Agency

I’ve been LinkedIn-crazy lately. As a CEO of a busy start-up, with all the distracting little details that pull me this way and that, it is good to remind myself that the greatest asset I bring to my company is my personal network of contacts. Managing and maintaining my contacts and network, I find, is the single most important thing I can do with my time. And most of that networking is done through email: one-to-one email marketing at its (hopefully) best.

There’s been a lot of talk about word-of-mouth online. I wrote an article a while ago and many people emailed me afterwards. It spawned quite a bit of conversations among colleagues, clients and friends. The overall feeling is that word of mouth online or offline is one of the most powerful vehicles out there. Do you agree?

The U.S. GOVERNMENT will spend more than $1 billion this year on nutrition education to promote fresh fruits and vegetables as an alternative to unhealthy foods for children to eat and snack on, but most of those promotional funds will be wasted, according to an analysis of 57 such programs conducted by the Associated Press. Could it be because the food marketing industry will spend more than ten times that amount promoting some less-than-healthy culinary choices? Well, we’re about to find out, as some of the nation’s biggest food marketers prepare to unveil a set of new public initiatives designed to fix that paradox and get some federal regulators and public advocacy groups off their backs.

Marketers may still be a little leery of using new-media and consumer-generated media (CGM) tactics in their plans. But, as revealed in the 2007 PRWeek/MS&L Marketing Management Survey, those companies that are excelling in this new marketing environment are discovering that taking the plunge is well worth the investment.

According to The Boston Globe , more than 1,200 US radio stations run by Clear Channel Communications Inc., including four in Boston, have been selling super-short ads the company calls “blinks” and “adlets” that are tucked between music or disc jockey’s chatter. Blinks, in about two seconds, may spit out three or four words like “Sweet tea at McDonald’s.”

Why write an article on Hispanic identity, now? The answer to this question is not difficult: it has to do with demographics. And demographics are they key to economic and political power for any group.

There are obvious pragmatic reasons why companies in the United States have been investing in this segment at a record rate.

El Festival Internacional El Ojo de Iberoamérica abrió la inscripción para participar en los premios: El Ojo al Desempeño del Año, El Ojo Classic (Cine/TV, Gráfica, Radio y Vía Pública), El Ojo Interactivo, El Ojo Innovador, El Ojo Directo, El Ojo Promo, El Ojo Contenido, El Tercer Ojo y El Ojo Local (El Ojo al Desempeño del Año por País/Zona y Premio a las Mejores Piezas de Cine/TV, Gráfica y Radio a nivel local).

STOPPING VIOLENCE ON TV by governmental mandate?

That would be like trying to stop any widespread behavior, according to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). “We tried it once,” he said. “It was called prohibition.”

Alcohol, like fictional violence, is tough to keep away from human beings. Regulating behavior never works, Lautenberg said, speaking at a Senate committee hearing on violence. But having parents monitor kids’ entertainment habits isn’t enough, many senators said. At the same time no one could come up with a reasonable way to curb or change the preponderance of violence in TV show — especially with freedom of speech concerns.

This year’s study indicates that 2007 will be another strong season for online holiday shopping, with 84 percent of respondents planning to spend as much as or more online than they did during the 2006 season.

In a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive, bottled water was the Number One choice of consumers when asked to identify the bottled beverage they most associate with living a healthy lifestyle.

I’ve got a suggestion for what should be required reading for the politicians on Capitol Hill who pandered to the racist, anti-immigrant hysteria whipped up by Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan and the rest of their fear-mongering ilk. By: Jose Cancela

Harris Interactive released the 2007 results from EquiTrend, a renowned annual brand equity study that measures and compares over 1,000 brands across 39 categories.