baby giggles, smiles and makes eye contact. Pink swirls meant to represent the lotion's scent fill the screen.
The ads for Johnson's Baby Lotion, developed by an animation studio, not an ad agency, attempt to highlight the emotional connections babies build with their mothers. In contrast, most of J&J's competitors focus on the medicinal benefits of baby lotion. Johnson's is favoring the Internet over TV because it believes young parents scour the... continue reading
Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2008 — Web marketers can easily tell whether a particular consumer visited a specific site, when she visited, and whether she bought something. But despite a decades-long head start, television advertisers haven't been as successful connecting the shows people watch to the products they buy.
Now a new media research company, TRA — for "True ROI Accountability for Media" — is taking another crack at the problem. It merges data from people's cable set-top boxes with consumer-purchase databases, such as the information stores gather from frequent-shopper cards. For instance, a company could see whether households that watched an ad for its toothpaste later bought that brand of toothpaste.
Forbes, February 11, 2008 — In a sweltering, claustrophobic chamber the size of a storage closet, a sweat-glazed man in a running top pounds away on a treadmill in the Nike Sports Research Lab in Beaverton, Ore. Wires attached to thermal sensors sprout from his body. Heat lamps beat down on him. Moist air blasts through an overhead vent.
By Karen Woon, February 8, 2008 — Does Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer yodel? It’s a fair question to ask as the software giant’s $44.6-billion play for Yahoo, the No. 2 search engine on the Internet, is rejected — for now.
Microsoft’s interest is easily understood. The company wants to move beyond software and into enhanced online services at a time when Yahoo! is struggling against the larger, richer Google for traffic and advertising revenues. Microsoft would bring enormous financial muscle in the battle for eyeballs and ads.
... continue reading
Marketing Charts, February 8, 2008 — Half of online businesses plan to add “Web 2.0″ online capabilities to their sites within the next six months, and over 93% intend to do so within the year, according to a Scene7 study of retailers, manufacturers, agencies, and high-tech companies that sell products or services online.
Crain's Chicago Business, February 7, 2008 — Navistar International Corp. will begin offering a new heavy-duty truck aimed at the high end of the market where the company has struggled to sell trucks in the past.
The Warrenville-based company’s will unveil its new LoneStar model today at the Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place.
The big highway tractor attempts to combine daring exterior styling and lots of interior comforts with the Navistar’s latest performance innovations, such as better fuel mileage and improved suspension.
Springwise Newsletter, February 7, 2008 — It's not uncommon for pizza chains to let their customers order online or even via text message and the mobile web, but a new tool from Domino's adds a social element to the process. Michigan-based Domino's revamped its online presence last month as part of its "You Got 30 Minutes" brand re-launch campaign, including adding the new BFD Builder for custom online orders. Short for Big Fantastic Deal, the BFD Builder lets consumers create the pizza of their dreams—specifying the type of crust, the amount of sauce and cheese, and unlimited toppings—for a flat rate of USD 10.99.
Wall Street Journal, February 6, 2008 — Blue french fries. A colorless soda that tastes funny. A frozen soup-and-sandwich convenience food that turned out to be inconveniently labor intensive.
These products not only failed in the marketplace, but did so predictably, at least in the eyes of Calvin L. Hodock, a marketing guru whose "Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things" is all about the many ways that innovation can go wrong. Mr. Hodock knows a thing or two about the subject, and his book offers considerable wisdom, some of it conventional and some of it not. Despite having a wooden writing style and a propensity for stating the obvious, he raises a handful of matters worth thinking about.
Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2008 — As Microsoft Corp. makes a $44.6 billion bet on Internet advertising with its unsolicited offer for Yahoo Inc., there are signs that some of the biggest new places where consumers are flocking on the Web — social networking and video-sharing sites — are yielding advertising revenue slower than some Internet companies had hoped.
Advertising Age, February 4, 2008 — There is a fundamental problem with overemphasizing ROI as the single measure of marketing success: It is often impossible to accurately quantify the impact. Although the world of marketing has come a long way in terms of analytic capabilities, applying financial numbers to the marketing equation is not always possible or preferable.
New York Times, February 4, 2008 — WE’VE all heard the tales of the apple falling on Newton’s head and Archimedes leaping naked from his bath shrieking “Eureka!” Many of us have even heard that eBay was created by a guy who realized that he could help his fiancée sell Pez dispensers online.
The fact that all three of these epiphany stories are pure fiction stops us short. As humans, we want to believe that creativity and innovation come in flashes of pure brilliance, with great thunderclaps and echoing ahas. Innovators and other creative types, we believe, stand apart from the crowd, wielding secrets and magical talents beyond the rest of us.
eMarketer, February 4, 2008 — Ever since podcasting was introduced, the question has been the same: Will anyone listen? The answer is definitely “Yes.” eMarketer estimates that the total US podcast audience reached 18.5 million in 2007.
Advertising Age, February 4, 2008 — BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — Marketing budgets get cut in a recession, right? Not according to several of today's package-goods leaders.
In a testament to how important advertising has become to their businesses, Procter & Gamble Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Kraft Foods and Kellogg Co. all have boosted or at least maintained their marketing budgets, even as they've had to implement cost controls elsewhere. And that trend looks set to continue as these giants are forced to hike prices in response to rising commodities costs — a move that will require them to continue pitching consumers on the merits of their brands.
Fast Company, February 1, 2008 — Don't get Duncan Watts started on the Hush Puppies. "Oh, God," he groans when the subject comes up. "Not them." The Hush Puppies in question are the ones that kick off The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller about how trends work.
Harvard Business Review, February 1, 2008 — Andre Cleary absentmindedly fidgeted with the bottle of melatonin tablets in his left hand, lightly jiggling the pills with each twitch of his wrist. He had hoped to catch up on some much-needed sleep during the 20-hour flight to Rio de Janeiro—this being the final leg of a six-week series of meet and greets that had taken the CEO of Lilypad Hotels and Resorts across the continental United States, over to the Middle East, and now to South America. He sat comfortably in the first-class cabin of a 767, loafers under the seat, pillow poised to do its job.
Adweek, February 1, 2008 — Three years ago, Tim Armstrong, Google's top advertising executive, sat down in a crowded Starbucks in New York's Astor Place, grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out his vision of the future of advertising. He filled one end of the paper with dots, dozens of them, which then funneled into a large box, out of which came many arrows pointing in different directions. In the not-too-distant future, he predicted, advertisers will digitize their entire asset bases, with "smart machines" (like Google) allowing them to advertise thousands of pieces of information about a brand to the right consumers at the right times.