YouTube, the Google-owned video website, is to offer paid subscriptions to some premium content later this year.
Google began investing heavily in
original video content in late 2011, providing funds to film makers in the form
of an advance against future advertising revenues.
According to eMarketer, a research firm, advertising spending on digital
video in the US grew by 47 per cent to $2.9bn (£1.84bn) last year but is dwarfed
by the $65bn spent on television advertisements.
Television made up about 40 per cent of total media spending in the US in
2012, according to eMarketer, compared with less than 2 per cent from online
video
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Getting more out of your Big Data
Markets, people's needs, and your competitors all change. So to make the most of your data you need to apply context
We are working with a retail client who surfaces product recommendations based on what people are looking at. I have on my list a great film, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and also a great book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Without context, it looks like I am fascinated by birds and would possibly love to see recommendations for books on birds. With context, perhaps I am far more interested in late 20th century American classics.
We are working with a retail client who surfaces product recommendations based on what people are looking at. I have on my list a great film, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and also a great book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Without context, it looks like I am fascinated by birds and would possibly love to see recommendations for books on birds. With context, perhaps I am far more interested in late 20th century American classics.
Qiwi Lands in Manhattan
A new wave of Russian immigrants has landed in the United States, but they represent a technical accomplishment and not huddled masses.
The devices, widely used by Russians to pay for mobile and Internet services, will be in test mode during 2013. Based on the results, Qiwi will decide whether to start commercial operations.
The U.S. market has less potential for payment terminal operators than Russia, as most Americans have postpaid cell phone plans, with fees charged directly to a customer’s credit card, said Ilya Rachenkov, an analyst with Investkafe.
But the large size of the population and the high cost of mobile services compared with Russian tariffs could generate profit for terminal operators, he added.
The devices, widely used by Russians to pay for mobile and Internet services, will be in test mode during 2013. Based on the results, Qiwi will decide whether to start commercial operations.
The U.S. market has less potential for payment terminal operators than Russia, as most Americans have postpaid cell phone plans, with fees charged directly to a customer’s credit card, said Ilya Rachenkov, an analyst with Investkafe.
But the large size of the population and the high cost of mobile services compared with Russian tariffs could generate profit for terminal operators, he added.
New Conference Speaker - Kate Partridge, Russia Today
Kate Partridge is a Sports presenter at RT
Kate joined IMG, and worked in various roles including AP on the Premier League, French League and Mainsail programmes, presenter on the Total Rugby radio show, and multi-media news editor on the Essential Sports, French League and HSBC Golf websites, and has covered sporting events worldwide.
She then freelanced at Setanta Sports News as a journalist and news editor, along with sub-editing and picture editing at the Daily Mail online sports desk before joining RT in November 2009.
Kate joined IMG, and worked in various roles including AP on the Premier League, French League and Mainsail programmes, presenter on the Total Rugby radio show, and multi-media news editor on the Essential Sports, French League and HSBC Golf websites, and has covered sporting events worldwide.
She then freelanced at Setanta Sports News as a journalist and news editor, along with sub-editing and picture editing at the Daily Mail online sports desk before joining RT in November 2009.
Lessons From 4 Killer UGC Campaigns
Burberry's Art of the Trench campaign redefined UGC in the digital era. It's simple, really — the best way to show how great your product is is to show real, fashionable people wearing your product ... and looking damn good doing so.
Last summer, apparel company Free People began integrating consumer Instagram photos onto product pages for its denim jeans. Doritos put its Super Bowl commercials in the hands of chip eaters — and it worked. Ray-Ban worked with Breakfast to create "mosaic" billboards in real time by pulling in Instagrams from a three-day music festival.
Last summer, apparel company Free People began integrating consumer Instagram photos onto product pages for its denim jeans. Doritos put its Super Bowl commercials in the hands of chip eaters — and it worked. Ray-Ban worked with Breakfast to create "mosaic" billboards in real time by pulling in Instagrams from a three-day music festival.
Obama: 'Instagram Started With the Help of an Immigrant'
President Obama highlighted the story of Brazil-born Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger during an address on comprehensive immigration reform Tuesday
"Instagram was started with the help of an immigrant who studied here and that stayed here," said Obama, referencing Krieger while making the argument that many immigrants benefit the U.S. economy. "Right now in one of those classrooms there's a student wrestling with how to turn their big idea, their Intel or Instagram into a big business."
Krieger was born in Sao Paulo and moved to California in 2004 to pursue an education in computer science and cognitive science at Stanford University. After he graduated, he worked for a year on an F-1 student visa. He later applied for and received an H-1B high-skilled worker visa, according to his White House biography.
Krieger joined with fellow Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom to launch the company in 2010. It was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in cash and stock in April 2012.
"Instagram was started with the help of an immigrant who studied here and that stayed here," said Obama, referencing Krieger while making the argument that many immigrants benefit the U.S. economy. "Right now in one of those classrooms there's a student wrestling with how to turn their big idea, their Intel or Instagram into a big business."
Krieger was born in Sao Paulo and moved to California in 2004 to pursue an education in computer science and cognitive science at Stanford University. After he graduated, he worked for a year on an F-1 student visa. He later applied for and received an H-1B high-skilled worker visa, according to his White House biography.
Krieger joined with fellow Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom to launch the company in 2010. It was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in cash and stock in April 2012.
Turkey on verge of Media Revolution
The concept of the newspaper is changing drastically for the new Turkish generation born in the 90s. These “digital natives” have been born into a world of new technologies that are now standard for their generation. And compared with the demographics of many countries in the West, this generation represents a very large percentage of the Turkish public.
A rapidly growing, digitally native population is bound to heavily disrupt the Turkish media infrastructure. With reader behavior changing fast, only the publications who correctly understand the new generation’s habits will have the chance to survive.
A rapidly growing, digitally native population is bound to heavily disrupt the Turkish media infrastructure. With reader behavior changing fast, only the publications who correctly understand the new generation’s habits will have the chance to survive.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
"What Russians Dream About"
The report describes Russians' dreams of the future for themselves, their families and their country.
Sociologists also asked respondents which classic fairy tale best exemplified their dreams. Forty percent of those surveyed — and 60 percent of women — chose Cinderella because of her miraculous transformation from a poor maiden into a princess. This coincides with the dream of Russian women to achieve happiness through humility and a good dose of good luck.
It was no surprise that Russian men preferred the Yemelya fairy tale in which the main hero catches a pike through a hole in the ice and the fish promises to grant his wishes. Thus, Russian men also prefer the notion that good luck will be their saving grace. (Hard, honest work seems to play a less important role.)
Sociologists also asked respondents which classic fairy tale best exemplified their dreams. Forty percent of those surveyed — and 60 percent of women — chose Cinderella because of her miraculous transformation from a poor maiden into a princess. This coincides with the dream of Russian women to achieve happiness through humility and a good dose of good luck.
It was no surprise that Russian men preferred the Yemelya fairy tale in which the main hero catches a pike through a hole in the ice and the fish promises to grant his wishes. Thus, Russian men also prefer the notion that good luck will be their saving grace. (Hard, honest work seems to play a less important role.)
Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man
Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value -- and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life.
An immediate understanding of the possibilities of digital technology and the Internet powered Sutherland's meteoric rise. He continues to provide insight into advertising in the age of the Internet and social media through his blog at Campaign's Brand Republic site, his column "The Wiki Man" at The Spectator and his busy Twitter account.
An immediate understanding of the possibilities of digital technology and the Internet powered Sutherland's meteoric rise. He continues to provide insight into advertising in the age of the Internet and social media through his blog at Campaign's Brand Republic site, his column "The Wiki Man" at The Spectator and his busy Twitter account.
Monday, January 28, 2013
JJ Abrams: The Mystery Box TED talk
"The creation of media is everywhere"
As the Emmy-winning creator of the smart, addictive TV dramas Lost, Alias and Felicity, J.J. Abrams' name looms large on the small screen. As the writer/director behind the blockbuster explode-a-thon Mission: Impossible III, Cloverfield and the new Star Trek movie, these days Abrams also rules the big screen -- bringing his eye for telling detail and emotional connection to larger-than-life stories.
Abrams' enthusiasm -- for the construction of Kleenex boxes, for the quiet moments between shark attacks in Jaws, for today's filmmaking technologies, and above all for the potent mystery of an unopened package -- is incredibly infectious.
As the Emmy-winning creator of the smart, addictive TV dramas Lost, Alias and Felicity, J.J. Abrams' name looms large on the small screen. As the writer/director behind the blockbuster explode-a-thon Mission: Impossible III, Cloverfield and the new Star Trek movie, these days Abrams also rules the big screen -- bringing his eye for telling detail and emotional connection to larger-than-life stories.
Abrams' enthusiasm -- for the construction of Kleenex boxes, for the quiet moments between shark attacks in Jaws, for today's filmmaking technologies, and above all for the potent mystery of an unopened package -- is incredibly infectious.
Digital Strategy - Lessons from Lindsay Lohan
http://www.slideshare.net/krhen2/a-digital-strategy-for-lindsay-lohan
It doesn't have to be a fun digital strategy for a film star, but remember to take every opportunity to flex your creative muscles and don't be afraid to show off your skills outside of the day job
The funny thing about people who work in advertising is that we are often the worst at advertising ourselves. Nowhere is this more true than for planners. Creatives have a finished product that they can exhibit, whereas planners are often working on presentations that never see the light of day. This makes it hard for them in two respects. Firstly, due to the lack of work being published, it's difficult to get a clear picture of what everyone else in the industry is doing; how they think and approach the art of planning. So it's hard to learn from other people's work.
It doesn't have to be a fun digital strategy for a film star, but remember to take every opportunity to flex your creative muscles and don't be afraid to show off your skills outside of the day job
The funny thing about people who work in advertising is that we are often the worst at advertising ourselves. Nowhere is this more true than for planners. Creatives have a finished product that they can exhibit, whereas planners are often working on presentations that never see the light of day. This makes it hard for them in two respects. Firstly, due to the lack of work being published, it's difficult to get a clear picture of what everyone else in the industry is doing; how they think and approach the art of planning. So it's hard to learn from other people's work.
Django unboxed
Doll tie-ins from Tarantino movie Django Unchained pulled from sale
If there was ever a set of toys worthy of the tag "not suitable for children" then it would have to be the official merchandise produced in conjunction with Quentin Tarantino's much-lauded spaghetti Western-meets-blaxploitation epic Django Unchained.
If there was ever a set of toys worthy of the tag "not suitable for children" then it would have to be the official merchandise produced in conjunction with Quentin Tarantino's much-lauded spaghetti Western-meets-blaxploitation epic Django Unchained.
The dolls depict the film's main characters: revenge-seeking freed slave Django (Jamie Foxx), bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and brutal slave owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), none of whom would be particularly comforting to snuggle up in bed with.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Facebook Blocks Yandex App for U.S. Market
Yandex is in negotiations with Facebook after the U.S.-based social network blocked the Russian search engine's newly launched Wonder app from sourcing information from Facebook users' pages
The Wonder app, which Yandex's U.S. office released Thursday, is designed to provide American iPhone users with recommendations for what news to read, music to listen to and places to visit using information posted by friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare.
But just hours after its release, Facebook blocked the app from accessing information on its network, prompting Yandex to seek an explanation
The Wonder app, which Yandex's U.S. office released Thursday, is designed to provide American iPhone users with recommendations for what news to read, music to listen to and places to visit using information posted by friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare.
But just hours after its release, Facebook blocked the app from accessing information on its network, prompting Yandex to seek an explanation
The Business of Campaigning
How a for-profit firm fosters protest
It sells consulting services to big companies such as Google and Audi, and to charities such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union. It helps them to build mass movements to support their favourite causes. Audi, for example, wants to design and promote machines to dispense clean water in India, a market where it hopes to burnish its car brand. Purpose also hopes to develop a business promoting “new economy” products such as solar energy. It will recommend to its members that they buy solar power from such-and-such a provider. In return, it will charge a referral fee.
Mr Heimans says he will work only with clients that fit with Purpose’s values. BP, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are out because, he says, “they are bad for the world.” (Cars are fine, apparently.)
It sells consulting services to big companies such as Google and Audi, and to charities such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union. It helps them to build mass movements to support their favourite causes. Audi, for example, wants to design and promote machines to dispense clean water in India, a market where it hopes to burnish its car brand. Purpose also hopes to develop a business promoting “new economy” products such as solar energy. It will recommend to its members that they buy solar power from such-and-such a provider. In return, it will charge a referral fee.
Mr Heimans says he will work only with clients that fit with Purpose’s values. BP, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are out because, he says, “they are bad for the world.” (Cars are fine, apparently.)
The future of television is 4K
Ultra-high-definition technology is on the way (but for now a set to show it will cost you £25,000)
Sony has an 84-inch version retailing at £25,000 and only available in Britain from Harrods. George Michael has reportedly already bought three and a Gulf prince has placed an order for six.
Prices are expected to drop sharply during this year with other Japanese manufacturers developing their own 4K products – LG already has an 84-inch model in Currys at a knock-down £22,000 – as the consumer electronics industry looks for a new sales pitch to follow the launches of HD and 3D television.
Sony has an 84-inch version retailing at £25,000 and only available in Britain from Harrods. George Michael has reportedly already bought three and a Gulf prince has placed an order for six.
Prices are expected to drop sharply during this year with other Japanese manufacturers developing their own 4K products – LG already has an 84-inch model in Currys at a knock-down £22,000 – as the consumer electronics industry looks for a new sales pitch to follow the launches of HD and 3D television.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Apple, Google & Facebook’s new HQs
Do tech companies’ headquarters live up to the cool innovation of their products?
Google, meanwhile, has already moved into a Gehry building – not one it commissioned but the striking former offices of the advertising agency Chiat/Day in Venice, Los Angeles. The building is a weird and wonderful piece of pop surrealism dating from the late 1980s in which the main entrance is defined by a pair of enormous binoculars, designed by Claes Oldenburg. It was, and remains, a rare blend of art, architecture and wit.
Google’s current London HQ in St Giles might provide an even better model. The newish, candy-coloured office development, designed by Renzo Piano, the architect of the Shard, is situated tellingly between the traditional centres of London’s publishing (Bloomsbury) and creative (Soho) industries. Its interior is a cocktail of creative clichés, everything from giant passé “Cool Britannia” Union Jacks to kitsch lampshades and upholstered walls that occasionally veer a little too close to padded cells.
Google, meanwhile, has already moved into a Gehry building – not one it commissioned but the striking former offices of the advertising agency Chiat/Day in Venice, Los Angeles. The building is a weird and wonderful piece of pop surrealism dating from the late 1980s in which the main entrance is defined by a pair of enormous binoculars, designed by Claes Oldenburg. It was, and remains, a rare blend of art, architecture and wit.
Google’s current London HQ in St Giles might provide an even better model. The newish, candy-coloured office development, designed by Renzo Piano, the architect of the Shard, is situated tellingly between the traditional centres of London’s publishing (Bloomsbury) and creative (Soho) industries. Its interior is a cocktail of creative clichés, everything from giant passé “Cool Britannia” Union Jacks to kitsch lampshades and upholstered walls that occasionally veer a little too close to padded cells.
Arsène’s austerity - Simon Kuper
Has football’s economist got it wrong when it comes to the game’s finances?
Spend some f****** money!” Arsenal fans chanted as their team lost again last Sunday at Chelsea. The cry echoed around the world on Twitter. Its target, Arsenal’s manager Arsène Wenger, had heard the argument before.
Red and White Holdings, which represents Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek-born oligarch ranked by Forbes as Russia’s richest man, and Farhad Moshiri, Usmanov’s British-Iranian business partner, who own nearly 30 per cent of Arsenal’s shares between them, also wants the club to spend more.
Spend some f****** money!” Arsenal fans chanted as their team lost again last Sunday at Chelsea. The cry echoed around the world on Twitter. Its target, Arsenal’s manager Arsène Wenger, had heard the argument before.
Red and White Holdings, which represents Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek-born oligarch ranked by Forbes as Russia’s richest man, and Farhad Moshiri, Usmanov’s British-Iranian business partner, who own nearly 30 per cent of Arsenal’s shares between them, also wants the club to spend more.
Putin & the Monk
How much influence does Father Tikhon Shevkunov have over the Russian president?
“At Mount Athos they only just got electricity, and at Sretensky [monastery] the monks all have iPads,” laughs Yevgeny Nikiforov, a friend of Tikhon’s and head of Orthodox radio station Radio Radonezh, referring to the Greek monastery which is the Orthodox religion’s gold standard in terms of cloistered asceticism. “Of course, they need these [iPads] for their proselytsing work,” he says, turning serious when he sees that I am writing this down.
“At Mount Athos they only just got electricity, and at Sretensky [monastery] the monks all have iPads,” laughs Yevgeny Nikiforov, a friend of Tikhon’s and head of Orthodox radio station Radio Radonezh, referring to the Greek monastery which is the Orthodox religion’s gold standard in terms of cloistered asceticism. “Of course, they need these [iPads] for their proselytsing work,” he says, turning serious when he sees that I am writing this down.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Outdoor advertising - Sexy...?
Billboards are not as dull as they look
Outdoor (or what adepts call “out of home”) advertising “is one of the few traditional media channels forecast to grow over the next few years,” says Anastasia Kourovskaia of Millward Brown Optimor, a consultancy. America’s $6.5 billion market grew by more than 4% last year and is expected to top that rate in 2013. Global spending is rising faster. People may fast-forward through television ads and dispense with newspapers, but they still drive and take the train, where outdoor messengers can get to them.
Outdoor (or what adepts call “out of home”) advertising “is one of the few traditional media channels forecast to grow over the next few years,” says Anastasia Kourovskaia of Millward Brown Optimor, a consultancy. America’s $6.5 billion market grew by more than 4% last year and is expected to top that rate in 2013. Global spending is rising faster. People may fast-forward through television ads and dispense with newspapers, but they still drive and take the train, where outdoor messengers can get to them.
Lance Armstrong's reputation & the reaction of sponsors
Why corporate sponsors need to carefully manage the potential reputational risks involved in sponsoring athletes
Sponsorship is common in sport, and arguably indispensable to it. Without corporate sponsors most teams and athletes wouldn't be able to compete professionally at all. As consumers we are all too familiar with seeing corporate logos emblazoned on the uniforms and equipment of sporting teams and individual athletes. Inevitably, the reputations of both the sponsor and the athlete impact upon each other. All forms of conduct can potentially impact upon the reputation of an athlete's corporate sponsor, and it need not necessarily be illegal. Doping is an obvious example, but how would a corporate sponsor react to an athlete that publicly expresses racist views?
Sponsorship is common in sport, and arguably indispensable to it. Without corporate sponsors most teams and athletes wouldn't be able to compete professionally at all. As consumers we are all too familiar with seeing corporate logos emblazoned on the uniforms and equipment of sporting teams and individual athletes. Inevitably, the reputations of both the sponsor and the athlete impact upon each other. All forms of conduct can potentially impact upon the reputation of an athlete's corporate sponsor, and it need not necessarily be illegal. Doping is an obvious example, but how would a corporate sponsor react to an athlete that publicly expresses racist views?
Has Apple peaked?
The world’s most valuable firm may be past its prime
Sceptics point out that plenty of elegant, wafer-thin screens are already on sale. Moreover, Apple’s existing set-top box, which lets users play content from iTunes, Netflix and other services on their TVs, has not been a stunning success. But this misses the—so to speak—bigger picture. The iTV, which may be controlled via gestures and voice commands as well as via iPads and iPhones, could be a digital hub for the home. It would let people check whether their washing machine has finished its cycle while they gossip on Facebook and watch their favourite soap. Peter Misek of Jefferies, an investment bank, says sales of it should also boost purchases of iPads and other Apple gear, as more people get sucked into the firm’s “ecosystem” of linked devices and software.
Sceptics point out that plenty of elegant, wafer-thin screens are already on sale. Moreover, Apple’s existing set-top box, which lets users play content from iTunes, Netflix and other services on their TVs, has not been a stunning success. But this misses the—so to speak—bigger picture. The iTV, which may be controlled via gestures and voice commands as well as via iPads and iPhones, could be a digital hub for the home. It would let people check whether their washing machine has finished its cycle while they gossip on Facebook and watch their favourite soap. Peter Misek of Jefferies, an investment bank, says sales of it should also boost purchases of iPads and other Apple gear, as more people get sucked into the firm’s “ecosystem” of linked devices and software.
Homegrown Luxury Car Fails to Excite
The plan to mass-produce a Russian luxury car has elicited little, if any, enthusiasm from the companies that are supposed to be hard at work to make it happen.
Sales of luxury cars grew last year, PricewaterhouseCoopers statistics show. While the consultant doesn't track the segment's value and numbers overall, it said Porsche sales were 3,613 vehicles, up 64 percent over the previous year, while Jaguar sold 1,506 cars, an increase of 27 percent.
The ministry asked Moscow-based ZiL and Marussia Motors and Nizhny Novgorod-based GAZ to submit proposals for models that would rival Western brands, promising state support for the project.
Sales of luxury cars grew last year, PricewaterhouseCoopers statistics show. While the consultant doesn't track the segment's value and numbers overall, it said Porsche sales were 3,613 vehicles, up 64 percent over the previous year, while Jaguar sold 1,506 cars, an increase of 27 percent.
The ministry asked Moscow-based ZiL and Marussia Motors and Nizhny Novgorod-based GAZ to submit proposals for models that would rival Western brands, promising state support for the project.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
It's never too late to revive a brand
Brands that champion what really matters to people will always have a future – but ditching any emotional attachment is the first step to achieving revival
It's a somewhat staggering fact that 87% of companies in the Fortune 500 in 1955, were no longer in existence by 2011.
Miuccia Prada had trained in theatre and earned a doctorate in political sciences before she took on the family luxury luggage business her grandfather set up. Seven years after taking on the company, she initiated the Prada pivot with a range of nylon bags. These re-wrote the codes of luxury and paved the way for the Milan company to become a global fashion powerhouse.
When fashion conglomerate Limited Brands bought the ailing Abercrombie & Fitch name in 1977, it achieved a comparable feat. It managed to remake an ailing sporting and outdoors equipment store into a brand that merely evoked the outdoors life. Responding to a changing world, they went from serious products for a pastime to a new kind of clothing, which was more about suggesting an aspirational lifestyle.
It's a somewhat staggering fact that 87% of companies in the Fortune 500 in 1955, were no longer in existence by 2011.
Miuccia Prada had trained in theatre and earned a doctorate in political sciences before she took on the family luxury luggage business her grandfather set up. Seven years after taking on the company, she initiated the Prada pivot with a range of nylon bags. These re-wrote the codes of luxury and paved the way for the Milan company to become a global fashion powerhouse.
When fashion conglomerate Limited Brands bought the ailing Abercrombie & Fitch name in 1977, it achieved a comparable feat. It managed to remake an ailing sporting and outdoors equipment store into a brand that merely evoked the outdoors life. Responding to a changing world, they went from serious products for a pastime to a new kind of clothing, which was more about suggesting an aspirational lifestyle.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Super Bowl Ads Will Be Heavy on Colas, Beers and Cars
EACH year within the Super Bowl, Madison Avenue plays an Ad Bowl, as marketers spend large amounts of time and treasure to create commercials that will, they hope, win plaudits and move merchandise. And within each Ad Bowl, two categories of consumer products usually account for a supersize amount of spots: automobiles and beverages.
“We want to have a sustained conversation with consumers year-round,” said Pio Schunker, senior vice president for integrated marketing communications at the Coca-Cola North America division of Coca-Cola, and “the scale and size of the Super Bowl” will help “kick-start a really big conversation.”
“We want to have a sustained conversation with consumers year-round,” said Pio Schunker, senior vice president for integrated marketing communications at the Coca-Cola North America division of Coca-Cola, and “the scale and size of the Super Bowl” will help “kick-start a really big conversation.”
The Facebook page for Coca-Cola is already offering fans a preview of a 60-second Coke commercial, by Wieden & Kennedy, that will run in the first half of the game. Other social media, like Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube, will be enlisted in promoting the commercial. It offers viewers a chance to vote for one of three thirsty teams — cowboys, showgirls or “badlanders” (motorcycle toughs) — to win a fanciful “Coke Chase” across a desert.
SEO undermined content marketing yet created a demand for it
The time has come for content marketing to step out of SEO's shadow. Content should be the focus of a marketing campaign, not a byproduct to trick an algorithm
In November, Patrick Barrett, a former editor of Media Week, said: "It means a brand or corporate entity adopting the skills and mindset that any journalist is taught at college and hones during their career: independence, objectivity, clarity, speed, thrift of language, etc. It also means filtering corporate or brand content through the "five Ws" (who, what, when, where, why) that frame the qualitative judgments made in any newsroom."
In November, Patrick Barrett, a former editor of Media Week, said: "It means a brand or corporate entity adopting the skills and mindset that any journalist is taught at college and hones during their career: independence, objectivity, clarity, speed, thrift of language, etc. It also means filtering corporate or brand content through the "five Ws" (who, what, when, where, why) that frame the qualitative judgments made in any newsroom."
Channels spawned by YouTube are making a fortune...
...but are the people making the videos missing out?
Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla are a comedy duo called Smosh. Every Friday, a new Smosh show appears on YouTube, featuring rapid-fire banter and japery that most people over the age of 25 would find exhausting. You might not have heard of them, but seven million people subscribe to this show – more than any other channel on YouTube – and they've racked up more than two billion channel views. Settling down for an evening on the sofa in front of Smosh – or any other YouTube channel – might not be an automatic choice, but the numbers don't lie: YouTube is luring a generation away from television. And where eyeballs stray, advertisers and their money surely follow.
Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla are a comedy duo called Smosh. Every Friday, a new Smosh show appears on YouTube, featuring rapid-fire banter and japery that most people over the age of 25 would find exhausting. You might not have heard of them, but seven million people subscribe to this show – more than any other channel on YouTube – and they've racked up more than two billion channel views. Settling down for an evening on the sofa in front of Smosh – or any other YouTube channel – might not be an automatic choice, but the numbers don't lie: YouTube is luring a generation away from television. And where eyeballs stray, advertisers and their money surely follow.
Apple shares tumble as sales lose their lustre
Fears that Apple’s dramatic growth could finally be easing intensified on Wednesday night after the US technology giant’s sales failed to meet expectations, threatening to knock more than $40bn (£25bn) off its market value.
Although the profits of $13.1bn for the final three months of the year set a
fresh record for the company, they were only just better than the $13.1bn Apple
made in the last quarter of 2011.
The results did little to improve sentiment towards the once high-flying
shares. Apple has lost almost a third of its market value since September, as it
faces increased competition from the likes of Samsung and concerns grow over
whether Apple products will still dazzle consumers.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Zhirinovsky Wants to Ban English Words
Nationalist rabble-rouser Vladimir Zhirinovsky said his Liberal Democratic Party is preparing legislation that would ban the use of English and other foreign words that have Russian equivalents.
"We've been tormented by these Americanisms and Briticisms," Zhirinovsky said. "We will fight for this law to be passed and so that this list will be on the desk of every journalist, television or radio host, teacher, scientist and writer.
Last month, Duma Deputy Sergei Zheleznyak of the majority-wielding United Russia party called for movie theaters that show foreign films to pay a tax that all other movie theaters would be exempt from. He also called for a quota on foreign films.
"We've been tormented by these Americanisms and Briticisms," Zhirinovsky said. "We will fight for this law to be passed and so that this list will be on the desk of every journalist, television or radio host, teacher, scientist and writer.
Last month, Duma Deputy Sergei Zheleznyak of the majority-wielding United Russia party called for movie theaters that show foreign films to pay a tax that all other movie theaters would be exempt from. He also called for a quota on foreign films.
How Social Media Could Land You Your Next Job
Did you know social media might just be the key to getting hired?
More and more, job hirers and recruiters scour social sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter to find new talent and learn about prospective employees. Here's the great thing about that: By and large, you control what your online presence looks like and includes.
But that doesn't only mean thinking twice about photos you post and links you share. The term "social resume" is beginning to gain traction, and refers to digital enhancements to the traditional paper or PDF curriculum vitae.
LinkedIn is likely the first social-resume tool that comes to mind, but other sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr can be just as helpful. There are also services such as ResumeSocial, VisualCV and Razume that offer more options for job seekers.
More and more, job hirers and recruiters scour social sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter to find new talent and learn about prospective employees. Here's the great thing about that: By and large, you control what your online presence looks like and includes.
But that doesn't only mean thinking twice about photos you post and links you share. The term "social resume" is beginning to gain traction, and refers to digital enhancements to the traditional paper or PDF curriculum vitae.
LinkedIn is likely the first social-resume tool that comes to mind, but other sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr can be just as helpful. There are also services such as ResumeSocial, VisualCV and Razume that offer more options for job seekers.
Sergey Brin spotted on New York subway wearing Google Glasses
Billionaire wore prototype of gadget that could allow mobile data-downloading with voice commands
A small screen sits on the right-size of the right lens, along with a camera, microphone and speakers, meaning, potentially, that the user could point the camera at, say, subway passengers and use facial recognition software to inform them of their name, occupation and everything else, such as the time they wore an embarrassing outfit on a train.
Brin, a Moscow-born computer scientist, co-founded Google with Larry Page in 1998. He is now estimated to have a personal fortune of more than $20bn.
A small screen sits on the right-size of the right lens, along with a camera, microphone and speakers, meaning, potentially, that the user could point the camera at, say, subway passengers and use facial recognition software to inform them of their name, occupation and everything else, such as the time they wore an embarrassing outfit on a train.
Brin, a Moscow-born computer scientist, co-founded Google with Larry Page in 1998. He is now estimated to have a personal fortune of more than $20bn.
Kim Dotcom - Mega Relaunch
The controversial entrepreneur is back, but probably not for long
Megaupload was used by many to share illegally-downloaded music and movies, a complaint by the Motion Picture Association of America alleged.
Mega doesn’t seem all that different to Megaupload in design, apart from one clever little difference: files transferred through the new service will be encrypted, and only the user—and those the user chooses to share with—will hold the key. Some might call it the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil defence: if Mr Dotcom doesn’t know what you’re sharing, he can’t be brought before court for copyright infringement. Mr Dotcom is no monkey, but it’s a risky bet, and one that is unlikely to stand up to judicial scrutiny. Yet many are willing him to succeed. Mr Dotcom’s boorish personality and outlandish actions are a stark contrast to Apple's or Google’s strait-laced corporate upper echelons.
Megaupload was used by many to share illegally-downloaded music and movies, a complaint by the Motion Picture Association of America alleged.
Mega doesn’t seem all that different to Megaupload in design, apart from one clever little difference: files transferred through the new service will be encrypted, and only the user—and those the user chooses to share with—will hold the key. Some might call it the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil defence: if Mr Dotcom doesn’t know what you’re sharing, he can’t be brought before court for copyright infringement. Mr Dotcom is no monkey, but it’s a risky bet, and one that is unlikely to stand up to judicial scrutiny. Yet many are willing him to succeed. Mr Dotcom’s boorish personality and outlandish actions are a stark contrast to Apple's or Google’s strait-laced corporate upper echelons.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Is our food shrinking?
Tins of tuna seem lighter, there are fewer chunks in a chocolate bar . . . are food companies using a recession-fuelled strategy to reduce the size of their products rather than increasing prices?
Last year compaigning organisation Which? found a whole host of products ‑ from Branston pickle, Dairylea cheese spread to Kellogg's Coco Pops – were offering customer less for their money. In 2011 Cadbury reduced the size of its 140g bar of Dairy Milk to 120g – so customers got two chunks less. Then, when they relaunched their 49g bars, they dropped them to 45g. While back in September Nestlé slimmed down its Quality Street tins from 1kg to 820g.
"The bigger the brand, the harder they fall," says Mitchell. "So those with a good reputation shouldn't go near unethical practices because the more people believe in you the stronger the backlash would be."
One brand that seems to have taken this advice to heart is Wagon Wheels. Despite repeated insistence from customers that the old school treat is getting smaller, Burton's Biscuit company says the confectionary remains the same. So why are customers suspicious? As Burton's patiently explain on its website: "Most often our first Wagon Wheel experience is in childhood, and hence our hands are much smaller."
Last year compaigning organisation Which? found a whole host of products ‑ from Branston pickle, Dairylea cheese spread to Kellogg's Coco Pops – were offering customer less for their money. In 2011 Cadbury reduced the size of its 140g bar of Dairy Milk to 120g – so customers got two chunks less. Then, when they relaunched their 49g bars, they dropped them to 45g. While back in September Nestlé slimmed down its Quality Street tins from 1kg to 820g.
"The bigger the brand, the harder they fall," says Mitchell. "So those with a good reputation shouldn't go near unethical practices because the more people believe in you the stronger the backlash would be."
One brand that seems to have taken this advice to heart is Wagon Wheels. Despite repeated insistence from customers that the old school treat is getting smaller, Burton's Biscuit company says the confectionary remains the same. So why are customers suspicious? As Burton's patiently explain on its website: "Most often our first Wagon Wheel experience is in childhood, and hence our hands are much smaller."
Lionel Barber's email to FT staff outlining digital-first strategy
Editor's email to staff outlines detailed proposals for reshaping the paper for the digital age
"Our common cause is to secure the FT's future in an increasingly competitive market, where old titles are being routinely disrupted by new entrants such as Google and LinkedIn and Twitter. The FT's brand of accurate, authoritative journalism can thrive, but only if it adapts to the demands of our readers in digital and in print, still a vital source of advertising revenues"
"My visit to Silicon Valley last September confirmed the speed of change. Our competitors are harnessing technology to revolutionise the news business through aggregation, personalisation and social media. Mobile alone, for example, now accounts for 25 per cent of all the FT's digital traffic. It would be reckless for us to stand still"
"Our common cause is to secure the FT's future in an increasingly competitive market, where old titles are being routinely disrupted by new entrants such as Google and LinkedIn and Twitter. The FT's brand of accurate, authoritative journalism can thrive, but only if it adapts to the demands of our readers in digital and in print, still a vital source of advertising revenues"
"My visit to Silicon Valley last September confirmed the speed of change. Our competitors are harnessing technology to revolutionise the news business through aggregation, personalisation and social media. Mobile alone, for example, now accounts for 25 per cent of all the FT's digital traffic. It would be reckless for us to stand still"
Sunday, January 20, 2013
A Reversal of Fortune in 2013 - New York Times
In the media, wave after wave of transformation mean the coming year is particularly important.
Insurgents are racing over the hills; margins, along with the advertising sales that drove them, are tumbling; and people consume media content at a time, place and, often, at a cost of their choosing. Forget New Year’s resolutions. We’re talking imperatives, a to-do list that requires eating your Wheaties and then some. So on the last day of 2012, it’s worth looking at a group of leaders who confront very steep hills to climb in the year that ends in lucky 13
Insurgents are racing over the hills; margins, along with the advertising sales that drove them, are tumbling; and people consume media content at a time, place and, often, at a cost of their choosing. Forget New Year’s resolutions. We’re talking imperatives, a to-do list that requires eating your Wheaties and then some. So on the last day of 2012, it’s worth looking at a group of leaders who confront very steep hills to climb in the year that ends in lucky 13
Simon Kuper - & the Oscar for best career goes to…
Movies nudge middle-class young people without a particular vocation into certain professions
Hollywood increasingly draws on the food-and-beverage industries (Sideways, Julie & Julia, Ratatouille), but nothing now matches IT’s allure. The computing industry specialises in the timeless Hollywood script of kid overthrowing old order. Jobs wears rollnecks, Zuckerberg hoodies, and guys in ties are losers. Moneyball (2011), in which mathematicians with laptops upend baseball, retells the Triumph of the Geeks story.
But it won’t last. Ominously for IT, this year’s Hollywood hero, Jobs, is dead. Before long they’ll be making historical movies about Silicon Valley. I wish I could predict the next fashionable profession, but given my own choice of career I’m the last person to ask.
Hollywood increasingly draws on the food-and-beverage industries (Sideways, Julie & Julia, Ratatouille), but nothing now matches IT’s allure. The computing industry specialises in the timeless Hollywood script of kid overthrowing old order. Jobs wears rollnecks, Zuckerberg hoodies, and guys in ties are losers. Moneyball (2011), in which mathematicians with laptops upend baseball, retells the Triumph of the Geeks story.
But it won’t last. Ominously for IT, this year’s Hollywood hero, Jobs, is dead. Before long they’ll be making historical movies about Silicon Valley. I wish I could predict the next fashionable profession, but given my own choice of career I’m the last person to ask.
Google and the future of search
Google has revolutionised the way we holiday, shop, work and play. Now, with Knowledge Graph, it plans to radically transform the way we search the internet… again. But some voice qualms about the company's ambitions
In the past couple of years, a great advance in voice-recognition technology has allowed you to talk to search apps – notably on iPhone's Siri as well as Google's Jelly Bean – while Google Now, awarded 2012 innovation of the year, will tell you what you want to know – traffic conditions, your team's football scores, the weather – before you ask it, based on your location and search history. Page's brain implants remain some way further off, though both Google founders have lately been wearing "Google Glass" prototypes, headbands that project a permanent screen on the edge of your field of vision, with apps – cameras, search, whatever – answerable to voice-activated command. Searching is ever more intimately related to thinking.
In the past couple of years, a great advance in voice-recognition technology has allowed you to talk to search apps – notably on iPhone's Siri as well as Google's Jelly Bean – while Google Now, awarded 2012 innovation of the year, will tell you what you want to know – traffic conditions, your team's football scores, the weather – before you ask it, based on your location and search history. Page's brain implants remain some way further off, though both Google founders have lately been wearing "Google Glass" prototypes, headbands that project a permanent screen on the edge of your field of vision, with apps – cameras, search, whatever – answerable to voice-activated command. Searching is ever more intimately related to thinking.
Written in the Stars - the Business of Astrology
The horoscope looks bad for US budget talks and we should all watch out in July. US astrologer Susan Miller, head of a growing media empire, tells what else 2013 has in store
As founder of AstrologyZone.com (launched in 1995) and author of nine books, Miller has transformed the art of astrology. Millions across the globe follow her interpretation of the stars on the website and her mobile phone apps have been downloaded more than 2.5 million times
Twitter lights up with chatter from Miller’s 130,000-plus followers when she releases her forecasts. Her international audience includes celebrities, the fashion elite and even Wall Street types. “Businessmen love it,” she says, noting that rulers from Alexander the Great onwards searched for understanding in the stars. Miller also writes horoscopes for Elle magazine in the US and Hong Kong and Vogue in Japan, among others. She has appeared on CNN and CNBC, for luxury brands including Dior, Clarins and Chopard – and even at the opening of the Trump residence in Istanbul.
As founder of AstrologyZone.com (launched in 1995) and author of nine books, Miller has transformed the art of astrology. Millions across the globe follow her interpretation of the stars on the website and her mobile phone apps have been downloaded more than 2.5 million times
Twitter lights up with chatter from Miller’s 130,000-plus followers when she releases her forecasts. Her international audience includes celebrities, the fashion elite and even Wall Street types. “Businessmen love it,” she says, noting that rulers from Alexander the Great onwards searched for understanding in the stars. Miller also writes horoscopes for Elle magazine in the US and Hong Kong and Vogue in Japan, among others. She has appeared on CNN and CNBC, for luxury brands including Dior, Clarins and Chopard – and even at the opening of the Trump residence in Istanbul.
TV and newspapers report decline in ad revenues during Olympics
Television advertising spend fell by £200m during the summer period, but outdoor ads were boosted by 25%
The big Olympic winner was, as expected, the outdoor advertising sector – including billboards, posters, taxis, buses – which reported an increase in revenues of 25.4% year-on-year in the three months to the end of September 2012 as advertisers flocked to book campaigns across the capital to cash-in on the millions of visitors. This is the largest rise seen in the outdoor sector since 2000.
Television advertising spend tumbled 7.2% year on year over the summer period, more than £200m less than brands spent in the second quarter.
Brands pumped money into TV advertising during Euro 2012 in the second quarter, most notably ITV, but pulled hundreds of millions of spend over the London Olympics as viewers flocked to the ad-free BBC.
The big Olympic winner was, as expected, the outdoor advertising sector – including billboards, posters, taxis, buses – which reported an increase in revenues of 25.4% year-on-year in the three months to the end of September 2012 as advertisers flocked to book campaigns across the capital to cash-in on the millions of visitors. This is the largest rise seen in the outdoor sector since 2000.
Television advertising spend tumbled 7.2% year on year over the summer period, more than £200m less than brands spent in the second quarter.
Brands pumped money into TV advertising during Euro 2012 in the second quarter, most notably ITV, but pulled hundreds of millions of spend over the London Olympics as viewers flocked to the ad-free BBC.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Skyfall Censored for Chinese market
An edited version of the $1bn grossing Bond film will be distributed so as not to offend China's government
China has a cap on the numbers of foreign films it shows, and refuses to screen those that criticise the country or its government. One theory regarding the delayed distribution of Skyfall was that the authorities wanted to give Chinese language blockbusters Back to 1942 and The Last Supper a better chance at the box office.
Other films which have been amended for Chinese audiences include Mission: Impossible3, Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End and Men In Black 3.
China has a cap on the numbers of foreign films it shows, and refuses to screen those that criticise the country or its government. One theory regarding the delayed distribution of Skyfall was that the authorities wanted to give Chinese language blockbusters Back to 1942 and The Last Supper a better chance at the box office.
Other films which have been amended for Chinese audiences include Mission: Impossible3, Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End and Men In Black 3.
Public Relations - Dan the (Not Mad) Man
PR is a better business than advertising, reckoned Daniel Edelman
He never really retired, remaining chairman until the end. At his death, the firm employed more than 4,500 people worldwide. It generated revenues in 2011 of $615m. It is still family-owned, and run by his son Richard. (Mr Edelman turned down many offers to buy it over the years.) He had always considered PR a superior, more honest and nuanced business than advertising, and feared that acquisition by an advertising-dominated group such as WPP or Publicis would crush its spirit—the fate, as he saw it, of its old rivals when they were bought by Madison Avenue’s Mad Men.
He never really retired, remaining chairman until the end. At his death, the firm employed more than 4,500 people worldwide. It generated revenues in 2011 of $615m. It is still family-owned, and run by his son Richard. (Mr Edelman turned down many offers to buy it over the years.) He had always considered PR a superior, more honest and nuanced business than advertising, and feared that acquisition by an advertising-dominated group such as WPP or Publicis would crush its spirit—the fate, as he saw it, of its old rivals when they were bought by Madison Avenue’s Mad Men.
Schumpeter - The best since sliced bread
Giant emerging-market firms continue to advance everywhere
Together the emerging-market countries now have more than 1,000 firms with annual sales above $1 billion. Many are content to stay at home—after all, their markets are growing at least twice as fast as the rich world’s. But some are determined to venture abroad, invading foreign markets and buying foreign companies. They are sharpening old skills and acquiring new ones. And in the process they are reconfiguring entire industries.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been producing an annual study of the top 100 such “global challengers” from emerging markets since 2006. To qualify, besides having revenues above $1 billion, challengers must have a broad global footprint, with foreign revenues equal to at least 10% of the total, or $500m. Their global aspirations must also be credible, as measured by a combination of objective criteria and a poll of industry experts.
First, the new list is notable for its variety. In 2006 it was dominated by 84 companies from the four BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China—including 44 from China alone. In 2013 it includes firms from 17 countries, up from ten in 2006, and only 30 Chinese ones. In 2006 the list was dominated by heavy industries. Today it looks more consumer-oriented, with firms in financial services (China UnionPay), e-commerce (Alibaba Group, also Chinese), health care (South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare) and food manufacturing (Indonesia’s Golden Agri-Resources).
Together the emerging-market countries now have more than 1,000 firms with annual sales above $1 billion. Many are content to stay at home—after all, their markets are growing at least twice as fast as the rich world’s. But some are determined to venture abroad, invading foreign markets and buying foreign companies. They are sharpening old skills and acquiring new ones. And in the process they are reconfiguring entire industries.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been producing an annual study of the top 100 such “global challengers” from emerging markets since 2006. To qualify, besides having revenues above $1 billion, challengers must have a broad global footprint, with foreign revenues equal to at least 10% of the total, or $500m. Their global aspirations must also be credible, as measured by a combination of objective criteria and a poll of industry experts.
First, the new list is notable for its variety. In 2006 it was dominated by 84 companies from the four BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China—including 44 from China alone. In 2013 it includes firms from 17 countries, up from ten in 2006, and only 30 Chinese ones. In 2006 the list was dominated by heavy industries. Today it looks more consumer-oriented, with firms in financial services (China UnionPay), e-commerce (Alibaba Group, also Chinese), health care (South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare) and food manufacturing (Indonesia’s Golden Agri-Resources).
Facebook - Search Me
The social network’s shares recover as it fixes its search problem
Facebook’s search offering has long been so dire that any improvement to it is a welcome relief. But the company will have to do much more in future if it wants to mount a serious challenge to Google’s dominance of the online-search business.
This still accounts for the lion’s share of digital advertising. According to eMarketer, a research firm, an estimated $17.6 billion was spent on search ads in America alone last year, with Google pocketing three-quarters of that sum. Facebook has been focused on digital display advertising and its success in winning business has helped its share price rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes of a catastrophic stockmarket flotation last year (see chart). If it can pinch search ads from Google and others too, its shareholders will be even more delighted.
Facebook’s search offering has long been so dire that any improvement to it is a welcome relief. But the company will have to do much more in future if it wants to mount a serious challenge to Google’s dominance of the online-search business.
This still accounts for the lion’s share of digital advertising. According to eMarketer, a research firm, an estimated $17.6 billion was spent on search ads in America alone last year, with Google pocketing three-quarters of that sum. Facebook has been focused on digital display advertising and its success in winning business has helped its share price rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes of a catastrophic stockmarket flotation last year (see chart). If it can pinch search ads from Google and others too, its shareholders will be even more delighted.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Ann Rittenberg - Conference Speaker
After working as a book editor, Ann Rittenberg started agenting at the Julian
Bach Literary Agency, where she worked with PRINCE OF TIDES author Pat Conroy.
On her own since 1992, she represents Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter
Island, Gone Baby Gone, and The Given Day), C.J. Box (Blue Heaven), Laura
Whitcomb (A Certain Slant of Light), and other writers of fiction and nonfiction.
Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency
Your First Novel - by Ann Rittenberg & Laura Whitcomb
Books/Films by Dennis Lehane on Ozon.ru
Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency
Your First Novel - by Ann Rittenberg & Laura Whitcomb
Books/Films by Dennis Lehane on Ozon.ru
Owen Matthews, Newsweek - Conference Speaker
Owen Matthews is a Contributing Editor to Newsweek and The Daily Beast based in Moscow and Istanbul. His work has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, the Guardian First Books Award, and France’s Prix Médicis.
Антисоветский роман - Оуэн Мэтьюз
Антисоветский роман - Оуэн Мэтьюз
Alan Ireland, mOcean, LA - Conference Speaker
"mOcean is a entertainment advertising, marketing, branding & production company consisting of over 120 very talented individuals located in Burbank & West LA who are united in their pursuit of the Big Idea"
http://www.mocean.tv/
http://www.moceanla.com/portfolio/
http://www.mocean.tv/
http://www.moceanla.com/portfolio/
Dr Harold Elletson
Dr Harold Elletson is the Director of The New Security Foundation.
A former Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1992-1997), he served
as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland in the early stages of the peace process and was also a member of
the Select Committee on Environment.
An international public affairs consultant and a fluent Russian speaker, he
has advised many leading companies on aspects of their business in the
former Soviet Union, including BP in Azerbaijan and Alstom in Siberia. He
has written widely on political and historical subjects and his first book,
The General Against the Kremlin, was published by Little Brown.
A former Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1992-1997), he served
as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland in the early stages of the peace process and was also a member of
the Select Committee on Environment.
An international public affairs consultant and a fluent Russian speaker, he
has advised many leading companies on aspects of their business in the
former Soviet Union, including BP in Azerbaijan and Alstom in Siberia. He
has written widely on political and historical subjects and his first book,
The General Against the Kremlin, was published by Little Brown.
Advertisers turn silver into gold - Financial Times
“This is going to be the youngest generation of old people ever”
(you may need to register to read the full article)
The advertising industry has been slow to recognise that it needs to adapt to demographic changes, particularly in Germany, where the median age is already above 45. In contrast, “the average age of staff at ad agencies is 33 years,” he says, and only 5 per cent of ad agency staff are over 50.
Germany is hardly unique. In the US, the number of households headed by a person aged 55 and over more than doubled between 1970 and 2009 to 4.47m, while the total number of households rose by just 17 per cent. In the UK, the percentage of households headed by a person aged 55 or over rose from roughly 38 per cent in 1986 to 43 per cent at the last census.
Tom Morton, chief strategy officer for Havas Worldwide New York, the ad agency, says his company began studying what older consumers wanted after spotting the demographic trend. Havas conducted a survey of more than 7,000 older people worldwide and concluded that the “youth obsession” of previous generations no longer had the same tug.
“Rather than shying away from growing old, more people are embracing their later years and the unique satisfactions they’ll bring,” the study concludes, noting that physical beauty is less important for the age group than it once was and that loss of autonomy is a much bigger fear.
(you may need to register to read the full article)
The advertising industry has been slow to recognise that it needs to adapt to demographic changes, particularly in Germany, where the median age is already above 45. In contrast, “the average age of staff at ad agencies is 33 years,” he says, and only 5 per cent of ad agency staff are over 50.
Germany is hardly unique. In the US, the number of households headed by a person aged 55 and over more than doubled between 1970 and 2009 to 4.47m, while the total number of households rose by just 17 per cent. In the UK, the percentage of households headed by a person aged 55 or over rose from roughly 38 per cent in 1986 to 43 per cent at the last census.
Tom Morton, chief strategy officer for Havas Worldwide New York, the ad agency, says his company began studying what older consumers wanted after spotting the demographic trend. Havas conducted a survey of more than 7,000 older people worldwide and concluded that the “youth obsession” of previous generations no longer had the same tug.
“Rather than shying away from growing old, more people are embracing their later years and the unique satisfactions they’ll bring,” the study concludes, noting that physical beauty is less important for the age group than it once was and that loss of autonomy is a much bigger fear.
Mila Kunis ad campaign banned for misleading claims
Advertising watchdog slams email promotion for claiming cream could give users 'body to die for'
The ASA has been cracking down on health and beauty claims in UK ad campaigns.
In October the watchdog banned a Christian Dior campaign featuring Black Swan actor Natalie Portman for airbrushing.
Earlier last year an ad for L'Oreal's anti-wrinkle cream featuring Oscar winner Rachel Weisz was banned.
In 2011, L'Oreal ads featuring Julia Roberts, for Lancôme foundation product Teint Miracle, and Christy Turlington, for Maybelline foundation The Eraser, were found to have been digitally enhanced.
As far back as 2007 L'Oreal's campaign featuring Penelope Cruz fell foul of the ad watchdog for the use of misleading false eyelashes.
The ASA has been cracking down on health and beauty claims in UK ad campaigns.
In October the watchdog banned a Christian Dior campaign featuring Black Swan actor Natalie Portman for airbrushing.
Earlier last year an ad for L'Oreal's anti-wrinkle cream featuring Oscar winner Rachel Weisz was banned.
In 2011, L'Oreal ads featuring Julia Roberts, for Lancôme foundation product Teint Miracle, and Christy Turlington, for Maybelline foundation The Eraser, were found to have been digitally enhanced.
As far back as 2007 L'Oreal's campaign featuring Penelope Cruz fell foul of the ad watchdog for the use of misleading false eyelashes.
Luxury retailers leading the way with in-store technology
The sector is embracing the use of digital products to enhance the customer experience, says Dharmendra Patel
Consumers are more tech-savvy than ever and stores need to reflect this by offering a digitally enhanced experience. Burberry, Victoria's Secret and Ray-Ban all have one thing in common – they have made great efforts to ensure their customer is impacted by their shopping experience.
Luxury retailers are certainly leading the way with in-store technology, but we will begin to see more retailers applying digital methods to their stores to improve the customer shopping experience and enhance their brand image.
Consumers are more tech-savvy than ever and stores need to reflect this by offering a digitally enhanced experience. Burberry, Victoria's Secret and Ray-Ban all have one thing in common – they have made great efforts to ensure their customer is impacted by their shopping experience.
Luxury retailers are certainly leading the way with in-store technology, but we will begin to see more retailers applying digital methods to their stores to improve the customer shopping experience and enhance their brand image.
Facebook introduces Graph Search to scour friends' profiles
Facebook has overhauled its internal search engine to allow members to easily search through their friends' profiles.
Speculation ahead of the announcement helped push Facebook stock, which sank rapidly on its $38 Wall Street debut in May, to its highest level in months. Today Mr Zuckerberg indicated investors should not expect a Graph Search to rapidly become a major new source of advertising revenue.
"I think this could potentially be a business over time," he said. "You build a good business by first building something that people want."
Speculation ahead of the announcement helped push Facebook stock, which sank rapidly on its $38 Wall Street debut in May, to its highest level in months. Today Mr Zuckerberg indicated investors should not expect a Graph Search to rapidly become a major new source of advertising revenue.
"I think this could potentially be a business over time," he said. "You build a good business by first building something that people want."
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Why The Guardian is launching a digital edition in Australia
Traditionally, newspaper organisations have not only created the content but also controlled the means of getting it to the consumer. That process now belongs as much to Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter as it does to us. That is why embracing social media and being open is so important – if you can’t get your content across these platforms or let other people link and contribute to it, then your relevance will evaporate.
However, let us be clear that when we talk of ‘audience’ we still mean our readers and we must remember that newspapers have always used a blend of different funding mechanisms to extract revenues for their ‘product’. That’s why I am unconvinced by those who say that the only model that works is to build paywalls. This is not an area where one size fits all. In some news organisations where growth in readership may not be so important and in particular where there is a strong existing print subscriber base to build on, a pure paywall may make excellent business sense. The Economist and perhaps the Times spring to mind here. It also makes sense in other publications which feature business-critical information – for example, the Financial Times and, in the Australian context, the AFR.
However, let us be clear that when we talk of ‘audience’ we still mean our readers and we must remember that newspapers have always used a blend of different funding mechanisms to extract revenues for their ‘product’. That’s why I am unconvinced by those who say that the only model that works is to build paywalls. This is not an area where one size fits all. In some news organisations where growth in readership may not be so important and in particular where there is a strong existing print subscriber base to build on, a pure paywall may make excellent business sense. The Economist and perhaps the Times spring to mind here. It also makes sense in other publications which feature business-critical information – for example, the Financial Times and, in the Australian context, the AFR.
Internet Changing How the World Is Educated
Meeting this new demand through conventional means would require the construction of three universities a week accommodating 40,000 students for the next 12 years. That is an impossible task, especially given reduced government budgets in much of the world.
Taken overall, digital technology and the Internet are thus key to tackling the top challenge in education: allowing people from around the world, especially in developing countries, access to educational materials they would not otherwise have. These technologies also circumvent the rising cost of traditional education in many developed countries, accommodates the increasing number of students seeking higher education and bridges the gap between education and the world of new generations of students.
Taken overall, digital technology and the Internet are thus key to tackling the top challenge in education: allowing people from around the world, especially in developing countries, access to educational materials they would not otherwise have. These technologies also circumvent the rising cost of traditional education in many developed countries, accommodates the increasing number of students seeking higher education and bridges the gap between education and the world of new generations of students.
Which risks loom largest for businesses in 2013?
Schumpeter - A world of trouble
The WEF speculates that “digital wildfires” could wreak global havoc. The internet spreads disinformation in the blink of an eye. Traders, human and robotic, act on it faster than you can say “flash crash”. In July 2012 oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel when a Twitter user, impersonating the Russian interior minister, tweeted that Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, had been “killed or injured”. In October NASDAQ halted trading in Google shares when a leaked earnings report led to a $22 billion plunge in the company’s market capitalisation. And in November the BBC was rocked when an irresponsible news programme prompted Twitter users to accuse an innocent politician of paedophilia.
The WEF speculates that “digital wildfires” could wreak global havoc. The internet spreads disinformation in the blink of an eye. Traders, human and robotic, act on it faster than you can say “flash crash”. In July 2012 oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel when a Twitter user, impersonating the Russian interior minister, tweeted that Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, had been “killed or injured”. In October NASDAQ halted trading in Google shares when a leaked earnings report led to a $22 billion plunge in the company’s market capitalisation. And in November the BBC was rocked when an irresponsible news programme prompted Twitter users to accuse an innocent politician of paedophilia.
Chinese Industry - The rise of Lenovo
How did Lenovo become the world’s biggest computer company?
It is number one in five of the seven biggest PC markets, including Japan and Germany. Its mobile division is poised to leapfrog Samsung to grab the top spot in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market. This week it made a splash at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with what PC World called “bullish bravado and a seemingly bottomless trunk” of enticing new products.
Lenovo’s rebound raises several questions. How did the firm recover from disaster? Is its new strategy sustainable? And does its rise signal the emergence of China’s first world-class brand?
It is number one in five of the seven biggest PC markets, including Japan and Germany. Its mobile division is poised to leapfrog Samsung to grab the top spot in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market. This week it made a splash at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with what PC World called “bullish bravado and a seemingly bottomless trunk” of enticing new products.
Lenovo’s rebound raises several questions. How did the firm recover from disaster? Is its new strategy sustainable? And does its rise signal the emergence of China’s first world-class brand?
Sunday, January 13, 2013
UK's leading digital minds discuss media and marketing trends for 2013
TV 2.0, the rise of data, the widespread adoption of tablets and a host of other predictions for 2013 from the finest digital marketers in the UK
For the full set of predictions, ranging from the rise of data, the rapid adoption of tablets and the digital in-store experience to the changing agency landscape, see the video in the link above.
For the full set of predictions, ranging from the rise of data, the rapid adoption of tablets and the digital in-store experience to the changing agency landscape, see the video in the link above.
CES 2013: ever-wider TV screens, bendy smartphones and the i-potty
World's biggest gadget show closes in Las Vegas to concerns over its own future, never mind that of its futuristic offerings
The world's biggest gadget show has ended in Las Vegas and, like a prophet in the desert, it has revealed the future: bigger televisions, smarter watches, thinner humans, bendy phones and pointy computers.
That, at least, was the vision peddled by technology companies which unveiled 20,000 products over five frenzied days of networking and promotion at the Consumer Electronics Show, which wrapped on Friday. Some 150,000 industry professionals sifted through gadgets sublime and ridiculous, pointless and ingenious, seeking the next big innovation which will change the way we work, live and play.
Some ideas which provoked guffaws and headlines – the vibrating fork which chastises you to eat slower, the i-potty training system to keep your toddler on the bowl – may not endure but others seemed certain to have a future.
Borderlines: photography special - Simon Kuper
While in Europe, political and economic agreements have brought borders down, elsewhere religious and territorial conflicts are driving walls, barriers and security fences up
Closed borders are by their nature unstable. Too many forces – similarity on both sides of the fence, trade, desire for happiness – gnaw away at them. Already the southeast Asian states united in Asean are pursuing European-style porous borders by 2015. The South American countries in Mercosur have stumbled along a similar path. There’s reason to hope more regions will follow Europe’s example. In most places, history seems to be working against borders.
Closed borders are by their nature unstable. Too many forces – similarity on both sides of the fence, trade, desire for happiness – gnaw away at them. Already the southeast Asian states united in Asean are pursuing European-style porous borders by 2015. The South American countries in Mercosur have stumbled along a similar path. There’s reason to hope more regions will follow Europe’s example. In most places, history seems to be working against borders.
The man who made friends with Mao - by Jonathan Margolis
The first American to join the Chinese Communist party in the 1940s tells about his extraordinary life
There is a not inconsiderable history among the children of successful, prominent Jewish families of getting involved in leftwing politics. From the Marxes to the Milibands, it’s a well-trodden path. Few have taken this tradition quite as far, however, as Sidney Rittenberg, scion of a prominent Jewish family in Charleston, South Carolina.
It was in the 1930s that Rittenberg rejected a career as a lawyer and became a trade union and civil rights activist. He then went a little further. He became a communist, learnt Chinese, went to China, joined Mao Zedong’s guerrillas fighting Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalists, emerged after the communist victory as a senior party member close to Mao, ran Radio Peking, translated Mao’s thoughts into English, became a leading rabble rouser in the Cultural Revolution – and, by the by, was imprisoned for 16 years in solitary confinement, accused of being a US spy. Then he came back to the US and made a fortune advising American companies on how to get into China.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Business Strategy - Staying on Top
Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works. By A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin
Many are brought down by making a strategic error, of which there are six common varieties. There is the Do-It-All strategy, shorthand for failing to make real choices about priorities. The Don Quixote strategy unwisely attacks the company’s strongest competitor first. The Waterloo strategy pursues war on too many fronts at once. The Something-For-Everyone tries to capture every sort of customer at once, rather than prioritising. The Programme-Of-The-Month eschews distinctiveness for whatever strategy is currently fashionable in an industry. The Dreams-That-Never-Come-True strategy never translates ambitious mission statements into clear choices about which markets to compete in and how to win in them.
Many are brought down by making a strategic error, of which there are six common varieties. There is the Do-It-All strategy, shorthand for failing to make real choices about priorities. The Don Quixote strategy unwisely attacks the company’s strongest competitor first. The Waterloo strategy pursues war on too many fronts at once. The Something-For-Everyone tries to capture every sort of customer at once, rather than prioritising. The Programme-Of-The-Month eschews distinctiveness for whatever strategy is currently fashionable in an industry. The Dreams-That-Never-Come-True strategy never translates ambitious mission statements into clear choices about which markets to compete in and how to win in them.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Innovation pessimism - Has the ideas machine broken down?
The idea that innovation and new technology have stopped driving growth is getting increasing attention. But it is not well founded
"The various motors of 20th-century growth—some technological, some not—had played themselves out, and new technologies were not going to have the same invigorating effect on the economies of the future. For all its flat-screen dazzle and high-bandwidth pizzazz, it seemed the world had run out of ideas"
"The various motors of 20th-century growth—some technological, some not—had played themselves out, and new technologies were not going to have the same invigorating effect on the economies of the future. For all its flat-screen dazzle and high-bandwidth pizzazz, it seemed the world had run out of ideas"
An Ad-Block Shock - France vs Google
Xavier Niel is playing rough with the internet giant
Free was showing its clout by threatening to damage Google’s advertising-driven business model in France. Mr Niel’s calculation was that few of his 5m-odd customers would leave just because the default settings deprived them of Google’s ads. Default settings are quite easy to change, after all. Free is also suspected of deliberately choking off its subscribers’ connection to YouTube, Google’s video-streaming service, during peak hours. YouTube takes up lots of bandwidth on the internet, especially as more people choose to watch “Gangnam Style” and “Dumb Ways to Die” in high definition. The telecoms regulator is investigating.
Free was showing its clout by threatening to damage Google’s advertising-driven business model in France. Mr Niel’s calculation was that few of his 5m-odd customers would leave just because the default settings deprived them of Google’s ads. Default settings are quite easy to change, after all. Free is also suspected of deliberately choking off its subscribers’ connection to YouTube, Google’s video-streaming service, during peak hours. YouTube takes up lots of bandwidth on the internet, especially as more people choose to watch “Gangnam Style” and “Dumb Ways to Die” in high definition. The telecoms regulator is investigating.
Publishers finding new uses for old content
From long-forgotten stories to archival photos, newspapers and magazines are sitting on a treasure trove of old content
With the aid of digital technologies and social networks, publishers are starting to bring these archives out of the dusty back room and onto the world wide web. Below are a few of the new ways publications are featuring old content.
With the aid of digital technologies and social networks, publishers are starting to bring these archives out of the dusty back room and onto the world wide web. Below are a few of the new ways publications are featuring old content.
Super Bowl Commercial Time Is a Sellout
CBS has sold most of its Super Bowl spots, according to estimates by agency executives, for an average of $3.7 million to $3.8 million for each 30 seconds.
The increasing interest among consumers in sharing information about Super Bowl ads in social media is encouraging sponsors to describe their Super Bowl plans earlier.
Marketers that have announced Super Bowl sponsorships in the last month include Mars, for M&M’s; the Paramount Farms unit of Roll Global, for Wonderful pistachios; Skechers; Toyota Motor Sales USA, for its Toyota brand; and Unilever, for Axe personal-care products.
Marketers that had previously disclosed Super Bowl participation include Anheuser-Busch; Cars.com; the Coca-Cola Company; Ford Motor, for Lincoln; Gildan apparel, sold by Gildan Activewear; GoDaddy; two brands owned by the Hyundai Group of South Korea, Hyundai and Kia; Mercedes-Benz; Oreo, sold by Mondelez International; PepsiCo, for brands like Doritos, Pepsi-Cola and Pepsi Next; Realogy, for Century 21; Samsung; Soda-Stream International; and two brands sold by Volkswagen of America, Audi and Volkswagen.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Razzies 2013: Twilight leads 'worst film' nominations
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II secures 11 Razzie nominations, including worst picture.
Unlike other, more serious award ceremonies, the Razzies – or Golden
Raspberry Awards – celebrate the worst that cinema has to offer every year.
John Wilson, who came up with the idea 30 years ago, said: "The Razzies are
the most egalitarian of award shows. If you weren't listening to what we're
saying, it looks just like a real awards show, but we're reading horrible
critics' quotes and saying snarky things. And it's shorter than the Oscars."
A content marketer's New Year's resolution checklist
Juliet Stott outlines 8 content marketing resolutions for the New Year to give marketers a fresh start to 2013
A content marketer's New Year's resolution checklist: Whether you are a seasoned pro or a new comer to the content marketing world we could all do with refreshing our ideas and clearing out the old ready for the new. There's nothing better than a New Year's resolution to do this. Here are 8 simple, easy to implement and low cost ways of shaping and creating content in 2013.
A content marketer's New Year's resolution checklist: Whether you are a seasoned pro or a new comer to the content marketing world we could all do with refreshing our ideas and clearing out the old ready for the new. There's nothing better than a New Year's resolution to do this. Here are 8 simple, easy to implement and low cost ways of shaping and creating content in 2013.
'Skyfall' Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide
Directed by Sam Mendes, the 23rd installment in the iconic spy franchise is the third film of 2012 to hit that mark.
Directed by Sam Mendes and marking Daniel Craig's third turn as 007, the movie reached the milestone Sunday when its worldwide tally hit $1 billion, by far the best showing of any Bond pic, not accounting for inflation. Skyfall has grossed $289.6 million domestically and $710.6 million internationally, becoming the highest grossing film in Sony's history and the first to jump $1 billion.
Skyfall continued to break records in the U.K. during the weekend, grossing $1.4 million for a total take of $161.6 million and becoming the first movie to ever cross the 100 million pound mark.
Directed by Sam Mendes and marking Daniel Craig's third turn as 007, the movie reached the milestone Sunday when its worldwide tally hit $1 billion, by far the best showing of any Bond pic, not accounting for inflation. Skyfall has grossed $289.6 million domestically and $710.6 million internationally, becoming the highest grossing film in Sony's history and the first to jump $1 billion.
Skyfall continued to break records in the U.K. during the weekend, grossing $1.4 million for a total take of $161.6 million and becoming the first movie to ever cross the 100 million pound mark.
The Emerging-World Consumer is King
This is, after all, the greatest increase in consumer purchasing-power in history. First movers can hog the best distribution channels and burn their brands into the minds of new consumers. Yum! Brands, the owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, has opened restaurants in 720 Chinese cities. Louis Vuitton, a maker of pricey bags, has opened stores not only in Beijing and Shanghai but also in second-tier Chinese cities.
PepsiCo, mindful that Indians may find its standard crisps rather bland, has invented a spicy snack called Kurkure for the Indian market. Hermès sells French-made saris in India. Kraft has re-engineered the Oreo for Chinese taste buds, using less sugar and more exotic flavours such as green tea. LVMH, Louis Vuitton’s owner, has entered into a joint venture with Ningxia Nongken, a Chinese state-owned agribusiness, to produce Chinese sparkling wine.
A typical Tiger Mum spends a lot of time thinking about how to provide a better future for her only child. So the McDonald’s website in China is hosted by “Professor Ronald” and offers happy courses in writing and arithmetic. Nestlé, a Swiss food giant, has encouraged children to “sweeten” their imaginations by making art with its Smarties chocolates. Disney offers language courses as well as theme parks.
PepsiCo, mindful that Indians may find its standard crisps rather bland, has invented a spicy snack called Kurkure for the Indian market. Hermès sells French-made saris in India. Kraft has re-engineered the Oreo for Chinese taste buds, using less sugar and more exotic flavours such as green tea. LVMH, Louis Vuitton’s owner, has entered into a joint venture with Ningxia Nongken, a Chinese state-owned agribusiness, to produce Chinese sparkling wine.
A typical Tiger Mum spends a lot of time thinking about how to provide a better future for her only child. So the McDonald’s website in China is hosted by “Professor Ronald” and offers happy courses in writing and arithmetic. Nestlé, a Swiss food giant, has encouraged children to “sweeten” their imaginations by making art with its Smarties chocolates. Disney offers language courses as well as theme parks.
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