Media

Sears Holdings is announcing the launch of its Latino social media channels. With the launch of Facebook.com/SearsLatino as well as its Twitter handle @SearsLatino, Sears is showcasing its commitment to better engage with customers culturally and strengthen relationships within the Latino community.

Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. owner of MegaTV, announced the acquisition of KTBU-TV (Digital 42 / Virtual Channel 55) and other television assets serving the Houston, Texas market from U.S. Farm & Ranch Supply Company, Inc. for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $16 million.

We set out to learn more about the state of social advertising and its opportunities by conducting an industry survey of 230 brand managers, executives, and marketing professionals. DOWNLOAD Report Here.

The wealthiest American consumers, those in homes with at least $100,000 annual incomes, have long been difficult for marketers to reach through traditional media like TV and radio, but “Affluent Consumers in a Digital World,” a study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) finds these higher-income Americans embracing digital media—and its ads.

Nearly 61% of all U.S. adults have viewed advertising on video screens in public venues in the last 30 days, and more than 64% of them have expressed interest in this form of marketing communication, according to the latest data from GfK MRI.

To help close the Digital Divide that disproportionately affects Hispanic families in America, impreMedia is launching Club Digital.

Social network marketing is now de rigueur for most brands. eMarketer estimates that 80% of companies with at least 100 employees conduct marketing activities on social networks this year. Fewer are advertising on social networks, but the number is growing.

Hispanic magazine ad spending is up 29.8% through the first half of 2011 (same titles basis), according to HispanicMagazineMonitor estimates released this week by Media Economics Group.

Social media has emerged over the past several years to redefine the digital media landscape and, in the process, has changed the way we think about the dissemination of marketing messages. In particular, Facebook has facilitated two unique consumer experiences of interest to brand marketers. First, the ability for consumers to identify brands of interest and connect with them has enabled sharing between brands and consumers in new ways: brands and their consumers can now create two-way relationships and share content, news, and feedback. Social media has also facilitated innovative ways of sharing information about brands between friends. Whether consumers are voicing their affinity for certain brands or their experiences with products and services, Facebook not only encourages this type of sharing but can also accelerate its reach and virality. DOWNLOAD Report Here.

It is a notion so entrenched, that by now it has almost become a truism. Word-of-mouth has become the communication lever for product manufacturers and marketers, creators of what we call “consumer experiences.” Peer-to-peer communication can kill innovative design, turn accepted pricing wisdom on its head, and neuter multi-million dollar advertising campaigns. Its growing influence is economic sphere, and beyond. While most of us understand the vehicles through which word-of-mouth spreads, its power and origins remain mysterious and impossible to control. But are they really? DOWNLOAD Report Here.