Agency

Anticipating consumers’ every move to conversion is essential to realizing a strong return on marketing investment (MROI), yet, pervasive methods for understanding consumer behaviors fall short in a multichannel environment.

StrongMail announced the results of its “2013 Marketing Trends” survey, which provides unique insight into how businesses plan to budget and prioritize marketing dollars in the new year. Respondents identified email marketing, social media and mobile as the most popular channels for receiving increased investment in 2013. The survey results also highlights the importance of managing big data effectively, as data integration is identified as the top email marketing challenge for 2013.

Univision Communications announced the formation of the Univision Agency. Overseeing a media inventory of more than $500 million across all of Univision’s broadcast, cable and radio properties, the Univision Agency will be responsible for all cross-channel promotions as well as research and creative services for clients and internal divisions.

Global strategic branding firm Siegel+Gale announced the release of Fact-Based Branding in the Real World: A Simple Survival Guide for CMOs and Brand Managers by Dr. Rolf M. Wulfsberg, Global Director, Quantitative Research at Siegel+Gale.

Yahoo! en Español and Sony Music Latin announced a strategic partnership to develop and distribute a series of branded entertainment programs, which will premiere in early 2013.

Worldwide, digital ad spending passed the $100-billion mark for the first time last year, according to new eMarketer estimates, and will increase by a further 15.1% in 2013 to $118.4 billion.

VRTC unveiled a new image giving the agency a facelift. The new branding evokes the simple and personal unique advertising vision. The marque is part of the agency growth and desire to communicate even better among the affluent and transitional bicultural audiences engaging them through diverse online and offline media platforms to establish long lasting and meaningful relationships.

It’s been said that the average American is exposed to 3,000 advertising messages a day, ranging from emails to billboards. With that kind of ad overload, it’s not too surprising that 76% of consumers think ads are very or somewhat exaggerated, according to a new study by Lab42. (Some 3% think ads are “very accurate.”) This week’s infographic is full of insights from the study, including ways that marketers can make ads more convincing and palatable to consumers.

From televisions and smartphones to tablets and game consoles, Americans are consuming content on every device under the sun — the latest versions of which will be on display this week at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

US family businesses are more confident about their growth prospects than their global peers – 93 percent versus 81 percent – and are poised to capitalize on new opportunities, according to PwC’s latest Global Family Business Survey.

Brands are spending more time—and money—engaging with consumers outside of their brand sites on the likes of YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook and many other channels. As marketing efforts move to social networks and to content sites such as BuzzFeed, what happens to the brand’s dot-com?

With student debt now topping $1 trillion dollars and the cost of college far outpacing inflation, some have begun to question if getting a college education is worth it. Industries like media and advertising tend to rely on a lot of on-the-job training, and client entertaining and negotiating isn’t something most schools teach.

It’s that time of year when we reflect on the year’s accomplishments and start thinking about what the next year will bring regarding today’s Networked Mom. Will marketing to moms look different? Will there be any less emphasis on her and her continuing power?