Monthly Archives: December 2008

It’s that time of year again and, even if you don’t make any resolutions on a personal level, my guess is that your organization’s marketing efforts could use some fine-tuning (or even radical change) as we face some of tough … Continue reading →

Stuart Elliott, advertising columnist for the New York Times, yesterday posted his thoughts on the best and worst ads in 2008. Political advertising certainly took a large amount of the advertising limelight in 2008 – record amounts were spent, including … Continue reading →

I was looking for something to watch last night, after my elf was tucked in his bed. I was bummed to find out I missed the annual marathon of “A Christmas Story” on TBS. Didn’t watch it once this year! … Continue reading →

Susan Gunelius, an advertising columnist for Entrepreneur.com, posts a piece on MSNBC.com about the top 10 words to avoid in your advertising in 2009. Her advice – which frankly should apply anytime, not just in 2009 – will help anyone … Continue reading →

I’ve been reading a lot in the past week or so about companies, distressed about a downturn, that are looking anew at reaching minority consumers via multicultural marketing efforts. (Click here for a recent BusinessWeek piece and here for an … Continue reading →

Advertising Age published a summary of what it thinks the Top Ten legal issues will be for advertisers in 2009. Nothing surprising here – more oversight, more wrangling over scarce resources and the legislative leviathan that threatens the advertising world … Continue reading →

Nielsen released its annual look at all things ratings last Friday – books, movie box office, songs, downloads, most-visited websites, and more. This doc summarizes the results into a “Top 10″ overview. More data is available if you purchase the … Continue reading →

Coupons were passe during the halcyon days of double-digit percentage growth of Americans’ 401(k)s, which wasn’t too long ago. Now, with the R word staring at us every day and the statements from your investments showing a sharp reversal of … Continue reading →

Recession would in most cases instigate a reduction in expenditures, and often advertising dollars get the ax first. But some events seem to be immune.  A recent Sports Illustrated article shows that despite network advertising declines, the Super Bowl still attracts … Continue reading →

Plenty of companies  think that if they see their ad on the evening newscast (and their board members/president/CEO see it) that they’ve done their job and the customers will come running. Um, not so much. People are shifting away from … Continue reading →

Advertising Age today published its annual Global Marketers survey of advertising spending world-wide (this survey summarized 2007). Procter & Gamble, the consumer products powerhouse, is again listed as No. 1, spending nearly $10 BILLION world-wide last year on marketing…almost double … Continue reading →

Rule number one of crisis communications: Don’t Lie, Spin, Stretch the Truth or Play with Our Affections. (And GM, I’m talking to you). Back in September, ADwire wrote about GM’s launch of a site designed to present the “truth” about … Continue reading →

As a kid I used to lay in the grass looking up at the sky and try to make out familiar shapes in the clouds. “There is a dog, there is a dragon.” As an adult (some would differ), I … Continue reading →

TNS Media Intelligence is out for its final tally of political advertising spending in 2008 – between $2.5 and $2.7 billion, which fell short of some astronomical projections earlier this year of $3 billion-plus. The bulk of those dollars went … Continue reading →

Security firms, this past month, have been reporting the shut down of an Internet service provider has resulted in a drop in Internet-wide spam of as much as 66 percent. “It was like night and day,” said Matt Sergeant, anti-spam … Continue reading →

An annual survey of the brands and media outlets preferred by American college students had some surprises in it – mainly that Time magazine outranked Cosmo as the favorite periodical on campuses, coming in at No. 1, and CNN.com was … Continue reading →