2010 Marketing

Study: Boomers want personal mobile care

Can home care compete when hospitals and doctors are going home with their patients? Home care turf is a battleground, and patients are the target? Says Ken Warren of Connecticut's 2020 Public Relations, "know your patients, know their habits, and know the needs of the family. Full story.

The first wave of boomers reaching 65 is prompting a move toward patient-centric care and adoption of mobile health technology. A report by MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest concluded that boomers will play a key role in shaping personalized health care enabled by technology such as in-home monitoring devices. Additionally, the "imminent explosion of personal health data" will create huge opportunities for entrepreneurs looking for opportunities in the mobile health care industry.

Patients: More doc input in online forums

Do MDs really know who their patients are, what they need, and do they really ask patients what they need from them? 2020 Public Relations work with docs on their internal and external communications to ensure they best connect with patients.

Patients who look to social media sites for help with their conditions want more input from physicians, according to a recent wool.labs study. "I wish I had a physician who would come on to my social network and answer questions honestly and straightforwardly," Michael Scott, the president and co-founder of Prostate Cancer International, told the wool.labs Cocktail Convention on medical adherence. However, greater physician involvement in social media may not be enough to increase adherence, panelists said. Full story.

Social media traffic illusion?

Social Media. The Giant Quandary for so many, the answer for others. The quest? More business or recognition. Every business is different, and no "one answer" fits all. 2020 Public Ralations suggests you first start with: Who is the your audience and what are their buying habits?

Search engines, not social sites, continue to be the most important driver of traffic to most kinds of websites, according to a Citigroup study based on comScore data. But Facebook and other social networks are an increasingly important source of hits for media sites -- a trend that may be leading the media to assign too much importance to social traffic in general, writes Peter Kafka. "The reason that Web sites that write stories about other Web sites are writing about Google's stall and Facebook's rise is because it seems to be true -- for some media sites. But not for most of the Web," Kafka writes. Source: SmartBrief.com. Full story.

Twitter Posts Gauge & Predict Market Patterns?

As firms try to figure out what "new" media may mean to their business, many are racing to a finish line they cannot see. Ken Warren of 2020 Public Relations in Connecticut counsels clients to try new media, but set capture-lines where you can see if you actually captured any business.

Bloomberg News reports Dec 22 that Derwent Capital Markets, a family- owned hedge fund, will offer investors the chance to use Twitter posts to gauge the mood of the stock market, said co-owner Paul Hawtin. The Derwent Absolute Return Fund Ltd, set to start trading in February with an initial 25 million pounds ($39 million) under management, will follow posts on the social-networking website. A trading model will highlight when the number of times words on Twitter such as “calm” rise above or below average. 

Newspaper Web Sites Reach most U.S Internet Users

When you consider a mix of advertising venues, newspapers are not dead...in fact there may be new life stirring. 

Newspaper companies attracted 102.8 million unique visitors to their Web sites in September -- 61 percent of all adult Internet users. The analysis, performed by comScore for the Newspaper Association of America, also indicates that newspaper Web sites stand out in today's consumer landscape, reaching 55 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds and 73 percent of individuals in households earning more than $100,000 per year. From MediaBistro.com

Using Data to Leverage Your Position

2020 Public Relations works with firms to leverage their data and points of distinction. What could they possibly have in common? A small Connecticut hospital in one of the wealthiest towns in the U.S. Connecticut's only for-profit hospital that was barely saved from insolvency. And a small hospital in an old mill town valley region. Seems that according to data collected by the federal government, they are way ahead of the curve among Connecticut Hospitals in terms of customer satisfaction. This includes patient communications, pain management and patient satisfaction. Yale-New Haven affiliate Greenwich Hospital is tops with 762, compared to Sharon Hospital at 730 and Griffin Hospital at 721. The lowest? John Dempsey at 617. US average is 688; and Connecticut average is a very low 641. For more information, go to www.connecticuthealthnews.com.

Perception & Realities in Hospital-land

Does geography make a difference in terms of hospital satisfaction? Are people happier with their hospital experience in Wilton and Shelton, rather than New Britain and East Hartford? Based on patient satisfaction data collected by the federal government, 40% of the hospitals on the top 10 are located in Fairfield County. Using, leveraging and massing data is vital to perception. See the longer stories.

Chance of A Shark Fatality

You have a great product or service, invest lots of money and time, and then you wonder why so many new companies fail? Often its lack of perspective, poor planning and advertising. We are deathly afraid of sharks, yet when put in perspective, you are almost 50 times more likely to get fatally struck by lightening. Says Ken Warren of 2020 Public Relations in the New Haven, Connecticut area: "Don't let your ego drive your business decisions. Do your homework, and let logic and sound marketing drive your plan." (In 2003 in the U.S. 1 person died in a shark attack, 11 from fireworks, 47 by lightening, 273 of heat exposure, 3,306 drowned, 19,456 were poisoned accidentally, 44,757 died in car crashes, and 652,486 from heart disease.)

Stand Out or Join the Crowd?

2020 Public Relations in Connecticut gets calls from advertisers wondering if they should put all their $ into online options. Says Ken Warren: "If everyone is there, how do you stand out?  Make sure your advertising is logical and not flawed."

From CNBC: A key sign of relief for the struggling magazine industry: monthly ad sales for August magazines jumped 10 percent. Media Industry Newsletter just reported this jump in ad pages at monthly magazines — the first month of 10 % year-over-year growth in nearly six years. Though the percentage increase is certainly off some weak numbers last year, it indicates the weak industry is stabilizing

But who are YOUR Customers?

2020 Pubic Relations gets confused advertisers wondering how to reach their customers. The first real question, says Ken Warren, is "who are your customers?"

From MediaShift: As traditional news outlets continue to lay off journalists, a new generation of companies is betting big on online content. Their approaches differ significantly, but are all built on the common premise that for online content to be profitable, it has to be produced at a truly massive scale. The proliferation of these so-called "content farms" -- a name the companies predictably dislike -- has raised the ire of journalists and pundits alike. "If you want to know how our profession ends, look at Demand Media," wrote Jason Fry, a former Wall Street Journal columnist who edits Reinventing the Newsroom.

MIsleading Your Customers?

What's in a name? The name of your company carries some currency, or baggage. What do people or other businesses think of you and your firm? Ever surveyed them? Ever wonder why someone selects your competitor? Two high level last names, according to the Westport River Gallery in Connecticut, are now used by people who married the person with the famous last name. Both divorced the person (these are unrelated stories and people), kept the last name, and market their artwork under the last name. A tad misleading. Recently a story in a Southern Connecticut newspaper carried giant story on one of them, without mentioning her last name came from marriage, not birth. Make sure your firm is NOT misleading your customers.

Simple vs complex websites

Websites don't need to be complex. Simpler the better. Such was the challenge for TeaforHealth, tea from China that is scientifically grown and uniquely harvested to capture the potent antioxidant EGCG in unmatched concentrations. Borrowing from centuries-old Chinese brewing techniques, the tea is naturally infused with concentrations of EGCG hundreds of times higher than commercial, massed-produced teas. Behind the tea is American cancer pathologist/scientist Sin Hang Lee, MD. The simple website we built is here, vs the original website, which is dense with great scientific data. The simple site is designed by 2010 Marketing for a more general market, yet it ties to the deeper site for those interested.

About Face (Book) on Privacy

Privacy on the internet? But they said it was private? Sure, and would you buy a George Washington Bridge if someone was willing to sell it? Sensitive and personal data should not be put on your website, and take care about what you even e-mail. One of the biggest "How Do I" questions on Google right now has to do with deleting a Facebook account

Following the uproar over changes in Facebook's privacy policy that seemed to loosen safeguards on user information, blogger Kurt Opsahl did some digging into the company's past treatments of privacy. His findings make for some dramatic contrasts. Click for full story.

Terminating your people; NOT your reputation

Many firms we see have the ability to cut people but unfortunately also cut their own reputation. How you let people go reflects the inner strength or weakness of your company. 2010 Marketing has worked with many firms to ensure that their external and internal communications, especially during bad times, is consistent and solid.

"In the past, employee communications wasn't as valued or as sexy as external communications. Times have changed. Employee communications has now moved from stepchild to golden child." Click to see the whole story.

Alex Rodriguiz, Tiger Woods & McGwire

You did something wrong, and now you have to pay. What do you say? And when? One firm 2010 Marketing counsels said they charged too much sales tax and immediately sent the client the extra money. Small stuff compared to lying about steroid use, but in business the faster you come clean and apologize, the quicker you are forgiven. And what you do reflects your character, and of your business. Ask Tiger Woods if it makes a difference. Full Story.

From the NY Times: The strategy that Mark McGwire used Monday to lay out his admission to using steroids shows lessons were learned from other baseball stars who preceded him in making mea culpa about their drug use. The one-day plan — coordinated over the past month by Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary who runs a crisis-communications company, and the St. Louis Cardinals, who recently hired McGwire as their batting coach — contrasts with last year’s roll-out of Alex Rodriguez’s steroid admission.

Perception-Reality Check

Business before perception? Or is what people think of you important? Many firms 2010 Marketing has counseled have better understood that often perception is reality. Contact us.

This week the NY Times noted that instead of donating unused clothes to people in need, H&M and Wal-Mart have been throwing them out in trash bags. And in case someone may stumble on these bags and try to keep or re-sell them, they have gone ahead and slashed up garments so they are unwearable. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman was surprised the items were found, claiming they typically donate all unworn merchandise to charity. After days of no response from H&M, the firm promised to stop destroying the garments at the midtown NYC store. They said they will donate the items to charity. Full story.

More Online Business Planning

Every business is different. No strategy for one can be applied to another. If your larger competitor designs the playing field, you play by their rules. 2010 Marketing and Public Relations in Connecticut works with firms to tailer their plan to their needs.

Small businesses are planning to engage customers in new ways in 2010, says an Ad-ology Research study: 28% say they will spend at least the same or more on online video, an increase of 75% over last year's plans; 25% say they will commit more resources to social media; and 21% say the same for mobile advertising. Nearly half of small businesses say they do not have an active website. Of those with sites, the primary functions are to inform customers about products/services, provide general info, and offer special promos. Email marketing and company websites are the most popular online marketing methods for small businesses. (from MarketingProfs.com)

Social Media Sell or Solve?

Are you a twit if you don't tweet? Clients of 2010 Marketing and Public Relations in the New Haven, Connecticut area understand social media can be valuable, but often it merely underscores your message. For some businesses it is vital, for others it is like a fifth tire on your car. 

A recent study, referenced in Promo Magazine, from Burson-Marsteller revealed that 54% of Fortune 100 companies have a presence on Twitter. Also, 30% are active on Facebook and maintain a blog. It's no longer an issue of should companies use social media, it's now a matter of how they should utilize social media. Pete Blackshaw, executive VP at Nielsen, says Social Media "is a catalyst for fresh thinking on how companies can improve customer service." Twitter is still the shiny new object every marketer is talking about and it's gaining clout as a customer service channel.

Power of TV Ads Fractures

Hospitals, restaurants, retailers and others are grappling with fragmented advertising opportunities, especially in light of tighter dollars. Clients of 2010 Marketing in the New Haven, Connecticut area wonder, what's the right mix, and where does TV stack up? See the following from the Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- For more than 60 years, TV stations have broadcast news, sports and entertainment for free and made their money by showing commercials. That might not work much longer. The business model is unraveling at ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and the local stations that carry the networks' programming. Cable TV and the Web have fractured the audience for free TV and siphoned its ad dollars. The recession has squeezed advertising further, forcing broadcasters to accelerate their push for new revenue to pay for programming.

Twitter U-Turn for Bucks

Twitter has opened the door for advertisers to target its millions of users for the first time, as it desperately looks to find a way of making money from the "micro-blogging" phenomenon. The move marks a softening of attitude at the website, which has 45 million users, has overtaken MySpace in the UK but has yet to find a business model to bring in consistent revenues. A Twitter founder revealed that the US-based site had opted to "leave the door open for advertising" as it changed its terms of service for users. Click for the full story.

Need Business? How Much? Which is Best for Me?

TV ads, radio, blogs, newspapers, direct mail, Yellow Pages, penny saver packets, optimization, websites, twitter, Facebook, speaking engagements??? So many options, so little money, and limited time. So how do you determine what works, and where to spend you nickels and dimes? There is no magic answer, but has more to do with who you serve, who you wish to serve, and the response rate you want. Says Ken Warren of 2010 Marketing in the New Haven area: "If you have no focus, then whatever you do is a waste of money. If you are driven by 'cheap,' then you get cheap and unfocused. You may be good at your service, but a professional marketer can galvanize your efforts and maximize your dollars." Call Ken at 203-891-9001.

Your Habits Prompt Ads

They know what you make and where you shop. Now your browser is getting smarter and targeting you based on this. "This may be vital to some marketers, but it comes down to where are your customers and what are their habits," reminded Ken Warren of 2010 Marketing in Connecticut. Click for the full story below in The NY Times.

For all the concern and uproar over online privacy, marketers and data companies have always known much more about consumers’ offline lives, like income, credit score, home ownership, even what car they drive and whether they have a hunting license. Recently, some of these companies have started connecting this mountain of information to consumers’ browsers. The result is a sea change in the way consumers encounter the Web. Not only will people see customized advertising, they will see different versions of Web sites from other consumers and even receive different discount offers while shopping — all based on information from their offline history. Two women in adjoining offices could go to the same cosmetic site, but one might see a $300 Missoni perfume, the other the house-brand lipstick on sale for $2.

TV Time Steady Against Net

The media is dead, they say. Not say fast, reminds Ken Warren of 2010 Marketing. This brief story in The New York Times is a reminder that new media isn't the best always. "Who are your clients and what are their habits," is the real question. Click for story.

In the past five years, Americans have dropped their time spent with radio and newspapers by nearly one-fifth, according to Forrester Research’s latest Internet use survey. In return, they’ve more than doubled their Internet usage, jumping from six hours per week average to more than twelve. But the 40,000 American adults surveyed by Forrester haven’t changed the amount of time they spend watching TV. U.S. consumers average 13 hours of TV per week, a figure that hasn’t changed since Forrester began collecting data in 2004.

All Circuits Busy, Dear Customers

"Many companies that have gone bust didn't die because of the recession. They failed for one reason: They treated customers poorly." So says Inc Magazine in its May 2009 edition. "When I actually needed a new TV, however, I found the Circuit City salesperson to be so aggressively unknowledgeable and remarkably useless that I fled to Best Buy, where I was helped by a cheerful, 20-year-old twerp who knew everything." Says 2010 Marketing Experts: Customers cannot be taken for granted. They are your income. You are overhead. Treat them well and they will buy from you. Survey them. Ask them. Don't tell them.

GM is Sorry. That enough?

GM is now rolling out a big campaign to concede its "mistakes" and reinvent its tarnished, bankrupt image. Seems they are now "sorry" they sold us giant Hummer-like cars, and by some accounts admit they did not listen to their buying public. Though most companies lack the resources to "right" an image, can you tweak or readjust your business or personal image? 2010 Marketing experts say: "Its hard to ice a rotten cookie, but a strategic plan can often help refocus your efforts. The Hummer? In the process of bring sold to the Chinese. Must be tough to get auto service.

Ad $ From the Web? No Sure Bet

Where to spend your advertising dollars? Oh the web of course? Think again. 2010 Marketing reminds business that the toolbox of advertising options includes many options, and some work better than others for different businesses. For the full story from the New York Times, click here. For anyone with a crazy idea for a Web business, the way to make it pay was once obvious: get a lot of visitors and sell ads. Since 2004, venture investors have put $5.1 billion into 828 Web start-up companies, and most of them are supported by ads, according to the National Venture Capital Association. Now advertisers have cut back their online spending. So Web start-ups are searching for new ways to make money, like selling real, or virtual, goods or asking customers to buy subscriptions.

How do You Stay Competitive?

Imagine knowing what makes your competitor special? Mystery shopping is used in a wide variety of industries such as retail, restaurants, financial institutions, convenience stores and gas stations, service providers, manufacturers, department stores, travel and entertainment, etc. 2010 Marketing and Public Relations  has worked with companies in Fairfield and New Haven counties interested in knowing how they treat customers, how they operate their business, and what makes them special.

Internet Privacy?

The FTC had some sharp words for Internet companies, saying that they are not explaining to their users clearly enough what information they collect about them and how they use it for advertising. For now, the commission is sticking to its view that the Internet industry can voluntarily regulate its own privacy practices. But the tone of the report, and comments by several commission members and staff officials, indicated that if the industry does not move faster, the agency would increase regulation or call for Congress to legislate stricter online privacy rules. .Click for the full story from the New York Times.

Prepared for Layoff Communication?

Profits are down, expenses high, and you face the realization of layoffs. What you say is crucial. It sends messages to employees, investors, suppliers, competitors. Consult a pro to help ensure your continued credibility, and help your future. Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut has announced layoffs. What do you think about the comments by the CEO? Click for the entire story.  

Said the local paper: In the wake of substantial losses during the past fiscal year, Waterbury Hospital has set a goal of eliminating 10 percent of its work force, or the equivalent of 160 full-time positions, by the end of September. Though some jobs are expected to be eliminated by attrition and by not filling vacant positions, the hospital will be forced to lay off an undetermined number of workers over the next eight months, officials said Friday.

Media Too Weak To Consider?

The internet is stripping away the power of the mainstream media. Media companies are imploding, and coverage is fractured. Where does that leave you? A restaurant and health center still needs an internet presence, but the plan they need is as different as their clients. Blog? Direct mail? Call us at 203-891-9001 to assist you. The following from PressThink may be of interest. Click for the full story.

Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press.

In the age of mass media, the press was able to define the sphere of legitimate debate with relative ease because the people on the receiving end were atomized-- connected "up" to Big Media but not across to each other. But now that authority is eroding. I will try to explain why. It’s easily the most useful diagram I’ve found for understanding the practice of journalism in the United States, and the hidden politics of that practice. You can draw it by hand right now. Take a sheet of paper and make a big circle in the middle. In the center of that circle draw a smaller one to create a doughnut shape. Label the doughnut hole “sphere of consensus.” Call the middle region “sphere of legitimate debate,” and the outer region “sphere of deviance.”

HPV Release: Unneeded Biopsies

2010 Marketing uses many tools to inform consumers, business and others about client news and information. This week we used Business Wire for a international release on HPV.

HiFi DNA Tech Tells FDA to Reduce Unnecessary Biopsies on Women; Rescind Approval of Expanded Use of HPV Test Results for Sending Patients to Cancer Workup

The Trumbull, CT-based HiFi DNA Tech wants the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce unnecessary biopsies on women, by rescinding its approval of expanded use of human papillomavirus (HPV) test results for triage referral to colposcopy. “More than 95% of referrals to colposcopic biopsy for diagnostic workup in the U.S. are performed needlessly on healthy women or women who have mostly reversible cervical cellular change. Screening with combined cytologic and HPV testing leads to the highest number of excessive colposcopic referrals,” quoted Sin Hang Lee, M.D. from a publication by the Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health in his letter sent to the FDA Commissioner. For the entire release, click here.

OMG...I need to Spend $??

The best time to launch an ad campaign? Not when you're drowning. Many wait until they are doing poorly to decide to spend the least they can to "turn around their business." Too late. Its not that simple. Smart firms realize marketing is just as vital as their monthly infrastructure.

• One firm called to see what they had to do to better "market" a $150,000 piece of machinery that "solves" patient needs. They tried the manufacturer's hard-sell formula, found it didn't work, and they needed to better "sell" the idea. Bad business decision, which could be further compounded by more spending. If they did their homework, they would realize it would not be a good investment.

• A high-end restaurant said their market is way beyond their Stratford site, and said their customer service was, along with the food, their specialty. But then they proceeded to go the cheapest PR route. Imagine trying to market a filet mignon on a hamburger budget. Good PR is like a good steak. It is not a hamburger, no matter how you dress it up!

• Another restaurant called about "public relations." They wanted to get on "the map," to be known. In fact what they really wanted was just to have a reviewer review them, and because of that make tons of money when they get a great review. And if they are poorly reviewed? Let someone help focus your needs and logical path to get there. If you have no plan, then any action will get you there!

Tracking the Online Election

The web has changed the political landscape, so how can it change your company and its potential customers?...Ken Warren, 2010 Marketing. Click here for the full story of the following.

Nov. 4 - Today's election, the culmination of a two-year campaign that has generated unprecedented media attention, has lit up the Web in a way that would have been unimaginable in 2004.

The proliferation of online polling and politically-themed social-media content -- from the candidates' own Web sites to the ceaseless barrage of micro-rants on Twitter -- have stamped this election with an unmistakable Web 2.0 imprimatur. Consider YouTube, Google's popular video-sharing site. YouTube staked its claim in the political arena during the primaries, when it partnered with CNN to host a debate among the candidates of the two major parties. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Blog, Website, BlogWeb?

Is a blog better than a website, or a website better than a blog? What are they and are they different? 2010 Marketing & Public Relations in Connecticut has done both for a variety of clients, ranging from an art gallery to a hospital. Check out Westport River Gallery to see what a BlogWeb can be, or Milford Hospital News for a view. If you have a single issue you wish to bring to the web, see Diabetes Common Sense. Your business may already have a website, but no way to add new info, or you have a need for more issue-related messages. Call 2010 Marketing at 203-891-9001.

Largest Radio Network Created

TargetSpot, an Internet radio advertising network, announced Wednesday that it has acquired Ronning Lipset Radio, an advertising representation firm, to create the largest online radio advertising network. Click here for the NY Times Oct. 15 story. “There are really only two businesses out there offering this type of service, and now we’ve come together and established ourselves as the leader in the space, unquestionably,” said Doug Perlson, chief executive of TargetSpot.

TargetSpot enables advertisers to log on to its Web site to buy audio and visual ad space on the 600 online radio sites in its network. It offers them granular ad targeting. Many of its advertisers have been small, local companies. Ronning Lipset has a large ad sales force and relationships with big brands. It has been selling ads for Internet radio companies like Yahoo, Live365, AOL and CBS. Internet radio advertising is a young industry. The first Internet radio stations started in the late 1990s, but few computers could stream music. It has grown increasingly popular, with 54 million listeners a day, according to Bridge Ratings, a radio research firm.

Media Begins Coupling Hyperlink

“Thou shalt not link to outside sites” — a long-held commandment of many newsrooms — is eroding. Click here for full story in the Oct. 13 NY Times. Embracing the hyperlink ethos of the Web to a degree not seen before, news organizations are becoming more comfortable linking to competitors — acting in effect like aggregators. The Washington Post recently introduced a political Web site that recommends rival sites. This week NBC will begin introducing Web sites for its local TV stations with links to local newspapers, radio stations, online videos and other sources. And The New York Times will soon offer its online readers an alternative home page with links to competitors. These experiments exemplify “link journalism,” an idea that is gaining traction in other newsrooms across the country. “It is a fundamentally different mindset” for journalists, said Scott Karp, chief of the Web-based newswire Publish2, who coined the term. For years, newspapers, television station Web sites and magazines have hesitated about linking to outside Web sites because, the logic goes, they want to keep the users on their own site. More internal page views and longer time-spent-viewing can equate to larger advertising revenue for Web sites.

Paper Web Revenue Stalls

Newspapers, already facing a grim economic forecast, are digesting another piece of bad news: the growth in online advertising they saw as their salvation has slowed to a crawl. Click here for the full story in the Oct. 13 NY Times. In the last few years, newspaper companies have been rapidly expanding their Web presence — adding blogs, photo slide shows and podcasts — in the belief that more features would bring more advertisers. But now, after 17 quarters of ballooning growth, online revenue at newspaper sites is falling. In the second quarter, it was down 2.4 percent compared with last year, to $777 million, according to the Newspaper Association of America. It was the only year-over-year drop since the group began measuring online revenue in 2003.

Internet Yellow Pages Dead Also?

Local marketing industry savants have long been predicting the demise of print Yellow Pages books, going the way of the buggy whip due to overwhelming competition from Internet alternatives. Further, the aggressive invasion of search engines into the local space during the past few years has inspired some analysts to wonder if Internet Yellow Pages directories might also be headed for extinction along with the printed books. Readily available stats from Google show trends and provide a good sense of what’s actually going on across the local space on the Internet. Ironically, we can also use these stats to predict the demise of traditional Yellow Pages sites. Click here for the full story

But another report says:
Classified Intelligence (CI) said in its latest client report that the shift to the Internet for information represents, perhaps, an end to the era of big printed books filled with everyone from auto mechanics to zydeco sellers. People have opted for the desktop and the mobile device; the advertisers who make yellow pages directories profitable have not missed this.

CI senior analyst Joe Michaud said the yellow pages model of once-a-year buys to keep pace with competitors left it vulnerable to innovators who could nimbly serve customers in a more favorable way. Michaud likened the situation to newspapers, watching helplessly as readers departed while online classifieds sites pulled in the ads people would have once paid the paper to run. Click for the full story.

Print Yellow Page Erosion?

Over at Media Post, The Kelsey Group is quoted saying that the erosion in usage of print yellow pages is likely to fall off at a higher rate this year — by 10% this year, compared with only 2% to 3% erosion in recent years. They state that a combination of factors such as more users going to internet yellow pages and local search engines combined with a recession are propelling the rapid erosion. Concerningly, one can extrapolate that if print YP usage is dropping, advertiser dollars might also follow the herd. Click here for the full story in WebPro News.

Focus Groups Clarify the Issues

You know what you know, and that's what is important! But do you know what your customers really think about you? About your company? And what do your employees really think? And the community??

Focus groups are a research tool with many applications. The process gathers information to create findings and perceptions, which can or cannot result in recommendations. It consists of a gathering of folks, selected at random from a given population, who are brought together in an objective setting. They gather to discuss their attitudes, opinions, and ideas about predetermined subject areas. Other topics may also arise during the discussion and are reported as well.

Don't Discount Direct Mail

Contrary to expectations, direct mail is thriving and will probably do well for another 10 years or more, according to a survey released at a fund-raising conference presented by the Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Mark Mellman, a pollster for liberal causes in Washington, and Charles Pruitt, a marketing consultant for liberal charitable and political causes, said the results of their most recent survey surprised them. A 1995 survey by Mr. Mellman predicted direct-mail solicitations would receive lower response rates as older generations of donors who were used to relying on the mail died. Instead, Mr. Mellman said he found in the new survey that response rates have remained about the same, and that older generations are being replaced as direct-mail givers by baby-boomers — people born between 1946 and 1963 — as those Americans enter retirement. It turns out, he said, that the generation of the donor doesn’t matter nearly as much as whether or not they have the time and the discretionary income to respond to direct-mail solicitations. For more on this, click here.

Marketing In a Rough Economy

Even in a bad economy millions is spent on public relations, marketing and advertising...but so often that is exactly when companies retreat and stop their efforts. TIme may be best spent is evaluating who contacts you and why, and what triggers their calls. "Nobody reads the local paper" is often what "they" say, but more than 50 million people still read papers. "Nobody reads their mail at home" is also frequently said, and unfortunately also incorrect. Marketing in a bad economy can often be a tougher road to travel, but can pay off since your competition may pull its on advertising.

E-Mail Security

Should we trust companies that want to sell our e-mail addresses? Do people care anymore? Click here for a story by Business New Haven in Connecticut.

Future for Newspapers?

Daily newspaper readership has gone from about 65 million 25 years ago to 65 million today...but the population has grown from 225 million to over 300 million. Weekly papers are growing, more ads are now online.....so where does this leave daily papers?

A recent interview with Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times says:

At present, the print edition of The Times supplies most of our revenue and profit. I don't expect that to change in a hurry. We have a variety of levers we can adjust to keep the print newspaper healthy. We can add features that attract new advertising. We can reorganize for greater efficiency. (One major example: consolidating New York area printing into a single, modernized plant.) We can raise prices. We can trim costs. And so on. But the Web audience is growing at a great clip, while print circulation is not. And online revenues are growing faster, too, albeit from a smaller base. If the trend continues, there's little doubt that -- "eventually" -- online becomes the main business. I think newspapers on paper will be around for a good while yet. They may in time become niche products -- like vinyl LPs -- for a particular loyal audience.

 

E-mail Marketing Effective?

On a recent survey performed by Forrester Research, about 92.1 percent of online merchants said they used email marketing to reach their own customers and of those, a little bit less than 93.5 percent said they planned to make that channel a higher priority in 2008. Some observers say that email marketing is commonplace, and unless something makes it stand out, it's often ignored, if not outright dreaded by recipients.

While e-mail marketing still works, consumers are increasingly demanding that ads be relevant, said eMarketer analyst David Hallerman. He noted that recent consumer surveys showed that half of online buyers had made purchased based on e-mail marketing. That may mean being timed perfectly for a buyer or that the message contains a compelling offer, Hallerman said.

Because what merchants think is relevant and what a consumer finds relevant may be different things, accurate tracking campaigns to see what triggers purchases is an important part of any e-mail marketing program. Today's email marketing landscape continues to evolve and with less attention on the e-mail and more on the marketing part of the equation.

Web 2.0: Hollywood Loses Control

Movie and tech folks met in Los Angeles in May to deal with this potboiler: Hollywood losing control over consumers. The rise of social networking, video sharing, blogging, Internet TV, mobility, instant messaging and more have given consumers tremendous sway over how they consume and share content. "Consumers have more control than ever," said Derek Broes, senior vice president of digital entertainment at Paramount Pictures. "You no longer have an environment where you had them in one spot, like in front of the TV set." Broes spoke on one of the 75 panels put together at Digital Hollywood.

One thing to do, many of the 1,800 attendees agreed, is to work with the consumer. New technologies let users access and manipulate video and audio content in ways not possible just a few years ago. This change started with the arrival of Web 2.0, the second generation of Internet technologies that emerged after the end of the first dot-com boom in 2000 or so. And the explosion of blogging and social networking sites let many individuals influence mainstream media and public opinion more than ever. From Investor's Daily, May 8