The Newspaper Industry – How bad is it?

Just a quick one today.

Was reading a lead from one of our Twitter Followers about the issues facing the US newspaper industry.

I won’t go into detail, however it is an interesting read that outlines the following (quoted from The Boston.com site).

“Newspapers have been hit hard by the loss of readers and advertisers to the Internet, while the national economic slowdown has intensified the advertising slump. In recent months, the Rocky Mountain News has closed, the Seattle Post Intelligencer has significantly reduced staffing and moved entirely onto the Web, and several major newspaper companies have filed for bankruptcy protection. Read more…

New iAds – Take a look at one of the first

This is a quick post to show one of the first iAds to appear on the phones over in North America. For those not sure on what the iAd is all about you can read more here, however essentially Steve Jobs from Apple is taking on everyone within respect to mobile advertising and has developed its own advertising platform for the iphone/ipad. Lots of controversy over this platform – however with Jobs stating that there will be 1 billion ad impressions a day on tens of millions of Apple mobile device users – you kinda have to take a look. After all – Apple has been pretty revolutionary to date. Read more…

What the Future Holds ?

Just read a great article on iMedia (by Jodi Harris ) today about the future and what it holds for technology. The interview was with Ray Kurzweil who is a renowned futurist and inventor (flat bed scanner, OCD recognition software etc). Basically his speciality is in pattern recognition in artificial intelligence and has been predicting with great accuracy the rates of advancements and change in regard to the internet and wireless technology. Read more…

Tags | Future marketing

Video display to boost online sales ?

I have been doing a bit of shopping online over the last 6 months and one area that has made a difference to my purchasing decision is the ability to view a video that is directly related to the product I am thinking of purchasing. I am not talking about finding the product and then researching to locate a product video that is related, I am talking about viewing the video on the site in question that sits right next to the add to cart button.

Here’s my example. I surf (as much as I can) and have for 30 years. So I know a bit about board design and functionality and the last thing you want to do is buy a board that just doesn’t work for you. Read more…

Tags | online sales, video ads

Who are you marketing to?

Hey – its been a while and we are incredibly busy finalising the AQR purchasing model.

And Yes – we are close …. I know we keep saying it but it is true.

This is just a quick note on the new generation and the impact of digital marketing. What is interesting to note is that we all acknowledge that the teenagers don’t have a credit card to shop online (unless of course they “borrow” your own), but an interesting study by Don Tapscott, who draws on the $4 million research project that inspired his new book, Grown Up Digital, outlines that these kids spend all of their time researching online before buying.

The comments that we need to alter the traditional method of the 4 P’s strategy is important for all business owners. The “Net Generation” are ad resistant and being raised in the digital marketing age can see a cheezy ad from miles away.

And in case your not convinced on the power of this market here are a few stats from the article

Taken from Business Week Article -Net Gen Transforms Marketing

“In the U.S., students earn almost $200 billion a year in part-time or full-time jobs, and in 2006, they purchased $190 billion worth of goods. What’s more, they influence their baby boomer parents. Net Geners age 21 and under influence 81% of their families’ apparel purchases and 52% of car choices. Even younger children have powerful sway, with those between 5 and 14 influencing 78% of total grocery purchases. And, as they age, their direct purchasing power will soar. In 2003, only 5% of cars were purchased by people born between 1980 and 1995; by 2020, this will climb to 40%. “

Lookout ….. their coming – better get ready.

Tags | digital marketing, net gen, online marketing trends