When will agencies...or any company for that matter, realize that bigger is not better:
PUBLICIS CLOSES AD AGENCY THAT CREATED SANTA ICON
The legendary advertising agency that created the rotund, red-coated Santa in 1934 for Coca-Cola is being shut down after 96 years.
Is the advertising world really all that much better now then it was 10-15 years ago when we had many more independents? Yea, yea, we have a whole new medium, but do we really need the ridiculously huge conglomerates we have to day for the industry to survive. Now, I'm not an economist, but if just doesn't seem to be working to me.
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Yes, I will be partnering with some other very fine marketing professionals to launch a site that will address all your marketing news needs. Stay tuned for updates and launch date.
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In an Online Spin article by David Smith, he discusses what amounts to the mainstreaming of the Internet. He counters the naysayers who spoke of the new economy as a fluke. He is right when he claims they had it all wrong. The Internet and all that it is, has become mainstream. There is no need for specific and separate coverage of the Internet as a medium. It is an integral part of life, business, and marketing. It is not a separate entity any longer.
The "new economy" didn't fail, it just became part of the whole economy.
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TURNER CEO LAMBASTS AD-AVOIDING TECHNOLOGIES
NAPLES, Fla. (AdAge.com) -- With shrinking margins, fragmented audiences and an aging network TV viewing base, Jamie Kellner of Turner Broadcasting told the crowd that 'Without advertising we will damage this country.
It's not that I have all the answers to this conundrum but I find it fascinating that these executives are so short sighted on this subject. Mr. Kellner's solution to this problem?
...is for marketers to increase media buys aimed at high-spending younger viewers. Mr. Kellner also urged marketers to support "multiplexing," the growing trend of sharing content across more than one network. Others have called it "repurposing." He contends that programs played multiple times in one week, either on the same network or on another, can deliver two to four times more viewers with little duplication. "Try to expand your reach and be an innovator"
Now, multiplexing is good. Cable networks have done it to great advantage. But, it won't solve the PVR problem. The other solution involving the increase in media spend to younger viewers flys in the face of some recent factoid I saw about the age/spending curve. I wish I had it right now, but it was along the lines of 75% of all discretionary spending was done by the over 50 crowd.
Of course, he had to say this because this younger demographic is the demographic that makes up his stable of Turner networks.
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As unique as this idea is, it could be mildly irritating after a while. A Scottish company, Harris Hynd Ltd. has developed a technology whereby the entire billboard is a loudspeaker. What's interesting is that there are no speakers involved. The technology enables cardboard, foam, or glass to resonate thus creating the sound. These boards can be programmed with any form of audio that is triggered by an infrared sensor.
Interesting. But not if you have 30 of them yacking at you as you walk through the airport. Again, we shall see how the technology is accepted. Stories on the topic:
Ananova - Talking ad posters set to snare passers-by
BBC NEWS | Scotland | New billboards the 'talk' of advertisers
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