Agency

Much like living organisms, brands have a lifecycle. At times, they take on a life of their own. While some brands stand the test of time, others fade away soon after they come to market. What happens when it’s time for brands to die, and why?

A primary reason for brand fragility is the very nature of the brand world. Consider this: in 2006, over 20,000 new products were introduced just in the food and beverage category, according to research firm Datamonitor. While many new products may be extensions of an existing brand, imagine the number of new brand names embedded in that statistic.

The study tracked the purchasing behavior of nearly 54 million American shoppers over a 12-month period. It found that in an era of increased brand proliferation and specialization, CPG marketers must improve strategies and tactics to better engage with “Pivotal Point Consumers,” representing today’s influential volume buyer base, in a precise, personal and relevant manner.

Well-known celebrities, “True Story” campaigns, children’s holiday pageants, and discounted toys were some of the components of retailer’s holiday commercials this year, touching both on the emotional side of holiday shopping and highlighting shoppers’ focus on price.

More than eight in ten influencers say they often go online to find out more after reading something in a magazine or newspaper (84%) or hearing something on TV or the radio (84%.) These traditional media sources help shape public opinion in the complex world of online influence.

Does your agency new business director or CEO know the three main traits clients seek when they hire an agency? Does your team know what specifically, according to senior marketing executives on the client side, what businesses expect from their agency and what the number one reason is they switch?

Every single word matters.

Words are never neutral. Every word that does not help sell or market your product, hurts.

The recent Email Insider Summit was the best for me so far. Speakers, presentations and topics were all top-flight. Sessions and roundtable discussions covered a few strategic issues (metrics that matter) but mostly tactical topics such as preference centers, welcome emails, testing and frequency.

The biggest advertisers of 2008 came from a variety of categories, but the TOP TWENTY list was certainly driven by ads for Television and Cable TV, Automotive Sales and Service and Fast Food. This list was compiled from monitors in 77 Radio markets, 35 TV and Cable markets and 40 Newspaper markets were surveyed in the USA from Jan 1, 2008 to December 14, 2008.

Edelman celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its award-winning multicultural practice. Currently, Edelman Multicultural operates across the United States with teams in six cities – Atlanta; Chicago; Los Angeles; Miami; New York City and Washington, D.C.

Fineman PR announced the launch of Mosaico, the agency’s newly branded and growing Latino and multicultural communications practice. The branding of the agency’s three-year-old multicultural practice comes in response to growing interest in culturally relevant communications and to help mark the agency’s 20th anniversary.

Toys and consumer electronics are likely to don the lists of many shoppers this holiday season including the 46 million U.S. Hispanics with more than $900 billion to spend. But some manufacturers may not see a significant spike in purchases by Latinos due to their low levels of ad spending targeting the fastest growing minority population in the country. Spanish-language advertising in these categories dropped last year while overall Hispanic advertising increased by 4.3 percent, according to a recent study conducted by the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA).

Advertising industry pioneer Premier Maldonado passed away Saturday in San Juan.

The founder of the advertising agency that still bears his name, Premier Maldonado was known for his avant garde thinking which resulted in him handling almost every major advertising and public relations account at some time over the years.

A creative visionary who was often thought to be ahead of his times, Maldonado was credited with bringing his industry into the next level in Puerto Rico.

Arbitron Inc. announced that it plans to expand the introduction of cell-phone-only sampling to 151 diary markets in Spring 2009 and to all markets (except Puerto Rico) by Fall 2009.

A small but significant decline has occurred during the current recession in the share of Latino immigrants active in the U.S. labor force, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of Census Bureau data. In a year when jobs have become scarce for everyone, the proportion of working-age Latino immigrants participating in the labor force has fallen, at least through the third quarter of 2008, while the proportion of all non-Hispanics as well as of native-born Hispanics has held steady.

The Nielsen Company released a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008. The Nielsen Company delivers and integrates the most comprehensive media and marketing measurement systems in the world.