Google CEO Foresees Advertising, Technology Cozying Up

Marketing Daily, April 30, 2008 — Look for the advertising and the technology industries to grow cozier in a move similar to one experienced by the financial industry during the 1970s. That's when a set of scientists and mathematicians developed new metrics, and suddenly a generation of employees focused on analytics joined financial firms to maximize efficiencies and profits, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt told attendees at the 90th annual American Association of Advertising Agencies Leadership Conference on Tuesday in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Kraft, Kellogg Beat Analyst Expectations†

Despite Quarterly Earnings Tumble, Marketers Stick With Upping Ad Spending

Advertising Age, April 30, 2008 — In the face of rising commodity costs and cautious consumers, most brand-name food manufacturers are continuing to increase marketing investment. Kraft and Kellogg, which both reported earnings this morning, credited advertising and marketing with the strength of the companies' respective brand portfolios. Both marketers saw profits drop and simultaneously beat analyst expectations.

Charles Schwab Reaches Out To Gen X With Resourceful Site

MediaPost Publications, April 29, 2008 — Fifteen years ago, members of Gen X were perceived as slackers stuck in dead-end McJobs with a cynical view of the future. Of course, time marches on, and now they are pursuing careers, having children and thinking about retirement... says Ilkay Can, director of acquisition for Charles Schwab. "They know they want to focus on their finances, and they know they need to get started saving--they just need a little help."

Hotels Try New Features With Test Rooms

New York Times, April 29, 2008 — It is known simply as the X-room. Set up last November at the Courtyard by Marriott in partnership with the University of Delaware in Newark, it is a test guest room. It is equipped with everything from waterproof mattresses to the experimental technology of wireless electricity (no plugs) to a specially designed Nintendo Wii game console for travelers. There is also a digital door display that lets guests see who is in the corridor.

Kraft: No More Cheesy Extensions†

Brandweek, April 29, 2008 — Until recently, Kraft's growth strategy largely revolved around extensions, like Philadelphia Cream Cheese snack bars or Jell-O cheesecake snacks entry with peaches and bananas. But now the company is taking a different approach.

Marketers Turn Vacant Storefronts In Mall Into Ad Venues

MediaPost Publications, April 29, 2008 — Don't look now, but high vacancy rates are forcing the local mall to turn lemons into lemonade. Property managers are converting vacant store windows into high-tech digital ad displays, creating a new ad medium that's considerably less depressing than soap-covered windows or "This space could be yours!" banners.

Niche candymakers fall in shadow of Wrigley-Mars deal

Chicago Tribune, April 29, 2008 — Henry Rich kept a low profile Monday as he passed out samples of his top-selling mint mojito breath lozenges at the Global Food & Style Expo trade show in McCormick Place, but he knows Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. is on the trail of his tiny business.

Customer support phone numbers can be tough to find

Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2008 — Let's play a game: Find the customer support telephone number. There was a time when businesses actually welcomed phone calls from customers. Now, many go to extraordinary lengths to avoid calls, preferring that orders and support issues be handled online.

Otellini Hopes Everyone Gets an Intel Chip†

CEO Oversees Restructuring As Firm Turns to Powering Gadgets for Web

Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2008 — Intel Corp. already reaches hundreds of millions of people with its chips. But Paul Otellini has his eye on billions.

The Silicon Valley giant's chief executive is no longer content to just supply the electronic brains for conventional computers. He also wants to push Intel microprocessors into people's pockets, exploiting a shift to add Internet capability to cellphones and other gadgets.

Saturn Brand Expands Orbit With Its Own Social Network†

Online Community Pulls in 1,200 Members in Its First Three Weeks

Advertising Age, April 28, 2008 — The General Motors Corp.'s Saturn brand has always been built on the concept of community. Now it's creating one on the web.

The auto brand has begun a social-networking site, ImSaturn, which has pulled in 1,200 members in its first three weeks. Saturn originally expected to attract 1,000 people in six months. "Our estimate," said a spokesman, "was a little off."

Another Piece That Aims to Solve ROI Puzzle†

MediaVest Partners With TRA to Connect Dots Between TV Ads and Shopping Habits

Advertising Age, April 23, 2008 — Publicis Groupe's MediaVest is partnering with a market-research company to answer advertising's million-dollar question: Do TV ads make consumers go out and buy products?

TRA, a media market research company, has developed a new technology that matches the advertising households receive with the products those households actually buy.

The partnership comes as the precise measurability of online advertising is putting TV under increasing pressure to show marketers a return on their investment, and as marketers are demanding more metrics to justify spending on TV.

How-To: Using Twitter to Build Brand Integrity

MarketingVox, April 23, 2008 — Enterprise blogging has been lauded for its ability to "humanize" a company and make distant executives feel available to ground-floor customers. Twitter can serve the same purpose much more quickly.

Amazing Ad Recall Rates from Podcasts, Online Video Shows

Marketing Charts, April 21, 2008 — Ads in podcasts are three times as effective as “traditional” online video ads and seven times more so than television ads, according to four campaign studies conducted by Podtrac and TNS. Compared with industry benchmarks of 21% for streaming video and 10% for television, unaided ad awareness for podcasts was an impressive 68% on average; aided recall was even higher, at 89% on average. Embedded ads in online video shows are also highly effective, the study found.

Could Interactive Media Help Save the Airline Industry?†

Virgin America Subtly Transforms Air Travel by Empowering Customers -- at the Touch of a Button

Advertising Age, April 21, 2008 — Earlier this month, as the airline industry was imploding once again — with American Airlines grounding hundreds of thousands of passengers during its faulty-wiring debacle, and as pilots were talking about possibly grounding the proposed Delta-Northwest merger for fear of getting burned in contract talks — I was happily flying on my new favorite airline, Virgin America.

New Wii Games Find a Big (but Stingy) Audience

Marketing its Wii video-game system at a lower price than competitors, Nintendo has caught a wider net of potential customers, but game sales have also been slower with this softer audience.

New York Times, April 21, 2008 — Ninetendo sits atop the home video-game market. Its Wii, though less technologically advanced than Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or Sony’s PlayStation 3, continues to outsell those machines and is now in more than 20 million homes.

So why are retailers having so much trouble selling Wii games?

Reversing Field, Macy's Goes Local†

Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2008 — The sprawling Macy's on State Street building here was once the home to the premier name in Chicago retailing, Marshall Field's. But about a year and a half ago, Macy's forged one chain with one name and one much-ballyhooed national strategy out of Marshall Field's, Robinsons-May, Kaufmann's and other local icons it owned across the country.

Now, after Macy Inc.'s same-store sales dropped 1.3% in 2007 from the previous year, Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren is changing course. He is ditching the nationwide cookie-cutter approach in favor of tailoring merchandise at the world's largest department-store chain by sales to local tastes.

Starbucks Seeks Jolt From Another Mass Tactic†

Coupons Follow Close Behind Free Samples

Advertising Age, April 21, 2008 — Howard Schultz insists he's returning Starbucks to its roots, but he's doing it with mass-marketing tactics once anathema to the original brand.

The company is estimated to have nearly doubled its marketing spending to $100 million, and last week it began an aggressive coupon program unlike anything in its history, raising questions about its turnaround strategy.

Starcom's Ad Deal for Kellogg's Hinges on Engagement†

Banner-Ad Campaign Based on Cost per Interaction

Advertising Age, April 21, 2008 — At a time when marketers are increasingly relying on engagement as a key metric of the success of an online ad campaign, Publicis Groupe media agency Starcom has brokered an online display-media deal based on cost per interaction rather than the more traditional metric of cost per exposure.

Tension Over Sports Blogging

Tension over sports blogging is one of the strains between sports franchises, leagues and reporters to have emerged during the digital age.

New York Times, April 21, 2008 — Recently in Dallas, more than an hour before game time, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was in the locker room grinding on the Stairmaster, surrounded by several reporters — their microphones deployed, heads tilted away to avoid flying droplets of sweat.

A reporter for The Dallas Morning News, who writes a blog, asked Mr. Cuban about a bruised Dirk Nowitzki, referring to the star power forward as a “warrior” for his willingness to play while injured.

“We’re not trading him to the Warriors,” said Mr. Cuban. “Bloggers might make that point.”

The comment was a bit of word play, but it illustrates how Mr. Cuban, a prolific blogger himself, feels about some of the bloggers who cover his team.

A Star at Toyota, a Believer at Ford

James D. Farley, Ford’s chief marketing officer, says he grasps that Ford is at a crossroads and that it has been on a tortured path over the last decade

New York Times, April 20, 2008 — AT a dinner here at the Bellagio hotel about two weeks ago, the ballroom buzzed with 1,400 car dealers fired up for a turnaround at the Ford Motor Company. With fresh products coming and a new ad campaign in place, they were ready to celebrate an attempted comeback by the struggling Detroit automaker.

But James D. Farley was hardly in a festive mood.

He had been on the job as Ford’s chief marketing officer for all of six months, lured away from a stellar career with the Japanese juggernaut Toyota to inject similar sizzle into Ford.

Lodgers Look to Walk the Eco-Talk

New York Times, April 20, 2008 — ANOTHER town, another night, another lecture from the innkeeper about saving the planet.

To reduce your harmful carbon emissions, we have replaced guest-room bath towels with tea towels and showers with sponge baths. For the sake of the Earth, save energy! Squint! And remember, lights out at 10 p.m.,” the placard on the hotel room nightstand might say.

That’s an exaggeration, of course. But it’s not too far from the attitude that some hotels have projected about the environment — while scolding and annoying their customers in the process.

Everyone’s a Critic

New York Times, April 17, 2008 — IN the realm of perfume, one man’s pudding is the next man’s tar. That the reaction to a fragrance can be visceral, and personal, is not news to Luca Turin, who over the years has inhaled and critiqued hundreds of scents. In assessing them, Mr. Turin, a scientist and fragrance expert, makes no attempt to hide his partisanship.

MindShare Moves Beyond Buying, Planning†

Restructures to Build IP, Create Branded Content and Take On McKinsey

Advertising Age, April 17, 2008 — WPP's MindShare has launched a wholesale restructuring of its business — effectively splitting the agency into four distinct units — designed to move the shop beyond planning and buying, and create new revenue streams from content and intellectual property creation and McKinsey-style business consulting.

The global reorganization, the first in MindShare's 11-year history, comes as at a time when commoditization of media buying is a real threat, as procurement executives and the requirement for transparency in terms of costs have enabled clients to squeeze media agencies' margins to such an extent that many are often left making only a couple of percentage points on marketers' media expenditures — media expenditures that are themselves often flat, or... continue reading

The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies

BusinessWeek, April 17, 2008 — In a climate when innovation efforts and research and development budgets are likely to see more scrutiny than ever, our 2008 list of the World's Most Innovative Companies adds three financial measures to the mix to determine the rankings. For this year's list, votes cast in the proprietary BusinessWeek-BCG survey received 80% of the overall weighting, stock returns were weighted 10%, while three-year revenue and margin growth each got 5%.

The World's Most Innovative Companies

Smart ideas for tough times: The 50 companies that make up our annual ranking nurture cultures that value creative people in good times and bad

BusinessWeek, April 17, 2008 — Suddenly, innovation has a bull's-eye on its back. As the recession debate shifts from "what if" to "how long," slashing research and development budgets just got a lot more tempting. That high-risk product in your pipeline? It's about to get much more scrutiny. And the "chief innovation officer" your CEO brought in last year to show his commitment to creativity? He'd better start proving his worth. Outside consultants are starting to pick up on the effects of such belt-tightening. "I'm seeing it in my business," says Jeneanne Rae, president of Alexandria (Va.)-based consulting firm Peer Insight. "There's this sense of which shoe's going to drop next."

Others are seeing two camps emerge. "One is saying times are tough, so it's the most important time... continue reading

Brands Partner With Consumers Online

eMarketer, April 15, 2008 — These days, online consumers and companies are collaborating on a range of activities, including R&D, marketing and after-sales support.

Here are a few examples of how brands and consumers are working together online:

A Second Look at Virtual Worlds

It's all about engagement.

eMarketer, April 14, 2008 — At the recent Virtual Worlds Conference held in New York, a keynote speaker asked the crowd of a few hundred for a show of hands. About a third of the attendees represented kids' brands, a third were with virtual world companies and a third were vendors of software and other technology.

Beaming Online Services Toward Blacks

New York Times, April 14, 2008 — CHEAP computers and Internet connections have helped people get online in greater numbers in recent years. Now Barry Diller’s IAC/InteractiveCorp wants to make money by helping minority groups connect more easily to specific sites.

Ford Aims to Wow Key Group: Its Dealers†

Losses, Lack of Hits Hurt Confidence; Stick to 'One' Theme

Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2008 — Consumers aren't the only audience Ford Motor is trying to win over with its new "Drive One" marketing and advertising campaign, which kicked off last week.

The ailing auto maker is also trying to charge up its dealers.

Many of Ford's more than 4,000 U.S. dealers have become frustrated with the company after suffering through years of declining sales and having few hit models to sell besides the Mustang and F-Series trucks.

Their confidence has been further shaken by Ford's big losses in 2006 and 2007 — a combined $15.3 billion — and a series of inconsistent and often fleeting marketing efforts in the last several years that have failed to attract substantial numbers of new Ford buyers.

Google and Salesforce Join to Fight Microsoft

New York Times, April 14, 2008 — Google and Salesforce.com, two of Microsoft’s most conspicuous rivals, are expanding a 10-month-old collaboration in an effort to accelerate their sales of customer management and office software to businesses.

On Monday, the two companies will announce that they have integrated Salesforce’s customer relationship management software and Google’s suite of office productivity applications, which includes e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets programs, into a single software package.

J&J Takes Baby Steps Toward Social Media†

Camp Baby is company's latest attempt to woo Web-savvy moms.

Brandweek, April 14, 2008 — Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson invited 56 influential mothers/bloggers to an all-expenses-paid trip to a three-day conference in New Jersey where they had breakout sessions on everything from wine tasting to infant eye exams.

Separating Brilliance From Blabber†

Top Marketing Bloggers try to Make Sense of Shifting Relationships Among Consumers, Companies and Media

Advertising Age, April 14, 2008 — What's on the minds of the most influential marketing bloggers?

Advertising Age Editor Jonah Bloom recently led a roundtable discussion with some prominent players from our Power 150 network to find out. Contributors included Power 150 founder Todd Andrlik of Toddand; Paul McEnany of Hee Haw Marketing; Anna Farmery of The Engaging Brand; David Armano of Logic & Emotion; Matt Dickman of Technomarketer; Daryl Ohrt of Brand Flakes for Breakfast; Ann Handley of Mp Daily Fix; Mark Goren of Transmission Marketing; Rohit Bhargava of Influential Marketing Blog; Lewis Green of Biz Solutions Plus; Servant of Chaos' Gavin Heaton; Sean Howard of Crap Hammer and Geoff Livingston of Livingston Buzz.

All Systems Go

How General Electric's jet-engine division in Ohio is boosting the company's business in China. A case study in advanced global strategy

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — More than a billion people were watching late last year when the first commercial airliner ever built by a Chinese firm rolled off the assembly line in Shanghai. China's state network, CCTV, broadcast it live, a proud symbol of the country's rising technical prowess. Yet if you looked closely, there was another peacock preening. Of the 19 suppliers that collaborated on the 90-passenger regional jet, only one had its logo on the plane: General Electric, which built the engine. No surprise, perhaps, that GE subsidiary CNBC was the only foreign network permitted to cover the event.

There is no company on the globe that's better at leveraging the multiple parts of its business to feed growth than GE.

CBS Forms Special Ad Division for Brand Integrations†

New 'In-house Agency' to Start Talks With Marketers Earlier in a Show's Development

Advertising Age, April 11, 2008 — CBS Television Distribution, the syndicated-programming arm of CBS Corp., is forming a special ad unit within its ranks that aims to spark discussions of product integration earlier in the program development process — yet another sign that advertisers and media outlets are tackling deals that are more complex than in past years.

I Just IM'd to Say "I Love You"

American Greetings, the 101-year-old cardmaker, uses social-networking widgets and instant messaging to reach the younger audience it desperately needs.

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — It's the weekend before Valentine's Day and the dozen or so shoppers at the American Greetings store in midtown Manhattan are wandering through a sea of Mylar balloons, heart-shaped tchotchkes, and rows upon rows of paper greeting cards. (Valentine's Day is the second-most-popular card holiday, behind Christmas and just ahead of Mother's Day.) The vast majority of shoppers are women, and only one appears to be under 40. The manager estimates that just 10% to 15% of customers are under the age of 20, prompting the adolescent sales clerk to hammer home that the clientele is predominately "middle-age women." That is not just anecdotal evidence but acknowledged fact at American Greetings, which generated $1.7 billion in 2007 revenues. Its annual report reveals... continue reading

It's All About Experience

Companies that try to create holistic experiences by emotionally engaging their consumers are flourishing

BusinessWeek, April 11, 2008 — Advances in manufacturing technology and the global reach of the Internet have leveled the playing field in the product marketplace. It wasn't long ago that time-to-market was two years, then 18 months, and then 12 months. Now, a competitor can knock off your "innovation" in six months or less. Many businesses understand that being "new" or "different" is no longer a differentiator. Countless companies are elbowing their way to the top with designs that are also "feature-rich" or "patent pending." Innovation in product design has lost its meaning and, therefore, its value.

There is still one frontier that remains wide open: experience innovation. This is the only type of business innovation that is not imitable, nor can it be commoditized, because it is... continue reading

Ning's Infinite Ambition

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — Here's something you probably don't know about the Internet: Simply by designing your product the right way, you can build a billion-dollar business from scratch. No advertising or marketing budget, no need for a sales force, and venture capitalists will kill for the chance to throw money at you.

The secret is what's called a "viral expansion loop," a concept little known outside of Silicon Valley (go ahead, Google it — you won't find much). It's a type of engineering alchemy that, done right, almost guarantees a self-replicating, borglike growth: One user becomes two, then four, eight, to a million and beyond. It's not unlike taking a penny and doubling it daily for 30 days. By the end of a week, you'd have 64 cents; within two weeks, $81.92; by day... continue reading

The Iger difference

Bob Iger has led a renaissance at Disney. But can he withstand a bad economy and the tech revolution in the media business?

FORTUNE, April 11, 2008 — At a time of upheaval in the media business, Walt Disney has had a string of hits the likes of which it hasn't had since, well, the early tenure of former CEO Michael Eisner in the 1980s. Three years after succeeding Eisner - and confounding skeptics in the process - CEO Bob Iger talked to Fortune's Richard Siklos about buying Pixar, pulling Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) out of a creative slump with new megafranchises like "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical," working with Steve Jobs, and wrestling with the image of a certain mouse. Edited excerpts:

Can Dove Promote a Cause and Sell Soap?†

Web Site Is Devoted To 'Real Beauty'... And Product Placement

Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2008 — Women turn to all sorts of places for advice and stimulating conversation, from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to their next-door neighbors. But are they ready to take their life cues from a soap company?

Dove is betting several million dollars that the answer is yes. The hair- and skin-products maker owned by Unilever is trying to create a new online community for women that offers entertainment, blogs, advice and advertising.

One Place for Your Many Online Lives

FriendFeed is tearing down the walls between Web haunts such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc.

BusinessWeek, April 10, 2008 — Attention, attention! The latest tech darling has arrived, and it goes by the name of FriendFeed. Silicon Valley is buzzing about the seven-month-old startup, which offers a promising if somewhat messy new Internet service. Part of the interest comes from the blue-ribbon pedigrees of its founders, including Google (GOOG) alums Paul Buchheit and Bret Taylor, who honchoed Gmail and Google Maps.

But just as much of the hullabaloo stems from how the founders are addressing a growing issue online: the balkanization of the Web. People are socializing on networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace (NWS) and sharing pictures and videos on Web sites including Flickr (YHOO) and YouTube (GOOG). But all these activities have been walled off from one another, like... continue reading

Online Video Ads: Ready to Roll!

Online marketers haven’t been so excited since the introduction of animated gifs.

eMarketer, April 10, 2008 — There is no question that online video advertising is generating plenty of excitement, and also a great deal of confusion.

In-stream, in-banner, in-text, linear, non-linear, pre-roll, post-roll, layovers; when it comes to online video ads the jargon piles up faster than e-mail messages. But what exactly does it all mean?

Family, Friends Most Influential on Shoppers†

ZenithOptimedia Study: TV Still King for Branding

Advertising Age, April 9, 2008 — Recommendations from family and friends trump all other consumer touchpoints when it comes to influencing purchases, according to new data from Publicis media network ZenithOptimedia

Digital Engagement Top of Mind at IAA World Congress†

Online Is Not Just a Sales Channel, and Technology Will Only Increase Engagement With Consumers

Advertising Age, April 8, 2008 — The International Advertising Association's 41st annual World Congress is themed "What's Coming Next." The consensus among executives gathered here is that more focus will be placed on using digital creative to engage users rather than just advertise to them.

Marketers’ Role More Strategic Than in Years Past, a Ways to Go Yet

Marketing Charts, April 8, 2008 — Marketing’s role has become more strategic over the past three years as marketers have helped to drive innovation and new business development at their organizations, according to a joint study by the Association of National Advertisers and BtoB.

Online Retailers Try New Approaches†

Study Shows Increasing Acceptance of Social Nets and Video

Advertising Age, April 8, 2008 — For online retailers, search and e-mail marketing continue to be the most popular tactics, though they are becoming increasingly interested in social networks and video, a new study indicates. That shift in tactics could be a risky endeavor, however, caution executives involved with the study.

According to a Shop.org survey of 125 online retailers conducted by Forrester Research, 90% of them participate in paid search and 92% rely on e-mail marketing. By comparison, just 26% use social networks or micro-sites, while only 21% employ online videos. The coming year could see a shift to new advertising tactics.

Study: 60% Of Large Companies Cutting Marketing Budgets

Silicon Alley Insider, April 8, 2008 — Marketing execs polled by MarketingSherpa for its "Marketing During An Economic Downturn (pdf)" report are giving a version of a theme we've heard a lot of, lately. The storyline: big marketers are cutting back overall budgets this year, but not not online spending, which is being largely left intact or getting a small increase in 2008.

Total budgets down: 60% of large companies had either cut or are planning to cut marketing budgets 2008, the survey says, compared to 29% of midsized marketers and only 13% of small ones. Only 16% of big marketers said they were increasing budgets, and 19% reported no change.

Caterpillar digs into China

Crain's Chicago Business, April 7, 2008 — It took Caterpillar Inc. three decades to reach $1.5 billion in annual sales in China. The Peoria-based construction-equipment maker now aims to more than double that in the next three years.

With the U.S. construction business tanking, Caterpillar needs to capitalize on a building boom in China. Ramping up sales in the world's fastest-growing construction market could help offset slumping demand in the United States and keep Cat on track to hit its goal of boosting companywide revenue 33% by 2010.

Discover to buy Diners Club for $165 mil.

Crain's Chicago Business, April 7, 2008 — Credit card issuer Discover Financial Services said Monday it will buy Diners Club International from Citigroup Inc. for $165 million.

The acquisition is a move to increase Discover's global acceptance and electronic payments network.

"We expect this acquisition to significantly improve our competitive position by giving us global reach and accelerating growth in our payments network revenues," David Nelms, Discover's chief executive, said in a statement.

Embracing Mobile Phone Commerce

KenRadio, April 7, 2008 — 25% of cellular phone users with mobile internet access now use their devices to buy goods and services online with a credit card, and nearly one in five saying they would like to someday use cell phones as a "mobile wallet," where charges would be billed directly to their mobile accounts. In addition, ten percent of the survey participants said they would consider wire transfers and stock trading via their mobile phones, according to a new study by Harris Interactive. Mobile phone users are increasingly comfortable making banking and purchase transactions while on-the-go, a virtual taboo until now.

Marty Homlish Knows Why CMOs Don't Last†

If You're Not Embedded Into Corporate DNA, You'll Never Succeed, He Says

Advertising Age, April 7, 2008 — Martin Homlish is a rare breed of CMO who can measure his tenure in years, not months. Following 15 years at Sony, where he led, among other things, the launch of PlayStation, Mr. Homlish joined SAP, a business-software company, in June 2000.

Nearly eight years later, as global chief marketing officer of SAP AG, president-CEO of SAP Global Marketing and corporate officer of SAP Group, he is leading a company whose brand value was $10.9 billion in 2007, up 77% since the year he came aboard, according to BusinessWeek/Interbrand annual brand rankings.

Nielsen to Buy IAG Research for $225 Million†

Adds Qualitative Measurement to Quantitative Expertise

Advertising Age, April 7, 2008 — If Nielsen can't measure its way to continued dominance of an ever-shifting advertising world, perhaps it can buy its way into it. The media-measurement company today said it had agreed to purchase IAG Research, a company that measures viewer response to ads, TV shows and product placements, for $225 million.

The Growing Influence of Online Social Shoppers

Who do consumers trust?

eMarketer, April 7, 2008 — According the Edelman “Trust Barometer,” consumers feel the most credible source for information about a company—and by inference, products— is a “person like themselves.” Now with social shopping sites, product blogs and online ratings and reviews, consumers have the means to communicate their opinions about products and companies to tens of thousands of other consumers “like themselves” at a critical point in the sales cycle—the beginning.

Let Computers Compute. It’s the Age of the Right Brain.

New York Times, April 6, 2008 — I’M of two minds. As a matter of fact, so are you. And until recently, corporate America wasn’t doing much to take advantage of one of them. But now that we’re hip-deep in what has been called both the “Creative Economy” and the “Conceptual Age,” no one can afford to ignore the artist within: the right hemisphere of the brain.

Online Commercials: Now That’s a Hard Sell

New York Times, April 6, 2008 — LONG ago, in the heyday of broadcast television, when networks did pretty much as they wished, rule No. 1 was this: Viewers shall sit still and obediently watch commercials.

Later, technology gave viewers the option of disregarding the network’s commandments. The arrival of the remote control’s mute button, and then TiVo, did their part to undermine commercials, and so has the more recent rise of YouTube. When viewers seek entertaining videos there, commercial breaks are not part of the picture.

MySpace Unveils Music Service, Partners with Record Labels†

Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2008 — MySpace and the music industry unveiled Thursday an online music service to challenge Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store, even as the digital retailer announced it has become the top music seller in the country after less than five years in the business.

MySpace has formed partnerships with three major record labels — Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group Corp. and Sony BMG Music Entertainment — to offer the social-networking giant's members a range of new music-listening and merchandising features. MySpace Music will offer free, ad-supported audio "streaming" and sell digital downloads that will play on a variety of music devices, as well as concert tickets, merchandise, and ring tones and other content for mobile phones.

TV Learning Importance of Targeting†

Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2008 — The advertising industry has long had a hunch that consumers are more apt to watch a television commercial if they actually are in the market for the product or service being pitched. Now, they have some evidence.

A 16-month study by cable company Comcast and Starcom MediaVest, a media firm owned by Publicis Groupe, found that households that had ads targeted to them were about a third less likely to change the channel than those that were shown traditional ads.

How to Stay in the Black While Going Green†

Marketers' Product Focus Can Overlook Important Customer Needs

Advertising Age, April 2, 2008 — Philips launched EarthLight, an energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb, in 1994. The bulb had a clumsy shape that was incompatible with most conventional lamps, a confusing package and a price tag of $15 compared to 75 cents for incandescent bulbs. Sales languished. Although it was well intended, the environmental positioning of the EarthLight appealed to only the greenest of consumers.

To be successful, green marketing must satisfy two objectives: improved environmental quality and customer satisfaction. Misjudging either or overemphasizing the former at the expense of the latter — as Philips did with the EarthLight — can be called "green marketing myopia."

Kenny: Agencies Can Discover Affirmations Via Social Media

MediaPost Publications, April 2, 2008 — BE CONFIDENT. DON'T FEEL THREATENED. Step back and let consumers build your brand.

That was Digitas Chairman and CEO David Kenny's central message to brand marketers and advertising agencies in a presentation on digital advertising at the Advertising Research Foundation's Re:think 2008 conference in New York on Tuesday.

Of course, joining the consumer-in-control movement born of Web 2.0 applications and social networks isn't so easy for multimillion or billion-dollar brands and the large agencies traditionally entrusted with their care. After all, what role does that leave them?

Life on the Edge: Learning from Facebook

The social network provides important lessons for executives—and a key forum for innovation and experimentation

BusinessWeek, April 2, 2008 — For most business executives, Facebook remains a remote, somewhat mysterious, online frontier. Many executives harbor strong doubts that Facebook is at all relevant to "real business." After all, isn't it just a bunch of college kids sharing photos of drinking exploits and trying to hook up with each other?

Let's start with the stats. Facebook now brings together 66 million online users. While many of these users are students and recent graduates, users 35 years old and older account for more than half of Facebook's daily visitors and are the network's most rapidly growing demographic. Currently the average Facebook visitor spends about 2.5 hours per month on the site, which was founded in February, 2004, and was valued at $15 billion three years later... continue reading

McDonald's Wants to Clear Its Food Rep†

New Campaign With Strong Digital Push Addresses Quality of Menu Items

Advertising Age, April 2, 2008 — McDonald's Corp. has set out to dispel some myths about ingredients and preparation as part of a yearlong food-credibility campaign.

We've been hearing over the years that consumers have some misperceptions about the quality of our food at McDonald's," said Molly Starmann, director-U.S. marketing, at the chain. "In 2008 we're engaging in a conversation with our guests because we feel it's important for them to know the truth about our food."

An Online Game So Mysterious Its Famous Sponsor Is Hidden

McDonald’s is the sponsor of an enigmatic Olympic-themed online game called The Lost Ring.

New York Times, April 1, 2008 — NOT known for its dark marketing, McDonald’s is more a try-our-new-salad, get-your-Shrek-action-figure, look-at-our-dollar-menu sort of place.

For that reason, gamers were surprised to learn that McDonald’s was the sponsor of an enigmatic Olympic-themed online game called The Lost Ring, introduced last month. Nothing about the game was branded McDonald’s, and the game’s Web sites — mysterious and hip, like “Lost” mixed with “The Blair Witch Project”— were a far cry from the golden arches.

“The Olympics in Beijing are a very big event for us, and we have a lot of different types of activation, with The Lost Ring being the most creative,” said Mary Dillon, McDonald’s global chief marketing officer. “Our goal is really about... continue reading

Award Plans Earn Cash for Airlines

New York Times, April 1, 2008 — Travelers have been complaining more often about frequent flier programs — namely, the lack of award seats on desirable flights, escalating fees for ostensibly free tickets and quicker expiration dates for miles.

The airlines counter that they are giving away more awards than ever, despite generally fuller planes, and that most programs allow members to book any open seat on any flight, albeit in exchange for more miles.

In a sense, both sides are right. But this debate misses a fundamental change that has occurred in the economics of frequent flier programs in the last decade. What began 27 years ago as a way to win the loyalty of travelers has turned into a lucrative business for the airlines.

Do People Care About Your 'Green' Message? Yes†

Nielsen Report Shows Perils of Exaggerating Ecological Good Deeds

Advertising Age, April 1, 2008 — As if you didn't know this already, a new report from Nielsen Online proves it: When it comes to going green, companies just can't fake it.

The report calls greenwashing a "failed corporate strategy" and urges brands to aim for transparency and consistency instead. "Bloggers are quick to condemn 'greenwashing' when they suspect companies misrepresent their environmental impact with aggressive PR campaigns — as spurious attempts to be 'green,'" according to "Sustainability Through the Eyes and Megaphones of the Blogosphere."

Google Study Finds Packaged Goods Spots Perform At 'Parity' Online Vs. TV

MediaPost Publications, April 1, 2008 — IN AN EFFORT TO CONVINCE big consumer packaged goods marketers once and for all that online media is just as - and possibly more - effective than traditional television advertising, Google Monday released the findings of a study comparing online video ads very favorably with traditional TV commercials. The study, conducted with Harris Interactive, only looked at the effectiveness of 30-second TV commercials, and executives said that video ads created specifically for online platforms might be even more effective.

"The takeaway is that nothing is lost and much can be gained. There is no downside in terms of bringing a brand-building message," Marianne Foley, senior vice president-strategic initiatives at Harris Interactive said referring to the impact of... continue reading