Marketing Articles About Reports

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67 items found:

Cisco Swallows Email, Calendar Service PostPath. PostPath, a young start-up that provides open source email and calendaring software, was acquired by Cisco for $215 million, The New York Times reports. PostPath's technology will be incorporated...

(08/28/08 09:01 AM)

Google-Verizon Deal Would Avail Google to 68M Hands. Google and Verizon Wireless are reportedly planning a deal that will make Google the official search engine of all Verizon-powered mobile units, reports MediaBuyerPlanner. The deal would expose...

(08/27/08 09:00 PM)

Profit in the Niche Markets. The interesting part is that most of these people are far from being consider experts in relation to the eBooks and reports they are selling. In fact, some of them are never involved in the topics the... (08/26/08 09:01 PM)

Mexicans to Use Phones to Pay for Meals, Taxi Trips. Major banks in Mexico, including Citigroup Inc. and BBVA, are partnering with mobile operators Telefonica SA and Iusacell to launch a mobile charge service, reports Reuters. Mobile users will soon be...

(08/26/08 09:01 AM)

Billboards Identify Shoppers by Past Purchases … and by Sight. In the film Minority Report, a wanted criminal undergoes black market surgery to have his eyes changed, worried that the bots — and ads — in his society will be able to visually identify him. The...

(08/26/08 09:01 AM)

10 Business and Money Things To Do Before You Die. Dave Freeman, co-author of the bestselling travel book 100 Things To Do Before You Die, just died in a freak accident in his own home. He was 47 years old. Nonetheless, reports say he lived his life to the fullest, traveling to exotic locales when he wasn’t busy with his job as an ad executive. [...] (08/26/08 09:00 AM)

By doing away with free meals and raising the prices of buy-on-board food, airlines will only lose more money long-term..

Early next month, United Airlines will no longer offer complimentary snacks to economy class fliers across North America, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. One month after, it will stop offering complimentary meals in domestic business class for most flights. In a double whammy, it will also raise the prices of food you can buy on board.

(08/25/08 09:00 PM)

Microsoft Might Set Avenue A Loose. Microsoft is in talks to sell online ad firm Avenue A/Razorfish to WPP Group, Advertising Age reports. Microsoft inherited Avenue A with its $6 billion aQuantive purchase in 2007. Avenue A is...

(08/25/08 09:01 AM)

Yet Another '$300 Million' MSFT Campaign, Press Bites. Microsoft is again claiming to be about to drop $300 million on an ad campaign - this time to rescue its flagging Vista brand. The story has been widely reported, although previous "$300 million"...

(08/22/08 09:00 PM)

Industry Buzz & Snippets 8/21/08. Ad Networks and Analytics: ContentNext, now a Guardian Media property, has released its 2008 Online Advertising Deals Report. Order a copy for a mere $399. Agencies and Marketing Execs: Kent...

(08/21/08 09:01 PM)

'Extreme Gamers' Play 45 Hours of Videogames a Week. "Extreme Gamers" spend an average of 45 hours a week playing videogames and have purchased 24 titles in the previous three months*, according to Games Segmentation 2008, the report from the NPD...

(08/21/08 09:01 AM)

3-D eCommerce Takes Tentative Steps Forward Through Virtual Malls. US News and World Report’s Matt Bandyk has a post describing how online shopping could herald a new, Wall-E-esque future of obese, screen-driven sloths. The site that spurred his idea is called VirtualEShopping.com. Their software enables users to enter a virtual mall via a digital meme, or “persona,” which they steer it around a 3-D [...] (08/21/08 09:00 AM)

AdGooroo Debuts Online Competitor Keyword Report. Online keyword intelligence firm AdGooroo announced the release of the "Top Ad Copy Report," part of its SEM Insight offering. The report went live at the SES conference in San Jose this week. "For...

(08/20/08 09:01 AM)

Gorilla Nation Reps 3 Tom's Sites, Plus Torque Report, in Canada. Ad rep firm Gorilla Nation was chosen to sell ad space for BestofMedia Group's four top Canadian online properties: Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Tom's Games and The Torque Report). The liaison is...

(08/20/08 09:01 AM)

Shoppers Scale Back Spending Plans, Weakening Same-Store Sales. July same-store sales growth weakened to 2.8 percent from the prior month and remained about the same as prior-year results for about 40 retailers reporting monthly results (pdf), according to TNS...

(08/20/08 09:01 AM)

Facebook to Buy ConnectU, Whose Code it 'Stole'. ConnectU, which sued Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for stealing its code, is now a Facebook acquisition target, the BBC reports. Before starting Facebook, Zuckerberg conducted programming work for the...

(08/18/08 09:00 AM)

Digital Spurs China's 20% Ad Growth. Total ad spend in China will jump 20 percent from 2007 to 2008, reaching $32 billion, according to a GroupM report (via ClickZ). The report, titled "This Year, Next Year: China," attributed the...

(08/15/08 09:00 AM)

California 'iTunes Tax' Returns for Round II. The so-called California "iTunes Tax" (bill AB 1956), which calls for an added tax on digital media and was tossed earlier this spring, is again up for debate, reports Wired. Assemblyman Charles...

(08/15/08 09:00 AM)

Live Search Webmaster Center Soups Up 'Backlinks' Tool. Having just launched out of beta, Microsoft's Live Search Webmaster Center now boasts a revamped backlink checker, reports Search Engine Journal. The backlink tool provides data on sites linking back...

(08/15/08 09:00 AM)

Local Ads Appear on Live Search Maps. Microsoft's Live Search Maps now boasts local ad support, reports the Virtual Earth Blog. Programs include: Highlighted Listings, which enables companies to dangle their logos in front of users. When...

(08/15/08 09:00 AM)

NBCU Seizes Records Online, On TV, TAMI Numbers Claim. The multiplatform distribution of Olympics content by NBC is successfully driving viewers to prime time, says NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel, MediaBuyerPlanner reports. The results of NBC’s first...

(08/14/08 09:00 PM)

eBay May Take Big Stake in Korean Rival Gmarket. Online auction house eBay is seeking a stake in Gmarket, a South Korean online retailer, reports Reuters. The company is negotiating with Interpark Corp., a Gmarket shareholder, to purchase its...

(08/14/08 09:00 AM)

Video Ads (Finally!) Invade Facebook. Facebook now offers video ads on the right-hand side of its homepage, reports All Facebook. Users can leave comments directly beneath them and see what friends have said. Like standard comments and...

(08/14/08 09:00 AM)

Most New Jobs Come From Small Bizs. Fortune Small Business: Small businesses drove much of the employment growth in July, according to a report released Wednesday by payroll manager Automatic Data Processing. Firms with fewer than 50 workers added 50,000 new non-farm jobs to the private sector this month, which offset the 41,000 jobs dropped at medium and large companies. ADP partnered with research [...]

(08/14/08 09:00 AM)

National security should preclude First Amendment rights when it comes to journalists handing over their records to the govern.

After the Federal Bureau of Investigation disclosed last week that they ?improperly? obtained reporters? phone records, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the ranking officials on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for greater legal protection of journalists. The New York Times reports the senators? bill ?would limit the government?s ability to collect a reporter?s phone records and, in most cases, require a court to weigh the need for such material."

(08/13/08 09:00 PM)

Wearing Black Makes You Dominant–But Red Makes You Win. Traditional dogma says black or navy business dress is the best way to express a serious, dominant office persona. After reading this Spiegel article, I’m not so sure: A recent study confirms previous reports that athletes wearing red uniforms win competitions more often than opponents dressed in other colors. According the report, published in the journal [...] (08/12/08 09:00 PM)

John McCain's policies will have a more positive impact on the stock market than Barack Obama's..

Tristan Heinrich?recently wrote on TheMotleyFool: "Economists surveyed by The Washington Business Journal think that, on the whole, presidential candidate John McCain's policies would have a more positive impact on the stock market than those of his rival, Barack Obama. But an academic study reported by The Wall Street Journal suggests that market returns are higher when Democrats hold the highest office."

(08/08/08 09:01 AM)

Proctor and Gamble Shows How a Weak Dollar Benefits US Multinationals. From Bloomberg: Procter & Gamble Co., the world’s largest consumer-products company, reported fourth-quarter profit that rose more than analysts estimated and said earnings may rise further as price increases and the dollar’s declines boost sales. Chief Executive Officer A.J. Lafley’s strategy of raising prices on Cascade dishwashing detergent, Iams pet food and Gillette razors helped counter record [...] (08/05/08 09:01 AM)

What’s the Best Way to Profit on Foreclosures?. Today the New York Times is reporting that we’ve only just seen the beginning of mortgage troubles. No sooner than you wrapped your mind around the subprime fiasco, enter the prime mortgage defaults. Time for the rest of us to start having trouble with the monthly payment. Homeowners with good credit are falling behind [...] (08/04/08 09:01 PM)

Worker, Interrupted: The Cost of Task Switching.

Why study interruption?

I became interested in it from my own personal experience. I moved here from Europe back in 2000. I was stunned by the amount of multitasking that I was doing here in the U.S. and I was wondering if other people were experiencing it as well. Anecdotally, people were reporting they were crushed by all of these different projects. People's lives as information workers involve different kinds of technologies, and they create even more of a force for interruption and different places where we can focus our attention.

(08/03/08 09:01 AM)

Mirdle Marketing. The Wall Street Journal reported this spring that men were wearing girdles. Man girdles, or mirdles, are marketed as body-shaping underwear, exercise wear, shapewear, bodywear - even support boxers. Elasticized, supportive undergarments for men are turning up all over. Saks Fifth Avenue carryies spandex briefs and tank tops designed to have a trimming effect. Go [...] (07/25/08 09:01 AM)

JingProject Beefs Up. I reported on this little application just about a year ago when TechSmith announced it. JingProject is a lite weight screen recording tool for Windows and Mac that also comes with some hosting and streaming from Screencast.com It’s an easy to use free tool for recording little screen video captures and sending in emails or posting [...]
(07/24/08 09:01 AM)

Unless gas hits $10 a gallon, Americans will continue to buy SUVs in droves..

Although Toyota's Prius has piqued interest, SUVs are still selling. "Surprisingly, there is still a good majority of people buying full-sized pickups and SUVs," Mark Bruschi, general manager at Shore Toyota, told The Press of Atlantic City. "We are off about 15 percent for those vehicles from where we were."

Apart from the incentives offered, Bruschi reports that SUVs are doing well because people have kids, they're going skiing, or to the beach, or towing their trailers.

(07/22/08 09:01 PM)

Reporting on w3w3 from Homer, Alaska.

Brad Feld, Foundry Group

My friend Larry Nelson who with his wife Pat runs w3w3.com interviews me periodically. I'm always happy to talk to Larry - he's a tireless reporter on the Colorado entrepreneurial scene. His most recent interview with me happens while I am reclining on my red coach downstairs in my house in Homer, Alaska.

Note the blue sky in the background. It's gone now, but it was here for a few days.

(07/21/08 09:01 PM)

Here Comes The Sun and More Daily Stuff.

If you follow my tweets you know that I am starting to get desperate for some sun. I could never live in Seattle. There's a rumor that we'll see the sun in Homer again later today - if it comes out to play I'll post a picture of it (did you hear that Mr. Sun - that's called a blibe ("blog bribe"). Here are some interesting things I've collected over the past few days of my cloud induced web reading.

Boulder Olympians weigh politics, pollution as they prep for Beijing: I'm really glad I didn't quality for the 2008 Olympic Marathon. If I had, I'd currently be struggling with whether or not to compete. I sure hope no one dies.

Frontier going under the knife: It looks like there might be more to the Frontier bankruptcy than Frontier getting shafted by First Data. Unlike Southwest, apparently Frontier didn't hedge oil prices (nor - apparently - did any of the other major airlines.) Oops. My prediction - Southwest cleans up in the Denver market and United goes bankrupt again.

Thank you, Adobe Reader 9: Here's a scathing review of everyone's favorite bloatware, Adobe Reader. Oh - it's also sort of a virus if you've ever gotten stuck in the "update - oops - didn't work - try again" infinite loop. I've switched to Foxit Reader - much nicer.

You Just Dont Get It: Outstanding short post from Mark Cuban. If you tell me that "I don't get it", you are either (a) being lazy or (b) being lazy. You are also indirectly calling me an idiot, which isn't necessarily a good way to get someone's attention for your idea.

Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis: I put this one in the "well duh" category. The real irony is that the World Bank - through a confidential report - suggests that global food prices are up by 75% due to biofuels, while the US claims the number is only 3%. Who knows what the real truth is - like most "economic indicators", we will only know what really is going on sometime in the future when we look at back and study the past. Regardless, don't believe everything you read and hear in the media or from our world leaders. "Well duh!"

Dispatches: A Post-Wimbledon Dialogue: I love tennis. I used to be really good (as a junior) - I'm now able to occasionally torture - but not beat - someone that is a 4.5. Watching Federer and Nadal play is a joy that harkens back to my childhood watching Borg and McEnroe play (I loved Borg because my game was like his but rooted for McEnroe because I was an angry and volatile tennis player.) This is a brilliant recap of some genius tennis.

Electronic Papyrus: The Digital Book, Unfurled: I love my Kindle (I haven't read a physical books since I left for Alaska last week.) I'm not sure that I love the Readius, but I'm definitely game to try it.

Time for a run. The sun is still not out.

(07/08/08 09:00 PM)

Give Zoho Credit for Being Agressive. I’ve written before about the potential of the online suite of tools under the banner of Zoho. I really have not used them all enough to give glowing reports, but I’ve got to say I am totally impressed by the pace at which they seem able to release new tools and enhancements. They match up nicely with [...]

(07/06/08 09:00 AM)

FAS 157 - Another Annoying Accounting Provision.

I feel like bitching about FAS 157 today. I was at the annual meeting for one of our LPs yesterday and there was a long discussion about the impact of FAS 157 on both the buyout and the venture capital business. Once again everyone was in violent agreement that this was yet another accounting rule - promulgated by the accounting industry - to generate more fees for the accounting industry while burdening companies, especially entrepreneurial ones, with additional regulations that have no real impact on reality.

If you aren't familiar with FAS 157, it's officially known as the "fair value measurement" rule and unofficially known by some as the "mark to market" provision. Before you ask, "wait - isn't mark to market the thing that got Enron in trouble and started this whole wave of SOX regulatory stuff", I'll simply answer "yes" and let you ponder that.

Like our dear friend 409A, FAS 157 has come out of the latest efforts by accountants to create more transparency in financial reporting. Like 409A, I'm sure these are well intentioned ideas although my cynical side envisions an accountant in a sub-basement of a building NY with green eyeshades and a little green desk lamp sitting around dreaming up ways to torture entrepreneurs while accomplishing his accounting bosses goal of generating more work (and fees) for themselves. Oops - sorry - back to the main story.

Since the beginning of the VC business, valuation methodologies were generally consistent and straightforward. They were usually some variation of:

Value your investments at your cost.
If a financing happens at an increased valuation and is led by a new investor, write your investment up to the new price per share.
If a financing happens at a decreased valuation regardless of whether or not there is a new investor, write your investment down to the new price per share.
If bad things are happening, you can take a discretionary write down based on your best judgement.
If good things are happening, you should not take a discretionary write up. Only write things up in case #2.
If the company is public, use the publicly traded price but discount it due to illiquidity (usually 25%).

Pretty straightforward. Very conservative. This almost always understates the value of a VC portfolio, which presumably is a good thing since it's illiquid and the only fund performance information that should ultimately matter to a VC (and their LPs) should be the one linked to cash flows (draw downs from their LPs and distributions to their LPs.)

FAS 157 blows this up completely. Under FAS 157, VC's now have to mark all of their portfolio company values to market (er - "fair value measurement") qualify for GAAP (which is a requirement for every VC firm - our investors require we have audited GAAP financial statements.)

It gets worse. Our LPs (who typically invest in multiple VC funds - in some case many multiples) also have to adopt FAS 157. So they also have to mark their portfolios to market. It used to be the case that they could simply rely on the VC valuations. To comply with FAS 157, they theoretically have to look at all of the underlying assets in the VC portfolios and make an independent judgement on the values of those underlying assets.

Some VCs (and LPs) are just starting to implement FAS 157. Ironically, some accounting firms wanted 2007 as the start year; others seems to want 2008 as the start year. Many VC firms are viewing this as an annual exercise even though they report to their LPs quarterly. Some VC firms (like us) have already built it into our quarterly reporting cycle (our accountants told us we needed to comply in 2007). Yeah - it's all over the map.

But that's not the real problem. I'll get to the real problem(s) in my next post on our new friend, FAS 157.

(06/27/08 09:00 PM)

Insight for Ad Agencies - Listen or Go Back to Print.

This is quite possibly the most timely and exciting article I've read as of late (come to think it, this I've been rather busy and this might be the only thing I've read of late...nope, this really is the best).

Joseph Dumont penned a piece for Imedia entitled "Why Agencies are Failing" in it, he lays out several of his own observations that are founded in a report from Forrester (might be worth the $279 price tag if you're seeking some Forrester Research Therapy for your agency) and compiled from his keen insights into the agency world.

This article really hits home as it comes at a time when I'm doing a bit of work with a few agencies that I regard with the utmost respect and I can't help but see some of their challenges echoed in this article. Those are the agencies that are truly students of advertising, marketing, customer behavior and have a genuine purpose in this world. They will succeed because they can learn, they can grow and like energy (you know, never at rest) they are always moving and changing and they're on the right path.

On the other end of the spectrum are agencies who are truly stuck. They're afraid of stepping outside of their comfort zone, afraid to admit that they need help, don't have a mastermind group internally that's challenging their age-old positioning and their clients are suffering as a result by way of crusty old strategies, reheated ideas and basically an ignorance of the end customer that we're all trying to reach. Those agencies will fail a they aren't even on a path - they're standing still.

Here are a few observations that I took from Joseph's article. I really recommend read though it with you highlighter handy - there are some real nuggets in there. If you're an agency, take this to your next staff meeting and discuss it. It's that important. If you like, buy the Forrester report (and tell me if it was worth it!)

1. Damnit, get out there and do the hard work to really understand how your client's consumer has changed their habits, where they hang out and what they want to hear from you. Media kits are for armchair advertisers. You need to get out there, listen, react and move. Oh, and get your client's leadership and front line folks on the same page too. Customers are smart. They see through the disorganization.

2. Watch political marketing. I've said this for years and I'll say it again "the harbingers of the next generation of marketing are working in politics". Watch all 3 candidates and how they leverage the digital space. Also, pay attention to their budgets. They're moving mountains and spending very little (comparatively) online...they reach the masses on TV and the influencers through digital (online) means...it's a great country we live in!

3. Interactive does NOT mean Internet. It means really in-ter-acting... get people involved, acting and interacting and engaging. Most of what's called "interactive" is anything but.

4. User generated content is not the holy grail. User generated genuine interest in a brand that excites consumers and pushes their 'loyalty button' is what we're really seeking. There are many UGC campaigns that are bolt on piles of crap... If UGC is not aligned with your brand and the only respondents are professional contestants, you should rethink things a bit. Just because it's cool doesn't mean it's you (or that an agency should sell it to you)

5. I actually think that we're in pretty good shape - there is BRILLIANT marketing going on out there (just read iMedia, Marketing Sherpa and others to see the kick ass campaigns and strategies that are rocking the marketing world)...but there's always room to do better. Both agencies and internal marketers can't afford to get lazy. The entire profession of marketing is founded on a "faith in the future" perspective! That's why we market - for the future...so hurry up and let's all get there!

(06/09/08 09:00 AM)

Insight for Ad Agencies - Listen or Go Back to Print.

3. Interactive does NOT mean Internet. It means really in-ter-acting... get people involved, acting and interacting and engaging. Most of what's called "interactive" is anything but.

(05/29/08 09:00 PM)

How to Hear the Voice of Your Customers: Hone First-Person Intelligence From All Forms of Feedback. Today's technology offers ample opportunities to start conversations with and among customers, fans, foes, competitors, and the press?any person or group who cares to listen and, perhaps, act on the messages received. By some estimates, 85% of the information companies collect is not in a form that they can access or analyze?it is unstructured. The Gartner Group reports unstructured data doubles every three months while seven million web pages are published every day. This cacophony presents the one of the biggest challenges companies face today. (04/29/08 09:02 AM)

FedBizOpps Notification Service.

If you do business with the federal government or if you want to get into government contracting, you probably know about FedBizOpps or the Federal Business Opportunities website. FedBizOpps is where most, but not all, government agencies post procurement notices for goods and services valued at over $25,000.

At the website, you can look up procurement notices by specific agencies or you can search for them by key words or other criteria. If you find a procurement notice that interests you, you can sign up to receive e-mail notification when, for instance, a full solicitation is released or when an amendment is issued for that particular product or service. When I'm working on a proposal for a client, I always look it up on FedBizOpps and sign up for it so that I'm notified when an amendment comes out.

You can also sign up to be notified of all solicitations or synopses issued by a particular agency. For example, since I am interested in USAID contracts, I get an e-mail nearly every day that lists all new USAID synopses and solicitations that have been posted by that agency.

To sign up for the FedBizOppos notification service, go to the website and click on Vendor Notification Services on the right-hand side, under "Related Links." You'll then be taken to a page where you can select from the following options:

One of the problems with this notification service is that there is no option to receive notifications by key words. So, if I am interested only in USAID contracts that relate to HIV/AIDS, I can't tell FedBizOpps to just send me notices that have something to do with that topic. Instead, I receive all notices about USAID contracts, whether or not they pertain to HIV/AIDS.

One way to get around this problem is to sign up with a private bid notification service. That will be the topic of my next post.

(03/27/08 09:00 AM)

Announcing Jack Tyler Decker. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MANAGEMENT SHAKEUP AT DECKER HOUSEHOLD Jack Tyler Decker Appointed New CEO AUSTIN, TX (MARCH 6, 2008) -- The Decker Household announced today the arrival of its new CEO, Jack Tyler Decker. A 9-month veteran of fast-growth environments, Jack took control of the family startup on Friday, March 6 at 5:42PM CT. In a management shakeup, the 21 inch, 8 lb. 11 oz tycoon appointed Shannon Decker to report directly to him as President of The Household. Shannon's promotion came after hard labor disputes for a few hours just prior to his appointment. Sam Decker, who had worked many years to gain peer status to the new President, has been demoted to special assistant to Shannon and her supporting staff, Kyle and Haley Decker. Jack had started his 9 month rise to control since June 7…or maybe June 8 or 9, 2007-- analysts cannot confirm the date. Jack had an inside track to the position ever since. The new CEO is expected to work around the clock. His duties will consist of sleeping, eating 8 meals a day, and making many daily deposits into plastic envelopes. Shannon and Sam, in their new roles, will act quickly on directions from their new boss to achieve his desired career growth. On the day of his arrival, the CEO wasted no time crying out instructions to her new staff, and was already making small deposits. Jack Decker, with a simple coo and finger suck, immediately got his team to swing into... (03/07/08 09:00 AM)

Referrals From Great Sites.

Every once in a while I take a look at the Google Analytics reports for my website. These reports provide detailed statistics about the number and type of visitors to a site, where they came from, what pages they visited, etc. The reports contain a lot of data and take a while to review, which is why I only look at them occasionally.

But one of the reports I do like to look at is the Referring Sites Report, which indicates which sites referred people to my site via a link. And if you are interested in grants (both government and non-government grants), grantwriting, or grant research, you'll want to take a look at some of the websites that send the most visitors to Proposalwriter.com . Among my top 10 referring sites are:

The Grants Information Collection at the University of Wisconsin. This fabulous site has a wealth of information on grants, funding, and other related topics. I'm delighted to say that they link to my site on four different pages. They have consistently been my #1 referral site.
My #2 referral site is The Foundation Center, which sends visitors to my site via links on 3 of their many pages. If you want grant-related information from the nation's leading authority on non-profits, The Foundation Center's site is one of the first places you should investigate.
The third site that sends the most visitors to my site is the US House of Representatives. Somewhere among the its many pages there has been a link to my site for several years. Except I don't know where it is, and oddly enough the link is to my Guestbook. I've never taken the time to try to figure out how people get to my site from this site.
#9 on the list is the University of Michigan's Proposal Writing Help Page, which of course contains info and links on proposal writing.

In addition to Google Analytics, I use Google Webmaster Tools to find out how many other sites have links to mine. At present, Webmaster Tools shows that there are over 4,100 external links from other sites to the various pages on my site. But this number seems to include quite a few dupicates, so it's hard to tell what the real number is.

Nevertheless, I'm pretty satisfied.

(03/06/08 09:01 AM)

Future of Online Retailing -- Four Predictions. Forrester and Jupiter report that more than 70% of online shoppers seek out user reviews before making a purchase decision. MarketingSherpa reports that 84% of consumers prefer the opinion of other consumers vs. experts. Hundreds of retailers including WalMart, Best Buy, HP, and the Home Depot have followed Amazon’s lead by allowing their consumers to review products in the online channel. Consumers demand social commerce solutions and retailers are driving measurable results. As consumers are presented with increasing choices, channels, and messages, they will continue to turn to peers to discover, research, and make decisions about products and services. Retailers will need to utilize technology and best practices to provide authentic, relevant, and effective social commerce solutions to retain their customers into the future. 1) SOCIAL CONTENT IS GOING MULTI-CHANNEL The future of reviews and social content is going beyond the product page and into other channels such as mobile phones, kiosks, print collateral, online advertising, and social networks. It is clear that consumers rely on social content to make purchasing decision. They will expect to be able to access to this content regardless of channel in order to inform their purchasing process. The retailers that provide this multi-channel access will develop competitive advantages in their markets to attract and retain consumers. Additionally, more retailers will see the value of integrating social commerce with CRM and other “back-end” channels. Retailers will start to leverage social content as a key input into driving decisions in marketing, sales, advertising, customer support, and... (12/09/07 09:01 PM)

Prioritize Like a P&L. Today I was having lunch with a friend who is VP of Marketing for a local startup. Small budget, lots to do...how to prioritize? In my experience, when you're trying to grow revenue as fast as possible with little time, money and resources, it's important to think about the after-launch resources a program will take. Think about any program or initiative as an ongoing P&L. The best projects will have sustaining value, like a business that has sustaining profits. In fact, you should first think about the projects that have a clear and direct impact on revenue or cost savings. Can you answer the question: "This program/initiative will have an impact on our bottom line because..." The biggest mistake in selecting programs is the costs of sustainment. Usually things get set in motion that take human capital as part of the processes. The ideal projects are those that are set in motion, sustian and/or grow in impact over time and require little resources to sustain. Many projects I've launched that risked failure and often got orphaned are those that required ongoing program management time and processes. If it was part of an existing process it was easier to absorb. Creating new processes, owners, measures, reporting, etc. and sustaining all of this is an investment – COGS and Opex in a P&L. Sometimes it's worth it...but most of the time we underestimate the cost of sustainment. So, look for the projects that can 'blossom' on their own. For example, customer created... (10/19/07 09:00 PM)

Brand Management Position Available in Eau Claire, WI. Hey Folks, I recieved an email today seeking some referrals for a brand management position in Wisconsin. The role is based in Eau Claire, WI If you're interested, please contact: Leasa Sanders McIntosh leasa [at] shouldbeskiing.com 303-757-4103 Position Details:

Develops marketing strategies and programs to drive corporate revenue and communicate corporate vision/strategy.
Leverage market knowledge, customer understanding, marketing research, competitor assessments, and analysis to develop clear customer acquisition, retention and recapture strategies.
Partner effectively across the organization, including corporate sales, development, operations, technology, and finance.
Manage multiple projects simultaneously with attention to detail, tenacity, and a focus on results.
Identify new product and market opportunities and develop/execute plans to realize revenue goals.
Analyze program results using qualitative and quantitative techniques.
Develop and manage marketing budget.
Works to build and maintain relationships with all internal management team members to provide the highest level of service to our clients and their consumers.
Provides feedback, including appropriate reporting to key management personnel in order to identify continuous quality improvement opportunities.
Develops sales support materials, including presentations, brochures, and proposals.
Develops materials to support internal communications and strategies.
Develop client communications and strategies.
Performs other duties as assigned.

(10/04/07 09:01 PM)

Thought Leadership Marketing is Market Focused.

Steven Van Yoder posted an excellent summary of how Cisco embeds thought leadership marketing into its culture and plays off this philosophy as its marketing mainstay.

Most companies give lipservice to TLM the same way that few marketers understand the fundamentals of marketing in that the 'product focus' mentality of the twenties is dead and that we're still very much in the era of 'market focus'.

Therein lies the inherent power of Thought Leadership Marketing - It's market focused and puts the needs of the market first. More to the point, it puts the credibility, reputation and growth of the company truly in the hands of the customers. Thought Leadership is bestowed upon a company by its customers - it cannot be created in a vacuum without an intuitive revervence for the market or markets served.

Specific to Cisco, and others that use Thought Leadership Marketing, there are a few keys that make TLM what it is:

Leadership demands that every executive establish and nurture his or her own reputation for thought leadership
Pursue blogging, public speaking, and writing articles
Become an industry purveyor of executive thought leadership
Align your website with with links to research reports, papers, podcasts, interviews and other content from around the industry which supports and furthers your TLM position
Publish newseltters for customer segments and the industry in general
Host thought leadership events that bring together academia, industry, goverment and customers to address very specific topics related to your business and industry

That is not a be-all end all list to be sure, but it's a heck of a start on your Thought Leadership Marketing strategy.

(10/04/07 09:01 PM)

Mindblowing numbers on Internet Video.

I was speaking with some folks this morning at a local Green Bay college about the growth of video and their thoughts about YouTube, vlogs (video blogs) and the like. (they've even started to put St. Norbert College Videos on YouTube) It's not coincidence then that this report from ComScore shows that we're all but consumed with Internet Video!

Some of the more interesting data points:
> Fox Interactive (Fox News) ranked second for most video streams with 680 million, following the top ranked Google/YouTube with a combined 1.8 billion streams.
> 2.5 minutes is the average duration of an Internet Video Stream - keep this in mind when developing your videos
> Nearly three out of four (74.3 percent) U.S. Internet users streamed video online.
> The average online video viewer consumed more than two videos per day!

This online video space is far, far more pervasive than I once thought.

The whole Fox stat blows me a way too. I often watch videos from Fox after the fact, but I know that when I do catch the broadcasts, they're incessantly pimping the online follow through videos. Great strategy on their part! It's paying off.

[ref ComScore via Paul Kedrosky]

P.S. I didn't see St. Norbert listed, but for some time, YouTube has had a schools channel. Way cool!

(10/03/07 09:00 PM)

The One Piece Of Advice You Can't Generate Leads Without. The staff at Raintoday approached a group of B2B lead generation experts with the following question: "What is the one piece of advice you simply cannot generate leads without?" The result was a special 36-page report with 10 all-new articles... (08/30/07 09:00 PM)

Yahoo Prez Susan Decker Bets $1 Million On Its Stock. Yahoo President Susan Decker is buying up shares the company's beaten down stock (YHOO), to the tune of $1 million. CNNMoney reports:The buy was Decker's first ever open-market stock purchase, according to filing tracker InsiderScore.com, and came one-day after the stock fell to $22.44 - its lowest level since March 2004. Decker's buy was just the fourth by any Yahoo insider in more than four years; and, the largest by any Yahoo insider in more than four years, InsiderScore analysts wrote in a research note FridayThat's quite a vote of confidence. Is she just trying to shore up the stock, or does she know something we don't?... (08/10/07 09:01 AM)

New York Times' Web Growth Doesn't Make Up For Print Decline. In what's becoming an all-too common theme among old-media companies, the New York Times reported a 5.7 percent drop in overall ad revenues and a 59 percent drop in operating profits. The one bright spot: it's Web properties, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com, and About.com, saw a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. But it's $81 million in revenues only makes up 10 percent of the company's overall sales, and is still not enough to counter the decline in print. Still, operating profits at About.com alone ($8.5 million) represent 38 percent of the company's total operating profits. Web revenues don't have to rise tenfold before Web profits can offset the decline in print profits. But with online ad growth expected to slow at the Times, it could still be a while.... (07/25/07 09:01 AM)

Facebook Widget Makers See Traffic Rise on Home Sites. Does it pay to make a custom app for Facebook? Some of the top widgets on Facebook from companies like Slide, RockYou, and HotorNot appear to be driving significant traffic back to the home sites, reports VentureBeat. It makes sense. Widgets tend to have limited feature sets and act as teasers to go to a bigger site. The question is whether traffic measurement sites like Quantcast incorporate widget traffic in their overall stats or just look at teh main sites. (Anyone know the answer to that, please tell us in comments). Compete shows a similar trend, but Alexa doesn't show quite as dramatic a jump (and actually shows HotorNot declining slightly). Still, if 10 million people added Slide's Top Friends widget onto their Facebook page, chances are a fraction of them will go and check out what else Slide has to offer. At the very minimum, widgets can be a powerful form of marketing. Once companies figure out how to make money inside the widgets themselves, then we might finally see the beginning of a true Facebook economy.... (07/24/07 09:01 AM)

Facebook Group Wants to Save Business 2.0. Speaking of Facebook, ever since the New York Times reported earlier this week about the potential demise of Business 2.0 (my employer), a group has spontaneously formed on Facebook to try to save it. In the span of a few days, it's grown to more than 880 members, including folks like Walt Mossberg, Michael Arrington, Om Malik, Reid Hoffman, and Craig Newmark. Thanks to everyone who has joined. As my boss, Josh Quittner, says: It choked me up -- an old cynic like me. I know the internet has saved some TV shows. I've never heard of it saving a magazine. If you are a fan of the magazine, please join the Facebook group to voice your support. Traditional business advertising may be in a slump, but it is gestures like these that get noticed by advertisers (and the higher-ups here at Time Inc. as they decide the fate of Business 2.0).... (07/20/07 09:01 PM)

Ning Raises $44 Million. Gina Bianchini Originally uploaded by jdlasica Gina Bianchini, No. 48 on B2.0's 50 Who Matter list, is smiling now. As Ning's main backer Marc Andreessen reports, the startup has just raised $44 million from Legg Mason and others. Andreessen threw some more of his cash into the venture as well. Ning lets people build their own social networks, and 73,650 have done so to date. (Many of those social networks have only the person who built it and his dog as members, but that's another story). Here's a CNN video about Ning where I explain how Bianchini made it on the list.... (07/10/07 09:01 AM)

Apple Takes Its Bite of iPhone Mobile Service Fees. iPod Originally uploaded by stublog In the competition to carry the iPhone in Europe, it looks like Vodafone (VOD) is balking at Apple's demands; The Guardian reports:Apple is understood to be demanding that its European mobile phone partners hand over a significant proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone and restrict the content that users can access.The portion of network revenues demanded by Apple is believed to have been behind Vodafone's decision not to sign up as the exclusive partner for the iPhone in the UK. ... The iPhone is expected to launch in November in the UK through O2, in France with Orange and in Germany with T-Mobile.So not only does Apple (AAPL) keep all the revenues from the $500 iPhones, but it gets a cut of the monthly service fees as well. I guess even (most) hard-nosed telecom execs have a hard time saying No to Steve Jobs. But if this report is true, good for Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin for sticking to his guns. Update: Another tidbit about the economics of the relationship between Apple and the mobile carriers. Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner models iPhone revenues for Apple to include the entire $500 average selling price plus a $100 bounty from ATT. (This is from a June 28 note of his). Gardner does not model in any cut of the monthly subscription revenues, however. (The $100 bounty would be more like a typical subsidy). So if Apple is also getting part of ATT's monthly fees, not to... (07/06/07 09:00 PM)

Closed-Loop Marketers More Likely to Reach ROMI Goals. Over the years, I’ve written about how to use closed loop feedback to improve marketing and lead generation ROI. I came across a recent report by Aberdeen Group entitled, Creating a Customer-Centric Marketing Organization, that reinforces the point with broader... (04/12/07 09:00 AM)

E-mail and the phone have high response rates, DMA report finds. BtoB Magazine points out some interesting findings in the DMA 2006 Response Rate Trends Report which includes data for more than 1,500 campaigns received in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The DMA report found that the phone and e-mail produced the... (02/28/07 09:00 AM)

Podcast: Interview on the Cullinane & Green Report. I was interviewed by podcasting experts Joe Cullinane and Roger Green on the Cullinane Green Report. I encourage you to check out their other interviews with Mike Bosworth, author of Solution Selling and co-author of CustomerCentric Selling and Jackie Huba... (02/28/07 09:00 AM)

[Tom Peters] Last Impressions Come First!. http://www.tompeters.com/blogs/main/007299.phpNobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman (a psychologist who won the Economics Nobel) tells us, as reported in the February 2005 issue of Psychology Today, that our memories are very selective. In particular, no matter how extended an event (party, commercial transaction),... (12/12/06 08:04 AM)

Making Nevangelists. Think about a bad customer experience you’ve had. It could be a customer service issue, or defective product, or rude interaction with an in-store or phone representative. What was the conclusion? I’m guessing there are three possibilities:A. No response or recognition by the company. You left disappointed, if not irate, never to return.B. They dispatched a standard resolution to your dissatisfaction…in your mind, a compromise. C. They acted quickly, apologized and delighted you with a resolution that exceeded expectations. Their actions earned your loyalty.I’ll bet A gets the majority of votes. Followed by B. And you wish you knew which companies that have done C. I want to propose a unique strategy to find influencers and evangelist. Find customers who had a negative experience, told you about it, and then catapult them into delight. First, let me say this is not an excuse not to pursue excellent product and service experience. However, no company is perfect. Even Ritz Carlton occasionally has customer experience issues. The difference is they give even the janitor $2,000 budget limit to resolve them. These, once negative customers, can turn into positive evangelists. They are, or can be, your “Nevangelists”. Why is this a good strategy? Influencers, which could be 10-15% of your customers, are the vocal core of your customer base, positive or negative. It easy to identify influencers who have a negative experience…because they are typically vocal to the company as well as others. So when the negative influencer reports an issue, it’s an... (10/29/06 09:01 PM)

Mondays Contract Management News and Comment (28th August 2006). Abu Dhabi Ports Company announces the awarding of program management contract for Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (Mena Report) The Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) announced today the appointment of International Bechtel Company Limited (IBCLTD) to act as Program Managers for the development of Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone (KPIZ). The ... (08/28/06 09:03 PM)

Running a Report in ACT! 2005. The following steps apply to all ACT! reports. The dialog box is the same for all reports. Depending on the report that you're running, however, some of the options may be unavailable and thus appear ...

(08/24/06 09:00 PM)

Looking at How Feature Articles Can Boost Public Relations. Placing feature articles with appropriate trade, consumer, or business publications is a powerful and effective PR technique. Unlike a news article, which gives a straightforward report of recent ev ...

(08/24/06 09:00 PM)

SLIMTIMER. From the SLIMTIMER [timesheet software] you can create tasks and even share them with your coworkers and those you report to. Open the SLIMTIMER and click on a task to start the clock and click again when you're finished. If you've completed the task click the checkbox to mark it off. Close the browser when you're done. Run reports of not only your time but also that of your coworkers and reportees. You can export any report to CSV(Excel), subscribe to its RSS feed, or email it to a colleague. (08/22/06 09:00 AM)

Mondays Contract Management News and Comment (21st August 2006). South Yorkshire NHS signs 50 million printing & document management contract (PublicTechnology.net) The South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority (SYSHA) has signed a contract worth approximately Â£50 million with Xerox Global Services for a five-year printing and document management service project. Tap Solutions reports Australian contract (Finextra) TAP Solutions (TAP) continues its expansion in ... (08/21/06 09:00 AM)

Saturdays Contract Management News and Comment (5th August 2006). Selectica Announces Availability of Contract Management in the Mid-market Report by AberdeenGroup (SYS-CON Media) $1 billion) gain valuable insight into effective and efficient contract management methodology for both the buy and sell-side agreements. Selectica Announces Availability of Contract Management in the Mid-market Report by AberdeenGroup (FinanzNachrichten) SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ... (08/05/06 09:02 AM)

Help Adaptive Path understand the Business Value of User Experience. "Some colleagues at Adaptive Path have launched a survey on the business value of user experience, and how organizations treat user experience. It's brief (about 5 minutes), and if you fill it out, you can get a free copy of our report 'Leveraging Business Value.'" (08/03/06 09:02 AM)

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