The reason might have something to do with social media and TV, which kids spend more of their leisure time attached to these days. TV tie-in magazines like Simpsons Comics, with a circulation of 52,000, are proving more popular than antiquated comics like the Beano. Moshi Monsters, a magazine based on the eponymous social network where youngsters can raise virtual pets, has a circulation of 228,000.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The decline of classic boys' comics
Sales today are a quarter of what they were in 2007. The circulation is just over 7,000 today. There are about 500 subscribers in all, enough to fit into a medium-sized playground. The Beano, owned by the same publisher, is more popular but shows similar signs of decline. Circulation has halved since 2007; it was 38,000 in 2011.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Facespook: Russian spies order $1mln software to influence social networks
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has ordered three systems worth about US$1 million that will automatically spread information on the Internet.
The third, and probably most important, of the systems is Storm-12 – its task is to automatically spread the necessary information through the blogosphere, as well as “information support of operations with pre-prepared scenarios of influence on mass audience in social networks.”
The third, and probably most important, of the systems is Storm-12 – its task is to automatically spread the necessary information through the blogosphere, as well as “information support of operations with pre-prepared scenarios of influence on mass audience in social networks.”
TV ad campaigns fail to reach audiences
Nationwide US television advertising campaigns are failing to reach a large portion of their target audiences, according to new research based on TV viewing data.
Wenda Millard, president at consultancy MediaLink, which works with advertising companies and marketers said: “TV advertising always has been spray and pray. Because we couldn’t do anything about it, we used to laugh.
“Now that joke is long over. It’s not funny to waste billions and billions of dollars.”
Russians spend it while they’ve got it
Unemployment has been steady at 4.9 per cent – the lowest in Russia for more than a decade – and real wages are rising at 10 per cent each year. While salary growth is starting to slow, there are no signs that consumers are trimming their spending.
“Gold is really expensive right now, the stock market is falling all the time,” says Alexander Prostakov, a 33-year-old advertising copywriter in Moscow. “I think because of this [market uncertainty] people are buying a lot more cars and other things, because no one understands where else you can invest.”
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Raunchy ad banned from brand’s own store
Shoe brand Brian Atwood have had to remove an overtly-sexual billboard advert from outside their own Madison Avenue, New York store after it was deemed unsuitable by the building's owners.
The brand were told to remove a billboard-sized image from outside their Madison Avenue store by the building's owners after it was deemed unsuitable for public consumption owing to its featured nudity and sexual connotations. The banned image shows Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel wearing a basque, stockings, and tiger-print Atwood shoes cavorting with two naked male companions. It is just one of four images from the brand's racy autumn/winter 2012 campaign, which was shot by photography duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
The brand were told to remove a billboard-sized image from outside their Madison Avenue store by the building's owners after it was deemed unsuitable for public consumption owing to its featured nudity and sexual connotations. The banned image shows Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel wearing a basque, stockings, and tiger-print Atwood shoes cavorting with two naked male companions. It is just one of four images from the brand's racy autumn/winter 2012 campaign, which was shot by photography duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Premier Foods - Brands hatched
A debt-ridden firm tries to breathe new life into old brands
Bought by a private- equity group in the late 1990s, Premier was re-listed on the stockmarket in 2004. It then went on a buying spree, taking advantage of cheap credit to acquire branded-food veterans such as Oxo and Bachelors. Bulking up would mean the firm could not be pushed around by the big supermarket chains when bargaining over prices, it was thought. As brands are often cheaper to buy than to build, Premier went shopping.
Bought by a private- equity group in the late 1990s, Premier was re-listed on the stockmarket in 2004. It then went on a buying spree, taking advantage of cheap credit to acquire branded-food veterans such as Oxo and Bachelors. Bulking up would mean the firm could not be pushed around by the big supermarket chains when bargaining over prices, it was thought. As brands are often cheaper to buy than to build, Premier went shopping.
The Future of Printers
An industry that puts ink to paper is fighting for survival
An industry that has raked in fat profits for years is struggling. Plunging circulation has forced many newspapers and magazines to shut. Survivors are seeing readers increasingly opt for screen over inky paper, so media companies are printing fewer and slimmer physical copies. Rising online sales and wobbly economies mean that retailers are not ordering catalogues and marketing material as they once did. The rising cost of paper has not helped.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
My Italian TV Hell - Tobias Jones
Berlusconi's political movement, Forzismo, might be vaguely dangerous for democracy, but for television it's simply disastrous
To familiarise yourself with the terrain of Italian TV, there is one key word to learn: Canzonissima. It means, simply, "very song". It was, for decades, the most important programme on Italian television, and has now been replaced by dozens of derivatives. Singing, it's very obvious, is the foundation stone of Italian television. The listings magazines even publish the lyrics to the old hits so that you can sing along at home. It makes TV appear like one long karaoke show, with comperes clicking their fingers as the band springs to life. By far the most followed event on TV is the San Remo festival in February, which serves up a week of syrupy songs.
To familiarise yourself with the terrain of Italian TV, there is one key word to learn: Canzonissima. It means, simply, "very song". It was, for decades, the most important programme on Italian television, and has now been replaced by dozens of derivatives. Singing, it's very obvious, is the foundation stone of Italian television. The listings magazines even publish the lyrics to the old hits so that you can sing along at home. It makes TV appear like one long karaoke show, with comperes clicking their fingers as the band springs to life. By far the most followed event on TV is the San Remo festival in February, which serves up a week of syrupy songs.
In the Spotlight - Sugarpova
This week, tennis star Maria Sharapova brought the world something it only dimly realized it needed: "premium" fruit gums under her own brand called Sugarpova
She is an all-American sports personality now, complete with her sportsman fiance, basketball player Sasha Vujacic. And her savvy way with marketing is evident from her website, where tennis is almost an afterthought.
The candy launch got blanket coverage from sports media to magazines such as Vogue and People. Gossip website Gawker was one of the few to strike a skeptical note, arguing that the sweets' "premium" tag simply meant "normal product but very overpriced."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)