LinkedIn Launches Custom Groups For Marketers

MediaPost Publications, November 18, 2009 — Expanding its monetization efforts, LinkedIn is launching a new program allowing marketers to create sponsored groups with built-out Web pages that are promoted across the professional's social network.

LinkedIn unveiled the new Custom Groups along with other advertising initiatives the company is rolling out at a breakfast event Wednesday in New York. The moves reflect the company's wider strategy to capitalize on the company's affluent audience of more than 50 million members.

Comcast Play for NBC Universal Is a Bet on Future of Advertising†

Union Would Allow Experiments in DVR, Addressable Campaigns

Advertising Age, November 9, 2009 — Comcast Corp. is looking to take a 51% stake in NBC Universal, surely a sign of the durability of cable networks, since NBCU owns a bunch of top-tier ones. But there's more going on here: It's also a calculated move to seize the reins in shaping future TV-viewer behavior and a bid to assume the lead in figuring out how to advertise to the new-media consumer.

Best Buy Prepares for the Post-DVD Era

New York Times, November 3, 2009 — Best Buy sells a lot of DVDs, but it is taking another step to get ready for the day when that business shifts online.

The giant electronics retailer on Tuesday is announcing a partnership with Sonic Solutions‘ Roxio CinemaNow service to deliver first-run DVDs streamed online directly to consumers.

P&G Considers Booting Some Brands†

Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2009 — Facing mounting pressure to boost sliding sales and recalibrate his company, P&G CEO Robert McDonald is stepping up the hunt for acquisition and divestiture candidates, people close to the company said.

Strategy of New Chief at Motorola Appears Poised to Pay Off

New York Times, October 29, 2009 — Sanjay Jha’s honeymoon as co-chief executive at Motorola lasted just a few minutes into his first meeting with employees in 2008.

Why should we trust you?” one employee blurted. The frustration was understandable. Motorola, which pioneered cellphones and built such consumer favorites as the StarTac and the Razr, had not had a hit phone in years, and a succession of leaders could not find one.

Mr. Jha, 46, an engineer who worked his way up at Qualcomm from a chip designer to the No. 3 executive, answered the challenge, saying employees should not take him on faith but watch what he did.

Bloomberg to Buy BusinessWeek After McGraw-Hill Tires of Losses†

Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2009 — McGraw-Hill Cos. agreed to sell BusinessWeek to Bloomberg L.P., marking the growing media ambitions of its new owner and a retreat for McGraw-Hill after 80 years of owning of the business magazine.

Looking at Life as One Big Subscription

New York Times, October 11, 2009 — EVERYWHERE you look these days, businesses are selling subscriptions. Cable television, Internet and cellphone services are sold that way. So are business software, office printing and car rentals like Zipcars.

How GE Is Disrupting Itself†

For decades, GE has sold modified Western products to emerging markets. Now, to preempt the emerging giants, it’s trying the reverse.

Harvard Business Review, October 1, 2009 — In May 2009, General Electric announced that over the next six years it would spend $3 billion to create at least 100 health-care innovations that would substantially lower costs, increase access, and improve quality. Two products it highlighted at the time—a $1,000 handheld electrocardiogram device and a portable, PC-based ultrasound machine that sells for as little as $15,000—are revolutionary, and not just because of their small size and low price. They’re also extraordinary because they originally were developed for markets in emerging economies (the ECG device for rural India and the ultrasound machine for rural China) and are now being sold in the United States, where they’re pioneering new uses for such machines.

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Kraft Explains Its Decision to Charge for Its IPhone App†

Five Questions With Director-Innovation Ed Kaczmarek

Advertising Age, October 1, 2009 — To charge or not to charge. That's the question many marketers and media companies building mobile apps are asking themselves. Kraft, which has arguably been one of the more successful marketers in the iPhone App Store, charges 99 cents for its iFood Assistant.

A Jar of Vegemite, a Window on Kraft†

Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2009 — The recipe for Vegemite, a salty brown yeast spread famous in Australia, remained unchanged for more than 80 years. Then Irene Rosenfeld became chief executive of Kraft Foods Inc.

This summer, a milder version of Vegemite appeared on store shelves across Australia. Ms. Rosenfeld had almost nothing to do with the reformulated taste, its new packaging or its rollout — which says a lot about how she has tried to transform Kraft since taking over as the food giant's CEO in 2006.