MySpace: Is The Party Over? The WrapWill MySpace's management restructuring work? More pointedly, "with no buzz factor, low scores for 'user trust' in online surveys and a reputation as a hangout for disaffected teenagers, is MySpace still viable as a broad-based, come-one-come-all social network?" asks The Wrap's Maria Russo.Several bloggers are already writing dirges for the News Corp. site. "The more cynical among us are already comparing MySpace to soon-to-disappear GeoCities," VentureBeat's Eric Eldon said last week, following the news that Yahoo would scrap GeoCities, which it bought for around $3 billion in 1999. The appointment of former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta as CEO was met by further doubt: "Like an '80s rock band, MySpace's time has come and gone," said GigaOm's Om Malik. "Folks, what we are seeing is an end of general purpose, broad social networking." Added Eldon, MySpace "has the feel of a fun party that's almost over."Indeed, MySpace's traffic is stalling while Facebook continues to grow like a weed, particularly overseas. According to the latest figures from comScore, Facebook had an estimated 294.7 million unique visitors worldwide in March, while MySpace had 125.7 million. Stalling traffic may be part of the reason DeWolfe lost his job: "many in the industry felt that DeWolfe, considered a favorite of CEO Rupert Murdoch, let rival Facebook take the lead on innovation and technology," says Russo. - Read the whole story...
Nielsen: Twitter Fails To Retain Users AFPTwitter's phenomenal growth has been well documented, but its month-over-month audience retention rate is a mere 40%, says Nielsen Online, meaning that more than 60% of its users fail to return the following month.By comparison, Facebook and MySpace have retention rates of nearly 70%. "Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be able to sustain its meteoric rise without establishing a higher level of user loyalty," David Martin, Nielsen Online's vice president for primary research, said in a blog post."Let there be no doubt: Twitter has grown exponentially in the past few months with no small thanks to celebrity exposure," Martin said, referencing new users such as talk show host Oprah Winfrey and actor Ashton Kutcher. Martin noted that new users continue to sign up "in droves," and that Twitter' unique audience was up more than 100% in March. Even so, the microblogging sensation faces "an uphill battle" in retaining these users, Martin said. - Read the whole story...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
News Corp. To Axe MySpace's DeWolfe, Anderson
By Ross Fadner , April 22, 2009
TechCrunch Michael Arrington says that News Corp. is looking to replace MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe, whose contract with the company expires in the fall. Jonathan Miller, News Corp.'s new CEO of Digital Media, is understood to be leading the charge."We've confirmed that things are actually moving much faster than we first understood, and that a decision has already been made to terminate Chris DeWolfe's employment with MySpace," Arrington says. "We've also been told that the core MySpace executive team will follow." This includes President Tom Anderson and Chief Technology Officer Aber Whitcomb. "Removing any more of the team would be much more than a morale blow to the company -- it would also bring operations to a screaming halt," Arrington says.Sources claim that a new CEO has already been recruited and is in the final stages of contract negotiations. An announcement is expected as soon as this week or next. - Read the whole story...
TechCrunch Michael Arrington says that News Corp. is looking to replace MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe, whose contract with the company expires in the fall. Jonathan Miller, News Corp.'s new CEO of Digital Media, is understood to be leading the charge."We've confirmed that things are actually moving much faster than we first understood, and that a decision has already been made to terminate Chris DeWolfe's employment with MySpace," Arrington says. "We've also been told that the core MySpace executive team will follow." This includes President Tom Anderson and Chief Technology Officer Aber Whitcomb. "Removing any more of the team would be much more than a morale blow to the company -- it would also bring operations to a screaming halt," Arrington says.Sources claim that a new CEO has already been recruited and is in the final stages of contract negotiations. An announcement is expected as soon as this week or next. - Read the whole story...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com Announces Top 10 Green Cars for 2009
OKAY gang...for all you media sales folks still pursuing autodealer ad dollars...Here's some cars you can pitch them to advertise because of their TOP FUEL ECON....
IRVINE, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire/ --
Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new car and used car information, today announces the expert editors of Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com name their 2009 picks for the Top 10 Green Cars. In an all-new story posted to KBB(R) Green, the kbb.com editors list a variety of fuel-efficient vehicles worthy of buyers' consideration. The coverage includes detailed EPA-estimated fuel economy numbers and editorial commentary on why each particular model made this year's list.
On last year's inaugural Top 10 Green Cars list, the kbb.com editors cited skyrocketing gas prices, a weak economy and growing environmental consciousness as the major reasons more car buyers were focusing on fuel economy. As we approach Earth Day 2009, gas prices have come back to Earth but the shaky economy is trumping most other concerns and causes, resulting in far fewer car buyers.
The current sales slump is unfortunate for many reasons, one of which is that 2009 is shaping up to be a banner year for fuel efficiency. The year's arrivals include an all-new Toyota Prius that is even more fuel-efficient than its world-beating predecessor, a new Prius alternative in the Honda Insight, and a range of new 50-state clean-diesel cars, among others. In addition to these newcomers, this year's Top 10 Green Cars list highlights some familiar faces, and the kbb.com editors again included a variety of vehicle shapes and sizes, because they recognize that not everyone who wants to get greener can go smaller. Just as buyers would, the editors considered characteristics like comfort, performance, utility and technology - not just fuel economy and price - in picking the winners.
"Despite the decline in auto sales and the stabilization of gas prices in recent months, we still think many new-car shoppers are interested in buying vehicles that are more fuel-efficient and better for the environment," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. "More than ever, we're seeing a variety of environmentally friendly vehicles for the 2009 and 2010 model-years that offer intriguing technology. No matter what you or your family's vehicle needs may be, we're confident there is a 'Green' option available to suit your preferences and lifestyle." Kbb.com's 2009 Top 10 Green Cars
(In order of combined EPA-estimated fuel economy)
Vehicle City, MPG Highway, MPG Combined MPG [use the numbers below to match]
2010 Toyota Prius 51 48 50
2010 Honda Insight 40 43 41
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid 41 36 39
2009 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI 30 41 34
2009 MINI Cooper 28 37 32
2009 Ford Escape Hybrid 34 31 32
2009 Honda Fit 28 34 31
2009 BMW 335d 23 36 27
2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid 27 25 26
2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid 21 22 21
Go get' em!!!
IRVINE, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire/ --
Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new car and used car information, today announces the expert editors of Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com name their 2009 picks for the Top 10 Green Cars. In an all-new story posted to KBB(R) Green, the kbb.com editors list a variety of fuel-efficient vehicles worthy of buyers' consideration. The coverage includes detailed EPA-estimated fuel economy numbers and editorial commentary on why each particular model made this year's list.
On last year's inaugural Top 10 Green Cars list, the kbb.com editors cited skyrocketing gas prices, a weak economy and growing environmental consciousness as the major reasons more car buyers were focusing on fuel economy. As we approach Earth Day 2009, gas prices have come back to Earth but the shaky economy is trumping most other concerns and causes, resulting in far fewer car buyers.
The current sales slump is unfortunate for many reasons, one of which is that 2009 is shaping up to be a banner year for fuel efficiency. The year's arrivals include an all-new Toyota Prius that is even more fuel-efficient than its world-beating predecessor, a new Prius alternative in the Honda Insight, and a range of new 50-state clean-diesel cars, among others. In addition to these newcomers, this year's Top 10 Green Cars list highlights some familiar faces, and the kbb.com editors again included a variety of vehicle shapes and sizes, because they recognize that not everyone who wants to get greener can go smaller. Just as buyers would, the editors considered characteristics like comfort, performance, utility and technology - not just fuel economy and price - in picking the winners.
"Despite the decline in auto sales and the stabilization of gas prices in recent months, we still think many new-car shoppers are interested in buying vehicles that are more fuel-efficient and better for the environment," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. "More than ever, we're seeing a variety of environmentally friendly vehicles for the 2009 and 2010 model-years that offer intriguing technology. No matter what you or your family's vehicle needs may be, we're confident there is a 'Green' option available to suit your preferences and lifestyle." Kbb.com's 2009 Top 10 Green Cars
(In order of combined EPA-estimated fuel economy)
Vehicle City, MPG Highway, MPG Combined MPG [use the numbers below to match]
2010 Toyota Prius 51 48 50
2010 Honda Insight 40 43 41
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid 41 36 39
2009 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI 30 41 34
2009 MINI Cooper 28 37 32
2009 Ford Escape Hybrid 34 31 32
2009 Honda Fit 28 34 31
2009 BMW 335d 23 36 27
2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid 27 25 26
2009 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid 21 22 21
Go get' em!!!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Downturn Affects Gen Y, Seniors Least
Sarah Mahoney, Apr 14, 2009 06:23 PM
With the latest news showing that most Americans are continuing to hold back on spending, it looks as if Gen Y and senior citizens may be the exceptions, according to new research from Retail Forward.
When it comes to things like using coupons, buying in bulk, batching trips and switching to private labels, "I expected the most conservative people to be the oldest people," says Mandy Putnam, VP of the Columbus, Ohio-based consulting company. "But we're seeing that seniors on the upper end of the income scale are not changing their behavior. And the same seems to be true of Gen Y crowd. Perhaps because many of them don't yet have houses or investments, they don't feel as worried."
Gen X and Boomers, on the other hand, are making more conscious changes. "Among Baby Boomers, there's more interest in giving up national brands for private labels," she says. Only 18% of 18- to 24-year-olds say they are purchasing more private or store brands, compared with nearly a third of shoppers age 45 or older.
"Younger people are more likely to have given up restaurants or their daily Starbucks," she says, adding that nearly a third of shoppers age 25 to 34 are cutting back on everyday splurges, compared with 25% or fewer shoppers in all other age groups.
While many of these changes won't stick -- "people aren't going to avoid restaurants forever" -- Putnam says she expects some of them to be permanent.
In its latest ShopperScape survey, it asked 4,000 respondents what they are doing now to save money, and which of these tactics they think they are most likely to retain. These days, the leading change continues to be buying fewer items on impulse, listed by 48% as their No. 1 money-saver, followed by not buying food items that seem "just too expensive" (47%), and eating out at restaurants less often, as well as switching to more affordable restaurants (40%.)
But when asked which habits they thought would stick, even when the economy picks up, the No. 1 "I'll still be doing it" choice was "not buying pricey food items" (36%), followed by "buying less on impulse" (36%) and "using coupons more frequently" (31%.)
With the latest news showing that most Americans are continuing to hold back on spending, it looks as if Gen Y and senior citizens may be the exceptions, according to new research from Retail Forward.
When it comes to things like using coupons, buying in bulk, batching trips and switching to private labels, "I expected the most conservative people to be the oldest people," says Mandy Putnam, VP of the Columbus, Ohio-based consulting company. "But we're seeing that seniors on the upper end of the income scale are not changing their behavior. And the same seems to be true of Gen Y crowd. Perhaps because many of them don't yet have houses or investments, they don't feel as worried."
Gen X and Boomers, on the other hand, are making more conscious changes. "Among Baby Boomers, there's more interest in giving up national brands for private labels," she says. Only 18% of 18- to 24-year-olds say they are purchasing more private or store brands, compared with nearly a third of shoppers age 45 or older.
"Younger people are more likely to have given up restaurants or their daily Starbucks," she says, adding that nearly a third of shoppers age 25 to 34 are cutting back on everyday splurges, compared with 25% or fewer shoppers in all other age groups.
While many of these changes won't stick -- "people aren't going to avoid restaurants forever" -- Putnam says she expects some of them to be permanent.
In its latest ShopperScape survey, it asked 4,000 respondents what they are doing now to save money, and which of these tactics they think they are most likely to retain. These days, the leading change continues to be buying fewer items on impulse, listed by 48% as their No. 1 money-saver, followed by not buying food items that seem "just too expensive" (47%), and eating out at restaurants less often, as well as switching to more affordable restaurants (40%.)
But when asked which habits they thought would stick, even when the economy picks up, the No. 1 "I'll still be doing it" choice was "not buying pricey food items" (36%), followed by "buying less on impulse" (36%) and "using coupons more frequently" (31%.)
Staying Power: TV Ads Scores High Consumer Impact
Wayne Friedman,
Television advertising contributes more than half the impact of all marketing -- from initial awareness through purchasing -- when consumers are exposed to an overall campaign.
Of these totals, television gives consumers 43% awareness impact, while other media contributes a collective 37%, according to a new study released today by Yankelovich and the Television Bureau of Advertising.(20% of consumers say media had no influence.)
When it comes to making purchases -- the end of the marketing funnel -- TV advertising contributes to consumers' decisions 26% of the time. It's 27% for other media, while 47% of consumers say media has no impact on their decisions.
The study says a positive trend for television is that its share of media impact on a percentage basis remains relatively flat through all marketing phases -- from "awareness," "interest," "consider purchase," "want to purchase," "visit store/Web site" and "making purchases."
For all business categories, total advertising impacts consumers at an 80% level when it comes to awareness and declines to 53% when it comes to making purchases.
After television, the Internet has the second-strongest impact over other media, contributing 14% to "awareness," 13% to "consideration," 13% to "preference" and 12% to actual "purchase" levels.
Television has above-average awareness levels for consumers when it comes to health care and entertainment advertising.
The Internet over-indexes in the automotive, schools/colleges and entertainment categories. E-mail advertising does best with auto/life insurance.
Newspapers do well with department/discount stores and schools/colleges. Magazines are best with automotive and health care, while radio advertising has above average awareness with restaurants, schools/colleges and furniture stores.
Television advertising contributes more than half the impact of all marketing -- from initial awareness through purchasing -- when consumers are exposed to an overall campaign.
Of these totals, television gives consumers 43% awareness impact, while other media contributes a collective 37%, according to a new study released today by Yankelovich and the Television Bureau of Advertising.(20% of consumers say media had no influence.)
When it comes to making purchases -- the end of the marketing funnel -- TV advertising contributes to consumers' decisions 26% of the time. It's 27% for other media, while 47% of consumers say media has no impact on their decisions.
The study says a positive trend for television is that its share of media impact on a percentage basis remains relatively flat through all marketing phases -- from "awareness," "interest," "consider purchase," "want to purchase," "visit store/Web site" and "making purchases."
For all business categories, total advertising impacts consumers at an 80% level when it comes to awareness and declines to 53% when it comes to making purchases.
After television, the Internet has the second-strongest impact over other media, contributing 14% to "awareness," 13% to "consideration," 13% to "preference" and 12% to actual "purchase" levels.
Television has above-average awareness levels for consumers when it comes to health care and entertainment advertising.
The Internet over-indexes in the automotive, schools/colleges and entertainment categories. E-mail advertising does best with auto/life insurance.
Newspapers do well with department/discount stores and schools/colleges. Magazines are best with automotive and health care, while radio advertising has above average awareness with restaurants, schools/colleges and furniture stores.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Total Time Spent Online Is Not Indicative Of Online Media's Worth
Friday, April 10, 2009 By Max Kalehoff
David Meer, chief research officer at Enfatico, observes many frustrated and idealistic people in the online media business. Particularly ones that persistently point out the discrepancy between time and money spent online: "Despite the fact that people spend around 30% of their media time online, advertising online captures less than 10% of media budgets-and the gap has persisted over the last several years."
Which begs the question: Why do people automatically and narrowly apply time spent in a given channel as a proxy for value and justified ad dollars? It boggles my mind. In terms of branding and customer acquisition goals, I will gladly pay a lot more for one channel with almost no time spent versus one with a lot of time spent -- if the former were to perform better against my objectives. And objectives and their achievement should factor in return on ad spend, including profitability to my business. It's that simple.
So what best explains this lopsided online-offline equation? Meer says that both traditional and online advocates tend to be parochial: "We know that online allows us to measure conversion and business results with brands immediately and with more specificity than any other medium. Importantly, it also enables two-way conversations between customers and brands. But TV remains a powerful communications vehicle, one that consumers still embrace. What's missing so far is better knowledge of how the two work together. When marketing is truly integrated, offline and online work together seamlessly, with robust analytics to make sure the allocation between them leads to the best outcome."
Meer's right. Advertisers are stymied by their inability to understand and properly attribute the impact of individual and collective advertising investments toward predetermined goals. When that happens, we'll see an adjustment to a more enlightened media cost-to-value ratio.
But beware: in the near term, greater value may be reinforced with offline channels, not online. But in the mid- to long term, the dichotomy of online versus offline will blur and disappear -- if for no reason than because the world's going digital. Theoretically, more media on a single digital grid (or compatible ones) will yield centralized, smarter marketing investments.
David Meer, chief research officer at Enfatico, observes many frustrated and idealistic people in the online media business. Particularly ones that persistently point out the discrepancy between time and money spent online: "Despite the fact that people spend around 30% of their media time online, advertising online captures less than 10% of media budgets-and the gap has persisted over the last several years."
Which begs the question: Why do people automatically and narrowly apply time spent in a given channel as a proxy for value and justified ad dollars? It boggles my mind. In terms of branding and customer acquisition goals, I will gladly pay a lot more for one channel with almost no time spent versus one with a lot of time spent -- if the former were to perform better against my objectives. And objectives and their achievement should factor in return on ad spend, including profitability to my business. It's that simple.
So what best explains this lopsided online-offline equation? Meer says that both traditional and online advocates tend to be parochial: "We know that online allows us to measure conversion and business results with brands immediately and with more specificity than any other medium. Importantly, it also enables two-way conversations between customers and brands. But TV remains a powerful communications vehicle, one that consumers still embrace. What's missing so far is better knowledge of how the two work together. When marketing is truly integrated, offline and online work together seamlessly, with robust analytics to make sure the allocation between them leads to the best outcome."
Meer's right. Advertisers are stymied by their inability to understand and properly attribute the impact of individual and collective advertising investments toward predetermined goals. When that happens, we'll see an adjustment to a more enlightened media cost-to-value ratio.
But beware: in the near term, greater value may be reinforced with offline channels, not online. But in the mid- to long term, the dichotomy of online versus offline will blur and disappear -- if for no reason than because the world's going digital. Theoretically, more media on a single digital grid (or compatible ones) will yield centralized, smarter marketing investments.
When will retail make a comeback?
When Women's Wear Daily asked retail experts about when they expected a recovery, the consensus was that it won't happen overnight. A National Retail Federation economist was optimistic about this year. Said Rosalind Wells: "The answer depends on so many things, but if all the economic policies go well, we expect to see a stabilization in the third quarter and an uptick in the fourth." Portfolio.com/Women's Wear Daily (4/7)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Hold 'em or Fold 'em
Posted by Jack Loechner AMA new 24/7 WallStreet report says that, over the last few weeks, the newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline. The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy as did the Journal Register chain. The Rocky Mountain News closed along with the Seattle Post Intelligencer, owned by Hearst, and Hearst has said it will also close The San Francisco Chronicle if it cannot make massive cuts at the paper.
ABC Radio becomes "Citadel Media."
The ABC name will no longer be part of radio as ABC Radio Networks rebrand itself as Citadel Media. The network says the name reflects not only its current owner, but an evolution to target audiences and advertisers across all media platforms. Rebranding ABC Radio Network as Citadel Media was required by its deal with Disney. But executives believe the new name may better reflect the company’s present position. The network has increasingly been looking to new platforms from mobile phones to television screens atop gas pumps.
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