Posted by truecreek on March 29, 2010 under More Dam News | 
From NNN:
Newspaper readership in the top 100 markets grew to 80.6 million, up from 78.7 million, a gain of 2.5%, based on the most recent Spring 2008 Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) survey as compared to the prior year. MRI tracks daily newspaper readership in the top 100 markets for Newspaper National Network LP and reports the NNN 100 Daily Code.
While daily newspaper circulation in the top 100 markets has been in decline, there are several factors which can explain why readership has increased:
* Newspaper websites have shown consistent growth in unique visitors, and may be drawing in new or returning print readers.
* Publishers have cut marginal circulation, not core circulation. These copies went to less frequent readers.
* Secondary readership is up, as more newspaper readers are reading copies they did not purchase themselves.
* Free daily newspapers like Metro or am New York which are appealing to new newspaper readers.
This is the second survey in a row showing an increase in NNN 100 Daily newspaper readership, with the Fall 2007 survey up 1.8%. These are the first increases the measure has shown since it was created in Fall 2003. In addition, the median household income of newspaper readers grew 4.9%, to $64,861.
Posted by truecreek on March 26, 2010 under Opinions. Everyone has them. |
My wife and I are getting ready for our annual celebration of the finer things in life, Loveapalooza. As part of the decorating committee of two, I was charged with arranging for the flowers.
Several weeks ago we received a gorgeous bouquet as a gift from our parents. The flowers were from ProFlowers.com. So I went to their site and found a perfect deal: two for one on roses. Buy a dozen, get a dozen. Now that’s the ticket. So the order was in.
When the flowers arrived two days later, I quickly looked at the roses and determined it was only a dozen, not two. So, being the ever vigilant consumer that I am, the call went out. Immediately, the ProFlowers customer service rep jumped all into my perceived floral quagmire and took control. Two dozen fresh roses were headed out the door to me for overnight delivery. With the most heart felt of apologies. And thank you so much for being a ProFlowers customer.
A minute or so later, a very professional HTML email hits my box repeating the apology and giving me the tracking number of my complimentary order of two dozen red roses. Now that is the way you handle it.
Unfortunately, it was a call I should never have made. Later that evening, my wife discovered that there actually were two dozen roses in the package, they were just stacked in a way that only showed the tops of a dozen or so. Everything was there and they looked absolutely beautiful.
Ugh.
So this morning, I sucked it up and sent an email to customer service. Yes, I blew it and you actually did send the correct amount of flowers. And please don’t hurt Gabriella, the woman who packaged the gorgeous roses. And the email was off.
Five minutes later their reply. You’re very welcome!
I suspect the flowers will arrive shortly and will be just amazing. Plus, there will be another note inside with some sort of coupon for a future purchase. Trust me, that is one coupon that will never be used.
But I can tell you that ProFlowers has a customer for life.
Posted by truecreek on March 24, 2010 under More Dam News |
There are times when no amount of advertising and marketing can pull you up from the floor. The issues facing Toyota right now are monumental in their entirety and really do have the potential to damage the brand beyond recognition. We’re talking years here, I believe.
USA Today: Yet another survey points to bad news for Toyota: A pollster says findings show Toyota has crushed its quality reputation.
In two short years, Americans having a positive perception of Toyota’s commitment to building quality cars has plummeted to 21.8% from over 80%, according to the findings of the latest survey by Britt Beemer at the BeemerReport.com
Only 31.8% of Americans believe Toyota can rebuild its quality image, the verdict is still out about their ability to recover. Some 22.1% are undecided whether they can rebuild the quality image and 18% don’t think Toyota will be able to do it.
“While their reputation is on the line, Toyota’s problems don’t stop there because buyers are now wary of the Toyota brand,” says Beemer. “Toyota has some real selling to do just to convince current Toyota car owners to buy another one.”
But will current Toyota owners save the day?
Maybe, the survey finds. The survey revealed that consumers who have purchased Toyotas in the past are evenly divided about whether they will buy another one in the future or not. Of these potential buyers, 52.6% will no longer consider buying a Toyota car in the future.
American car manufacturers may ultimately be the benefactors of Toyota’s quality issues, according to Beemer. Due to Toyota’s quality issues, 69.1% of car buyers are more likely to purchase an American made automobile. That number is up from 38% two years ago.
The survey comes from 1,000 telephone interviews conducted Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 12, 13 and 14, 2010, at ARG headquarters in Charleston, SC. The error factor is plus or minus 3.8%.
Posted by truecreek on March 23, 2010 under More Dam News |
AP NEW YORK — The amount of time people spend on the computer while watching TV is going up sharply.
The Nielsen Co. said Monday that people who multitask this way spent an average of three and a half hours doing so in December. That’s up sharply from the two hours, 29 minutes that Nielsen reported only six months earlier.
The percentage of TV viewers who do this isn’t going up that fast. That increased by 57 percent to 59 percent during the same period. But those who are doing it spend much more time at it.
Television executives have pointed to this trend to help explain why big events like the Oscars, Grammys and pro football playoffs have been doing so well in the ratings – people watching and making comments to their friends through social Web sites like Twitter and Facebook.
More about TV, computer use multitasking up sharply: Nielsen here.
