MarketingJuice

Australian Unemployment Rate Up "Again"

2011-09-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Trend analysis can be very useful for many things and not just share prices.
Long term labour market analysis may not tell us what the actual unemployment rate will be on a month to month basis, but it will inform us which direction we are heading.

As stated previously, Australia is on a long term market adjustment and trending up from the lows of 4% unemployment late 2008. We did have jump to 5.8% unemployment in August 2009 following the GFC and then a retraction to 4.9% when most economists breathed a sigh of relief, however as I stated then and again now that was just a correction and the trend will be upwards slowly for the next few years potentially peaking at 7%.

Each new monthly report is confirming this, slowly ticking up to 4.9%, then 5.1% and today 5.3% - I forecast that September will see 5.4%, and we may well hit 5.8% by December 2011 - I hope I am wrong, but time will tell if the trend is correct

Whatever the month to month shows, the trend is not good news and this will further drive down consumer confidence and impact on how they spend their hard earned money.

There is no question this will impact on marketers ability to drive customer acquisition, and many may well cut back on advertising expenditure - for those that do I may suggest being innovative and letting your agency foot the bill and the risk. Why not work with an agency that puts skin in the game and absorbs all the cost and you only pay for the results you need - no results and you pay nothing - it is the ultimate marketers dream that is already been used by some of Australia's largest blue chip advertisers. Check this agency out to see what I mean www.adad.com.au - Oh yes I do work here as well
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Why manufacturing industries shed jobs in global economy

2011-08-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of new talk today about an old problem, the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector. This is nothing new and has been going on for many decades, this is termed structural unemployment. This occurs when jobs are lost due to changes in the structure or make-up of the economy itself, and when those who lose their jobs do not have the skills needed for other work that is available.

Structural unemployment can occur even in times when plenty of jobs are available, which is why we have also seen a decline in worker numbers in the power industry since 1989 as jobs growth expanded almost everywhere else. The real social issue is that as these people lose their jobs from an industry that is shrinking, they do not have the skills to do the work in another industry that is growing, and they give up looking and are no longer even counted as unemployed.

Some structural unemployment also comes from changes driven by population dynamics. Australia’s population is aging, and our school system that was built to accommodate the post war “baby boom” is increasingly seeing fewer new students entering the school system. This will ultimately convert to fewer jobs for primary and high school teachers creating a potential structural loss of jobs.

At the same time the aging population will create an increase for workers in nursing homes, retirement villages, financial planning and other social support workers such as home nursing. This example of structural unemployment that will be faced in the future will mean that some teachers that lose their jobs, will probably not have the immediate skills to meet the increasing demand for health care workers, financial planners etc, but because they are well educated will have the ability to re-skill and take advantage of the “new” jobs and new industries that become available.

Many of the reforms of the past decades that have been designed to make the Australian economy more globally competitive, as manufacturing moves to countries with a competitive advantage on pure cost. These cuts in protection to the manufacturing industry, which have driven down the price of consumer products has displaced thousands of well paid workers from their jobs. Their lifelong skills working in manufacturing could not be transferred to another industry or job.

This is a clear and ongoing case of structural unemployment, because since 1984 this industry peaked at 1,291,100 workers and has gradually declined to 976,300 workers as of May 2011; a permanent loss of 314,800 jobs. As manufacturing shifts to countries with a competitive price advantage, high wage manufacturing countries such as Australia, the U.S etc will continue to shed jobs – unless they can redefine their competitive advantage in the global economy.

The law of social cycles

2011-07-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

How society evolves is a question that has baffled many analysts or economists since ancient times - Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Marx, and Toynbee, among many others have tried to solve this puzzle. Their works, once the cause of much intellectual ferment, now holds little appeal for most social scientists.

This method of analysis, namely the method of historical determination where we try to detect a pattern in the maze of historical events, is an idea that has long been regarded dead by today's economists.

My recent work in looking for a pattern in decades long term unemployment cycles, and the accuracy of using those insights to foresee the current economic woes of the United States, has led me to now do further social trend analysis to see what other subtle patterns can be found and what they may mean for the global economy in our life time.

If you would like to read these insights as they are developed than simply subscribe (free) to my blog
Steve

Unemployment on a nine year upswing

2011-07-28T23:28:00.000-07:00

It seems my forecast made in January 2009 for the unemployment rates in the US and Australia have been spot on.
I am currently updating my forecast for Australia based on the same long term trend analysis which clearly shows that we have been in a new upswing since early 2009 and that this nine year leg will not run it's course until around December 2018 with unemployment peaking at close to 7%. We did reach the stage one peak of 5.8% as forecast and despite the recent pullback to 4.8%, the long term trend is up.
If you would like to get the full report contact me at my email address, steve.hinch@me.com

Retail deflation, will the malaise spread?

2011-07-27T17:08:00.001-07:00

Deflation is caused by a general decline in prices, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit. Deflation can be caused also by a decrease in personal, government or investment spending.
The opposite of inflation, deflation has the side effect of increased unemployment since there is a lower level of demand in the economy, which can lead to an economic depression. Central banks attempt to stop severe deflation, along with severe inflation, in an attempt to keep the excessive drop in prices to a minimum.
Australian consumers have stopped spending in the retail environment for quite some time now and we are already seeing the continuing decline in prices in the big retailers to attempt to get spending going again – but it’s not working – so we do at least have retail deflation and jobs will come next.
Is general deflation on the horizon? – we are seeing a contraction in personal spending and the subsequent decrease in retail prices, now we just need to see a cut to interest rates and we have all three needed components;
1. Lack of spending from consumers reducing demand which in turn slows supply
2. Decreasing prices making purchasing value of the $ stronger if people would just spend
3. Lower interest rates making the cost of money cheaper to buy goods – but nobody want to.
Deflation is often a precursor to an economic depression, let’s hope this is not the case, but look around the world

Jobs are a commodity; whoever has the most candidates wins the game

2011-07-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Job boards have been around in Australia for a while now, and it seems that all of them have gone through various stages of repositioning and rebranding. Research conducted through Roy Morgan shows that using job boards to search for new opportunities has increased considerably since the 2008 GFC, but job boards have not kept up with consumers.
At the end of 2005, 1,830,000 people or 19% of employed people were using the job boards on a regular basis, while there were 9,925,000 working. As the labour market tightened in 2007 with more jobs than candidates, job board use declined to just 16% of the workforce or 1,647,000 people, while the numbers working had grown to 10,139,000 – where they happy in their current jobs?
This level of job board action among employed people remained quite static through to March 2008, growing to just 1,999,000 or back to similar levels as December 2005, while the number of people working had grown to 10,327,000.
Then the impact of the GFC started to take hold and by March 2009 this number had grown to 2,382,000 or 23% of the workforce, which had grown to 10,495,000.
From this point forward job board activity has continued to grow each quarter even as the number of people working has continued to grow. The latest Roy Morgan data for March 2011 shows that 3,027,000 people or 27% of the workforce were using job boards while the number of people now working had grown to 11,112,000.
Since December 2005 job board use has grown by 1,193,000 people or 65% while 80% of this growth has come since the GFC, and the number of people working as grown by 1,289,000 or just 13%.
The question for job boards and recruitment firms alike, is what comes first the job on offer or the candidate to fill it – the answer is you can have all the jobs to offer, but without candidates you have nothing.
The world has changed from the days when there were 15 or more qualified candidates for every job on offer to now when there may only be 2 or 3 – sometimes none.
For job boards and recruitment firms alike, they need to understand that it is the one (job board or recruitment firm) with the most candidates that will win the game.
For recruitment firms it is about finding ways to build and hold your pool of candidates through an efficient CRM process – treating candidates like valuable customers with multiple touch points during their job search lifecycle. – Think like a bank.
For job boards it is about reinventing your brand and developing social communities that give job seekers a reason for intersecting with your site beyond just looking for a job, just look at how LinkedIn has grown as a community and has also become a massive job board / recruitment resource.
There is a new age of job search coming, and for a variety of reasons people will be looking for new jobs or a lifestyle change, if your job board has a large community of skilled people interacting regularly through your site, then you win and the jobs listings (revenue) will flow through – build it and they will come, but do it now and gain the first to market advantage.

The overall jobs growth story in Australia belies the underlying change that has been taking place since the GFC.

2011-07-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

The overall jobs growth story in Australia belies the underlying change that has been taking place since the GFC.
The data provided by the ABS clearly shows how the labour market has changed since the beginning of the GFC. According to the ABS in December 2007 there were 10,726,000 people employed, with 7,690,300 (71.6%) in full time employment, and 3,036,000 (28.3%) in part time employment.
According to the latest ABS data there are now 8,065,200 (70.4%) in full time employment and 3,383,300 (29.5%) in part time employment, a slight but meaningful shift.
Total jobs growth over this period has been 721,500 jobs of which 374,900 (51.9%) were full time jobs and 345,800 (47.9%) were part time jobs.
While the growth in the jobs market is going through a churn, the overall labour force (people old enough to work) has added more people than the number of jobs created, having grown from 11,205,500 to 12,036,600, which is a growth of 831,100. So with only 721,500 new jobs being created over this same period it means another 109,600 new entrants to the labour force were added to the unemployment lines.
We need to watch what happens in the second half of 2011 as labour market growth appears to be slowing.

Funny Things About Australia

2011-07-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

These questions about Australia were posted on an Australian Tourism
Website some time ago and obviously the answers came from a fellow Aussie.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain On
TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK)
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around Watching
them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you've been drinking

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the railroad
tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Australia? (Sweden)
A: So its true what they say about Swedes.

Q: It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to
contact for a stuffed porpoise. (Italy)
A: Let's not touch this one.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a
list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (UK)
A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia?
(USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-
tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the pacific which does
not... oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in
Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Australia? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 90 degrees. Contact us when you get here
and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? (UK)
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which
is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna BoysChoir plays every Tuesday
night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Australia? (France)
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can
you tell me where I can sell it in Australia (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK)
A: You are a British politician, right?

Q: Can you tell me the regions in Tasmania where the female
population is smaller than the male population? (Italy).
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France)
A: Only at Christmas.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year
round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilisation of vegan hunter gatherers. Milk
is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense
rattlesnake serum. (USA)
A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca which is where YOU come from. All
Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and
make good pets.

Q: I was in Australia in 1969 on R+R, and I want to contact the girl
I dated while I was staying in Kings Cross. Can you help? (USA)
A: Yes, and you will still have to pay her by the hour.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first.

My predictions from January 2009 for the United States come true

2011-07-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

The United States
The coming year will be the most perilous in modern history for the American economy, the forces at work are unlike the country has seen since the Great Depression and could result in a “lost decade” of anemic growth such as we have seen in Japan, or could drop into a severe contraction.
This is a case where many economists and analysts are deluding themselves that the
contraction will be short, with many in this camp looking for the signs of recovery by the end of 2009. We will be sadly mistaken if we do not recognize that this current downturn in the US economy is not going to be a short term head ache, created by normal short term business cycles but in fact is going to exist for as long as five years or until 2013.
Over the past 30 years as with all social cycles the unemployment rate has shown an historic pattern of traditional cyclical trends as in the example below.
When this long term cyclical trend is analyzed and consideration is given to average length of each individual “leg” of the long term data, it becomes apparent that there is an average 11 years for each cyclical swing or leg.
This analysis suggests that the US is now just half way through the current cyclical leg that will not peak until 2014.
The analysis also suggests that this current upswing in the unemployment rate will reach 7.5% before easing again for a short period and at that time will swing up again to complete this cycle peaking at around 9% in 2014. This confirms that the situation America faces at the moment is not just a short down turn, but rather a long cycle adjustment that will take considerable time to unwind,suggesting a real recovery will not be in place in America until probably 2012 at the earliest.
For marketers and business analysts, the real issue is that demand will be flat and America will be lucky to have a flat GDP, but will most likely see a contraction of -0.7% to -1.2% and inflation still running at 2%.
The US economy will shed around 5 million jobs by the time this is all over, with the
unemployment rate reaching 8%, which will continue to cause consumer spending to contract and personal bankruptcies to soar.
Because of this combination of declining household incomes and consumer spending, corporate profits will continue to decline by as much as 20% in both 2009 and 2010, which is why we may well see the US in a “lost decade” much like Japan.

Are Australian’s becoming more Tolerant?

2011-06-16T00:13:00.000-07:00

Australians have always had the reputation for being a tolerant and easy going bunch.
This is a country that is isolated by distance from most other countries, so attitudes are shaped within our borders, but this seems to have changed considerably over the past 10 years.
At the end of 2005 67% of adults in Australia thought the fundamental values of society were under serious threat.
Today just 60% of adults think this is true and that 7 percentage point shift is a considerable swing in attitudes. This may be driven somewhat by our more secular views as over that same period Australians have shifted from a position when 68% of adults had some stated religious affiliation – even if they didn’t go to church regularly – to now we have just 47% with the same stated affiliation. This is a massive 21 percentage point shift in religious beliefs.
One would expect people to become more tolerant as religious affiliation grew, but the case seems to be the opposite here, we have much less religious affiliation while becoming more tolerant, perhaps it is due to the increase in the ethnic mix in the population as only 72% of Aussies today were born here, compared to 75% back in 2005.
Societal beliefs and issues are part what drive people’s behavior in their day to day lives, how they think and act, so it is important for business leaders and marketers to understand how the consumer population is changing, because the insights that may have been right last year will not apply today.
Dig deep into yesterday and become a social anthropologist if you need to know what may come next.

Are Australians becoming climate skeptics

2011-05-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

Are Australians becoming climate skeptics, research using long term trends from Roy Morgan Research suggests this may well be true.

In December 2005 there were 3,784,000 people over the age of 14 who thought threats to the environment were exaggerated – in December 2010 this had grown to 6,047,000 - almost doubling.

This change suggests that Australians are now 20% more likely to be skeptics, perhaps this is due to information overload and no action.
What do you think
Steve

Where will the Australian workforce come from without strong immigration

2011-05-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk of late around carbon tax and other major concerns around dealing with global warming. One of the messages that is being driven in Australia by the current government is that all the new initiatives that will be put in place to offset global warming will increase jobs. They have in fact suggested around 500,000 new jobs over the next two to three years, which if this happened would be a great thing for the country.
My concern is that even if it took 3 years to create 500,000 new jobs, that would average 166,666 new jobs per year: not to ambitious, if we had the population capacity to match this level of demand.
Historically since Australia changed from a manufacturing to service based economy, it has taken around 85,000 net new jobs to sustain one percentage point of GDP growth, and so 166,666 net new jobs could support 1.6% GDP growth even though the forecast is for three percent GDP growth.
Here is the real issue; Australia’s population is not able to keep up with the demand, which is why we still have large pockets of skills shortages, even with so many people looking for work.
There are at least two sides to this story, one side is the number of jobs that can be created, but the other is the number of workers that are lost to retirement each year and must be replaced just to maintain the size of the workforce.
Putting this in some perspective, between December 2005 and December 2010, there were 683,000 new full time jobs created and 527,000 part time jobs for a total 1,210,000 jobs. Now this sound very impressive, however we need to remember that as a percentage of all people aged 14 and over there was no real change going from 59.3% of people 14 and over to 60.4%.
In understanding the impact of population supply on labour market demand we only have to look at the last five years in which we have created 1,210,00 full time and part time jobs. Over this same period the number of people retired has increased by 373,000. The impact of this those that retired is that these jobs will mostly need to be replaced, reflecting a growing increase in replacement demand on top of expansion demand.
Putting this in simple numbers, 1,210,000 net new jobs were created over this period and 373,000 people retired, showing a total demand for 1,583,000 new entrants to workforce to meet the expansion and replacement.
The population of people 14 and over grew by just 1,686,000 people over this same period which shows a surplus of just 102,000 people – if all jobs simply were filled by population growth.
To fill 500,000 net new jobs over the next three years suggests that including replacement workers we will need to find another 657,890 new entrants to the workforce over that period……where will these workers come from without strong immigration
Steve

New TV and social media trend among the youth

2011-05-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

Young Britons have taken to a new television and social media trend which could have far-reaching consequences for the worlds of broadcasting and advertising, according to a new study.

Specialist digital marketing agency Digital Clarity (www.digital-clarity.com) on Tuesday published a survey of 1,300 British mobile internet users below the age of 25 which showed that most use a mobile device to talk to friends about the show they are watching.

The Social TV trend exposed by the study could change the landscape for broadcasters and advertisers chasing youthful eye for on-screen attention, Digital Clarity said in a statement. more...........

Are click-through Rates Also Irrelevant In Video?

2011-05-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

Video advertising would appear to be a powerful brand-building tool. But it is also an expensive tool, and advertisers need proof video advertising is driving the desired result in order to justify continued investment. In the absence of real-time data on overall campaign performance and that of the creative, placement, and frequency levels driving the performance, a lot of money can be spent without producing the desired outcome. When proactively managed, however, advertisers and the publishers they work with can create impressive results. We've learned quite a few things that may be useful to brand advertisers looking to leverage video to maximum effect:
Read more

Lucid Insiders

2011-02-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

Lucid Insiders

Attract Instant New Customers With DRTV

2010-10-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

DRTV (Direct Response Television Advertising)or Brand Response TV is the “hot” sector of TV advertising around the world, because DRTV produces instant new customers or grows share of wallet from existing customers.
* The fact is no advertising medium works quicker – DRTV advertising produces instant new customers. Up to 80% of consumer response will be received within 15 minutes of each DRTV spot’s appearance according to UK research.
* DRTV advertisements have impact – because TV viewers are relaxing at home
* DRTV is the perfect demonstration medium
* There’s a choice of DRTV advertising spot lengths, but the best has proven to be long form 60, 90 or 120 seconds. Your agency partner can help you decide which is ideal for your brand and offer.
* DRTV media budgets are highly flexible, depending on the TV channels you use, and DRTV advertising can be remarkably good value when the cost is based on response, and not just CPT delivery or Reach and Frequency.
* Consumers like DRTV because it’s offers a solution to a need and is quick and easy. No letters to write, just one phone call, web visit or SMS (text) message gets everything under way..right now.
* Instant response indicates how successful each DRTV spot has been, and you see the results today, not 30 days after a campaign has finished.
* Direct response analysis can help you to keep lowering your DRTV cost per order
* And as a bonus you enjoy the magic of real bottom line accountability.....it's no surprise more pure brand advertisers that have been crying for a level of metrics and accountability to their TV budgets are shifting to DRTV, because they know what to expect before they make a $ commitment.

Steve is now General Manager for Advertising Advantage, Australia's leading full service DRTV specialist agency.

New mobile tools could boost brand owners

2010-08-02T03:50:00.000-07:00

Brand owners that exploit location-based services on mobile phones could benefit from a substantial first-mover advantage among what is currently a small but highly influential audience.
According to a poll by Forrester, a total of 4% of American adults have used platforms like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt, which reward shoppers for "checking in" at specific sites such as restaurants and retail outlets.
As marketers we have been discussing such Geo-tracking devices for many years, but it seems the technology is finally catching up with the vision.
More.......

Microsoft Advertising has developed a tool to test the Digital Quotient (DQ) among people, especially those that consider themselves to be digital pioneers.

2010-08-02T00:22:00.000-07:00

In the never ending demand for more and more measurement, Microsoft as a new online assessment tool to gauge the digital awareness and knowledge of advertising professionals in the Asia-Pacific region. Each test consists of questions across five categories: digital basics, digital media trends, consumer behavior, ad performance and digital creativity. The database will randomly generate questions from a total 120 questionnaires.
Not a bad idea, but it is really the client marketing heads that need to be included as much of the mix of digital and social media is still not being embraced by many

More.....

The great Australian migration debate, here we again

2010-07-27T04:26:00.000-07:00

It seems that Australia is moving along the path of becoming a protectionist society again as a knee jerk reaction to political pandering.
We now have both sides of politics pushing the agenda for a net migration growth of less than 200,000 people per year, while still posturing on the platform of economic sustainability.
We all know this is just election year posturing, but makes me wonder if they truly understand the dynamics links between net population growth and economic prosperity.
Basic economic analysis over the past several decades reinforces that as Australia has moved into a services based economy, we need a labour market growth of 80,000 net new jobs created (and filled) to sustain 1 percentage point of GDP growth.
This simply means that to sustain around 3% GDP growth we need an average 240,000 net new jobs created. With an average 120,000 people leaving the workforce each year, this suggests that Australia needs 360,000 new entrants into the workforce to sustain 3% GDP growth: 120,000 replacement workers and 240,000 to support the 3% GDP growth.
The problems with the new position of reducing net migration to under 200,000 people per year, is that it leaves an immediate market gap of at least 160,000 net new workers, which in turn has a negative GDP effective of 2%. This simply means the economy may remain flat or at best grow around 1% as it takes workers to drive growth, always and always will.
A smaller Australia, simply means a smaller economy, and the pressing issue we had all been debating just a couple of years ago has not changed, there are still 3,500,000 baby boomers that are working and will start leaving the workforce in droves over the next decade and by my calculations, 150,000 net new migration per year for the next 10 years equates to just 1,500,000 new migrants to replace 3,500,000 exiting boomers...we still end up with the market gap of 1,500,000 that I projected a few ago.

Facebook reaches 500 million user milestone

2010-07-22T03:36:00.000-07:00

Facebook sets a significant milestone by passing 500 million users. The population is now a sum total of the population of the US, Japan and Germany combined.

More.......

GE gives social media new marketing role

2010-07-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

General Electric, the US conglomerate, has rolled out an internal social network that it hopes will foster stronger connections between its marketing departments across the globe.

The company, which operates in the technology, media and financial sectors, believes its MarkNet platform could encourage the sharing of best practice guidelines among its 5,000 communications specialists worldwide.
More......

Social media a "wild west" for brand owners

2010-07-21T05:01:00.000-07:00

Social media resembles a "wild west" for brand owners, as agencies in a wide range of disciplines compete for control over this aspect of clients' communications activity.
However, advertisers are currently being forced to grapple with gaining an understanding of this emerging medium while having to pick between the creative, digital, PR and media shops pitching for their business.
Read more..........

The Five Communities that make up Social Media

2010-07-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

If you are about to embark into the wonderful world of social media as a business marketing channel, then you need to consider mastering the different types of communities that you may choose to engage with.
There are five core types of communities,
1. Metropolis Community: MySpace and Facebook are examples what is called a metropolis community with millions of members with diverse interests.
2. Affinity Community: Some people are passionate about politics, saving the wales or perhaps even Starbucks. People belonging to these communities have an affinity for this singular brand or product and a smaller communities than Metropolis communities.
3. Intracompany Communities: As the name implies some companies have created their own internal social networks. Still in it's infancy but an important tool for employee engagement.
4. Vertical Communities: These are industry or lifestyle specific communities where people with specific skills or interests interact.
5. Horizontal Communities: These communities are not generally industry specific but focused on functional groups or expertise that can cut across industries. People working in finance have similar functional interest, but can be found in every industry

Brands must focus on measurement in Australia..But what are you measuring?

2010-07-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Brand owners in Australia are failing to make sufficient use of media auditing services, which could significantly improve the return on investment from their advertising expenditure. The trade body suggested that, at present, between 20% and 30% of the country's leading marketers currently employ auditors to assess the efficacy of media plans and actual executions.

I wonder if they are still confusing auditing pure cost of delivery or strategic outcomes from an integrated communications strategy, and frankly any good marketing director or CMO working with the finance director should be able to provide this.

Media auditing is great to ensure your business is getting the right bang for the buck, but that it. The ultimate measurement for any business that the board cares about is outcomes and business impact

Read more ...............

Digital media is taking an increased share of PR spending in the UK

2010-07-17T22:23:00.001-07:00

PRWeek, the industry title, and Brands2Life, the agency, recently surveyed leading communications directors in the country.

Overall, 12% of contributors had seen their budgets for 2010 trimmed by at least 20%, with 41% facing a contraction of up to 20%, and 22% witnessing no change year-on-year.

A quarter of executives actually had more resources at their disposal, and 69% of participants thought funding would remain stable or expand going forward.
Want to read more .......

Google, Omnicom aim to transform display ads

2010-07-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

As if both companies don't already have enough dominance, Google, has announced a new partnership with the Omnicom Media Group, in a move that could enhance the way both companies approach internet display advertising.

What do you think this move will do to control pricing?

More..........

Twitter rolls out new marketing tools

2010-07-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

Twitter, the microblogging service, is expanding the range of options it makes available to brands, having received positive feedback regarding its initial activity in this area.

Walt Disney, the entertainment group, has signed up to the social network's latest marketing tool, @earlybird, which allows users to access deals and discounts for a limited period of time.

As part of the communications strategy supporting its film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Disney is offering two tickets for the price of one via Twitter.

In return for its investment, the company will see its paid-for post retweeted on a regular basis via the earlybird feed, which has rapidly secured over 50,000 followers.

read more..........

Too young, too costly, digital talent can't meet demand

2010-07-07T03:24:00.000-07:00

Digital staff have the pick of posts as a global shortage means that agencies are scrambling to hire them.
The demand for digital people is high and it's a well-paid profession. So why is there such a lack of digital supply?
"Talent is too expensive and candidates are too young," says Sean de de Cuirteis, regional director of MEC. "There is never a shortage of junior digital candidates - mid level and senior candidates are more difficult to find."
More.......

China imposes partial block on Google

2010-07-02T03:42:00.000-07:00

BEIJING: Google, the online search giant, has accused the Chinese government of blocking aspects of its service, in the latest phase of its on-going battle with the authorities in the country.
More...........

US Heading for double dip recession - why the surprise

2010-06-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have followed my ramblings for a while now, will remember I did suggest back in January 2009 that most commentators had it wrong regarding the turn around in the US economy and where not looking at the big picture.

Here as a reminder is what I wrote in early January of 2009

The coming year will be the most perilous in modern history for the American economy, the forces at work are unlike the country has seen since the Great Depression and could result in a “lost decade” of anemic growth such as we have seen in Japan, or could drop into a severe contraction. This is a case where many economists and analysts are deluding themselves that the contraction will be short, with many in this camp looking for the signs of recovery by the end of 2009. We will be sadly mistaken if we do not recognize that this current downturn in the US economy is not going to be a short term headache, created by normal short term business cycles but in fact is going to exist for as long as five years or until 2013.
Over the past 30 years as with all social cycles the unemployment rate has shown an historic pattern of traditional cyclical trends. When this long term cyclical trend is analyzed and consideration is given to average length of each individual “leg” of the long term data, it becomes apparent that there is an average 11 years for each cyclical swing or leg. This analysis suggests that the US is now just half way through the current cyclical leg that will not peak until 2014. The analysis also suggests that this current upswing in the unemployment rate will reach 7.5% before easing again for a short period and at that time will swing up again to complete this cycle peaking at around 10% or a little higher in 2014. This confirms that the situation America faces at the moment is not just a short down turn, but rather a long cycle adjustment that will take considerable time to unwind, suggesting a real recovery will not be in place in America until probably 2012 at the earliest, meaning a probable double-dip recession. Because of this combination of declining household incomes and consumer spending, corporate profits will continue to decline by as much as 20% in both 2009 and 2010, which is why we may well see the US in a “lost decade” much like Japan. If you want real proof that Zero interest rates do nothing to stimulate output and growth just look at Japan where rates have been close to Zero for many years.
Steve Hinch

Social media moving beyond marketing

2010-06-24T01:42:00.000-07:00

An increasing number of major companies are employing social media tools to enhance their internal processes in areas from advertising to customer service.
Forrester, the research firm, conducted a study to establish which corporations were making the shift towards becoming "highly empowered and resourceful operatives" – or HEROes.
Josh Bernoff, Forrester's svp, idea development, and Ted Schadler, a principal analyst, said this applied to brand owners exploiting new technology to gain an insight into the needs of their target audience, and to solve their problems.
Best Buy has leveraged social media in such a way, with 2,500 members of staff signed up to its Twelpforce on Twitter, responding to matters raised by netizens via this platform.
More..........

Brand owners turning to mobile tagging

2010-06-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

in the U.S. companies such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are now adding special barcodes to packaging that consumers can scan with a mobile phone to discover more information about their products.
PepsiCo recently announced the "first-ever branded page experience" with Stickybits, a specialist technology start-up in this area, as it seeks to leverage this emerging channel.
Shoppers that download a Stickybits app to an iPhone or Android-powered device can scan the appropriate code to access content such as videos, as well as uploading their own material.
Microsoft operates a similar system, called Tag, to that offered by Stickybits, with one billion businesses and individuals having taken advantage of this platform since January last year.
Some 20 million magazines containing these gadgets were sold in the US in April alone, with Condé Nast one high-profile publisher that has utilised this tool.
At present, Microsoft is providing a free service through which firms can generate Tags, as well as developing a variety of "value-added" options like analytics and real-time location functions.
"We can imagine a world where any physical object can become a gateway to a world of digital content and engagement," said Aaron Getz, general manager of Microsoft Tag.

Local Area Marketing Should Be The Norm

2010-06-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

Marketing Through Social Communities
Think Global but Act Micro-Local

In this age of online marketing and social networks, many marketing managers and indeed CEO's consider social marketing to simply imply that online social networks are the key to a community strategy. Online networks are just one tool, not a community strategy. Online networks get lots of buzz, and given today's enabling technologies it seems silly to pass up opportunities in the virtual world. Unfortunately, most well-crafted online networking communities have limitations, and lest we forget,a huge chunk of life still takes place off-line in the real world of bricks and mortar. The reality is that social networks at the local grass roots level such as local community centers, the shopping mall, school, coffee shops often provide social and emotional support stronger than family ties and research has suggested there is a benefit from this grass roots buzz that delivers price premiums of up to 20%. This is nothing new, word off mouth marketing has always been a desired outcome of a good marketing or PR strategy.
Understanding the need to think global but act micro-local is more important today then ever before as consumers seek brands and products that they trust and deliver a perceived price value.

With countries as geographically dispersed as the United States and Australia where a large portion of the population live in smaller regional communities, there is an opportunity for marketers to get back to basics in building local social communities of advocates that will assist in growing market share. These local communities are strongest when everybody plays a role. Opinion leaders and evangelists play important roles in online social networks. They spread information, influence decisions, and help new ideas gain traction. While focusing on opinion leaders may be sage advice for online buzz campaigns, it is a misguided approach to local community building, as communities establish trust by enabling everyone to play a role as products are discussed and recommended in a one-one-one face to face engagement.

Managers can forget that consumers are actually people,with many different needs, interests and responsibilities. A community based brand can build loyalty that is not driven by sales transactions, but by trust and helping people meet their needs. In these type of local bricks and mortar communities, brand loyalty is the reward for meeting peoples needs in the community, not the impetus for the community to form as is the case in the virtual world.

Today marketers need to combine the on-line capability that can deliver a wide range of information and resources at the local community based level, and then ensure they are mapping the feedback that comes from these communities to provide goods and services that meet the needs of the various social networks within each community.

There are several good search engines and community based sites around that allow consumers to search out local service and product information for their own town, and then select products or services based on community feedback.

This micro approach can take a lot of work and requires developing a community engagement strategy that links your product or service to the needs of each community that wish to become a part of.

The end result however will be loyal consumers that tell their friends and family about your brand allowing you to grow market share......not much different to 1960 when brands grew on on word of mouth and now we can be combining the best of the virtual world with the natural human need to help others.

Steve

The digital staffing battle heats up "again"

2010-06-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Most clients in Australia and elsewhere are focused on filling talent gaps in their staffing, digital staffing is a question that comes up time and time again. In regards to digital talent, agencies are already under resourced, not able to find talent in the market, talent is too expensive, candidates are too young and the list goes on. Finding good digital staff is tough.

Candidates now with just a few years of digital experience make it quite clear from the get go that they are shopping for the agency that would fit their needs and match their ambition rather than the other way around. When it comes to digital expertise it is a candidate’s market and agencies are no longer able to pick and choose – it’s the other way around.

But finding talented staff in a growth area is always going to be a problem. There are a couple of things that should be kept in mind when looking at digital hires.

1: Be sure about what you need: a generalist or a specialist? “Digital’’ is too broad a label to put on specific skill sets. We already see agencies splitting digital specialists into social, analytics, search, mobile, CRM and Creative to name a few. Digital generalists are great to have in selling ideas and talking to clients, but specialists will actually do the work. What do you need to service clients and win new business?

2: Grow your own. Let’s face it – there aren’t enough experienced digital people available. However, Digital Natives are on the increase. While digital natives ‘get’ digital they don’t necessarily ‘get’ the bigger picture and agencies need to remember that they cannot put too much pressure on these new recruits. Digital natives, with the right training and support can evolve into the full package.

3. Retrofit your existing staff. I have long been of the conviction that the best digital staff are those that have ‘evolved’ from traditional media and marketing channels. These people understand the bigger picture and have a more holistic understanding of media, communication and client servicing. If you do have a limited pool of strong digital talent disseminating basic digital skills across all staff allows your specialist to focus on the areas that you need them most .

4. Don’t recruit out of desperation. It’s disheartening to interview and not find a candidate. Desperation means that you settle for a candidate that you otherwise might not have hired. Of course, every new recruit is a gamble but some bets are safer than others, and think outside the square.

5: Retention. Keep you digital staff. Retention is easier than replacement in digital. You shouldn’t be held over a barrel by your digital staff but you should work at having a strong, productive and mutually beneficial relationship with staff. This doesn’t mean that you pay them more money or give into their every whim. The basics of talent management still apply to digital staff and a making sure your company fits other needs will instill loyalty.

Remember that digital strategy and communications is but a part of the broader communications and business mix.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA OUTREACH TRANSPARENT : Digital Connections

2010-06-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

HOW TO MAKE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA OUTREACH TRANSPARENT : Digital Connections

One of the most important factors of a successful PPC campaign is writing successful ad copy

2010-06-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

You can spend a good deal of time on other aspects of your campaign but skimp on the ad copy and you might not get the results you're looking for. This two-part article will review several tips for crafting high performing ad copy and methods for testing its effectiveness.
Ads, Searcher Behavior, Quality Score
First, you need to understand how ads fit in the process of the searcher behavior funnel. A searcher expects to see a site (in the natural results) or an ad that is relevant to their search query. The more relevant the ad is, the better.
Once they click on your ad, you need to take them to a relevant landing page that contains rich content, including the searchers query and elements of the ad copy -- especially any promises you made.
This sets the proper expectation for the searcher, and is more likely to result in an action, which translates to a higher CTR and higher conversions. These factors, along with relevant ad copy and relevant landing pages, will increase your quality score. The benefits of a higher quality score are better keyword ranking and lower CPC.
The challenge is to create ad groups with less keywords that are centered around a strong theme. This will help you write ads relevant to your keywords.
Many people create only one or two ad groups and put hundreds or thousands of keywords in them. This scenario makes it difficult to write effective ad copy that will represent all of those keywords. This will force you to write generic ad copy that won't stand out, and will get lost among competing ads.
Tips for Headlines
This is where you can have the most impact. With a limited amount of space for your ads, you need to make each character count. You only have 25 characters for your headline and 35 characters for each of two lines of description.
* Using Keywords in your Headlines: Manually placing your keywords into the headline is a good way to create relevance from the original search query. People are more likely to click on a headline that reflects more closely what they were searching for. So if a searcher typed in "Mountain Bike" as a search query, then the headline for the ad would be "Mountain Bike." This is an easier task to set up if you have an ad group containing a smaller set of keywords and that are very similar to your headline.
Learn the basics and keep refining

How to blog for business

2010-06-15T03:34:00.000-07:00

Should a business get involved with blogging? And if so, which is the best way to get started? Tem Hansen, regional digital analyst at Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence in Hong Kong, sets it straight. More............

Facebook 'quadruples' number of advertisers over a year

2010-06-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

Facebook's vice-president of global sales Mike Murphy has said that it more than quadrupled the number of its advertiser clients since the start of 2009 and claimed it has become "absolutely core to marketing campaigns".

The world's biggest social networking site, which has offices dotted around the world to serve its advertising customers did not divulge actual figures. More............

Cloud computing, it's not about working on your laptop at 30,000 feet

2010-06-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

Cloud computing is all the rage. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition.
As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a familiar cliché, but when combined with "computing," the meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers available over the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud," including conventional outsourcing. Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities
One well know version is SaaS, this type of cloud computing delivers a single application through the browser to thousands of customers using a multitenant architecture. On the customer side, it means no upfront investment in servers or software licensing; on the provider side, with just one app to maintain, costs are low compared to conventional hosting. Salesforce.com is by far the best-known example among enterprise applications, but SaaS is also common for HR apps and has even worked its way up the food chain to ERP, with players such as Workday
So if your still trying to work out if Web 2.0 is about the technology or how the technology allows us to collaborate, jump into the cloud and see where this is all going.
Steve

Why Twitter is good for more than just brand monitoring

2010-05-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Many marketers understand Twitter search is a powerful way to monitor brand mentions and reach out to customers. But I think few realize what a powerful platform it provides to reach out on non-branded generic mentions. To better illustrate this, let me introduce the “Anyone Know” Twitter search. More.......

Dymocks has increased its Twitter followers by 100 per cent in under two days through a new social media campaign.

2010-05-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

An Australian retailer is harnessing the power of Twitter to boost brand awareness.

Dymocks has increased its Twitter followers by 100 per cent in under two days through a new social media campaign.

The Dymocks Tweet a Review campaign runs until May 21 and asks Dymocks shoppers to write a 140 character or less review of a book from the 2010 Dymocks Top 101 list via Twitter or Facebook.

Those who do so go into the running to win a daily prize a choice of book from the Top 101 list and a major prize of the entire set of the top 101 books.

Reviews are being tweeted every few minutes around the clock. More............

Social currency for brands means engaging with customers using social media

2010-04-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Vivaldi Partners, the consultancy, partnered with Lightspeed Research, the survey firm, to poll 1,000 people in order to discover which goods they most frequently discussed and recommended.

It argued that social currency relied in part on engaging with customers using sites like Facebook and Twitter, among other forms of online co-creation.

Offline activity also had a key role to play, primarily through providing people with unique experiences that helped brands build their "share of daily life."
More............

The European Union's highest court will stop Google Inc selling their brand names as advertising keywords

2010-04-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

Luxury goods manufacturers said a ruling on Tuesday from the European Union's highest court will stop Google Inc selling their brand names as advertising keywords to unauthorised sellers or counterfeiters, writes Aoife White of AP.

French companies, led by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, want to limit the sale of their trademarks on Google's automated Adwords system which links search results to ads. They fear that counterfeiters could buy a keyword such as Louis Vuitton and use it to sell fake bags.

The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that Google, the world's most used search engine, does not violate trademark law if counterfeiters buy brand names as ad keywords.

But it set a new test for Google's liability in such cases, saying national courts would have to decide whether the company knowingly accepts these ads. More...........

New iPhone app nothing to sneeze at!

2010-04-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Allergy sufferers will soon be able to use their iPhone to scan a food’s barcode at the supermarket to determine whether it’s safe to eat.

An application being developed by Deakin University, GSI Australia and Nestlé, will allow consumers to access detailed product information including allergens such as wheat, egg, peanuts and shellfish directly from their iPhone.
Deakin University’s associate professor Caroline Chan said the application would help consumers make quick yet informed choices about their health. More...........

Twitter still has plenty of opportunity and sees substantial growth in India

2010-04-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

Just like any product growth can come from entering new markets an the number of consumers in India who use Twitter, has almost doubled since the start of this year.

At present, Twitter retains 105 million members globally, with 60% of this audience now being drawn from outside of the US.

Writing on a company blog, Matt Sanford, lead engineer of the social network's international operations, said that its success in India was aided by the celebrities who are active on its site. More..............

KFC faces word of mouth crisis in China

2010-04-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

Word of mouth marketing can be a two edged sword, and with KFC, it is proving to be a sword. The fast food chain, is having to counter critical word of mouth in China, after an online promotion turned into a public relations crisis.

The company, which is owned by Yum Brands, currently operates more than 2,000 stores in China, and recently launched an initiative that offered 50% discounts for three popular items on its menu..............More

Facebook fans are valuable to brands

2010-04-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

Every fan that signs up to follow a brand on Facebook generates word-of-mouth equivalent to a media spend of $3.60 (€2.65; £3.17) a year, according to a new study.Read more............

Twitter launches new advertising programme

2010-04-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter, the social network, has unveiled a new advertising platform that it hopes will attract brands and effectively monetise its service. More..........

Nuanced approach key to social network success

2010-03-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

Brands should use social networks to cultivate committed "fans" rather than focusing solely on reach, Trevor Johnson, head of strategy and planning, EMEA, at Facebook, has suggested. More.......

Facebook among "great brands of tomorrow"

2010-03-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

Facebook, the social network, Li Ning, the Chinese sportswear giant, and Mercedes-Benz, the automaker, will be among the "great brands of tomorrow", according to Credit Suisse. More...........

Aegis Grows iProspect in Asia 10 new offices to launch across 8 regional markets

2010-02-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

Aegis Media is set to expand its iProspect arm, launching 10 additional offices across eight Asia-Pacific markets.

The expansion will give Aegis the largest search offering across the region and will cover Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan.
More..........

America Risks Being Left Behind in Asia

2010-02-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

As US president Barack Obama makes his way through Asia he will find a dynamic region in ferment. In this new Asia, the US risks eventual marginalisation unless it more actively seeks to shape a new regional economic and political order. The president will find that his actions - or inactions - will have important implications for US interests in the long term. Above all, he needs to reinvigorate US leadership on global and regional trade liberalisation and thus return the US to the centre of the economic agenda that is reshaping the Asian landscape.

More..........

US marketers planning further spending cuts

2010-02-08T01:52:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK: A majority of marketers in the US are planning to make further reductions to their media budgets, according to a study by the Association of National Advertisers.
More..........

US marketers to boost social media spending

2010-02-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK: A majority of US companies will boost their investment in social media in 2010, a survey by Marketing Sherpa has found.

The company polled 2,300 communications specialists, and reported that 79% of participants in the retail and e-commerce segment expect to heighten their social media outlay this year.

This figure fell to 63% for the publishing and media category, 55% for IT specialists, 54% for the services sector, 53% for packaged goods firms, and 52% for travel and leisure operators.

Some 60% of expenditure will pay for costs like staff salaries for blogging, content development and data monitoring, with just 20% going to external partners like agencies and consultancies.

New Campaign Metric: Social Chatter

2010-01-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

The rising behavior of status updates on Twitter and Facebook is giving birth to a new way for advertisers to gauge the success of ads: whether they generate consumer buzz.

Ad measurement firm Millward Brown is moving to establish that metric with a new service that will place digital word-of-mouth measurements for online campaigns alongside ad effectiveness metrics like awareness, brand lift and intent to purchase.

Read the rest at ................

ING Direct Sees The Power Of Twitter

2010-01-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

Get the whole story of ING Directs cafe "tweet-up" More...........

Google negotiating ways to keep presence in China

2010-01-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

BEIJING -- Even if Google's stand against censorship leads it to close its search engine in China, the company still hopes to maintain other key operations in the world's most populous Internet market.
Google Inc. is in delicate negotiations with the Chinese government to keep its research center in China, an advertising sales team that generates most of the company's revenue in the country and a fledgling mobile phone business.
More .............

Consumers spend more time on social networks

2010-01-26T02:55:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK: Web users around the world are spending more time on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, meaning that a growing number of brands are also turning to these platforms.

New figures from The Nielsen Company, the research firm, showed that 142.1 million consumers in the US accessed properties like social networks and blogs in December last year.

More.............

If Brands Are About Experiences, Shouldn’t Digital Drive Brands?

2010-01-26T01:58:00.000-08:00

Brands are really just a fancy way to talk about a compilation of your customers’ experiences with your business. These customers experience brands a lot of different ways.
As customers’ interactions with companies (brands) are increasingly online, shouldn’t we shift our focus? Why do we still believe traditional marketers should control branding? Why are we afraid to put branding power in the hands of the digitally-driven folks? After all, for many current and future customers, your website is your brand. It’s the hub, the driving force behind all of the experiences customers have with your company. People are spending as much or more time online as they are watching TV these days – and that’s not just the teens and 20-somethings. Digital is already driving brands, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.
http://blog.mediasauce.com/2010/01/17/if-brands-are-about-experiences-shouldnt-digital-drive-brands/
Share your thoughts on this article

Internet filter 'poses threat to freedom'

2010-01-26T01:42:00.000-08:00

The Australian Federal Government wants to pass laws to force internet service providers to block banned material hosted on overseas servers. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says he intends to introduce the legislation in the first half of 2010.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/26/2801759.htm

Google plots display advertising, mobile push

2010-01-25T01:43:00.000-08:00

MOUNTAIN VIEW: Google is seeking to heighten its emphasis on display advertising, mobile and making its products more "social", in an effort to drive growth beyond the search market.

The company posted a 17% uptick in revenues during the final quarter of last year, to $6.7 billion (€4.7bn; £4.1bn), while its profits stood at $1.97bn.

Eric Schmidt, its ceo, said the web pioneer made 550 "enhancements" to its search system last year, and 60 "quality improvements" to its display service.

"Beyond search and search ads I think we see a few major trends that are transforming the internet, and I think we are in a great position to compete in those areas too. The first is social," he added.

http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=26225&Origin=WARCNewsEmail

Starbucks to continue digital drive

2010-01-23T02:51:00.000-08:00

SEATTLE: Starbucks, the coffee house giant, will continue to expand its social media operations in an effort to deepen its relationship with its target audience.

http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=26221&Origin=WARCNewsEmail

Rebuilding Haiti: The Work of Decades

2010-01-22T22:13:00.000-08:00

The January 12 earthquake in Haiti was "the worst national disaster in the history of the Western Hemisphere," says Mark L. Schneider, former Peace Corps director in the Clinton administration. "Long-term reconstruction" will last more than a decade, he says, and involve billions of dollars in aid. The objective is not just to put Haiti back together, he says, but to create "a New Haiti" with a new education system and other changes throughout the society.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/21214/rebuilding_haiti.html

Dentsu launches iPhone coupon service

2010-01-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

TOKYO: Dentsu has unveiled a new iPhone application, employing the device's GPS function to offer targeted promotional coupons from retailers to owners of the device in Japan.

Sogo & Seibu, a department store chain, has joined forces with the agency to launch theiButterfly service, with customer trials scheduled to begin in February.

http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=26201&Origin=WARCNewsEmail

Thu 21-Jan-09: Dell, IBM use social media to engage consumers

2010-01-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK: Dell, IBM and Samsung are all attempting to use social media to engage with consumers and gain an understanding of perceptions of their brands.

Dell, the computer manufacturer, previously reported that it has generated sales of over $6.5 million (€4.6m; £4.0m) via its presence on Twitter, the microblogging service.

Manish Mehta, vice president for social media and community at the company, argued its activity on this type of portal is the latest evolution of its long-term approach to harnessing the potential of the web.

http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=26213&Origin=WARCNewsEmail

iPhone vs Android

2010-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

The iPhone and the G1 phone (with Android operating system) are two mobile phones that have grown rapidly in popularity as well as in rivalry over recent years. The phones are similar to one another in that they push the envelope of mobile and touch screen technology. Both phones offer users not only the ability to make phone calls on the go, but also to make use of a host of useful applications and other features on their mobile phones.

The iPhone and its operating system has been available for a few years now and was developed and launched by Apple, Inc. The Android operating system on the other hand was developed by Google. Google then worked closely with High Tech Computer Corporation (HTCC) to develop the actual G1 phone and it's hardware.

When it comes to priorities in development, mobile technology continues to be given a very high priority. This is simply because people throughout the world continue to rely more and more heavily on mobile technology. Mobile phones are not just used to make phone calls but increasingly they are being used to connect to the Internet on the go. Whether people are using this to find maps and directions, or to update their status on a social networking web site, mobile phone makers are obligated to provide this technology.

The main feature of both the Android operating system (OS) and the iPhone is the ability to surf the Internet. Both of these phones come with a wide screen and with WIFI capabilities, giving users the option to browse the Internet at leisure. Browsing speeds are reasonable and provide people with great convenience.

The iPhone is highly popular. When it first came out, it offered features that were considered revolutionary for the mobile phone in so many ways. Other phone makers are beginning to catch up but generally speaking they are not there yet. The iPhone is navigated primarily through touch screen technology. Users dial numbers through touching the screen, they send text messages and operate the various applications that the iPhone contains all through screen touch.

From reviewing both the G1 and the iPhone, I would say that the Google G1 does have some advantages over the iPhone however it does not fully surpass the iPhone or its technology. Definitely the keyboard that comes with the G1 is an advantage. Although the iPhone's touch screen keyboard is fun and new, people are still quite conditioned to using a keyboard when operating computers and I believe that using a keyboard will still be their preference over touch screen technology for some time to come.

The G1 gives its owners access to the battery so that they are free to swap a fresh battery in at will. Although this seems like a fairly basic feature it is not the case with the Apple iPhone. iPhone users have to send their phones to Apple to have their phones replaced and therefore swapping batteries in and out while on the go is not an option. At present, the Android cannot compete with the iPhone's media player. The iPhone has simply taken the mobile media player to another level and it will take the Android some time to compete with it. Lastly, the design of the iPhone is much slimmer than that of the Android. Slim is always more ideal than bulky. Users want devices that require the least amount of space in a pocket or hand bag.

Australia's unemployment rate at 5.5 per cent in December 2009:

2010-01-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

Good news for job seekers, the Australian unemployment rate was at 5.5 per cent in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced today. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell 0.1 per cent, from the revised 5.6 per cent in November.

The number of people employed in December increased by 35,200 to 10.906 million, seasonally adjusted, the ABS reported, driven by a rise in part-time employment, up 27,900 persons to 3.271 million together with a rise in full-time employment, up 7,300 persons to 7.635 million.

The ABS also reported the number of people unemployed decreased by 10,600 in December to 639,400.

The ABS seasonally adjusted monthly aggregate hours worked series showed a slight fall in December, down 1.0 million hours to 1,535.6 million hours.

The ABS participation rate in December remained at 65.2 per cent, now this is an important factor showing that the labour market was keeping up with immigration, and this part of the market equation was quite stable.

Smartphone owners a 'threat' to retailers

2010-01-13T01:28:00.000-08:00

Smartphone owners a 'threat' to retailers

NEW YORK: US consumers are using their iPhones, BlackBerrys and Androidphones for in-store research, according to new data from Compete.

A survey from the researchers, covering the third quarter of 2009, suggested that 52% of smartphone owners use their handsets to check product descriptions, that 36% check rival retailers' prices when deciding whether or not to buy a product, and that 34% used "m-commerce" channels to make purchases.

Commenting on the Compete report, Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer, said rising use of phones to check rivals' prices represented "both a threat and an opportunity" for retailers.

Users of Google's Android smartphone are thought to be spending the most via m-commerce, with 11% telling Compete they would consider making purchases of $500 or more with their phones, compared to 9% of iPhone owners and 2% of BlackBerry owners.

Meanwhile, 51% of BlackBerry owners, 40% of Android owners and 28% of iPhone owners are open to making purchases of $10 or less.

Recent figures from Deloitte also indicated that around one in six (15%) of all US mobile users purchased goods and services through their phones from time to time during 2009.

This year, US m-commerce is likely to grow further as consumers continue to migrate from in-store to online shopping.

Grau added: "A retailer's best defense for maintaining customer loyalty is to develop a mobile offering that allows in-store shoppers access to customer reviews and other product information on its website.

"By providing mobile access to their extensive online product information, they help customers feel more comfortable about making a purchase."

Data sourced from eMarketer; additional content by Warc staff, 13 January 2010

Related News Stories
Google, Apple mobile war heats up
Warc News, Jan 7, 10

iPhone tops social media "buzz" charts
Warc News, Jan 5, 10

Telecoms insights drawn from various markets
Warc News, Dec 31, 09

For those that asked this is me with my daughter

2010-01-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

The Digital Agency Paradox

2010-01-07T17:59:00.001-08:00

One of the issues that marketers are starting to grapple with is that in many circumstances the production costs of digital media exceeds that of the media costs. And since production is something for which agencies need to be compensated, digital agency compensation costs are rising. Many senior marketers say that their bosses (remember the boardroom) don’t understand this situation since digital media was initially touted as being more efficient than traditional media. Some of this can probably be attributed to inefficient processes that currently exist in the digital media ecosystem which will improve as digital becomes more mainstream.
The good news is that digital budgets are increasing despite economic stress in countries where digital is already gaining a hold. But along with that, the number of digital agencies being utilised is also increasing as services proliferate. The bad news for marketers is that the expanding roster of digital agencies means more complex agency management issues and higher agency compensation fees. The bottom line is that on a percentage basis digital agencies command a higher percentage of the marketing budget than traditional agencies.
The world for marketing heads has changed considerably over the past few years and to be accountable you need to build a culture of inclusion with finance and you will then be on your way to a successful marketing accountability effort.
When you don’t do this the results are that finance will not buy into your numbers, they won’t trust marketing and they won’t take the marketing numbers to the street. You really do need to look beyond the traditional measure of marketing and start looking at the return to the bottom line that finance can embrace. If you don’t want marketing to be considered the black box that asks for cash you must implement simple strategies that provide a forecast ROI.

Digital TV will have an impact on DRTV: are you ready?

2010-01-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

First I pose the question, would you agree that technology has fostered a new kind of accountability in advertising:

A lot of marketers and media people today cry out for more measurability, but it is inaccurate to argue that advertisers have somehow not been accountable for the past 100 years and only have become so with the advent of new technology. The measure of accountability has changed though and what happened, I believe, is that technology has brought about new thinking and raised expectations about how advertising can and should be measured.

Historically, there has been a gap between the moment an ad is seen and the moment the corresponding product is bought. Because of that, we have largely relied on indirect means to measure and predict the extent of causation and advertising success -- for example, brand recognition change after an ad campaign would be a proxy indicator of future sales. It worked well for established products that had some marketing track record where future results could be inferred from past performance and not so well for new products with no such record to rely on.

Television and mail-order catalogues -- direct-response ads -- have narrowed this time gap considerably, and Internet brought the two moments closer together still, which gave us a way to measure (internet) advertising success directly through sales, while often disregarding the effect of other media. Here we have two problems:

Internet advertising raised expectations of measurability for other media that may be equally effective but for technical reasons have been difficult or very expensive to measure with the same precision, unless you had access to econometric modelling to determine your ROI.

Internet advertising sometimes is given credit for transactions that seem to occur as a result of a customer seeing and clicking on an internet ad, but in effect may be rooted in "brand recognition" that was due to something the same customer had seen on TV earlier.

The fact is though measurability to the bottom line has always been a factor for good managers that are looking for a return on investment (ROI), which is why direct market has always taken a large piece of the advertising pie.

When the basic factors are considered "all" communication should be measurable for a pure ROI purpose: If I am going to invest $300,000 what will be my return in sales, 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 etc.

The biggest piece of the advertising pie still goes to television, and for good reason. But, most advertisers still don't measure their return beyond soft factors, and fail to see the value of television as a direct response media channel.

The TV networks themselves know the value which is why they run their branded infomercial products, and the introduction of digital television will only enhance the DRTV capability (just look at what is already being done on Foxtel)

I have long been an advocate of providing real accountability for the clients money we spend, and that means accountability to the boardroom where all actions must add value to the bottom line.
Steve

US retailers turn to social media and about time

2010-01-06T21:28:00.001-08:00

Major US retailers such as JCPenney and American Eagle, and high-profile apparel brands like Nike, are increasingly turning to social media as they try to connect with teenage consumers in the US.

In an effort to boost "back-to-school" spending – which will fall by between 8% and 12% this year according to a forecast by the Research Group and UBS – many retail chains are looking to embrace a range of interactive platforms.

Recently, Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group issued a report assessing how "engaged" a variety of brands were on social media, and this channel is seen as being a particularly effective tool for communicating with specific age groups.

Charlene Li, of the Altimeter Group, argued "young people are turning to social networks first to make decisions about what to buy for back-to-school. If you're not there, you're not reaching them."

JCPenney has developed its own brand page on Facebook, which is targeted at teenagers and features its TV and cinema ads, as well as giving members of the platform the chance to express their opinions on the products it sells.

It has also launched a new section of its own website bringing together information on various brands popular with this demographic, such as its Decree and Arizona lines, as well as RS by Sheckler.

Mike Boylson, JCPenney's chief marketing officer, said "younger consumers are not consuming traditional media. What we're spending in digital space is so much more than we did three years ago that the percentage would be off the charts."

American Eagle has similarly established a feed on Twitter, the microblogging website, as well as a presence on Facebook, and is drawing on the skills of its PR, marketing, design and merchandising departments to develop its social media strategy.

The company has also run web ads featuring "real-time" updates from its Twitter account, as well as scheduling a competition on Facebook where it will give away a pair of jeans every hour.

Mike Dupuis, its vp of digital marketing, said this approach is effectively "mirroring the way" young people "communicate with each other when we communicate with them."

Nike, the sportswear brand, is also set to launch an application for Apple's iPhone enabling consumers to customise some of its products, and distribute the results to their contacts on Facebook.

Stefan Olander, global director for brand connections at Nike, argued "it's all about making sure that we're part of our customers' lives. Social media is a very natural extension of that."

Bebe has used Facebook to host a feature allowing users to upload pictures of their own faces onto the site, and which then effectively means they can "star" in their own "rock video".

Furthermore, the company has attempted to establish relationships with 50 bloggers that it views as being particularly influential among its core consumers.

Barbara Wambach, its chief administrative officer, argued "social media creates much more depth to the entire rollout."

Staples also broadcast its latest TV ad on Facebook before airing it on television, as well as using its brand page on the social network to encourage teens to donate money to support students in need.

Don LeBlanc, the retailer's svp, retail marketing, argued "this isn't social media for social media's sake. It's about how to connect with teens for back-to-school."

In this vein, Candie's launched its latest campaign, featuring pop star Britney Spears, on Facebook and the singer's own website.

The ads were also promoted on Spears' own Twitter feed, which has over 2.5 million "followers", before being show on MTV.

Dari Marder, cmo of the Iconix Brand Group, which owns Candie's, said this strategy provides the "insider access that junior consumers just love to get," while the promotion via Spears' Twitter feed has a multiplication effect "into the millions."

Alongside these activities, the retail chain used its own Twitter account as a promotional vehicle, such as by adding links to the web page for Kohl's department stores, which sells its products.

Data sourced from USA Today; additional content by WARC staff, 28 July 2009

Google Knows What You Watch On Cable TV

2010-01-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Google has formed a partnership with a technology company that will allow marketers buying cable airtime via its television advertising platform to tailor spots for specific audiences.

It has been argued that Google has exerted a mixed impact on the advertising, marketing and media industries, although the company was forced into a rare retreat earlier this year when it closed its radio and print ad services.

The internet pioneer has now agreed a tie-up with Visible World, which has developed a system enabling brand owners to "target viewers with real-time offers, products, and creative based on geography, programming, inventory levels, time of day, weather, and other business conditions."

Such a result is achieved by drawing demographic and other information from cable set-top boxes, which can then be used to alter various aspects of communications, such as the script or promotional offers featured, as appropriate.

Among the other facilities the software provides is to allow advertisers to withdraw commercials that are found to be under-performing, and replace them with alternative executions.

My question, how do you feel knowing that marketers are so worried if their TV ads a making you spend more money and using your cable TV data to tell them what you are doing?

How To Sell To The Chinese In 2010

2010-01-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

Are you scared of the Made in China label? So are many people it seems. So are most Chinese according to recent research. One of the top concerns Chinese consumers have is product safety, according to the findings from 5,000 interviews in 15 cities that the China Market Research Group, recently conducted. Chinese fear safety problems that wouldn't cross Americans' minds when shopping--clothing doused in toxic dye, condoms lubricated with vegetable oil, watermelons injected with dirty water to make them heavier.
Read the rest of the story following the link below.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/04/china-consumer-marketing-leadership-managing-rein.html

Median duration of unemployment rises in 2009:

2010-01-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the median duration of unemployment rose in 2009 compared to 2008, now that is a real eye opener haha.

The median duration of unemployment for unemployed people was 16 weeks in July 2009 according to the figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This has risen from 11 weeks in July 2008. The median duration of unemployment for men was 17 weeks, compared with 14 weeks for unemployed women.

The most common main difficulties in finding work differed for men and women: amongst unemployed men, the main difficulty was 'too many applicants for available jobs' (14%), followed by 'no vacancies in line of work' (13%). The most common difficulty for unemployed women was 'too many applicants for available jobs' (17%), followed by 'insufficient work experience' (10%).

My inside comments show that in marketing and business strategy roles in Sydney there has been around 150 "quality applications" for almost every marketing or business strategy role advertised. I know this because I applied for some senior roles against this many applicants,

Comparing age groups, for people aged 15-19 years the main difficulties were: 'no vacancies at all' (17%) and 'insufficient work experience' (15%), while the main difficulty in finding work for unemployed people aged 45 and over was 'considered too old by employers' (20%) and 'no vacancies in line of work' (12%).

For the long-term unemployed (i.e. people unemployed for 12 months or more), the most common main difficulty in finding work was 'own ill health or disability' (16%), 'too many applicants for available jobs' and 'insufficient work experience' (both 12%). However, the most common difficulty reported by people unemployed for less than 1 year was 'too many applicants for available jobs' (15%).

There is a lot of "talk" that 2010 will be a better year and I do hope the talk is correct and if you are one the unemployed that 2010 puts you back to work again
Steve

To Finish Off The Year Some Memorable Quotes From The Past

2009-12-29T21:02:00.000-08:00

"The techie-dominated Web holds limited appeal for todayﾒs mainstream consumers."
Jupiter Communications, August 1996

"I don't believe that the net is suitable for entertainment."
Phil Monego, President, NetChannel, US, April 1998

"Advertising is strongly frowned upon by the Internet community"
Nick Rosen, Managing Director, Intervid (Internet content consultancy), 1995

"Brand' sites almost always fail."
Steve Bowbrick, Chairman, Webmedia Group Ltd., July 1998

"The advertising community has abandoned the internet."
Michael Eisner, Chairman and Chief Executive, Walt Disney, US, January 2001

Oh well it is hard to be right all the time, have a very happy new year for 2010
Steve :)

"From Milk To Porn For Minister In China"

2009-12-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

A government minister who lost his job over last year's tainted baby formula scandal has been appointed deputy head of a department leading China's war on porn.

Li Changjiang, 65, former head of the top quality agency, is now vice-director of the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications.

He was in Jiangsu province for his first campaign last Thursday and Friday, said a report in Southern Metropolis Daily yesterday.
Li resigned as minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine days after the Sanlu milk scandal was exposed last September.

The State Council had made a statement that the quality administration had to bear "supervision responsibility for the milk food contamination".

The tainted formula killed six children and led to more than 300,000 more suffering urinary tract problems, such as kidney stones
Wang Yukai, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, yesterday said he believes Li's appointment is in line with the official accountability regulations.

China's Central Television makes its debut into the online video market

2009-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

China's Central Television made its debut into the online video market yesterday with the launch of its new website cntv.cn, causing wide spread speculation that the eight hundred pound gorilla of Chinese television will bring significant change to the Chinese online video landscape.

The website currently offers a download client which enables users to watch live streaming of the TV program of various TV channels, including CCTV's owns; like other video-sharing sites, it also support free video uploading and sharing.

According to today's Beijing Youth Daily, the recent anti-piracy campaign carried out by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has led to shutdowns of a number of Bit Torrent-based peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing websites. As a result, part of this P2P userbase will now be diverted to other video-sharing sites. One video-sharing site PPlive in particular has seen 274% percent boost in site traffic. The newspaper explains that the video-sharing sites are the new outlets for the Internet users' demand for online video consumption.

Most of the Chinese video-sharing websites face copyright issues to various degrees. In most cases, a sizable proportion of the site's content are TV news clips, movie mashups, even whole seasons of popular TV series and full length movies, often without the copyright holders' permission.

Youku.com, which may be the current market leader over Tudou.com, lost a copyright lawsuit filed by its competitor Sohu.com before an appeals court overturned the ruling on December 17.

With guaranteed good will from government agencies and a steady flow of content produced by its huge television crew, it is believed that CCTV will not have the same trouble.

The online video business has been seen as a fast growing and lucrative field. The newspaper predicted that the number of the online video viewers would reach 388 million next year, accounting for 94 percent of all Internet users. Youku posted a net income of over 200 million yuan in the financial year of 2009, and the total market value, according to Li Shanyou, CEO of video-sharing site Ku6.com, will be between 6 billion yuan to 7 billion yuan by 2012.

Consumer Groups Alarmed Over Google's AdMob Buy

2009-12-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

Google's plan to acquire mobile ad network AdMob in a $750 million deal announced last month is under fire from two consumer groups, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy. The two have asked the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal, arguing that it would substantially lessen competition in the mobile advertising market, harming consumers, advertisers and application developers, among others. The letter comes as the FTC is apparently having its own doubts about the deal -- or at least wants to learn more before giving its approval.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Consumer-Groups-Sound-Alarm-Over-Googles-AdMob-Buy-68996.html

Australian job market, is the worst behind us.

2009-12-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

I published the following comments many months ago, and they also are coming to be a reality.
This was published in January 2009
So the unemployment rate in Australia barley changed from 5.7% to 5.8%, but as I said earlier to day, don’t listen to the political spin.
Labour markets are an integral part of social and economic cycles and an interesting fact on social cycles is that they generally follow a definable pattern, and through analysis of the long term pattern of the unemployment rate in Australia we can see just where we are heading.
There is no need for guess work, as in looking at the high points and low points of each cycle in this long term pattern, an analysis I published in January 2009 shows that there is an average of nine years between each peak point and bottom of the cycle.
Analysis of the labour market cycle also shows that the average period from the bottom to the peak in the cycle is just two and a half years, so this suggests that the next upturn in the unemployment cycle will peak around August or September 2010 as that is two and half years since the current low point.
The next peak in unemployment may not be as bad as many analysts suggest and will probably be around 7.0%, this is very much in line with the OECD & IMF who have also forecast unemployment peaking in this range in late 2010, but for Australian workers that still means that another 330,553 people will lose their jobs between now and the last quarter of 2010, giving us 986,000 unemployed people- not good news if you are one of them.
UPDATE: Things look a little better today, but the there will still be pain to go through and unemployment has not yet peaked, even if it is driven by rising net immigration, a person without a job is still without a job.

The meteoric rise in China’s middle class - marketers be ready!

2009-12-28T19:53:00.000-08:00

The meteoric rise in China’s middle class is tied to dramatic increases in its per capita income, which is growing at a nearly unprecedented rate. The first industrial revolution created a 250% increase in per capita income over a 100 year period. The second industrial revolution triggered 350% per capita income growth over 60 years. By comparison, China is on track to create a 700% growth in per capita income in just 20 years.
Read the rest of the story by following the link

http://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Rise_of_China%27s_Middle_Class

No Surprise On China's GDP Growth

2009-12-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

It is strange how at the start of 2009 most experts where counting China down and out, with GDP growth projected at 5% to 6% (most countries would love to see this level of growth even today)

My Comments Published in January 2009 in this blog:(read the last line)
We all know that Asian emerging markets and in particular China have long been the worlds most dynamic with GDP growth averaging some 8% for many years now. (It was 13% for the last reported year) Many analysts have suggested that the demise of the American economy and subsequent impact on imports will have a dramatic effect on China due to massive reductions in their exports to the U.S.
While there will of course be a decline in exports to America, we must remember that GDP in China, is made up of just 8% exports to the U.S. unlike Singapore and Hong Kong with 20% to 30% of GDP coming from US exports. The good news is that the middle class is growing, and local sales of consumer goods is driving GDP and retail sales volume could increase by around 16% in 2009. In fact the National Bureau of Statistics of China Business Climate Survey results in that country showed that the national business climate index (BCI) was 107.0 in the fourth quarter of 2008, a drop of 21.6 points over the third quarter.
The BCI report of information transmission computer service and software industry, and construction stood at 143.8 and 134.3, which slightly declined over the third quarter; that of wholesale and retail trades, social services, accommodation and catering industry, and real-estate industry respectively was 127.2, 112.9, 111.3 and 101.7, down 16.4, 14.1, 7.7 and 17.2 points over the third quarter; that of industry and transport storage and postal industry stood at 98.5 and 95.2 respectively, which dropped 27.3 and 24.4 points over the third quarter.
Even if consumer demand did slow, there is sufficient budget surplus to allow China to support the economy with a combination of increased spending and lower taxes. The fact is that China’s money supply as measured by M2 climbed 17.8 percent over the past 12 months, as the government pumps money into the economy to offset losses created by exports.
Business leaders and marketers alike need to be aware of the subtle shift we will see in the make-up of GDP growth in China as they will start to shift from a manufacturing driven economy to a services economy, and I suggest that by 2020, services will make up at least 30% of GDP.
China is not in a hurry, they are on a long slow path to becoming the largest economic power in the world. Current productivity levels require an additional 700,000 new workers for each 1% of GDP growth. For smart marketers this simply suggest that if China grows GDP just 7% in 2009 there will be an additional 4,900,000 new consumers added to the already impressive and growing middle class, but my belief is that in looking at this from a consumer demand perspective we will still see above 8% year on year GDP growth, but only time will tell if I am correct.

Google sharpens aim with AdMob

2009-12-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

Four years ago, Omar Hamoui was just another ineffectual entrepreneur trying to spruce up his resume in graduate school.

Now, he's poised to become Google Inc.'s newest weapon as the company aims to extend its dominance of online advertising from computers to mobile devices.

Google is buying Hamoui's expertise in a $750 million acquisition of AdMob, a network for ads on iPhones and similar gadgets. He launched the business while struggling to support his wife and children as a student at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Hamoui, 32, changed his life by setting up a system for advertising on mobile devices. Though that sounds simple, it was a breakthrough because Hamoui's network got around stifling controls that wireless carriers had imposed on the content their customers could see on their phones. The crack that AdMob opened in the carriers' "walled gardens" made it easier for independent programmers to profit from applications planted on mobile phones.

"It took a lot of guts because (the carriers) were the gatekeepers of the industry," says Rich Wong, an AdMob investor and board member who is with Accel Partners. "Back then, it was sort of like if you said no to the Godfather. Bad things could happen."
Read this full artice at
http://townhall.com/news/sci-tech/2009/12/25/google_sharpens_aim_on_mobile_marketing_with_admob

Improving your on-line sales

2009-12-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

Most of the time we all talk about how writing for the web is different. And it is.

But when it comes to your sales pages and most landing pages, some good, old-fashioned sales techniques still apply.

The web may be different as a medium, but your readers are often the same people who read direct mail and watch late night TV.

In other words, some of the sales and closing techniques used in offline promotions also work online.

Here are some of the classics still apply:

Urgency: give people a legitimate reason to buy immediately. Offer ends soon etc.
Scarcity:let people know that supplies are limited (if they are).
New: people always pay a little extra attention to something that's new.
Free: an old one, but a good one. Is there something free (added value) that you can include with the purchase?
Save: people love to save money.
Risk-free: people hate to take risks, particularly when buying from an online company they don't know very well.

You probably don't want to overdo it and make every page look like an ad for Ginsu knives. But nor should you ignore the power of proven sales techniques.

The thing about any selling, and this includes selling online, is that a significant percentage of your online readers will be undecided, just on the edge of buying...but not now.

This presents you with what is without doubt the easiest and fastest way to increase your page conversion rates. You need to give those teeterers a little nudge.

You need to push them over the edge, from almost buying to actually buying.

Assuming that your product or service, offer and price are all attractive, the addition of one of these classic sales words and techniques can provide that extra push.

Take a look at your current sales pages, whether you are making a direct sale, generating a lead, asking for a registration or selling a membership subscription.

Can you add a sense of scarcity? Can you offer something free? Can you reduce the perceived risk of taking action?

Try adding one technique at a time. Try bundling two or three.

Then track the results until you have maximised your conversion rates for the page, this is simple to do with google analytics.

What makes good "Outdoor Advertising"

2009-12-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of talk in Australia about the impact that being able to measure outdoor will have on clients and the ability to grow revenue if the media can be measured. This really begs the question for marketers, what is more important, the creative, the placement, or measuring eye balls.

It is probably worth reminding marketers of the value of outdoor in the mix, and why it works now and always has "if executed properly"

Creative

Outdoor activity is recognised globally as the most challenging yet rewarding creative advertising tool. At its heart is the ability for good creative to command total attention and cut through all other factors that surrounds a person in the outdoor environment.

More than any other medium, an Outdoor ad needs a big - yet simple - idea. The key thing to remember when writing copy is "less says more". Without an idea a poster stops being an ad and becomes a sign.

The elements that make up good creative are well established. Fundamental to the quality of the creative is the media weight, or number of panels and campaign duration, which are needed to achieve the desired communication. Research has proven; the more innovative, the more intriguing and perhaps the more humorous the creative execution of an Outdoor poster ad, the less media weight is required. Conversely, the more mundane or predictable the creative, the greater the media weight required, but this is a fact for all media: not just outdoor!

Research conducted on Outdoor creative has revealed that:

Single-minded, focused ads deliver more impact.
Ads that have a positive thrust are more effective than ads that take a negative approach.
Artwork illustration can deliver higher awareness than photography.
Puffed-up product benefits lose credibility and hurt the ability to gain and retain attention.
Type size and/or copy length is closely related to awareness levels. Readability is critical factor in effectiveness.
Seasonality is not a factor in Outdoor. People are out of their homes daily on a year-round basis.
There would seem to be no product or service for which Outdoor is not effective.

Media

I learned early in my career that outdoor advertising at its best achieves direct communication with consumers;

where they live, work, play,
where they drive and shop,
where they commute, and
where they congregate.

With today's marketing strategies being driven by the consumer, who is being exposed to more messages than ever before, Outdoor is a proven medium in the mainstream media mix.

Outdoor is about delivering impact and awareness - it captures 'share of mind' and produces measurable results. No other media can match the impact and reach against the investment, and yes most other media is now measured against eyeballs.

Outdoor can provide strong national exposure right down through to being at the retailer's front door. It can complement other mainstream media buys - catching the light TV viewers, those who listen to non-commercial radio stations and those who read business press.

When it comes to demographics, Outdoor, with its mix of product types and dedicated locations, can reach specific markets throughout the spectrum whilst still remaining the most cost-efficient of all the mainstream mediums.

Outdoor can provide:

Broad market reach and high, efficient frequency
24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week presence
Cost-efficiencies that are unachievable using any other mainstream medium
Ability to reach markets and/or demographic profiles considered difficult or too expensive with other media
A perfect strategic add-on/extension with other media activity such as television and radio
A stand-alone advertising launch vehicle
A reminder medium when other activity tapers off
Communication to markets that other media cannot reach

I also learned that the best measurement for any head of marketing, is not how many GIMP where delivered, or eyeballs saw the message, but what ROI was achieved.
What ever measurement system is put in place, don't expect a "system" to make your decisions for your

Let me know what you think

Google is watching

2009-07-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Google has formed a partnership with a technology company that will allow marketers buying cable airtime via its television advertising platform to tailor spots for specific audiences. It has been argued that Google has exerted a mixed impact on the advertising, marketing and media industries, although the company was forced into a rare retreat earlier this year when it closed its radio and print ad services.

The internet pioneer has now agreed a tie-up with Visible World, which has developed a system enabling brand owners to "target viewers with real-time offers, products, and creative based on geography, programming, inventory levels, time of day, weather, and other business conditions."

Such a result is achieved by drawing demographic and other information from cable set-top boxes, which can then be used to alter various aspects of communications, such as the script or promotional offers featured, as appropriate.

Among the other facilities the software provides is to allow advertisers to withdraw commercials that are found to be under-performing, and replace them with alternative executions.

My question, how do you feel knowing that marketers are so worried if their TV ads a making you spend more money and using your cable TV data to tell them what you are doing?

US retailers turn to social media

2009-07-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

US retailers turn to social media

Major US retailers such as JCPenney and American Eagle, and high-profile apparel brands like Nike, are increasingly turning to social media as they try to connect with teenage consumers in the US.

In an effort to boost "back-to-school" spending – which will fall by between 8% and 12% this year according to a forecast by the Research Group and UBS – many retail chains are looking to embrace a range of interactive platforms.

Recently, Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group issued a report assessing how "engaged" a variety of brands were on social media, and this channel is seen as being a particularly effective tool for communicating with specific age groups.

Charlene Li, of the Altimeter Group, argued "young people are turning to social networks first to make decisions about what to buy for back-to-school. If you're not there, you're not reaching them."

JCPenney has developed its own brand page on Facebook, which is targeted at teenagers and features its TV and cinema ads, as well as giving members of the platform the chance to express their opinions on the products it sells.

It has also launched a new section of its own website bringing together information on various brands popular with this demographic, such as its Decree and Arizona lines, as well as RS by Sheckler.

Mike Boylson, JCPenney's chief marketing officer, said "younger consumers are not consuming traditional media. What we're spending in digital space is so much more than we did three years ago that the percentage would be off the charts."

American Eagle has similarly established a feed on Twitter, the microblogging website, as well as a presence on Facebook, and is drawing on the skills of its PR, marketing, design and merchandising departments to develop its social media strategy.

The company has also run web ads featuring "real-time" updates from its Twitter account, as well as scheduling a competition on Facebook where it will give away a pair of jeans every hour.

Mike Dupuis, its vp of digital marketing, said this approach is effectively "mirroring the way" young people "communicate with each other when we communicate with them."

Nike, the sportswear brand, is also set to launch an application for Apple's iPhone enabling consumers to customise some of its products, and distribute the results to their contacts on Facebook.

Stefan Olander, global director for brand connections at Nike, argued "it's all about making sure that we're part of our customers' lives. Social media is a very natural extension of that."

Bebe has used Facebook to host a feature allowing users to upload pictures of their own faces onto the site, and which then effectively means they can "star" in their own "rock video".

Furthermore, the company has attempted to establish relationships with 50 bloggers that it views as being particularly influential among its core consumers.

Barbara Wambach, its chief administrative officer, argued "social media creates much more depth to the entire rollout."

Staples also broadcast its latest TV ad on Facebook before airing it on television, as well as using its brand page on the social network to encourage teens to donate money to support students in need.

Don LeBlanc, the retailer's svp, retail marketing, argued "this isn't social media for social media's sake. It's about how to connect with teens for back-to-school."

In this vein, Candie's launched its latest campaign, featuring pop star Britney Spears, on Facebook and the singer's own website.

The ads were also promoted on Spears' own Twitter feed, which has over 2.5 million "followers", before being show on MTV.

Dari Marder, cmo of the Iconix Brand Group, which owns Candie's, said this strategy provides the "insider access that junior consumers just love to get," while the promotion via Spears' Twitter feed has a multiplication effect "into the millions."

Alongside these activities, the retail chain used its own Twitter account as a promotional vehicle, such as by adding links to the web page for Kohl's department stores, which sells its products.

Data sourced from USA Today; additional content by WARC staff, 28 July 2009

Local Area Marketing Should Be The Norm

2009-07-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Good news For Aussies Working Overseas

2009-07-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Australia Tax Offices changes its mind on Expats double whammy tax.

Australian’s working overseas where hit by a new budget measure to levy tax on those working overseas, and have now had this blow softened, after the ATO yesterday unveiled plans to reduce the double tax impost.
From July 1, the income tax exemption for people working overseas was limited to only those workers that undertake government, aid or charitable activities or those who become non-residents.
This meant that most expats had to pay income tax in Australia, as well as in the country that they worked, before waiting until the end of the financial year to receive a credit for foreign tax already paid. This new measure was forecast to grab $675 million over four years and created a massive backlash from Australian companies and expats alike.
Although workers will still be an average $11,000 per year worse off under the revised measure, according to Treasury estimates, the potential double tax impost will now be eased thanks to an ATO legislative measure.
Employers will now be allowed to vary the amount of Australian PAYG tax they take out of employees pay packets, by taking into account how much income tax they the worker pays in the foreign country.

As with most things under the Rudd government however, stay tuned as this could always change again as Treasury coffers continue to shrink

Steve
Headkeeper

Why are most economist wrong most of the time?

2009-07-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

So now we all know that the economy in China is surging ahead, and most nay sayers have changed their minds. Reading further down in this post you will that I (and some others) where still suggesting GDP growth at 8% or stronger, but then I am not an economist-just a marketer

Sales of cars in China topped six million in the first half of 2009, comfortably outstripping the United States where they fell to 4.8m, a number last seen in 1982.

In the week that General Motors emerges from bankruptcy (and free of most of its debts) the China figures are actually very good news for US manufacturers, including GM, which have big presences in China.

Cars aren't the only booming sector in China, according to a new survey of business confidence from the National Bureau of Statistics that shows its index moving well into positive territory with a reading of 110.2 compared to record low of 94.6 it hit in the last quarter of 2008.

Industry, construction and real estate were the strongest sectors. Many of the biggest players in these sectors are state-owned and have benefited from the Chinese government's instructions to banks to up lending. There is now a growing demand in China for privately-owned SMEs to be supported as the country's economy recovers.

Nevertheless, the Chinese economy is back on track to hit its original target of 8% growth this year. This is very good news for Western companies other than car manufacturers.

It is strange how just a few months ago most experts where counting China down and out, with GDP growth projected at 5% to 6% (most countries would love to see this level of growth)

My Comments Published in January 2009
We all know that Asian emerging markets and in particular China have long been the worlds most dynamic with GDP growth averaging some 8% for many years now. (It was 13% for the last reported year) Many analysts have suggested that the demise of the American economy and subsequent impact on imports will have a dramatic effect on China due to massive reductions in their exports to the U.S.
While there will of course be a decline in exports to America, we must remember that GDP in China, is made up of just 8% exports to the U.S. unlike Singapore and Hong Kong with 20% to 30% of GDP coming from US exports. The good news is that the middle class is growing, and local sales of consumer goods is driving GDP and retail sales volume could increase by around 16% in 2009. In fact the National Bureau of Statistics of China Business Climate Survey results in that country showed that the national business climate index (BCI) was 107.0 in the fourth quarter of 2008, a drop of 21.6 points over the third quarter.
The BCI report of information transmission computer service and software industry, and construction stood at 143.8 and 134.3, which slightly declined over the third quarter; that of wholesale and retail trades, social services, accommodation and catering industry, and real-estate industry respectively was 127.2, 112.9, 111.3 and 101.7, down 16.4, 14.1, 7.7 and 17.2 points over the third quarter; that of industry and transport storage and postal industry stood at 98.5 and 95.2 respectively, which dropped 27.3 and 24.4 points over the third quarter.
Even if consumer demand did slow, there is sufficient budget surplus to allow China to support the economy with a combination of increased spending and lower taxes. The fact is that China’s money supply as measured by M2 climbed 17.8 percent over the past 12 months, as the government pumps money into the economy to offset losses created by exports.
Business leaders and marketers alike need to be aware of the subtle shift we will see in the make-up of GDP growth in China as they will start to shift from a manufacturing driven economy to a services economy, and I suggest that by 2020, services will make up at least 30% of GDP.
China is not in a hurry, they are on a long slow path to becoming the largest economic power in the world. Current productivity levels require an additional 700,000 new workers for each 1% of GDP growth. For smart marketers this simply suggest that if China grows GDP just 7% in 2009 there will be an additional 4,900,000 new consumers added to the already impressive and growing middle class, but my belief id that in looking at this from a consumer demand perspective we will still see above 8% year on year GDP growth, but only time will tell if I am correct.

Steve
Headkeeper of The Social Zoo

Even The Best Leader Can't Change The Economic Law Of Gravity

2009-07-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

It’s impossible for an elected leader to preside over an economic recovery when they push an agenda that punishes success and threatens productivity, and it doesn’t matter if you’re the President of the United States or the Prime Minster of Australia. When “the wealthiest people” know that their taxes are going to increase, they lack the confidence to make the investments and the purchases that would stimulate economic growth. When small businesses hear about a regime of heavy new fines, their owners don’t feel secure enough to expand their payrolls. And when those running big businesses realize that every move is going to be scrutinized and possibly second-guessed by labour unions, they’ll become hyper-cautious – and less likely to take the risks that can spur dynamic growth.
A good example is the profoundly underwhelming response to the Obama “stimulus” bill in the United States, which highlights the truth that massive government spending alone can’t create prosperity. For that, one needs the private sector – “the wealthiest tax payers,” small business, and big business included – to drive the consumption and create the jobs that will start economies on the road to economic recovery.
Governments can not and do not create jobs; they simply create the environment to encourage new hiring.
Any other approach is nothing more than a wrong-headed attempt to repeal the laws of economic gravity. And even the most charismatic leader can’t do that.

How 8 Consumer Trends Will Drive Consumption

2009-07-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I talked about the "demand for simplicity” trend, but there are seven other key consumer trends that will shape the demand for consumption so in response to your questions here they are.

1. Demand for Simplicity: Consumers have been seeking uncomplicated, user friendly products and services that simplify their lives for some time now. This trend began in earnest around 2001, and the current recession has simply been the catalyst that has allowed it to reach a tipping point. Even as global markets return to normal, demand for simplicity will continue to increase well into the future.
2. Focus on The Boardroom: Consumers have for a long time been interested in choosing brands that have strong CSR ethics and are seen to give back to the community. Today consumers have become outraged by corporate malfeasance, are punishing companies for unethical practice through their product choices, and this attitude will continue well into the future as brands need to correct the public perception.
3. Discretionary Thrift: Even those who don’t need to economize are pursuing a more wholesome and less wasteful lifestyle. Prior to the GFC, this trend was declining as rampant consumerism was on the rise, since the GFC this rampant consumerism has reversed. While this change has been driven by tighter budgets, it is a trend that will continue well beyond the return to normality in global markets.
4. Mercurial Consumption: Easy access to information and friction-free purchasing is making consumers ever more agile-and much less loyal. This is nothing new and has been a reality of the social networking age; however there has been a considerable increase since the onset of the GFC and this trend will probably become the norm, which means that brands are going to have to find better ways to interact in the age of social networks and real time information.
5. Green Consumption: There has been a social change to “green awareness” of the past years, which has been reflected in consumer choices as this green consumption trend started to take hold. Consumers are now forgoing pricey green products and instead are finding other ways to cheaply and discreetly reduce waste. This trend is going to last as long as the recession does in individual countries, but will then return to the previous trend of selecting green products. The question for companies that produce “green products” is how do they maintain sales in this environment and still be in shape to take advantage of the return to green consumerism.
6. Decline of Deference: Respect for institutions and authority, long in decline will temporarily level off as people look to the government and institutions to fix the economy. While this does little to drive many consumer sales it does impact on their confidence, but this trend of relying on “big brother” will last only as long as the GFC and then it will back to the long term trend that started around 1976.
7. Ethical Consumerism: when thinks are going well consumers can afford to be a choosy as their wallet allows them. There has been a strong increase in ethical consumerism over the past few years, with altruistic consumption and spending, such as eating only cage-free eggs and giving to charities. These consumption attitudes have taken a dive as people become more focused on their own situation, but as with green consumption, as the world recovers, so will consumers ethical consumption. For now thought this will make it tough for fund raising charities, and yes for those chickens in cages.
8. Extreme Experience Seeking: Expensive, frivolous, or risky recreational experiences popular during the boom preceding this recession have fallen out of favor. Why shouldn’t they as they where expensive and frivolous, but my prediction is that this consumer reaction in turning away from this type of spending will not return to normal as the economy does.

Australian Unemployment Rate Steady?

2009-07-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

So the unemployment rate in Australia barley changed from 5.7% to 5.8%, but as I said earlier to day, don’t listen to the political spin.
Labour markets are an integral part of social and economic cycles and an interesting fact on social cycles is that they generally follow a definable pattern, and through analysis of the long term pattern of the unemployment rate in Australia we can see just where we are heading.
There is no need for guess work, as in looking at the high points and low points of each cycle in this long term pattern, an analysis I published in January 2009 shows that there is an average of nine years between each peak point and bottom of the cycle.
Analysis of the labour market cycle also shows that the average period from the bottom to the peak in the cycle is just two and a half years, so this suggests that the next upturn in the unemployment cycle will peak around August or September 2010 as that is two and half years since the current low point.
The next peak in unemployment may not be as bad as many analysts suggest and will probably be around 7.0%, this is very much in line with the OECD & IMF who have also forecast unemployment peaking in this range in late 2010, but for Australian workers that still means that another 330,553 people will lose their jobs between now and the last quarter of 2010, giving us 986,000 unemployed people- not good news if you are one of them

US unemployment surges - Why The Surprise?

2009-07-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

US unemployment surges, 4/7.The headlines shout 'US employers slashed 467,000 jobs in June, 100,000 more than expected. That lifted the unemployment rate to 9.5 per cent, the highest in nearly 26 years. 'Most economists now believe the 10 per cent mark will be reached before the year is out. Some can even see the postwar high of 10.9 per cent unemployment, set during the Reagan administration in 1983, being topped by Christmas.

My question is why the surprise, I did suggest back in January that most commentators had it wrong and where not looking at the big picture.
Here as a reminder is what I wrote in early January of 2009

The coming year will be the most perilous in modern history for the American economy, the forces at work are unlike the country has seen since the Great Depression and could result in a “lost decade” of anemic growth such as we have seen in Japan, or could drop into a severe contraction.This is a case where many economists and analysts are deluding themselves that the contraction will be short, with many in this camp looking for the signs of recovery by the end of 2009. We will be sadly mistaken if we do not recognise that this current downturn in the US economy is not going to be a short term headache, created by normal short term business cycles but in fact is going to exist for as long as five years or until 2013.
Over the past 30 years as with all social cycles the unemployment rate has shown an historic pattern of traditional cyclical trends. When this long term cyclical trend is analyzed and consideration is given to average length of each individual “leg” of the long term data, it becomes apparent that there is an average 11 years for each cyclical swing or leg.This analysis suggests that the US is now just half way through the current cyclical leg that will not peak until 2014. The analysis also suggests that this current upswing in the unemployment rate will reach 7.5% before easing again for a short period and at that time will swing up again to complete this cycle peaking at around 8% or a little higher in 2014. This confirms that the situation America faces at the moment is not just a short down turn, but rather a long cycle adjustment that will take considerable time to unwind, suggesting a real recovery will not be in place in America until probably 2012 at the earliest, meaning a probable double-dip recession.Because of this combination of declining household incomes and consumer spending, corporate profits will continue to decline by as much as 20% in both 2009 and 2010, which is why we may well see the US in a “lost decade” much like Japan. If you want real proof that Zero interest rates do nothing to stimulate output and growth just look at Japan where rates have been close to Zero for many years.
Steve Hinch

Even when things change they stay the same

2009-07-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the first paper money was printed in the United States in 1862, and today it is not worth much more. The stock ticker came to Wall Street in a few years latter in 1870 and is not fairing much better than it did back then.
The Dow has made some nice recovery this year, but watch out for the double dip recession that will hit latter this year. Some things may have changed but people remain the same

The Post Recession Consumer

2009-07-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

In most developed economies consumer behaviour was the product of of more than 15 years of uninterrupted prosperity. Now this is all changing
The demand for simplicity: consumers are now seeking uncomplicated products that are user friendly and solutions that simplify their lives. This is nothing new however as consumer have been on this path for the past few years and the GFC has simply been the catalyst that is driving this deeper.