Posted by truecreek on October 28, 2009 under More Dam News | 
Great article from Ad Age.
By Marsha Lindsay:
What does the worldwide, technologically enabled drive for conversations mean for marketers? It means you’re no longer marketing products or services — you’re marketing conversations. It means marketing-communication planning should be driven by a conversation strategy.
The right conversation strategy answers two big questions: What meaningful content will attract sufficient conversations with the right people? And, how will you jump-start conversations and keep them alive?
When people are starved for time and already engaged in many conversations, jump-starting new and meaningful conversations is the big challenge of marketing today. Just building a website, writing a blog or posting videos on YouTube doesn’t mean sufficient numbers to impact ROI will find them organically, much less take the time and energy to converse with you. By definition a conversation requires others to be present and participate — otherwise you’re talking to yourself. Perhaps therapeutic, but no way to make a living.
Even if people know there’s an opportunity to have a conversation with you — on Twitter or your blog, for instance — you can’t expect them to engage given all the other demands on their time. You’ll need a strategy that both gets them to know you exist and care so much that you exist, they’ll become intrigued about conversing with you. This requires a strategy that integrates search optimization, media, message and contributions of content from consumers.
The right strategy begins with the end in mind: What message can work across multiple platforms and be scaled so quickly and broadly it can drive sufficient revenues to support a business model?
Very few companies have the luxury to let conversations build slowly over time. And no business can afford to risk a high-waste and low-impact effort. More often than not, high-impact campaigns with reasonable returns don’t materialize solely from online ads and social media. Traditional media must be a major component of the mix.
Stefan Olander, Nike’s global director of brand connections, noted at Lindsay, Stone & Briggs’ Brandworks University 2009 that many of Nike’s online campaigns received overwhelming response at launch. Colleagues at Nike were excited about the prospect of dropping expensive traditional media campaigns in favor of these successful digital campaigns. Olander reminded them that, despite how well-known the Nike brand is, to optimize online conversations they still must jump-start initiatives with traditional media.
That’s because traditional media can do what social media cannot: aggressively interject messages into people’s lives in a socially acceptable way. Research conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation indicates that messages delivered by TV may, in fact, be the fastest and most cost-efficient means to jump-start productive conversations in the digital and real worlds.
Experts at the World Advertising Research Center have also studied what it takes to optimize engagement in a conversation economy. They recommend this media priority:
- Mainstream media.
- Open networks such as blogs and websites.
- Closed networks such as Facebook and MySpace.
A multimedia mix framed to spark conversations requires a compelling message concept that can work across a multimedia platform. Its foundation has to be far more than a one-time promotion or product attribute; it must be a message strategy that connects brand meaning with search habits and accommodates ongoing contributions that can range from casual conversations to consumer-generated content.
This is a tall order, but not impossible. That’s because the solution can be found in the motivations of the conversationalists themselves. Some psychologists say that people subconsciously come to a conversation with a desire to be changed by them. This makes sense. Conversation is mankind’s natural search engine.
Posted by truecreek on under Opinions. Everyone has them. |
By Joseph Young
Well, we’ve crossed the threshold. In my travels today, I had the chance to stop off at the local Wegman’s to take advantage of their snappy food bar. Lunchtime can be pretty busy in that place and today was no exception.
What was interesting was seeing what I will call “The New Sweatpants Society.”
Men and women, meeting, then having lunch with their significant others at the grocery store. That is no big deal.
What was interesting was that in almost every case, one of them was dressed in business attire. The other, in sweats.
It was striking.
Couples all over the place, dressed entirely differently. Someone obviously didn’t get the memo.
So, do you think it’s a statement of the times? The extremely casual nature of their dress could mean that one of the two is working from a home office, works in a very casual environment or perhaps they have a day off. But this is Tuesday, yes?
Unfortunately, I suspect it’s something a little more sinister. One of them is out of a job.
On the bright side, I’m sure most of these couples are relishing the chance to break some lunchtime bread together.
But on the other, perhaps it’s a sad commentary on the current employment situation in our country.
I plan on checking in again in a month or so to see if the things have changed any. Let’s all hope I see a few more shirts and ties!
Posted by truecreek on October 27, 2009 under More Dam News |
By Christina Cheddar Berk
Most of the early reads on how retail sales will shape up for the Christmas holiday period haven’t been all that jolly. At best, they have painted a picture of a shopping season that will be better than last year’s dismal turnout. But, according to some industry analysts, there are several reasons to believe that Santa might bring retailers a little joy this season.
1. Frugal Fatigue
Speaking on a conference call hosted by Dow Jones analyst Indexes and STOXX, Marshall Cohen, chief industry of market researcher NPD Group said consumers are getting tired of watching their pennies.
“Consumers are clearly telling us they are beginning to get tired of saving money,” Cohen said.
It has been more than a year since the economy started putting the pinch on consumer pocketbooks. Consumers have been trying to get their debt under control, and have pushed up the savings rate to decade-high levels. The holidays may finally give consumers a reason to start spending again.
2. Store Traffic Is Increasing
Have you noticed more folks at the store lately? ShopperTrack has, according to data analyzed by Richard Hastings, a consumer strategist for Global Hunter Securities. Hastings said he has seen signs of both year-over-year and month-to-month gains in the numbers of shoppers at the stores.
The increased store traffic is one signal that has prompted Hastings to boost his forecast for holiday sales. Although he previously expected sales to fall, he now anticipates retail sales for the November through January time period will rise 2.5 percent from last year.
3. Improved Guidance from Smaller Retailers
Another sign that things are starting to turn for retailers is the improved forecasts issued by even smaller retailers such as Bon-Ton Stores, Tuesday Morning and Pier 1 Imports.
Hastings said these comments are a sign that a new tide is coming in and “the smaller boats are being lifted up by a bigger wave.”
4. The New Normal
It just may be that consumers are finally comfortable with the new landscape. They have been spending carefully and planning for the holidays.
Retailers also have had time to plan, and with advancements in the way retailers track their inventory, are more capable to reacting quickly to chances in demand.
5. Weather
Weather may also play a role. Trends are aligning right now for better weather than last year, according to Paul Walsh, of Atmospheric and Environmental Research. For example, AER ,a Boston-based firm that analyzes the impact of climate change on business operations, expects, colder temperatures in December for the eastern part of the country, which could put consumers there in the holiday mood.
Weather has already played a key role in helping to boost retail sales in September by driving more sales of warm weather apparel before retailers marked down the cost of those items.
Posted by truecreek on October 26, 2009 under More Dam News |
AP:
The decline in U.S. newspaper circulation is accelerating as the industry continues to struggle with reader defections to the Internet and tumbling ad revenue.
New figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations show that average daily circulation dropped 10.6 percent in the April-September period from the same six-month span in 2008.
That’s greater than the 7.1 percent decline in the October-March period.
Sunday circulation fell 7.5 percent.
As expected, The Wall Street Journal has surpassed USA Today as the top-selling newspaper in the United States.
Newspaper sales have been declining since the early 1990s, but the drop has accelerated in recent years. Circulation revenue has largely held up, though, because of price increases.
