Burberry Looks Online for Ways to Gain Customers

New York Times, November 9, 2009 — Angela Ahrendts still remembers when she bought her first Burberry trench coat. She was 21 years old, had just finished her studies in Indiana and was looking for a smart but warm coat to wear for her first job at a small men’s wear firm in New York.

Those raincoats, a 95-year-old fashion icon, remain Burberry’s best-selling item, and Ms. Ahrendts — who now runs the company — is hoping to move the quintessentially British brand into the age of the Internet to attract a new generation of shoppers.

The next 15 trends in social networking

Smart Company, July 14, 2009 — There is no hotter trend in the internet, marketing and media space than social networking. What started out as a way for ‘cool kids’ to talk to each other has now become essential part of every company’s marketing strategy.

Nielsen: Facebook use outstrips e-mail

The Deal, April 22, 2009 — In the last year, people somehow found a way to spend 73% more time on Facebook Inc. and other social networking sites, if that were possible.

The stat comes from Nielsen Co.'s The Global Online Media Landscape, released Wednesday. In February, Nielsen found, people used social network sites more than they used Web-based e-mail for the first time ever.

Here's Why Facebook's All Aflutter Over Twitter†

Seems That the Tweet Is Replacing the Status Update Among the Digerati

Advertising Age, March 23, 2009 — Did Twitter just make Facebook blink? If not, why did Facebook suddenly get so much more Twitter-like?

Indeed, mighty Facebook, steaming toward 120 million worldwide users, pulling away from MySpace and even nudging Google on its axis, started emulating key functions of Twitter earlier in March after a redesign made status updates central and immediate.

Out of Office: Job Loss in the Age of Blogs and Twitter†

Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2009 — It's been decades since Americans had this much time on their hands and — thanks to the Web — never have there been so many opportunities to burn it.

In November, Julia Otto was headed to her first day on a new job, car keys in hand, as an administrative assistant with a New Orleans construction company when her phone rang. Her position was eliminated before she even started.

Now, when she's not sending out resumes or doing household chores, the 43-year-old spends several hours a day playing games. Her favorite is an adventure-puzzle game called "Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst," where she hunts for clues inside a spooky mansion to unlock a mystery. She spends about $7 a month playing games on the Big Fish Games site.

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Facebook Aims to Extend Its Reach Across the Web

New York Times, December 1, 2008 — Facebook, the Internet’s largest social network, wants to let you take your friends with you as you travel the Web. But having been burned by privacy concerns in the last year, it plans to keep close tabs on those outings. Facebook Connect, as the company’s new feature is called, allows its members to log onto other Web sites using their Facebook identification and see their friends’ activities on those sites.

Building a Better Twitter

BusinessWeek, November 7, 2008 — A host of rival sites allow users to share short messages like Twitter, but offer unique features such as picture-sharing or private groups

Blogs Influence Consumer Purchases

KenRadio, November 4, 2008 — The number of those who read blogs at least once a month has grown 300% in the past four years, and what they read strongly influences their purchase decisions, playing a key role in ushering them to the point of actual purchase.

How to Market During a Downturn†

CMO Roundtable: Execs on Maintaining Budgets, Changing Marketing Mixes and the Challenges of 2009

Advertising Age, October 27, 2008 — Just days before the Dow suffered its largest single-day point drop ever Sept. 29, Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom sat down with three top CMOs to talk about marketing in a recession. On hand were Ranjana Clark, senior exec VP-CMO of Wachovia Corp.; Tom O'Toole, CMO and chief information officer of Global Hyatt Corp.; and Mark Chmiel, exec VP-chief marketing and innovation officer at Denny's Corp.

Behavioral Targeting: A Tricky Issue for Marketers†

Brandweek, October 21, 2008 — These days, countless users are wishing their social networking sites would simply pay attention to their online travels so they could serve up an ad for something they would—gasp—actually want to buy. After all, that's the whole idea behind behavioral targeting, isn't it? The footprints left behind a user's daily wanderings through the Web (or, in the case of social networks, personal and lifestyle details) are analyzed to later match her up with ads for products or services she's likely to want. It sounds so promising—in theory at least—that behavioral targeting is what many consider the wave of the future.