Monday, October 15, 2007
Online Advertising is becoming Consumer Behavior's Best Friend
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. There is a story in the NYT detailing how 1,200 people who attended the 97th annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers heard speaker after speaker address the growing popularity of behavioral targeting (an advertising methodology in which an advertiser’s creative is shown to consumers based on the websites consumers visit and/or what the consumer does on those websites), as opposed to basing pitches on consumer attitudes, opinions or perceptions. Interesting stuff.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Why I Stopped Being a Loyal Starbucks Customer.
I used to be a loyal Starbucks customer. Every morning, I trudged to my local store where my favorite team of baristas concocted a brew that I loved. Yet, I am sad to report that I have stopped this pattern. I am no longer a loyal Starbucks customer.
In order to understand my decision, you need to first accept the fact that Starbucks simply does not take good care of its customers who order drip coffee. These customers are typically heavy drinkers and predominantly male. They tend to drink a large cup of coffee in the morning to get a jump start. These customers have always been treated as second-class.
The evidence for this comes from many places.
First, the new drip coffee brewing machines take way too long to brew coffee. If the coffee you want is not available, you have to wait four and a half minutes- four minutes for it to brew and 30 seconds for an energetic barista to jettison the lukewarm coffee and load the new batch. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Second, some of us have frequented Starbucks for its mild drip coffee. This has proven to be a fool's errand. The demand for mild drip coffee is low. As a result, baristas are likely to not want to brew it at regular intervals. In the location I frequented, it was most common for me to not have mild drip coffee available when I arrived. The baristas were nice and offered to make me a new batch which would take the aforementioned 4.5 minutes.
Third, on more than two occasions, I was served lukewarm drip coffee. If I am paying Starbucks money for drip coffee, I demand hot coffee. The lukewarm coffee is a joke. I had to draw the attention of the barista who brewed another batch for me in 4.5 minutes.
In addition to these reasons, Starbucks has surreptitiously increased the price of drip coffee. At this point, in the Seattle area, I believe a grande drip goes for $1.91. Only a few months back, this was $1.75.
I was recently in New York. What a place! In any case, I found this place there called Guy and Gallard that has unbelievable coffee. I wish they were in Seattle.
As for Starbucks, I think they have lost their commitment to the customer. I worry about their future.
In order to understand my decision, you need to first accept the fact that Starbucks simply does not take good care of its customers who order drip coffee. These customers are typically heavy drinkers and predominantly male. They tend to drink a large cup of coffee in the morning to get a jump start. These customers have always been treated as second-class.
The evidence for this comes from many places.
First, the new drip coffee brewing machines take way too long to brew coffee. If the coffee you want is not available, you have to wait four and a half minutes- four minutes for it to brew and 30 seconds for an energetic barista to jettison the lukewarm coffee and load the new batch. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Second, some of us have frequented Starbucks for its mild drip coffee. This has proven to be a fool's errand. The demand for mild drip coffee is low. As a result, baristas are likely to not want to brew it at regular intervals. In the location I frequented, it was most common for me to not have mild drip coffee available when I arrived. The baristas were nice and offered to make me a new batch which would take the aforementioned 4.5 minutes.
Third, on more than two occasions, I was served lukewarm drip coffee. If I am paying Starbucks money for drip coffee, I demand hot coffee. The lukewarm coffee is a joke. I had to draw the attention of the barista who brewed another batch for me in 4.5 minutes.
In addition to these reasons, Starbucks has surreptitiously increased the price of drip coffee. At this point, in the Seattle area, I believe a grande drip goes for $1.91. Only a few months back, this was $1.75.
I was recently in New York. What a place! In any case, I found this place there called Guy and Gallard that has unbelievable coffee. I wish they were in Seattle.
As for Starbucks, I think they have lost their commitment to the customer. I worry about their future.
Radiohead fans to pick album cost
If you are a Radiohead fan, you can choose how much you pay for their album. They managed to cut out the middle-man. But do you think it's a one-off attempt? Or is this a new business model that the music industry has to follow in order to survive? If you are given the choice, how much will you pay?
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BBC News Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 10:46 GMT 11:46
Radiohead fans are able to choose how much to pay for the band's next album, In Rainbows, which is available for download on 10 October.
Instead of listing a price for the music, the group's website simply states "it's up to you" - and then adds: "No really, it's up to you."
The announcement was made online by guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
Fans can buy the download or a £40 "discbox", which includes two CDs, two records, plus artwork and booklets.
Critical acclaim
Traffic to the site has made access difficult for fans at times, but the band's spokesman said it was being worked on.
This is Radiohead's seventh album, but it is their first without a record label, having fulfilled their contract with EMI following 2003's Hail to the Thief.
The band are now "talking to a number of record companies" about releasing the album in a physical format early next year, their spokesman said. EMI are among the companies they are talking to, he added.
The group have received critical acclaim for their previous albums, which have sold millions on both sides of the
They are regarded by some music critics as the world's best rock band.
The digital market is continuing to grow, with a 50% increase in digital single purchases in the first six months of the year, the BPI said in July.
But downloads still only account for 10 to 20% of the overall music market, and that figure includes formats such as ringtones.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Child Wants Cellphone, Reception is Mixed.
Child Wants Cellphone; Reception Is Mixed
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
Kate and Hannah Stacks with Hannah’s Firefly cellphone.
By LISA W. FODERARO
Published: March 29, 2007, NYTimes.com
TO her parents’ amusement, Hannah Stacks, a third grader in Rye, N.Y., started asking for her own cellphone at age 6. To their consternation, she never stopped. Last fall, after a psychologist suggested tracking her behavior, Hannah, at the sprightly age of 8, got her phone as a reward for not being mean to her little sister for 30 days.
Andrew Henderson for The New York Times
GOING WIRELESS Ryan, front, and Luke Vitale received phones from their parents, Bob and Cindy, for safety reasons.
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
MY FIRST NETWORK Hannah Stacks, 8, a third grader.
“I was so torn because, of course, I wanted her to stop beating on Kate,” said Hannah’s mother, Kim O’Connor, a clinical social worker. “But I also thought, at the end of 30 days, what will I have done?”
After securing a foothold in the teenage market, cellphones are quickly emerging as the must-have techno-toy among elementary-school society. Companies are sating the appetite — and expanding demand — by offering special phones for children like the bright blue Firefly, which features only five keys, including ones with icons for speed-dialing a parent, and allows users to call a maximum of 22 numbers.
Industry analysts say the ’tween market, defined as 8- to 12-year-olds, represents one of the major growth opportunities for the wireless industry. Some 6.6 million of the 20 million American children in that age range had cellphones by the end of 2006, according to an analysis by the Yankee Group, a technology consulting firm in Boston, which projects there will be 10.5 million preteen cellphone users by 2010.
The number of 8-year-olds with phones, Yankee Group estimates, more than doubled to 506,000 over the past four years while the number of 9-year-olds jumped to 1.25 million from 501,000.
Children want a cellphone for reasons obvious to them. It looks cool and makes them feel grown-up. It conveys a certain status. And it lets them stay in near-constant touch with friends and (oh, yeah) parents.
For parents, the decision of when, or whether, to buy children cellphones — paralleling the age-old debate over the appropriate age for ear piercing — is emotionally charged and value-laden, raising ticklish questions about safety and status, maturity and materialism.
Some parents and child psychologists say the need for cellphones among such young children, who are rarely without adult supervision, is marginal, and the gadgets serve mainly as status symbols, quickly lost in a tangle of toys, batteries hopelessly out of juice. Others, though, say the phones are an electronic security blanket for both parent and child in a world of two-career households and split-custody arrangements, Amber alerts and color-coded terror threat levels.
“My kids are never left alone, so this is an emergency backup system,” said Cindy O’Neill Vitale, who bought cellphones last summer for her sons, then 8 and 10, before a weeklong vacation with family friends. “I honestly believe that we live in a time now where it’s important to be able to have access for whatever reason. God forbid there’s another 9/11. I was in the city that day and I couldn’t reach them.”
Dr. Cornelia Brunner, deputy director of the Center for Children and Technology, a nonprofit research group in Manhattan, said cellphones can serve as “transitional objects” for young children suffering separation anxiety from their parents, and that phones with “reasonably interesting games” might have some “redeeming educational value.”
“Dolls are unnecessary too,” noted Dr. Brunner, a developmental psychologist. “The only harm is an economic one. Kids whose families can’t afford all this junk are made to feel worse and worse, and some parents end up shelling out money that would be better spent elsewhere.”
The Firefly, introduced in 2005, costs $49.99, plus $15 an hour of talk time (paid in advance); it comes with a backpack clip. Competitors include Enfora’s TicTalk, $99 plus $25 for 100 prepaid minutes, and Disney Mobile’s three youth-oriented phones, unveiled last summer, with a price range of $29.99 to $99.99, plus calling plans that start at $24.99 for 200 minutes.
Brian Schillaci, principal of Indian Hill School in Holmdel, N.J., which spans fourth to sixth grades, said he has seen a sharp rise in the number of students using cellphones. When a committee devised new rules four years ago saying cellphones could not be visible or in use during the school day, Mr. Schillaci said, there were only a handful of incidents a year; now children are sent to the office once or twice a week for cellphone infractions.
Despite the popularity of the child-friendly phones, some industry analysts say they have a short shelf life because what seems cool to a 7-year-old feels babyish to a middle-schooler. Verizon is phasing out the LG Migo, a simple bright-green phone with a limited keypad that allowed users to program only five numbers, replacing it with the LG VX3450, which has a silver flip design, text-messaging capability and two embedded games (it costs $20 plus a two-year calling plan).
With a subtly playful bean shape, the new phone allows parents to restrict calls and messaging. And like the Migo, it features a global-positioning satellite device so that parents can locate the phone, and presumably the child, from another phone or a Web site. (Disney’s phone also offers such tracking, and the TicTalk is being retooled to include it.)
“An 11-year-old boy wouldn’t be caught dead carrying the Migo,” said David Samberg, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. “With this new phone, it still gives parents control, but if the child is entering that pre-adolescent period, this phone is not going to scream: ‘My mother’s watching me.’ ”
CHARLES GOLVIN, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a technology firm, said the tracking features, which can find a child down to the exact cross streets, were proving popular among parents. “As the parent of a 13-year-old girl, I embrace the concept of invading her privacy to give me peace of mind,” he said. “A lot of the appeal for the parent in giving a child a cellphone is safety.”
Scott Pierce, who lives in White Plains and is a news photographer for WWOR-TV in New York, bought the Migo for his daughter, Morgan, when she turned 11. Now 13, Morgan recently graduated to a real phone, and her 10-year-old brother, Darien, gladly took the Migo hand-me-down.
“He’s not at the point where he can walk around alone,” Mr. Pierce said of his son. “But you never know. You’re getting off the bus, and you have predators who swipe kids. What if the bus driver has a heart attack? Or the bus is stranded on the side of the road? Things happen.”
After a feverish debut, the once-coveted cellphones often are quickly forgotten by young dialers who, after all, can barely be convinced to say a few words to grandma over the phone, and likely have few peers with phones to call.
“As soon as we purchased the phones, they lost some of their razzle-dazzle,” said Christie Lavigne of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., whose 7-year-old son, Dylan, and 9-year-old daughter, Gigi, each got a Firefly for Christmas. “The first three days they had them, they were calling me and my husband 20 times. But then the novelty wore off, and I think they’re at a healthy place.”
Audrey Gray, a single mother in Philadelphia who shares custody of her son, Jackson, 8, and travels on business once or twice a month, said that when she first bought her son a phone at age 7, he “was like a jealous boyfriend calling me all the time.”
“He’d call me from the cafeteria, screaming, ‘Mom, I’m at lunch,’ and I said, ‘Great, buddy. How’s it going?’ and he yelled, ‘Good. Do you want to talk to Gabe?’ Then he called me from math class and was whispering, ‘Hey Mom, I was just calling to see how you are,’ ” she recalled. “Then I never heard from him again.”
But Ms. Gray, a senior editor of E-Gear, a technology magazine, said she had “zero agony” over the decision to get Jackson a phone. “He did lose it, of course, like 17 times, but we seem to find it,” she said. “There’s something comforting about having a direct connection to him. We don’t use it, but I like knowing it’s there.”
Parents say that the incursion of cellphones into ’tween society has ratcheted up the electronics race, with mobile phones joining laptops, digital cameras and iPods on children’s wish lists. Because cellphones are still something of a novelty among 7- and 8-year-olds, those parents who cave sometimes feel a chill from those holding out.
Phyllis Schneble, a marketing executive in Fairfield, Conn., is proud to buck the wireless trend: she has three children and said the oldest would not get a phone until she turns 16.
“Generations survived with a dime tucked in their shoe,” she said. “Ninety percent of the calls made on cellphones are not critical or even substantive — mostly pure fluff and nonsense. Where are the casual conversations on the street, in the halls, when everyone is plugged into their own world?”
And Mrs. O’Connor remembered the complications when Hannah’s flashy phone made its debut last fall.
“Of course, the first day it’s handed to her, she takes it to school, and her best friend starts screaming and crying that she wants a cellphone,” she said. “Her mother looked at me like, thank you for ruining my day. That afternoon I had a talk with Hannah: ‘You have a cellphone. It’s a privilege. Please don’t advertise it to the other children.’ ”
But it was hard to hide from Mrs. O’Connor’s younger daughter, Kate, who survived Hannah’s abuse to turn 6 and recently started campaigning for a cellphone.
“She said her life would be complete if she had a cellphone,” Ms. O’Connor recalled. “We said you can reapply when you’re 8.”
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
Kate and Hannah Stacks with Hannah’s Firefly cellphone.
By LISA W. FODERARO
Published: March 29, 2007, NYTimes.com
TO her parents’ amusement, Hannah Stacks, a third grader in Rye, N.Y., started asking for her own cellphone at age 6. To their consternation, she never stopped. Last fall, after a psychologist suggested tracking her behavior, Hannah, at the sprightly age of 8, got her phone as a reward for not being mean to her little sister for 30 days.
Andrew Henderson for The New York Times
GOING WIRELESS Ryan, front, and Luke Vitale received phones from their parents, Bob and Cindy, for safety reasons.
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
MY FIRST NETWORK Hannah Stacks, 8, a third grader.
“I was so torn because, of course, I wanted her to stop beating on Kate,” said Hannah’s mother, Kim O’Connor, a clinical social worker. “But I also thought, at the end of 30 days, what will I have done?”
After securing a foothold in the teenage market, cellphones are quickly emerging as the must-have techno-toy among elementary-school society. Companies are sating the appetite — and expanding demand — by offering special phones for children like the bright blue Firefly, which features only five keys, including ones with icons for speed-dialing a parent, and allows users to call a maximum of 22 numbers.
Industry analysts say the ’tween market, defined as 8- to 12-year-olds, represents one of the major growth opportunities for the wireless industry. Some 6.6 million of the 20 million American children in that age range had cellphones by the end of 2006, according to an analysis by the Yankee Group, a technology consulting firm in Boston, which projects there will be 10.5 million preteen cellphone users by 2010.
The number of 8-year-olds with phones, Yankee Group estimates, more than doubled to 506,000 over the past four years while the number of 9-year-olds jumped to 1.25 million from 501,000.
Children want a cellphone for reasons obvious to them. It looks cool and makes them feel grown-up. It conveys a certain status. And it lets them stay in near-constant touch with friends and (oh, yeah) parents.
For parents, the decision of when, or whether, to buy children cellphones — paralleling the age-old debate over the appropriate age for ear piercing — is emotionally charged and value-laden, raising ticklish questions about safety and status, maturity and materialism.
Some parents and child psychologists say the need for cellphones among such young children, who are rarely without adult supervision, is marginal, and the gadgets serve mainly as status symbols, quickly lost in a tangle of toys, batteries hopelessly out of juice. Others, though, say the phones are an electronic security blanket for both parent and child in a world of two-career households and split-custody arrangements, Amber alerts and color-coded terror threat levels.
“My kids are never left alone, so this is an emergency backup system,” said Cindy O’Neill Vitale, who bought cellphones last summer for her sons, then 8 and 10, before a weeklong vacation with family friends. “I honestly believe that we live in a time now where it’s important to be able to have access for whatever reason. God forbid there’s another 9/11. I was in the city that day and I couldn’t reach them.”
Dr. Cornelia Brunner, deputy director of the Center for Children and Technology, a nonprofit research group in Manhattan, said cellphones can serve as “transitional objects” for young children suffering separation anxiety from their parents, and that phones with “reasonably interesting games” might have some “redeeming educational value.”
“Dolls are unnecessary too,” noted Dr. Brunner, a developmental psychologist. “The only harm is an economic one. Kids whose families can’t afford all this junk are made to feel worse and worse, and some parents end up shelling out money that would be better spent elsewhere.”
The Firefly, introduced in 2005, costs $49.99, plus $15 an hour of talk time (paid in advance); it comes with a backpack clip. Competitors include Enfora’s TicTalk, $99 plus $25 for 100 prepaid minutes, and Disney Mobile’s three youth-oriented phones, unveiled last summer, with a price range of $29.99 to $99.99, plus calling plans that start at $24.99 for 200 minutes.
Brian Schillaci, principal of Indian Hill School in Holmdel, N.J., which spans fourth to sixth grades, said he has seen a sharp rise in the number of students using cellphones. When a committee devised new rules four years ago saying cellphones could not be visible or in use during the school day, Mr. Schillaci said, there were only a handful of incidents a year; now children are sent to the office once or twice a week for cellphone infractions.
Despite the popularity of the child-friendly phones, some industry analysts say they have a short shelf life because what seems cool to a 7-year-old feels babyish to a middle-schooler. Verizon is phasing out the LG Migo, a simple bright-green phone with a limited keypad that allowed users to program only five numbers, replacing it with the LG VX3450, which has a silver flip design, text-messaging capability and two embedded games (it costs $20 plus a two-year calling plan).
With a subtly playful bean shape, the new phone allows parents to restrict calls and messaging. And like the Migo, it features a global-positioning satellite device so that parents can locate the phone, and presumably the child, from another phone or a Web site. (Disney’s phone also offers such tracking, and the TicTalk is being retooled to include it.)
“An 11-year-old boy wouldn’t be caught dead carrying the Migo,” said David Samberg, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. “With this new phone, it still gives parents control, but if the child is entering that pre-adolescent period, this phone is not going to scream: ‘My mother’s watching me.’ ”
CHARLES GOLVIN, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a technology firm, said the tracking features, which can find a child down to the exact cross streets, were proving popular among parents. “As the parent of a 13-year-old girl, I embrace the concept of invading her privacy to give me peace of mind,” he said. “A lot of the appeal for the parent in giving a child a cellphone is safety.”
Scott Pierce, who lives in White Plains and is a news photographer for WWOR-TV in New York, bought the Migo for his daughter, Morgan, when she turned 11. Now 13, Morgan recently graduated to a real phone, and her 10-year-old brother, Darien, gladly took the Migo hand-me-down.
“He’s not at the point where he can walk around alone,” Mr. Pierce said of his son. “But you never know. You’re getting off the bus, and you have predators who swipe kids. What if the bus driver has a heart attack? Or the bus is stranded on the side of the road? Things happen.”
After a feverish debut, the once-coveted cellphones often are quickly forgotten by young dialers who, after all, can barely be convinced to say a few words to grandma over the phone, and likely have few peers with phones to call.
“As soon as we purchased the phones, they lost some of their razzle-dazzle,” said Christie Lavigne of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., whose 7-year-old son, Dylan, and 9-year-old daughter, Gigi, each got a Firefly for Christmas. “The first three days they had them, they were calling me and my husband 20 times. But then the novelty wore off, and I think they’re at a healthy place.”
Audrey Gray, a single mother in Philadelphia who shares custody of her son, Jackson, 8, and travels on business once or twice a month, said that when she first bought her son a phone at age 7, he “was like a jealous boyfriend calling me all the time.”
“He’d call me from the cafeteria, screaming, ‘Mom, I’m at lunch,’ and I said, ‘Great, buddy. How’s it going?’ and he yelled, ‘Good. Do you want to talk to Gabe?’ Then he called me from math class and was whispering, ‘Hey Mom, I was just calling to see how you are,’ ” she recalled. “Then I never heard from him again.”
But Ms. Gray, a senior editor of E-Gear, a technology magazine, said she had “zero agony” over the decision to get Jackson a phone. “He did lose it, of course, like 17 times, but we seem to find it,” she said. “There’s something comforting about having a direct connection to him. We don’t use it, but I like knowing it’s there.”
Parents say that the incursion of cellphones into ’tween society has ratcheted up the electronics race, with mobile phones joining laptops, digital cameras and iPods on children’s wish lists. Because cellphones are still something of a novelty among 7- and 8-year-olds, those parents who cave sometimes feel a chill from those holding out.
Phyllis Schneble, a marketing executive in Fairfield, Conn., is proud to buck the wireless trend: she has three children and said the oldest would not get a phone until she turns 16.
“Generations survived with a dime tucked in their shoe,” she said. “Ninety percent of the calls made on cellphones are not critical or even substantive — mostly pure fluff and nonsense. Where are the casual conversations on the street, in the halls, when everyone is plugged into their own world?”
And Mrs. O’Connor remembered the complications when Hannah’s flashy phone made its debut last fall.
“Of course, the first day it’s handed to her, she takes it to school, and her best friend starts screaming and crying that she wants a cellphone,” she said. “Her mother looked at me like, thank you for ruining my day. That afternoon I had a talk with Hannah: ‘You have a cellphone. It’s a privilege. Please don’t advertise it to the other children.’ ”
But it was hard to hide from Mrs. O’Connor’s younger daughter, Kate, who survived Hannah’s abuse to turn 6 and recently started campaigning for a cellphone.
“She said her life would be complete if she had a cellphone,” Ms. O’Connor recalled. “We said you can reapply when you’re 8.”
Saturday, October 06, 2007
BT invites homeowners to share their broadband with passers-by
Are you willing to share your Internet connection with anyone? That's what BT (British Telecom) is asking you to do in return for the right to access the network via other people's connections. But how about privacy and security? Is the business model sustainable here? or is it the way forward for WiFi service? Let me ask again, are you willing to share?
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From
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From
October 6, 2007
BT invites home owners to share their broadband with passers-by
Homeowners are being invited to share their internet connections with passers-by in return for the right to access the network via other people’s connections.
The attempt to expand the nation’s wi-fi network will mean that anybody with one of the latest mobile phone handsets, such as the Apple iPhone and some BlackBerrys, can access the internet through the front window of a participating home. People who sign up to the scheme, announced by BT and FON, a Spanish internet company, will be able to access the net through other people’s broadband connections and through BT’s 2,000 wi-fi hotspots. A typical home broadband router, which transmits the wireless signal, has a 30m range, making it easy for passers-by to “piggyback”.
Existing BT broadband subscribers will be able to join the scheme free of charge. Those with other providers need to pay a one-off £30 fee for a FON router, after which they can share their connection and access the internet whenever their phone is in one of the other residential hotspots.
There are now more than 10,000 wi-fi hotspots across Britain, the majority at airports, railway stations and cafés, but almost all are paid-for services, starting at about £6 an hour, or £10 for a day’s access. The thinking behind the new scheme is that, as more mobile phones are able to access the net via wi-fi, there will be demand for free internet access on such devices, so that popular services, such as music downloads, do not take so long. Accessing the web via a mobile phone network can be painfully slow.
Currently about 3 per cent of telephones in Europe have wi-fi capability but that figure is expected to grow to more than 40 per cent in the next three years, according to the analysis company Gartner.
FON would not say how many British residents were already signed up to its network, but it said that as soon as the number reached 50,000, the service would start to be useful.
Sceptics said that it was unlikely that people would be in the shared hotspots, predominantly residential streets, when they wanted to use free wi-fi, and that quality control would be difficult to maintain. Security experts also said that there could be significant risks for consumers in opening their home broadband connections. Paul Vlissidis, technical director of the security company NCC, said: “Wild horses would not get me to sign up to this. It is not just the risk of having personal details taken. What about if someone starts downloading child pornography via my connection? Am I implicated?”
Diego Cabezudo, FON’s chief operating officer, said that the public and private parts of the connection were kept completely separate and that visitors could not access documents stored on the homeowner’s computer.
Surfing on the move
— Wi-fi hotspots are pockets of “wireless connectivity” that allow any device with wi-fi capability to connect to the internet at broadband speed
— Most laptops and many high-end mobile phones, including Nokia’s N-series and some BlackBerrys, have wi-fi built in. According to Gartner, 40 per cent of phones will have wi-fi in three years
— There are more than 10,000 wi-fi hotspots in Britain, with the majority at transport hubs and hotels. The largest network is The Cloud, which supports more than 8,000 hotspots, including at most main airports, as well as Chelsea and Arsenal football clubs
— Wi-fi coverage is now offered in city centres, including Manchester, Edinburgh, Canary Wharf and the City of London
— In Silicon Valley, California, authorities are attempting to set up a large-scale wi-fi network that would provide internet access to 42 cities over an area of nearly 4,000 sq km (1,544 sq miles), but the project is struggling from lack of demand, as well as problems related to coverage
— Cybercriminals are now targeting wi-fi hotspots using “evil twin” attacks, where victims think they are logging on to a genuine network but are diverted to a rogue website, where their keystrokes are captured by the fraudsters
McDonald's has got Wi-Fi for you
According to WebUser.co.uk, we will be able to surf the web for free while enjoying our meals in all McDonald's restaurants in the UK. Is this services also offered in the states as well? Is WiFi becoming a necessity that we don't pay for as we take it for granted like tap water, light and tissues? Or is MacDonald's trying to change its image from a fast-food restaurant to a "fast-cafe"?
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McDonald's has got Wi-Fi for you
October 6, 2007
Web User
The popular chain is launching free Wi-Fi access in every branch in the UK from 8 October and it is hoping to attract workers who aren't able to use the internet at work.
"The internet is an important part of our daily lives but it is becoming much harder for people to get online for personal use at work, with many companies restricting access and some banning it altogether," said Amanda Pierce of McDonald's UK, comments:
"With the launch of free Wi-Fi access in McDonald's restaurants from Monday, we can provide the ultimate work break for UK employees to conveniently access the worldwide web. From the comfort of our restaurants, Brits will be able to come out of hiding and surf freely, for free."
Research cited by McDonald's suggests that one in four workers in the UK knows someone, or has themselves been disciplined for using the internet at work.
The offering has been praised by some industry-watchers, though free Wi-Fi is not as uncommon as it used to be.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Lee Miller: Let Me Introduce Myself
Hello,
I guess you could say this is my first blog. I've read tons of blogs, but I've never commented or posted. I too would like to thank Dr. Krishnamurthy for the invite. I am thrilled to be participating on this blog. As background information, I went to Morehouse College (English major) and Columbia Law School. I started in corporate law and then made my way to marketing. I am interested in pursuing a Ph.D. and joining the teaching ranks of my fellow contributors.
My interest lies in Consumer Behavior. In particular, I am curious about the relationship between Consumers, Brands and Online social networks. There was an article on AdAge.com entitled "For Relevance, Think Three-Way: Love Triangle: To Connect With Consumers, Brands Must Intersect With Online Communities, Too" that discusses this very relationship.
I like others look forward to many lively discussions. Here's to "life, liberty and the pursuit of marketing"!
I guess you could say this is my first blog. I've read tons of blogs, but I've never commented or posted. I too would like to thank Dr. Krishnamurthy for the invite. I am thrilled to be participating on this blog. As background information, I went to Morehouse College (English major) and Columbia Law School. I started in corporate law and then made my way to marketing. I am interested in pursuing a Ph.D. and joining the teaching ranks of my fellow contributors.
My interest lies in Consumer Behavior. In particular, I am curious about the relationship between Consumers, Brands and Online social networks. There was an article on AdAge.com entitled "For Relevance, Think Three-Way: Love Triangle: To Connect With Consumers, Brands Must Intersect With Online Communities, Too" that discusses this very relationship.
I like others look forward to many lively discussions. Here's to "life, liberty and the pursuit of marketing"!
What Women Want
An article over on AdAge reported yesterday the results of Anderson Analytics' annual survey of college students' brand affinities and media use. Among the clear winners: Apple, Target, and Facebook. Kind of makes me wonder why I don't see more iTunes on Facebook (though I have seen a lot of Target ads).
They suggest that online social networking is by-and-large a women's thing--that they are the "über networkers" among the college-aged crowd--an observation that jibs with what I've seen in my classes. It makes you wonder whether markets that are more male dominated are more easily reached by traditional broadcast means. Or, to turn that around, whether traditionally male-dominated areas (many of my students work for ESPN, which has, I assume, a heavily male and possibly younger), are missing a market because they haven't managed to engage social networks.
Also interesting was that Digg ranked as a favorite among male college students. It's not a surprise, exactly, but I still think of Digg as a relatively niche site, even though the traffic is huge. I wonder what portion of that traffic is 18-22 years old males. There is a self-perception among "Digggers" that it is also a heavily male crowd.
The article reminds us that this crowd tends to shape the consumption of others--older and younger--and so tends to be of special importance. Traditionally, it has been the males in this group who have been seen as prime targets, but if the women are more networky, making them into brand evangelists could have a much more substantial effect...
They suggest that online social networking is by-and-large a women's thing--that they are the "über networkers" among the college-aged crowd--an observation that jibs with what I've seen in my classes. It makes you wonder whether markets that are more male dominated are more easily reached by traditional broadcast means. Or, to turn that around, whether traditionally male-dominated areas (many of my students work for ESPN, which has, I assume, a heavily male and possibly younger), are missing a market because they haven't managed to engage social networks.
Also interesting was that Digg ranked as a favorite among male college students. It's not a surprise, exactly, but I still think of Digg as a relatively niche site, even though the traffic is huge. I wonder what portion of that traffic is 18-22 years old males. There is a self-perception among "Digggers" that it is also a heavily male crowd.
The article reminds us that this crowd tends to shape the consumption of others--older and younger--and so tends to be of special importance. Traditionally, it has been the males in this group who have been seen as prime targets, but if the women are more networky, making them into brand evangelists could have a much more substantial effect...
Alex Halavais: Self-Introduction
As the new kid on the blog, I figured I should introduce myself. My name is Alex Halavais, and I now teach at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, mainly in an MS program in Interactive Communication. My research generally involves social computing, and especially blogging, and how public discussion occurs. I'm also interested in the diffusion of innovation. All of these, obviously, tie back to marketing in interesting ways. I've got a book coming out soon(ish), called Search Engine Society (Polity Press), and I blog over at a Thaumaturgical Compendium.
Thanks to Sandeep for getting the ball rolling, and looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Thanks to Sandeep for getting the ball rolling, and looking forward to seeing where this goes.
It's All Over for Wal-Mart.
The WSJ has an article arguing that it is all over for Wal-Mart. The specific quote is- "The Wal-Mart Era, the retailer's time of overwhelming business and social influence in America, is drawing to a close."
The article argues that Wal-Mart has only one advantage- price. On the other hand, its competitors have multiple advantages- "greater convenience, more selection, higher quality, or better service." The article berates Wal-Mart for its politically incorrect image.
While I do agree with the thesis of the article that Wal-Mart's influence has eroded, I think the article misses some big points. For one, I think Wal-Mart is terrible at store experience. They believe in simply throwing stuff together with the mistaken impression that consumers do not care about wide aisles or attractive displays. Target, on the other hand, is superb with store experience issues.
The article also includes this cool video I use in class regularly-
Is this sort of growth a thing of the past?
The article argues that Wal-Mart has only one advantage- price. On the other hand, its competitors have multiple advantages- "greater convenience, more selection, higher quality, or better service." The article berates Wal-Mart for its politically incorrect image.
While I do agree with the thesis of the article that Wal-Mart's influence has eroded, I think the article misses some big points. For one, I think Wal-Mart is terrible at store experience. They believe in simply throwing stuff together with the mistaken impression that consumers do not care about wide aisles or attractive displays. Target, on the other hand, is superb with store experience issues.
The article also includes this cool video I use in class regularly-
Is this sort of growth a thing of the past?
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Nissan's Viral Ad (Maze Master I, II)
AdWeek confirms that this was a Nissan ad. Full article follows-
Rogue Elements
October 01, 2007
By Barbara Lippert
"I broke history," says Hiro, the aptly-named time-traveling hero of Heroes, NBC's breakout hit, the second season of which premiered last week. The show has become an object of continued cult worship, strong ratings and an artfully integrated exclusive sponsorship by the new Nissan Rogue.
Heroes is really about superheroes, in the best Marvel Comics sense. Although there are no tights or capes in sight, nearly every character in the multi-ethnic, multigenerational cast boasts some sort of bizarro-world ability. For instance, Hiro Nakamura, an otherwise re-pressed Japanese office worker, can control "the space-time continuum." And in a magical bit of synergy, so does Nissan's sponsorship of the show, by paying for limited commercial interruptions during the first part of the one-hour season premiere.
Ironically, in these days of ad clutter, one engaging, much appreciated way for advertisers to use their enormous media powers for good (and build brand loyalty) is to hold down the number of annoying interruptions from companies such as themselves. That goes double for commercial slots during tense, dense, character-heavy, story-packed programs like Heroes.
But limiting interruptions is just a small part of Nissan and NBC's multi-platform deal, which pretty much covers every touchpoint, cliché or buzzword you can come up with. There's print, a special co-sponsorship with Rodale's health and fitness magazines, out of home, a microsite with Rogue-based online games that integrate the vehicle into such oldies but goodies as Pong, Pac-Man and Breakout, a Rogue giveaway, and script and action integration on the show.
(The cheerleader, played by Hayden Panettierre, receives the car from her dad. Although crossover SUVs like the Rogue have historically appealed to women, Nissan is sort of zigging where other carmakers zag, by targeting male gamers in their 30s. But we can see from this bit of the script that it's still a gender-neutral pitch).
The deal also features brand-spanking-new digital elements, like an NBC.com site-wide roadblock, and an exclusive presence on NBC Rewind for the night after the premiere on streaming video. Mobile phones are also covered with a video simulcast.
Given all the super-duper components, I'm going to focus on just two aspects: the viral videos from Tequila and the 60-second TV spot from TBWA\Chiat\Day.
The virals were posted to YouTube to seed the TV spot's debut, and even though they are obvious plants, they're really well done and hugely entertaining. Called Maze Masters I and II, each is based on the labyrinth-style Marble Maze game we all had as kids, which I liked, because I could play it with the boys, until they got mad and broke stuff.
The first one, shot to look purposely unslick, using a handheld camera on a grungy kitchen table, features the master (in a handmade Rogue T-shirt) doing all sorts of marble tricks: blowing it around the maze, flipping it into a tiny basketball hoop in his mouth, etc. The piece de resistance is that the ball leaps from his hat brim onto a homemade Rube Goldberg device with Habitrail-like tubing, and comes out the other end. Mighty funny stuff.
The second YouTube spot might be even more hilarious. The video is set in a Rogue as it maneuvers around a parking lot. The game box rides shotgun, taped down to the front seat, as a camera guy hangs out in back and shouts orders at the driver: "Left, right, watch out for Snake Alley!" In this way, they move the marble around on the maze, and when they complete the game, the driver runs a victory lap around the parking lot.
The labyrinth is the star of the TV spot, as well. The spot is amazingly simpatico with the look and feel of the show, deftly mixing drama, sci-fi and comedy, live action and CG, and even managing to approximate its eerily washed-out palette. Although it does not feature people with superpowers, it does show an exciting ride, as a guy moves (and, OK, practically flies) through a city in his Rogue, avoiding potholes—a taxi in front of him is not so lucky—and other natural and manmade disasters. The music, "Pressure Drop" by punk band The Clash, is a perfect matchup.
The denouement is the biggest delight: The entire city is, in fact, part of an elaborate Marble Maze gameboard. The camera pulls back to show tiny cars shooting out of the bottom, while a helicopter buzzes in the distance. As a revelation, it's not going to stop the time-space continuum, but for a TV spot, it's worth the interruption.
Toyota is not green?
It turns out that while the Prius is cool, Toyota in general is not green. Hmmmm.
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Toyota's Environmental Image Challenged
Article Tools Sponsored By
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 4, 2007
Filed at 12:16 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Never mind that the Toyota Prius is popular with environmentally conscious motorists -- some environmentalists still wonder if Toyota is living up to its image as a green automaker.
Environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, are challenging Toyota Motor Corp.'s opposition to strict fuel economy standards pending in Congress, a position the Japanese company shares with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.
During the past two weeks, about 8,300 NRDC activists sent e-mails and faxes to Toyota urging the company to support a Senate energy bill that would set a 35-mile-per-gallon requirement by 2020.
Other environmental groups, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and the National Environmental Trust, are mobilizing to challenge Toyota for supporting a more modest approach on so-called CAFE standards that would require 32 to 35 mpg by 2022.
''They have a green halo, justifiably, and yet unbeknownst to their customers they've joined forces with the Detroit Three to argue against greener standards,'' said Deron Lovaas, the NRDC's vehicles campaign director.
Toyota contends the Senate bill would hurt the industry and notes that the alternative still would raise the standards up to 40 percent and give automakers more time to meet the goals. The company said it would respond to the messages it receives.
''For the first time, the industry has actually come together for a fuel economy increase, and everyone is pulling together in the same direction,'' Toyota spokeswoman Martha Voss said Wednesday. ''Toyota is working very hard behind the scenes to achieve the best standards possible, not only for the whole industry, but to meet the energy and environmental goals that we all share.''
Toyota, along with Honda Motor Co., has been a front-runner in producing fuel-efficient vehicles while emphasizing its hybrid technology. In addition to the popular gas-electric hybrid Prius, Toyota offers several hybrid models, including the hybrid Camry and hybrid Lexus models.
But the campaign underscores some discontent with the company in the environmental community, many of whom drive Prius hybrids. Toyota is challenging GM as the world's biggest automaker and has aggressively promoted the Tundra pickup in the lucrative large truck segment.
''They market every night the Prius and the Toyota Camry -- we're the green car, huh? Then watch the football games, and they're marketing the Toyota Tundra -- like the biggest vehicle ever made,'' Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a Camry hybrid owner, said Wednesday in a speech at an environmental conference.
''We're actually going to name the vehicle the Tundra, after the thing that's being destroyed in Alaska,'' he said. ''How ironic.''
---
Toyota's Environmental Image Challenged
Article Tools Sponsored By
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 4, 2007
Filed at 12:16 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Never mind that the Toyota Prius is popular with environmentally conscious motorists -- some environmentalists still wonder if Toyota is living up to its image as a green automaker.
Environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, are challenging Toyota Motor Corp.'s opposition to strict fuel economy standards pending in Congress, a position the Japanese company shares with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.
During the past two weeks, about 8,300 NRDC activists sent e-mails and faxes to Toyota urging the company to support a Senate energy bill that would set a 35-mile-per-gallon requirement by 2020.
Other environmental groups, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and the National Environmental Trust, are mobilizing to challenge Toyota for supporting a more modest approach on so-called CAFE standards that would require 32 to 35 mpg by 2022.
''They have a green halo, justifiably, and yet unbeknownst to their customers they've joined forces with the Detroit Three to argue against greener standards,'' said Deron Lovaas, the NRDC's vehicles campaign director.
Toyota contends the Senate bill would hurt the industry and notes that the alternative still would raise the standards up to 40 percent and give automakers more time to meet the goals. The company said it would respond to the messages it receives.
''For the first time, the industry has actually come together for a fuel economy increase, and everyone is pulling together in the same direction,'' Toyota spokeswoman Martha Voss said Wednesday. ''Toyota is working very hard behind the scenes to achieve the best standards possible, not only for the whole industry, but to meet the energy and environmental goals that we all share.''
Toyota, along with Honda Motor Co., has been a front-runner in producing fuel-efficient vehicles while emphasizing its hybrid technology. In addition to the popular gas-electric hybrid Prius, Toyota offers several hybrid models, including the hybrid Camry and hybrid Lexus models.
But the campaign underscores some discontent with the company in the environmental community, many of whom drive Prius hybrids. Toyota is challenging GM as the world's biggest automaker and has aggressively promoted the Tundra pickup in the lucrative large truck segment.
''They market every night the Prius and the Toyota Camry -- we're the green car, huh? Then watch the football games, and they're marketing the Toyota Tundra -- like the biggest vehicle ever made,'' Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a Camry hybrid owner, said Wednesday in a speech at an environmental conference.
''We're actually going to name the vehicle the Tundra, after the thing that's being destroyed in Alaska,'' he said. ''How ironic.''
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Can the New Zunes take on Apple's iPod?
Story from BBC NEWS: Published: 2007/10/03 11:15:04 GMT
Microsoft has launched three new models of its Zune digital media player in an effort to compete with Apple's iPod.
The players - which come in 4GB, 8GB and 80GB models - have wi-fi so users can automatically download music, photos, and video from their computer.
Microsoft is also launching a social networking site dubbed Zune Social to allow users to display and share music.
Last year Microsoft sold 1.2 million Zunes compared to 100 million iPods shifted since its launch in 2001.
The new players go on sale in the US in mid-November. There are no details yet as to when they will be released in Europe.
They will be priced at $149 (£73), for the 4GB player, $199 (£97) for the 8GB player and $249 (£122) for the 80GB player.
It comes with a familiar circular touch-sensitive navigation button.
New songs
Analysts are not convinced that the new-look Zunes will allow Microsoft to close the gap on Apple any time soon.
"This device with the all-too-familiar dial wheel compares reasonably favourably with last generation iPod players," said Mark Mulligan, analyst with Jupiter Research.
"Microsoft needs to come at Apple from an unexpected angle but at the moment it is Apple with its new iPod touch and nanos that is shaking up the market," he said.
According to data from the NPD Group, Apple controls over 80% of the digital media player market with SanDisk in second place with 5.8% and Microsoft in third, with 4.4%.
Microsoft said at the launch of the new Zunes that it expected the devices to take three to four years to bed in and become a legitimate rival to Apple.
"Twenty years ago we bet the company on an integrated productivity suite of word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, and we changed the way people work," Bill Gates said at the launch.
"Today we're making big bets on games, music, video and connecting these entertainment experiences to help change the way people play," he added.
The company also said that it would add more than one million MP3 songs free of digital rights management onto Marketplace, its digital music store which currently sells music videos and offers video podcasts free.
There were no more details about what music would be available.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So do you think the Zune can really compete against the iPod? Do you think its "Social" capabilities will make it more superior and gain a bigger market share?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Halo 3
Great article by Scott Hillis on Halo 3. It is a success- but how about the casual gamers. Excerpt follows.
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Next for Microsoft Xbox: winning casual gamers
By Scott Hillis
Reuters
Wednesday, September 26, 2007; 10:49 AM
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has cemented its reputation among hardcore gamers with the launch of alien shoot-out "Halo 3," but it is still struggling to attract the mass market audience that has flocked to Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS) Wii console.
Widely expected to be one of the top-selling games of the year after its Tuesday debut, "Halo 3" should help Microsoft sell more of its Xbox 360 gaming machines and finally turn a profit in its entertainment division this fiscal year.
"I think that you will have a lot of people begin to look at the Xbox 360, especially for holiday purchases," said Van Baker, an analyst with market research firm Gartner, citing the strong reviews for "Halo 3," which starts at $60.
Microsoft has said it had 1.7 million advance orders for the game in the United States, but it won't release actual sales figures for a few days.
Deutsche Bank said checks carried out ahead of the game's launch indicated stronger-than-expected demand that could mean revenue from "Halo 3" this fiscal year may be as much as $430 million, nearly 80 percent higher than previous estimates.
"We believe demand for 'Halo 3' could drive EDD to profitability," analyst Todd Raker wrote in a note, referring to Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division.
The Xbox 360 leads the current-generation console market, with nearly 12 million units shipped globally by the end of June, compared with more than 9 million for the Wii and over 4 million for Sony Corp's (6758.T) PlayStation 3.
But the Wii, which launched a year after the Xbox 360, has outsold rivals every month this year and may soon overtake the Xbox 360 in terms of total worldwide sales.
Not only does the Wii offer the lowest price -- $250 versus $280 for the cheapest Xbox and $500 for the cheapest PS3 -- it also features an innovative motion-sensing controller that lets players act like they are really swinging a sword or rolling a bowling ball.
An emphasis on simple games that get players off the couch has made the Wii attractive to older people and women, customers outside the base of young males.
---
Next for Microsoft Xbox: winning casual gamers
By Scott Hillis
Reuters
Wednesday, September 26, 2007; 10:49 AM
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has cemented its reputation among hardcore gamers with the launch of alien shoot-out "Halo 3," but it is still struggling to attract the mass market audience that has flocked to Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS) Wii console.
Widely expected to be one of the top-selling games of the year after its Tuesday debut, "Halo 3" should help Microsoft sell more of its Xbox 360 gaming machines and finally turn a profit in its entertainment division this fiscal year.
"I think that you will have a lot of people begin to look at the Xbox 360, especially for holiday purchases," said Van Baker, an analyst with market research firm Gartner, citing the strong reviews for "Halo 3," which starts at $60.
Microsoft has said it had 1.7 million advance orders for the game in the United States, but it won't release actual sales figures for a few days.
Deutsche Bank said checks carried out ahead of the game's launch indicated stronger-than-expected demand that could mean revenue from "Halo 3" this fiscal year may be as much as $430 million, nearly 80 percent higher than previous estimates.
"We believe demand for 'Halo 3' could drive EDD to profitability," analyst Todd Raker wrote in a note, referring to Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division.
The Xbox 360 leads the current-generation console market, with nearly 12 million units shipped globally by the end of June, compared with more than 9 million for the Wii and over 4 million for Sony Corp's (6758.T) PlayStation 3.
But the Wii, which launched a year after the Xbox 360, has outsold rivals every month this year and may soon overtake the Xbox 360 in terms of total worldwide sales.
Not only does the Wii offer the lowest price -- $250 versus $280 for the cheapest Xbox and $500 for the cheapest PS3 -- it also features an innovative motion-sensing controller that lets players act like they are really swinging a sword or rolling a bowling ball.
An emphasis on simple games that get players off the couch has made the Wii attractive to older people and women, customers outside the base of young males.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Give 1 Get 1.
The "One Laptop Per Child" movement has announced a new campaign in the United States that will allow consumers to purchase two laptops for $ 399. One of the laptops will be donated to a child in another country.
Here are the facts-
OLOC has been built on open source software.
OLOC has not been successful in getting large orders.
The campaign will run for two weeks in November.
The campaign claims that it is based on "focus group research" from 7 to 11 years old that was surprisingly positive.
The donation to the child in another country is tax deductible.
This is why it will not work-
Consumers can get a MUCH BETTER LAPTOP from Dell.com for $499 today.
It is not clear if the XO Laptop can survive the demands of seven year olds! Can it kill viruses, pop-ups etc.? Not sure.
Here are some ideas for the XO Laptop group-
Allow kids to designate donations to a specific country.
Connect schools across countries using laptops.
UPDATE: I just clicked on the "Donate a Laptop" icon and got an error from PayPal. I am beginning to doubt if this project is ready for prime time.
Here are the facts-
OLOC has been built on open source software.
OLOC has not been successful in getting large orders.
The campaign will run for two weeks in November.
The campaign claims that it is based on "focus group research" from 7 to 11 years old that was surprisingly positive.
The donation to the child in another country is tax deductible.
This is why it will not work-
Consumers can get a MUCH BETTER LAPTOP from Dell.com for $499 today.
It is not clear if the XO Laptop can survive the demands of seven year olds! Can it kill viruses, pop-ups etc.? Not sure.
Here are some ideas for the XO Laptop group-
Allow kids to designate donations to a specific country.
Connect schools across countries using laptops.
UPDATE: I just clicked on the "Donate a Laptop" icon and got an error from PayPal. I am beginning to doubt if this project is ready for prime time.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Guy Kawasaki vs. MBA
Chances are you are familiar with Guy Kawasaki, author, blogger, entrepreneur etc. It turns out that Guy Kawasaki hates MBAs. He specifically says that he is NOT interested in hiring someone who knows theories such as GE/McKinsey matrix, Kaizen philosophy, Capital Asset Pricing Model, Business Process Reengineering, and Scenario Planning.
He is wrong, of course. MBA students learn analysis and have the ability to bring that to bear on complex situations. Of course, some students either become jargon-dropping showboaters while others turn into uber-analysts who always park their intuition on the backburner. However, arguing that analysis itself or theory by itself is problematic is not a strong argument.
He is wrong, of course. MBA students learn analysis and have the ability to bring that to bear on complex situations. Of course, some students either become jargon-dropping showboaters while others turn into uber-analysts who always park their intuition on the backburner. However, arguing that analysis itself or theory by itself is problematic is not a strong argument.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
New York Times Director of Advertising Acceptability Answers Questions.
Talk to The Times:
Director of Advertising Acceptability
Published: September 17, 2007
Steph Jespersen, The Times’s director of advertising acceptability, is answering questions from readers Sept. 17-20. Questions may be e-mailed to askthetimes@nytimes.com. To read his most recent reply, click here.
Skip to next paragraph
Steph Jespersen
Mr. Jespersen is responsible for ensuring that all advertising in The Times complies with the company’s standards of integrity and good taste. His duties include establishing acceptability policy, and both pre-publication evaluation of advertising and post-publication resolution of reader grievances and competitive advertiser challenges. Advertisements are reviewed to see if they are misleading, inaccurate or fraudulent, or fail to comply with standards of decency and dignity. Submissions are closely examined for vulgar language, salacious images or copy that imitates news.
The New York Times has been rigorously reviewing advertising for almost 70 years. The founder and publisher of the modern Times, Adolph S. Ochs, believed that advertising in its own way conveyed news and had to adhere to well-defined standards, though the advertising department has always been completely separate from the news department and the editorial and Op-Ed pages and their staffs. Advertisers have no influence over news or editorial content of The Times.
Mr. Jespersen started his career at The New York Times in 1971. He has held numerous advertising sales positions, including travel account manager. In 1992 he joined the advertising acceptability department as copy chief. He was named director of the advertising acceptability department in 2000 and reports directly to the publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., to ensure that the decisions are independent from both the newsroom and the advertising department.
He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a B.S. degree in marketing.
MoveOn.org's Ad on General Petraeus
Q. Even though this is not strictly a question about advertising acceptability, perhaps you will answer in the hopes of clearing up the last of the MoveOn/Petraeus ad controversy.
When the controversy came to a head, the Times spokeswoman explained that with advocacy groups, any customer willing to buy space on a "standby" basis will get the same discounted price; while The Times does its best to accommodate with respect to the preferred date and placement, it cannot be guaranteed. Once the run date is known, the customer is usually informed. This is evidently what happened with the MoveOn ad.
Some bloggers point to the fact that the ad, which ran on the day General Petraeus testified, said he would be testifying "today," and thus, The Times must have agreed to run it on that day.
Could you please explain how it works when someone wants to run date-specific copy on a standby basis? Are there different versions for different days?
Thanks for your response.
— Z.Z.
A. As the acceptability director it was my job to say yes, or no to the ad, as I do every day for hundreds of advertisements. Let me explain how opinion advertising decisions are made.
In the past year, The New York Times accepted opinion ads from more than 200 groups, from Save Dartmouth to Save the Constitution. We accept ads from organizations across the political spectrum and from many groups and individuals, who simply have something to say. With opinion advertising, sometimes called advocacy advertising, the client uses our pages to make an argument or to dispute what someone else is saying … and this may include negative characterizations.
Acceptance of an ad does not in any way reflect the official position of The New York Times nor do we need to agree or endorse our advertiser's message or opinion. We only decline or alter an opinion ad when the message is clearly discriminatory, illegal, libelous, or hate speech. Of course, we expect advertisers to stay within the bounds of good taste as well.
The MoveOn.org ad was published because it complied with our standards. This ad was also accepted because it is our ongoing desire to keep our advertising columns as open as possible to the public, which we believe is a First Amendment responsibility. I would also point out that this ad was similar to other ads that criticized President Bush, former President Bill Clinton, and countless other public officials.
Within the category of political or advocacy advertising it is common practice throughout the newspaper industry to offer a standby rate in addition to open rate advertising. When a group buys a standby ad, it can request a particular date for it to be run, but receives no guarantee that it can appear that day. The lower cost of such ads reflects the flexibility that gives us. Any political or advocacy group calling up today to request a standby ad would be quoted the same rate that MoveOn.org paid.
It is also our practice to notify an advertiser, a day before, that we have room to accommodate his or her standby ad in the next day's newspaper, and at that point the advertiser can make minor changes in the text.
What's Acceptable?
Q. Because the H.I.V. virus continues to be a serious problem nationally, it's important (I believe) that condom advertising should not be restricted because of worries over taste. I think the TV networks are gradually changing their rules to allow more of these ads, at least during some hours of the night. What are the policies at The Times concerning condom ads, what is the rationale for them, and have these policies changes over time?
— Bob Kazel, Chicago
A. I can tell you that The Times accepts advertisements for condoms provided that the copy and illustrations are in acceptable taste.
This policy has changed over the years. At one time condom ads were only accepted if the ad dealt with the health benefits of using condoms.
Thanks for asking.
Q. Let's say I would like to purchase a full page ad in your newspaper and beat the #@*& out of Hillary Clinton. All proper and no foul language. Would you allow that?
— Michael Macfarlane, Arizona
A. First of all, we do not accept the word #@*& in advertisements in this newspaper. As a matter of fact, we accepted a full advertisement for a book that contained that word on the book's cover just last week. We insisted that the vulgarity be changed to asterisks or other characters.
Now, without the vulgarities, we would accept an advertisement that criticized Senator Clinton, as long as it stayed within the parameters of good taste.
Are an Ad's Claims Checked?
Q. It appears that many companies now are joining the bandwagon of global warming and carbor print responsibility because it may makes good commercial sense, if customers want it.
How does advertising plans to keep an eye on claims and responsibilities of advertisers? The whole thing could be taken for a ride if we just pay lip service to it. How do we know that advertisers are genuine in their claims? What's the code of conduct?
Should a scientific advisory group be created to supervise irresponsible advertising claims?
— Pablo
A. We expect all of our advertisers to be able to substantiate their claims, be they in an opinion ad or in a product ad. If the advertiser cannot substantiate their claims, we may ask them to modify their advertising.
In product or service advertising, if our readers find there is a difference between the advertised claims in the advertisement and how the product performs, they can write or call this department. We then ask the reader to document the complaint, and we forward it to the advertiser.
The advertiser usually contacts the reader to make a satisfactory adjustment to the product.
Political Ads
Q. A couple of weeks ago, the main page of www.nytimes.com displayed a large ad for "The Center for Union Facts," an anti-labor group inviting visitors to "help stop the big union power grab." The ad was pretty shocking to me, and made me wonder if The Times only runs advertisements whose politics it shares. Especially after Giuliani's demand for the same low rate given to MoveOn.org by The Times earlier this week, I'm hoping you can answer how The Times makes choices like this in picking their sponsors, whose messages certainly reflect on the publication as a whole. Is The New York Times anti-labor? Or is advertising just another kind of editorial?
— Diana Hamilton
A. In an effort to keep our opinion advertising columns as open as possible, we accept ads form virtually all individuals and groups.
We make no judgments on the advertisers' politics, arguments, factual assertions or conclusions. We accept opinion advertisements regardless of our editorial position on any given subject. In short, the background or the message is of no concern of ours as long as the advertiser stays within the bounds of good taste, and is not gratuitously offensive on racial, religious or ethnic grounds.
I can assure you that The Times is not anti-labor and the advertisement that you saw reflected only the views of the advertiser and not of this newspaper.
The Scent of a Magazine
Q. We are subscribers on Sundays, and really enjoy receiving The Times. However, we detest it when The Times includes perfume samples amid its magazine pages. The smell is not contained, and permeates the entire magazine. I'm not able to read the magazine, much less touch it when this happens. I get immediate headaches from perfumes. Maybe you received my letter some time ago where I sent back the offending perfume ad? Annoying, isn't it?
— Mariana Almeida, Berkeley, Calif.
A. Dear Ms. Almeida: Perfumed inserts in The New York Times Magazine, or scent strips, are a problem for many readers who either suffer from asthma or get headaches like you do. We looked into this problem many years ago and suggested that the perfumes be sealed until the strip was broken by the reader to release the scent. Ultimately, this did not work because the perfume manufacturers wanted their scent to leak out of the scent strips and permeate the entire magazine.
The only alternative we had was to either decline all the scent strips or send separate magazines to subscribers who wished to get a scent-free magazine. We chose the latter.
I am sending your name and address to our advertising department and you will be added to the list to receive a scent-free New York Times Magazine via the mail, every time a scent strip appears.
Thank you for letting us know.
When Advertising Looks Like a Magazine
Q. I've always been puzzled by Chicago Life magazine, which runs as an advertising supplement to The New York Times. Reading the letter from the editor in Chicago Life, a casual reader might mistake it for an unbiased, editorially-independent publication (despite the "advertising supplement..." disclaimer that is printed on each page). It has many of the trappings of a "real" magazine — interviews with prominent individuals, travel stories, etc. But, upon careful review, there's obvious advertorial content (some articles mention only advertisers, restaurant "reviews" that are uniformly positive and again primarily feature advertisers, etc.). In my opinion, it's offensive because it tries so hard to deceive and conceal its true purpose.
Several years ago I wrote an a letter to the New York Times ombudsman about Chicago Life, and was told that the ombudsman doesn't deal with advertising. So I'm curious where you draw the line. How many issues of Chicago Life have you read cover to cover, and did you find anything wrong with the way it presents itself?
— Jennifer King, Chicago
A. I've read Chicago Life for a number of years now, but only as an advertising professional.
As a free-standing insert to The New York Times in the Chicago area, Chicago Life is clearly marked "Advertising Supplement to The New York Times" on the cover and is marked "Advertising Supplement" on each page. According to the rules of the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the typeface should also be different from our product and it should be clearly labeled. There is also a disclaimer that says that the insert did not involve the reporting or editing staff of The New York Times.
As long as Chicago Life is clearly marked as an advertising supplement, we believe that it meets our advertising standards for clarity and honesty.
The 'Yuck' Factor
Q. There have been plenty of ads in the Times I've disagreed with, but I've only seen two series of advertisements that I've felt were inexcusable in their bad taste. One is an on-going exploitative series of fund-raising ads showing children with palates damaged by birth defects; the other was a series of people who look like they'd been badly beaten about the head and neck, their faces dark purple — in full-page full color, so you couldn't miss it — with a caption calling the puffy and bruised faces a metaphor for liver damage.
How do you determine whether to accept or reject ads whose intent is clearly to invoke a visceral, horrific "yuck!" reaction?
— David Gehrig, Urbana, Ill.
A. We have declined ads over the years that in our opinion would not be appropriate to share with your morning bagel and coffee. One of the more memorable "yuck" factor ads was a two-page color ad from a nameless (and I believe defunct) search engine. It showed the details of a hospital operating room just after an unsuccessful attempt to save a man's life. The operating room showed a dejected doctor along with the bloody detritus of equipment and supplies. A caption in the corner read "Search; Is there life after death."
The Smile Train ads showing a little girl appealing for money to help doctors perform operations in Third World countries speaks to a stark reality.
The liver damage ad for a drug marketed by Hoffman LaRoche to prevent Hepatitis C is clearly designed to shock. If it were designed to shock in order to sell computers, clothes or any other product, we would have turned it down. Since this ad could help save lives, we agreed to publish it.
Thank you for bringing up the subject.
Distracting Ads on the Web
Q. I use a Firefox plug-in called "NoScript" primarily because of the way that The New York Times Web site is programmed. I probably check the site two to three times a day (plus home delivery), but the advertising was so intrusive and distracting, that I found it hard to read.
Your ads would flash, change colors, or, in at least one case, grow to cover the editorial content. Turning off scripting also turns off the "multimedia" presentations on your site — which by and large is also a blessing. I have not (yet) turned to the more drastic plug-ins that turn off all advertising.
In any event, I wonder what your policy is for ads that flash, are distracting, that use fancy scripting to intrude on editorial content, or, as in the case of the mortgage company with the dancing Santas, are just plain ugly.
— Alan Harper, Oakland, Calif.
A. Our policy is to accept flash ads that animate for 30 seconds or less and include a default version for people who don't have a flash plug-in. We also accept advertising that expands upon user-initiation (but that you should be able retract as well). Some of the ads that you see that animate are flash, and some are just animating graphics.
We also take a limited number of "uninitiated overlay" ads: these appear over content without the user initiating anything. They can also be eliminated from view by using the close button that is always required to appear with the ad. Each person should only receive only one of these ads per visit to The New York Times Web site.
What Gives with Louis Vuitton?
Q. What's your take on the new Louis Vuitton ad campaign featuring celebs from another time? Do you think it targets new customers or appeals to the old ones? None of them seems to be an icon of fashion, so what gives?
— Sanford
A. I could only guess at why they are featuring stars and statesmen from years ago in their advertising, but to my mind it sets them apart from other upmarket competitors. The very fact that you are asking about it confirms that they have hit on a winner.
It might also be that these celebrities from years ago are more recognizable to an older demographic now, who happen to be older and richer.
Director of Advertising Acceptability
Published: September 17, 2007
Steph Jespersen, The Times’s director of advertising acceptability, is answering questions from readers Sept. 17-20. Questions may be e-mailed to askthetimes@nytimes.com. To read his most recent reply, click here.
Skip to next paragraph
Steph Jespersen
Mr. Jespersen is responsible for ensuring that all advertising in The Times complies with the company’s standards of integrity and good taste. His duties include establishing acceptability policy, and both pre-publication evaluation of advertising and post-publication resolution of reader grievances and competitive advertiser challenges. Advertisements are reviewed to see if they are misleading, inaccurate or fraudulent, or fail to comply with standards of decency and dignity. Submissions are closely examined for vulgar language, salacious images or copy that imitates news.
The New York Times has been rigorously reviewing advertising for almost 70 years. The founder and publisher of the modern Times, Adolph S. Ochs, believed that advertising in its own way conveyed news and had to adhere to well-defined standards, though the advertising department has always been completely separate from the news department and the editorial and Op-Ed pages and their staffs. Advertisers have no influence over news or editorial content of The Times.
Mr. Jespersen started his career at The New York Times in 1971. He has held numerous advertising sales positions, including travel account manager. In 1992 he joined the advertising acceptability department as copy chief. He was named director of the advertising acceptability department in 2000 and reports directly to the publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., to ensure that the decisions are independent from both the newsroom and the advertising department.
He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a B.S. degree in marketing.
MoveOn.org's Ad on General Petraeus
Q. Even though this is not strictly a question about advertising acceptability, perhaps you will answer in the hopes of clearing up the last of the MoveOn/Petraeus ad controversy.
When the controversy came to a head, the Times spokeswoman explained that with advocacy groups, any customer willing to buy space on a "standby" basis will get the same discounted price; while The Times does its best to accommodate with respect to the preferred date and placement, it cannot be guaranteed. Once the run date is known, the customer is usually informed. This is evidently what happened with the MoveOn ad.
Some bloggers point to the fact that the ad, which ran on the day General Petraeus testified, said he would be testifying "today," and thus, The Times must have agreed to run it on that day.
Could you please explain how it works when someone wants to run date-specific copy on a standby basis? Are there different versions for different days?
Thanks for your response.
— Z.Z.
A. As the acceptability director it was my job to say yes, or no to the ad, as I do every day for hundreds of advertisements. Let me explain how opinion advertising decisions are made.
In the past year, The New York Times accepted opinion ads from more than 200 groups, from Save Dartmouth to Save the Constitution. We accept ads from organizations across the political spectrum and from many groups and individuals, who simply have something to say. With opinion advertising, sometimes called advocacy advertising, the client uses our pages to make an argument or to dispute what someone else is saying … and this may include negative characterizations.
Acceptance of an ad does not in any way reflect the official position of The New York Times nor do we need to agree or endorse our advertiser's message or opinion. We only decline or alter an opinion ad when the message is clearly discriminatory, illegal, libelous, or hate speech. Of course, we expect advertisers to stay within the bounds of good taste as well.
The MoveOn.org ad was published because it complied with our standards. This ad was also accepted because it is our ongoing desire to keep our advertising columns as open as possible to the public, which we believe is a First Amendment responsibility. I would also point out that this ad was similar to other ads that criticized President Bush, former President Bill Clinton, and countless other public officials.
Within the category of political or advocacy advertising it is common practice throughout the newspaper industry to offer a standby rate in addition to open rate advertising. When a group buys a standby ad, it can request a particular date for it to be run, but receives no guarantee that it can appear that day. The lower cost of such ads reflects the flexibility that gives us. Any political or advocacy group calling up today to request a standby ad would be quoted the same rate that MoveOn.org paid.
It is also our practice to notify an advertiser, a day before, that we have room to accommodate his or her standby ad in the next day's newspaper, and at that point the advertiser can make minor changes in the text.
What's Acceptable?
Q. Because the H.I.V. virus continues to be a serious problem nationally, it's important (I believe) that condom advertising should not be restricted because of worries over taste. I think the TV networks are gradually changing their rules to allow more of these ads, at least during some hours of the night. What are the policies at The Times concerning condom ads, what is the rationale for them, and have these policies changes over time?
— Bob Kazel, Chicago
A. I can tell you that The Times accepts advertisements for condoms provided that the copy and illustrations are in acceptable taste.
This policy has changed over the years. At one time condom ads were only accepted if the ad dealt with the health benefits of using condoms.
Thanks for asking.
Q. Let's say I would like to purchase a full page ad in your newspaper and beat the #@*& out of Hillary Clinton. All proper and no foul language. Would you allow that?
— Michael Macfarlane, Arizona
A. First of all, we do not accept the word #@*& in advertisements in this newspaper. As a matter of fact, we accepted a full advertisement for a book that contained that word on the book's cover just last week. We insisted that the vulgarity be changed to asterisks or other characters.
Now, without the vulgarities, we would accept an advertisement that criticized Senator Clinton, as long as it stayed within the parameters of good taste.
Are an Ad's Claims Checked?
Q. It appears that many companies now are joining the bandwagon of global warming and carbor print responsibility because it may makes good commercial sense, if customers want it.
How does advertising plans to keep an eye on claims and responsibilities of advertisers? The whole thing could be taken for a ride if we just pay lip service to it. How do we know that advertisers are genuine in their claims? What's the code of conduct?
Should a scientific advisory group be created to supervise irresponsible advertising claims?
— Pablo
A. We expect all of our advertisers to be able to substantiate their claims, be they in an opinion ad or in a product ad. If the advertiser cannot substantiate their claims, we may ask them to modify their advertising.
In product or service advertising, if our readers find there is a difference between the advertised claims in the advertisement and how the product performs, they can write or call this department. We then ask the reader to document the complaint, and we forward it to the advertiser.
The advertiser usually contacts the reader to make a satisfactory adjustment to the product.
Political Ads
Q. A couple of weeks ago, the main page of www.nytimes.com displayed a large ad for "The Center for Union Facts," an anti-labor group inviting visitors to "help stop the big union power grab." The ad was pretty shocking to me, and made me wonder if The Times only runs advertisements whose politics it shares. Especially after Giuliani's demand for the same low rate given to MoveOn.org by The Times earlier this week, I'm hoping you can answer how The Times makes choices like this in picking their sponsors, whose messages certainly reflect on the publication as a whole. Is The New York Times anti-labor? Or is advertising just another kind of editorial?
— Diana Hamilton
A. In an effort to keep our opinion advertising columns as open as possible, we accept ads form virtually all individuals and groups.
We make no judgments on the advertisers' politics, arguments, factual assertions or conclusions. We accept opinion advertisements regardless of our editorial position on any given subject. In short, the background or the message is of no concern of ours as long as the advertiser stays within the bounds of good taste, and is not gratuitously offensive on racial, religious or ethnic grounds.
I can assure you that The Times is not anti-labor and the advertisement that you saw reflected only the views of the advertiser and not of this newspaper.
The Scent of a Magazine
Q. We are subscribers on Sundays, and really enjoy receiving The Times. However, we detest it when The Times includes perfume samples amid its magazine pages. The smell is not contained, and permeates the entire magazine. I'm not able to read the magazine, much less touch it when this happens. I get immediate headaches from perfumes. Maybe you received my letter some time ago where I sent back the offending perfume ad? Annoying, isn't it?
— Mariana Almeida, Berkeley, Calif.
A. Dear Ms. Almeida: Perfumed inserts in The New York Times Magazine, or scent strips, are a problem for many readers who either suffer from asthma or get headaches like you do. We looked into this problem many years ago and suggested that the perfumes be sealed until the strip was broken by the reader to release the scent. Ultimately, this did not work because the perfume manufacturers wanted their scent to leak out of the scent strips and permeate the entire magazine.
The only alternative we had was to either decline all the scent strips or send separate magazines to subscribers who wished to get a scent-free magazine. We chose the latter.
I am sending your name and address to our advertising department and you will be added to the list to receive a scent-free New York Times Magazine via the mail, every time a scent strip appears.
Thank you for letting us know.
When Advertising Looks Like a Magazine
Q. I've always been puzzled by Chicago Life magazine, which runs as an advertising supplement to The New York Times. Reading the letter from the editor in Chicago Life, a casual reader might mistake it for an unbiased, editorially-independent publication (despite the "advertising supplement..." disclaimer that is printed on each page). It has many of the trappings of a "real" magazine — interviews with prominent individuals, travel stories, etc. But, upon careful review, there's obvious advertorial content (some articles mention only advertisers, restaurant "reviews" that are uniformly positive and again primarily feature advertisers, etc.). In my opinion, it's offensive because it tries so hard to deceive and conceal its true purpose.
Several years ago I wrote an a letter to the New York Times ombudsman about Chicago Life, and was told that the ombudsman doesn't deal with advertising. So I'm curious where you draw the line. How many issues of Chicago Life have you read cover to cover, and did you find anything wrong with the way it presents itself?
— Jennifer King, Chicago
A. I've read Chicago Life for a number of years now, but only as an advertising professional.
As a free-standing insert to The New York Times in the Chicago area, Chicago Life is clearly marked "Advertising Supplement to The New York Times" on the cover and is marked "Advertising Supplement" on each page. According to the rules of the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the typeface should also be different from our product and it should be clearly labeled. There is also a disclaimer that says that the insert did not involve the reporting or editing staff of The New York Times.
As long as Chicago Life is clearly marked as an advertising supplement, we believe that it meets our advertising standards for clarity and honesty.
The 'Yuck' Factor
Q. There have been plenty of ads in the Times I've disagreed with, but I've only seen two series of advertisements that I've felt were inexcusable in their bad taste. One is an on-going exploitative series of fund-raising ads showing children with palates damaged by birth defects; the other was a series of people who look like they'd been badly beaten about the head and neck, their faces dark purple — in full-page full color, so you couldn't miss it — with a caption calling the puffy and bruised faces a metaphor for liver damage.
How do you determine whether to accept or reject ads whose intent is clearly to invoke a visceral, horrific "yuck!" reaction?
— David Gehrig, Urbana, Ill.
A. We have declined ads over the years that in our opinion would not be appropriate to share with your morning bagel and coffee. One of the more memorable "yuck" factor ads was a two-page color ad from a nameless (and I believe defunct) search engine. It showed the details of a hospital operating room just after an unsuccessful attempt to save a man's life. The operating room showed a dejected doctor along with the bloody detritus of equipment and supplies. A caption in the corner read "Search; Is there life after death."
The Smile Train ads showing a little girl appealing for money to help doctors perform operations in Third World countries speaks to a stark reality.
The liver damage ad for a drug marketed by Hoffman LaRoche to prevent Hepatitis C is clearly designed to shock. If it were designed to shock in order to sell computers, clothes or any other product, we would have turned it down. Since this ad could help save lives, we agreed to publish it.
Thank you for bringing up the subject.
Distracting Ads on the Web
Q. I use a Firefox plug-in called "NoScript" primarily because of the way that The New York Times Web site is programmed. I probably check the site two to three times a day (plus home delivery), but the advertising was so intrusive and distracting, that I found it hard to read.
Your ads would flash, change colors, or, in at least one case, grow to cover the editorial content. Turning off scripting also turns off the "multimedia" presentations on your site — which by and large is also a blessing. I have not (yet) turned to the more drastic plug-ins that turn off all advertising.
In any event, I wonder what your policy is for ads that flash, are distracting, that use fancy scripting to intrude on editorial content, or, as in the case of the mortgage company with the dancing Santas, are just plain ugly.
— Alan Harper, Oakland, Calif.
A. Our policy is to accept flash ads that animate for 30 seconds or less and include a default version for people who don't have a flash plug-in. We also accept advertising that expands upon user-initiation (but that you should be able retract as well). Some of the ads that you see that animate are flash, and some are just animating graphics.
We also take a limited number of "uninitiated overlay" ads: these appear over content without the user initiating anything. They can also be eliminated from view by using the close button that is always required to appear with the ad. Each person should only receive only one of these ads per visit to The New York Times Web site.
What Gives with Louis Vuitton?
Q. What's your take on the new Louis Vuitton ad campaign featuring celebs from another time? Do you think it targets new customers or appeals to the old ones? None of them seems to be an icon of fashion, so what gives?
— Sanford
A. I could only guess at why they are featuring stars and statesmen from years ago in their advertising, but to my mind it sets them apart from other upmarket competitors. The very fact that you are asking about it confirms that they have hit on a winner.
It might also be that these celebrities from years ago are more recognizable to an older demographic now, who happen to be older and richer.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Money for your opinion.
EXCERPT FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Wisdom of Sales Trend Predictions
By BOB TEDESCHI
Published: September 17, 2007
INTERNET pundits make a spectacle of their annual predictions for online holiday sales. Now an Internet group is turning to a new approach to arrive at its forecast: just ask everybody.
The Sloan Center for Internet Retailing, part of the University of California, Riverside, will announce a new Web site tomorrow relying on so-called prediction markets to foretell online sales and other Internet-related trends, like the shopping sites most likely to survive, or the popularity of “World of Warcraft.” In doing so, the Sloan Center is adopting a method of online research that off-line companies have used widely in recent months, but one that is not in broad use to study Internet sales.
“It’s increasingly hard to get people to participate in research studies, but they’re very eager to participate in prediction markets,” said Thomas P. Novak, a director of the Sloan Center. “Consumers are actually coming to you, which seems to me what the Web is all about.”
The concept behind the Sloan Center’s initiative, and the trend in general, is known as competitive forecasting, where Web sites pit users against each other to determine who is the most prescient about a certain topic. Analysts said this method, publicized widely in “The Wisdom of Crowds,” the book by the New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki, yields more accurate results because participants care much more about their answers than in a typical phone survey.
The Wisdom of Sales Trend Predictions
By BOB TEDESCHI
Published: September 17, 2007
INTERNET pundits make a spectacle of their annual predictions for online holiday sales. Now an Internet group is turning to a new approach to arrive at its forecast: just ask everybody.
The Sloan Center for Internet Retailing, part of the University of California, Riverside, will announce a new Web site tomorrow relying on so-called prediction markets to foretell online sales and other Internet-related trends, like the shopping sites most likely to survive, or the popularity of “World of Warcraft.” In doing so, the Sloan Center is adopting a method of online research that off-line companies have used widely in recent months, but one that is not in broad use to study Internet sales.
“It’s increasingly hard to get people to participate in research studies, but they’re very eager to participate in prediction markets,” said Thomas P. Novak, a director of the Sloan Center. “Consumers are actually coming to you, which seems to me what the Web is all about.”
The concept behind the Sloan Center’s initiative, and the trend in general, is known as competitive forecasting, where Web sites pit users against each other to determine who is the most prescient about a certain topic. Analysts said this method, publicized widely in “The Wisdom of Crowds,” the book by the New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki, yields more accurate results because participants care much more about their answers than in a typical phone survey.
Reaction to Adsense Report Card.
I have been receiving great feedback to my recent column on Adsense. Here are a few comments from a blog on SiteProNews {they referred to "AdSense's Impenetrable Veil"}-
"As a publisher I'd like to know why I have days with a 30% click thru rate on a specific site and then have a 5% click thru rate the very next day. It would be nice to see some data."
"in my opinion, Google remains on the top of its field because of TRUST, trust because Google delivers... for an advertiser, SALES is the bottom line . As long as the purpose is served, even not disclosing whats enumerated above is alright, especially if its the trade secret that keep Advertisers happy."
"Adsense enforces its policies guidelines
haphazardly, allowing some favoured websites with alcohol or gambling related themes to place ads on the site, while shutting down others. Policies are not enforced fairly."
"As a publisher I'd like to know why I have days with a 30% click thru rate on a specific site and then have a 5% click thru rate the very next day. It would be nice to see some data."
"in my opinion, Google remains on the top of its field because of TRUST, trust because Google delivers... for an advertiser, SALES is the bottom line . As long as the purpose is served, even not disclosing whats enumerated above is alright, especially if its the trade secret that keep Advertisers happy."
"Adsense enforces its policies guidelines
haphazardly, allowing some favoured websites with alcohol or gambling related themes to place ads on the site, while shutting down others. Policies are not enforced fairly."
Friday, September 14, 2007
AdSense Report Card
I have a column on iMediaConnection that will be of interest to all of you. Here is an excerpt-
2. Google never tells publishers why they got paid a certain amount.
1.Google does not publish any research on ad effectiveness.
The full column is here.
Transparency
Google has built an advertising marketplace on the principle of opacity. Everybody involved is provided with a modicum of information rather than the complete picture. In doing so, the company creates an atmosphere that asks all involved to simply trust it. While Google might argue that this is needed to minimize opportunism by all involved, this is a dangerous way to run a marketplace.
Here is a top 10 list of what Google does not reveal.
10.Google does not tell advertisers where exactly their ad will get placed.
9. Google does not tell some publishers why exactly they shut them down.
8. Google does not share any network-level performance figures.
7. Google does not provide any information about how overall click rates have changed over time.
6. Google does not share any information on who clicked on the ads.
5. Google does not reveal what leads to higher placement among paid ads.
4. Google does not reveal how exactly it evaluates the quality of a text ad, i.e., the Quality Score. According to Google, the formula "varies depending on whether it's calculating minimum bids or assigning ad position."
3. Google does not tell advertisers what countries the users come from.2. Google never tells publishers why they got paid a certain amount.
1.Google does not publish any research on ad effectiveness.
Grade: C
Here is an initial reaction to the article-Excellent article! I agree with you that there is a huge opportunity for a company to develop a superior product to Google AdSense. I used it for awhile on our www.officepolitics.com site -- but the ads that were being fed were trainers and coaches in competition with the Advisers who contribute to the site -- and the ads look junkie. When I called up Google to see if I could choose different advertisers (e.g. business books, career companies), they said, "Sorry. Can't do it. The computer chooses the ads that are delivered to you." This was an unacceptable answer -- so I dropped AdSense. Our most successful ads for the site have been custom sponsorships.
The full column is here.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
WSJ REPORTS- Walmart chooses Subway over McDonalds!
Excerpt-
Wal-Mart Embraces Subway Over McDonald's in Its Stores
By James Covert and Richard Gibson
Word Count: 1,070 | Companies Featured in This Article: Wal-Mart Stores, McDonald's
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is losing its taste for burgers and fries.
Subway, the fast-food chain that likes to promote its sandwiches as a healthy alternative to traditional fried and grilled fare, began doing business with the world's largest retailer only three years ago. But from a lone restaurant inside a Wal-Mart in Ozark, Ala., Subway has quickly overtaken McDonald's Corp. as Wal-Mart's primary fast-food concessionaire across the U.S.
Amazing Marketing Campaign on LinkedIN
Turns out that Barack Obama has a very cool campaign on LinkedIn. He has posed a simple question, "How can the next president better help small business and entrepreneurs thrive?" The last time I checked he had received 1298 answers to this question. I do not see Hillary Clinton or the other presidential candidates on this forum yet. This confirms my belief that LinkedIn's Answers feature is its most important one to date.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Definition of Marketing- a Discussion on LinkedIn.
Question
Marketing as a Business Philosophy, a way of thinking or a function? Which is your definition?
There is no one definition of marketing which describes it as it is in every organization: as a function it adaps itself to the needs of the organization, while it is also a way of thinking, a way to sell, a Business Philosophy applied to what you do.
Which is your definition of Marketing?
Answers
# 1
My company specializes in marketing that identifies and attracts customers who have already decided to buy, but are looking for the company to buy from. So, we see Marketing not only as a function of our business, but as service to be sold. Marketing is a fascinating combination of science, art, and business.
# 2
Marketing is what we tell customers about ourselves.
# 3
A wholistic view of the marketing process would be:
Determine a market, determine what that market will buy, provide it, and communicate your ability to provide it.
Often we tend to see marketing as just communicating our ability to provide something.
# 4
marketing i believe is not just a department or a function - it is a way of "be-ing" for the company. "market-ing" - i.e., creating products that are innovative and that meet consumers' needs and making those products relevant to their lives through relevant communications, distribution points, promoted by relevant channels - is a philosophy.
# 5
I'm a VP of Client Services for an integrated marketing company and believe that marketing is a part of the organization's overall philosophy. A business develops relationships with it's vendors through great process and operations. It develops relationships with it's customers through engagement.
# 6
I majored in marketing, but never really understood how central it is.
Marketing is what we do everyday - a seamless demonstration of the value we deliver. Without delivery we have no track record, no customer referrals, no congruence and hence no credibility. It colours all our communications and behaviours. It is the base for any attempt at selling.
# 7
I'm reading just now the last Marketing Management edition by Mr Kotler.
He is the global reference about marketing, but even him sometimes is wrong on certain specific issues.
It's probably in the nature of Marketing the fact that any definition will become wrong in the future.
I'll simply say that Marketing is all the activities you can make to convince customers to buy your product or service
This definition can be applied to single people in their professional life or to big companies.
Selling = Eating today
Marketing = Eating Tomorrow
Many more elegant explanations exist and I would never attempt to use this as an example or definition in Marketing 101 or even 102, 103 and 104. But for those of us in the Linkedin community who have been around the block a few times, this offers a nice visceral description.
Marketing is a Business Philosophy and so that makes it both a way of thinking and a function for your business. I like to say advertising is what you do to tell others who don't know you what you do. Marketing is what you do to prove that your ads tell the correct story of what you do. Marketing is what you do everyday to prove to your clients that they placed their trust in the right person/company. Marketing is your way of life.
I like to use an example all the time of a new grocery store. They start by advertising that they have low prices and high quality. After a few customers have been in and seen that they do in deed have low prices and high quality they tell other people- that is marketing were you don't have to tell others what you do others brag about what they have found and your reputation spreads. If you stop doing what you advertise and start doing something else you have to begin relying on your marketing to keep you going. and allow them to spread the word of how you have changed hopefully for the better.
I know that most people would disagree with me but then most people don't get marketing and flop when they try to live on just marketing to help them survive. You have to advertise and market at the same time. When someone only advertises and never puts the marketing into practice then they will fail.Youa also cannot afford to only market and not advertise. You may have the best staff and the highest quality but if no one knows what you do then you won't make a plug nickel.
Zig Ziglar says everyone is a salesperson-either you sell them that they need to buy what you have or they sell you that they don't, the outcome is what determines who was the better salesperson that day. I would say that you can substitute the word marketer for salesperson and get the same result. I hope I was able to help all those who read this to become better marketers and sales professionals.
Thats an interesting question. I would agree to your thought of Marketing as "Way of Thinking” above all! Rather, I would say it’s a “State of
As an employee, there have been times I would not have considered marketing to be anything I was involved in or responsible for. I have since come to believe that every employee of a company is involved in marketing whether they know or understand it. I now believe that marketing is more than a function or a way of thinking or a sales approach or a business philosophy. Therefore, to describe what I mean that marketing is more than these things, then I guess I would say marketing is a lifestyle.
But, what does it mean for marketing to be lifestyle?
From the newest employee to the President/CEO of a company, so long as you work for a company your livelihood is tied to the success or failure of the company. If the company succeeds, your livelihood has a better chance for improvement, but if the company fails then your livelihood is likely to suffer until you find a new employer.
In short, when every employee for a company understands they can be a valuable contributor to the marketing and success of their company and keep that thought in the forefront of their mind, then the odds for success of the company tend to be greater. For these reasons, I've come to believe that marketing is a lifestyle or a sense of being that I can make a part of me and work towards developing it as a skill I can easily draw upon as the circumstances warrant or where I see a hint of daylight that would allow me to make an opportunity develop.
"Why and how" would put Marketing definition in the right perspective. As we all understand, Marketing in any form or function has two clear objectives:
- Understand the Need/Pain/Challenge of Customer.
- Position and Deliver the Best Solution/Product/Service.
Business and of course marketing starts and ends with customer, the very reason for its existence! With this pretext no doubt Marketing forms the very basis of any function in the organization. Let’s look at few of functions one by one:
-Human Resources – Imbibes Customer Orientation in employees and ensure the capabilities are attuned to deliver best products / services.
-Production / Operations – Ensure Customer Delight by delivering products / service of the highest quality.
-Finance – Ensure the best price to customer through effective financial planning and budgeting.(Assuming that Price is always not market)
-Research and Development – Deliver innovative products to customers based on their needs.
And this would probably be the case for every other function, thus clearly reinforcing the fact that every employee needs to have a “Marketing Mindset”, which directs his / her actions in the organization towards Customer Needs. Having said all this:
“Can we Isolate Marketing as a separate function and just let it operate in a silo?” The answer in my opinion would be “NO”.
It may be categorized as a separate function for ease of structure and operational reasons, but the mindset and objective of Marketing should be something realized and practiced across all the Business functions and its employees.
I understand that this is something hard to practice across functions...and few of the thoughts may sound a bit abstract, but then its not easy intitutionalise a "Mindset!". :)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Marketing textbooks have never kept up with marketing practice. This has never been more true today when a whole generation of marketing MBA students are graduating without adequate knowledge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). On the one hand, I am happy that my students have an edge in the marketplace. On the other hand, I worry about the relevance of marketing as a discipline.
Bum Advertising.
How would you like to see a bum proudly display your ad? This site got a lot of attention a couple years back. It was shut down mostly due to "legal attention"- specifically the fact that these people were not being paid a minimum wage.
Are User-Generated Ads Fads?
Nick Desai has an interesting column about this. Here is an excerpt-
Juice Wireless' founder examines the user-generated ad phenomenon and what role these ads may play in the future of marketing.
Juice Wireless' founder examines the user-generated ad phenomenon and what role these ads may play in the future of marketing.
The other day I was pouring a big pile of ketchup, and I noticed on the packet that there was a contest to make the best user-generated commercial for Heinz ketchup -- with the winner's ad actually running on TV. As my mind filled with ideas for my own creative ways to use the red stuff, I started to think about this: As user-generated content becomes increasingly mainstream, will user-generated ads follow in popularity?
Actual consumer product reviews have already become key to our selection of everything from restaurants to toys, cars and movies. When I select toys to buy online for my incredibly cute nephew, I read every one of the consumer reviews because they provide invaluable insights; for example, how hard they are to assemble.
E-Markplan
Krishnamurthy, Sandeep (2006), "Introducing E-MARKPLAN: A practical methodologyto plan e-marketing activities", Business Horizons, 49(1), 51-. Full paper available here.
Abstract (Summary)
Although e-marketing is highly prevalent, no template currently exists for managers who wish to use the Internet/Web and related information technologies to market their products and services. This paper provides managers with a comprehensive, actionable, and practical methodology (E-MARKPLAN) to plan, enact, and analyze e-marketing activities. Five case studies are used to illustrate the diversity of e-marketing actions. E-MARKPLAN consists of five parts: goals, actors (i.e., those who take e-marketing actions), spaces (i.e., theaters of engagement), actions, and outcomes. The E-MARKPLAN methodology is versatile, and is not limited to companies which have e-commerce operations.
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