Google has done it again and partnered this time with TiVo to dominate the marketplace.   The goal of this partnership is to show advertisers more accurate information on how many are actually watching television live or have pre-recorded and are skipping through the commercials. 
Google will provide a better data set for advertisers to work with, allowing them to plan their advertising campaigns around the ways that most people are watching the content.  Advertisers can use this data to understand which audiences and ads are most effective, Read More

In select markets, Google has recently launched a local business advertising platform. This new service is based on a flat monthly rate and offers powerful analytics to help business owners determine the effectiveness of their business listings.

There’s no question the traditional newspaper business model is facing profound challenges. The number of those willing to pay for home delivery is shrinking and advertising revenues are shifting as a result of increased options for local advertising… meanwhile costs are going up. Daily metro newspapers simply can’t make enough money to support their old traditions and they didn’t embrace or leverage change to their benefit.  Instead they “sold” web advertising as an add on, which diminished the value (plus most newspaper web sites stink).  Read More

On July 20th 2009 Tweeters will have their conversations sponsored through a platform called IZEA.  These 200 people are estimated to reach more than 1 million people.
The cost per tweet (CPT) will run an advertiser between $2 and $30,000 per tweet for a 140 character message.  About 5% of the 200 tweeters are celebs.  Every link is 100% trackable with the integration of Google Analytics. 
Twitter again is getting the raw end of the deal because they won’t make a dime off of this model.  Read More

So I was flipping through Ad Age and came across an article titles “Dear Fast Feeders, Please Keep Your Meat Away From the Ladies”.  Naturally I had to read on.
It really amazes me how sexualized the fast food industry has become over the years.  What happened to the good ole’ characters like Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar and Grimace?  Now B-list celebs are the main characters in barely there outfits on top of cars eating burgers.  I get the whole “play to your audience” Read More

Package goods have been hard hit in this recession.  Among brands hardest hit are Crest toothpaste, Hunt’s canned tomatoes, PineSol cleaners and Tylenol.
So why the decline?  Experts blame private labels and temporary price reductions.  “Temporary” price reductions are more likely to reduce brand loyality and encourage brand switching long term.  Also, many consumers who have traded down to store brands tend not to come back to the major brands.  Don’t get confused though, private labels are feeling the pinch as well. Read More

In this day and age of eco and green awareness…we have some interesting things going on. Farmers Markets are becoming more and more popular, doubling and tripling in size, organic sections of regular grocery stores are becoming the norm, and even though mega super-stores such as Whole Foods exist, there still seems to be a LOT of room for more of the same.
One of my favorite producers and dear friends, Alan Siegel of November Films: http://www.novemberfilms.com/, Read More

In America today, there are almost as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers.  At least those are the stats used in a story by Mark Penn, WSJonline.com   titled America’s Newest Profession:  Bloggers for Hire.
The big question posed in the story is:
“As bloggers have increased in numbers, the number of journalists has significantly declined. In Washington alone, there are now 79% fewer DC-based employees of major newspapers than there were just few years ago. Read More

I thought this story was just too good to pass up.  According to AdAge.com, Colonel Sanders (KFC) is hitting the streets of Louisville, Ky filling up the cities potholes.  This isn’t mandatory probation work or anything, but in fact KFC is using this goodwill effort as part of their marketing strategy.  So what’s the catch?  After the pothole is filled, a large KFC decal is overlaid onto the pavement. 

KFC uses the latest take on cause-marketing to build brand equity and enhance their reputation.  Read More

We’ve create a practical how-to seminar series on a variety of marketing topics because we’ve seen first hand the need for a “preventative medicine” type of approach when it comes to effective marketing techniques being used today.