Agency

Despite trends to the contrary, some media futurists believe media hardware and software might be free to consumers down the road — as long as key marketers can hit them with a few messages from time to time.  Make that a lot of the time.

It used to be that choosing a college major in any “content-related” discipline was the equivalent of an employment death sentence. English, philosophy, history, you name it — merely mentioning the possibility of focusing on any of these areas would make even the most well-intentioned parent of the ‘80s and ‘90s cringe, sigh, and cross their fingers in the hopes that their children would, above all else, not move back home at the end of it all.

Bolstered by growing ecommerce sales and time spent across digital channels, the US retail industry will grow its digital ad spending more rapidly this year than in 2012, according to new figures from eMarketer.

There’s a hot topic getting tossed around quite a bit as of late: programmatic direct, which furthers the notion of all online advertising headed toward an automated, dashboard-driven future.

Advertisers are spending more than expected on real-time bidding, which is expected to account for a significant share of all display ad spending in the US this year and in the near future, according to a new eMarketer report, “Programmatic Advertising: Forecast and Future Growth Trends.”

In last week’s blog post, we highlighted the importance of music in Latino young adults’ lives. This week, we turn to the listeners themselves. Which artists and genres are their favorites? And what are the demographics of this audience overall?

Is Healthcare.gov different from Expedia.com?

Lately it’s been hard to let a day go by without following the next intrigue on Obamacare. At this point, it’s probably fair to say there isn’t a living soul who considers the website a success. And while I’ll refrain from expressing a point of view on the legislation itself or on the details of project planning or technical competency, I did want to dig deeper to understand the nature of the “complexity” that has marred the heart of Obamacare—the exchange. After all, there are many technologically complex data exchanges that we depend on—airline traffic management, ticketing, loan offers on lendingtree.com, the stock exchange, eBay, Paypal…the list goes on.

As the newly appointed creative agency partner for the Jamba Juice Company, LatinWorks will direct the total market campaign development as the company increases and emphasizes its Whole Food Blending and Juicing product portfolio and leadership.

Sensis will develop a social media campaign for Tadin Herb & Tea Co. Sensis has begun developing the social media strategy and will begin rolling out elements of the campaign before the end of the year.

The National Pork Board will launch a social media promotion –  “21 Dias de Tradiciones Navideñas” (21 Days of Christmas Traditions) – on its Spanish-language Facebook pageas part of its efforts to engage with Hispanic consumers during the holidays.

The line between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is blurring, as many U.S. consumers are going online for holiday deals on the biggest shopping day of the year for brick-and-mortar retailers. While shopping tendencies among all consumers didn’t shift dramatically between 2011 and 2012, there were some significant changes among multicultural consumers.

Harris Interactive Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Nielsen Holdings N.V.

Datalogix announced that it has named former Starcom MediaVest Group executive Steven Wolfe Pereira as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the company.

Univision Communications Inc. launched “Univision Contigo” (Univision With You), an expansion of the Company’s investment and partnership efforts to serve and empower the 55 million Hispanics in the U.S. “Univision Contigo” builds on the Company’s 50 years of service and engagement with the Hispanic community and will further enhance and focus its delivery and partnerships toward its top priorities

Hispanic and Asian American segments are leading the current job recovery as indicated by positive Labor Force growth, Employment, and decrease in unemployment (negative numbers in chart). While White Non-Hispanics are leaving the Labor Force instead of staying as other Multicultural segments and have caused a rapid reduction in the labor market.   By Carlos Santiago / Santiago Solutions Group

United States consumers, who are “addicted to speed” and often willing to pay more to get it, toggle between Wi-Fi and fourth-generation (4G) wireless technologies to get the fastest possible connection for their mobile devices.  Deloitte’s third edition “Global Mobile Consumer Survey” (GMCS) offers insight into consumer purchasing habits, wants and trends in the U.S., with a focus on mobile devices, technologies and services.

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, released his discussion draft of tax reform legislation that includes a provision that will, if enacted, severely impact the economy and lead to significant job loss. This provision would allow advertisers to deduct only 50 percent of all advertising expenses in the first year and amortize the remaining 50 percent over the next five years. Advertising currently is treated as a fully tax deductible ordinary and necessary business expense.

Despite some early season promotions, retailers still expect consumers to be active for the official start of this year’s holiday shopping season. According to a survey of top retail chief marketing officers by BDO USA, LLP, retailers anticipate a 3.1 percent increase in sales on Black Friday this year, mirroring their projections from last year. However, retailers have moderated their expectations for growth in Cyber Monday sales, predicting that sales will grow by 3.7 percent this year, down slightly from last year’s sunnier 4.3 percent growth projection.

As the market for broadband connectivity, wireline and wireless services becomes saturated, US telecom carriers, cable TV operators and internet service providers are using online and mobile channels to promote new technology, faster networks, superior video quality and more profitable “bundled” services and data pricing plans, according to a new eMarketer report, “The US Telecom Industry 2013: Digital Ad Spending Forecast and Key Trends.”

Brands are using music as a way to connect with their consumers now more than ever. In fact, U.S. music fans actually feel more favorable toward brands that engage them through their favorite tunes, according to Nielsen’s Music 360 report.