A bit more about the recession

Last week working for a semi-pitch, one of those projects you developed for an existing client, where everybody assume you already have the piece of business, but you don’t really have it. While working on the pitch I did a bit of research to identify communications trends in the face of the present recession. I came up with for categories:
• Value
• Trading down / cocooning
• Indulgence

What will be my surprise when a couple of days latter I got GfK Roper Pulse newsletter identifying the following communication trends:
• Scrimp 'n' Save – about economizing
• Home Is Where It's At – about staying in more
• Moving to Fun - about staying cheerful amidst the gloom and
• Indulgence – about consumers are rewarding themselves with the occasional treat.
• Green Awakening / Simplicity – about more simple, ecologically sound lifestyles

They go in a bit more of detail, but I wasn’t that off the mark. Good for me (indulgence trend)

Golden rules of digital marketing

Faris Yakob comes up with some Golden Rules of the Web that are very good samples of what we can and should be doing from a digital marketing perspective.
1. Attention is like friendship: It can't be bought, only earned.
2. Viral is dead; long live the spread.
3. Remix, reuse, recycle
4. Affect the network
5. Be nice or leave
6. Everywhere you go, always take your friends with you
7. Socialize your media
8. Find new ways to see
9. Augment your Reality

No more meat. Not more sweets. Seriously.

You know that the adoption of participatory/community (yeah web 2.0) sites has reached the masses when people gives up Facebook for lent. It may sound crazy but is happening as covered in today’s Wall Street Journal.

"If I give up clams, which I hate, I'm not really doing anything," says Kevin Shine, a 39-year-old electrical contractor from Philadelphia. But abstain from posting "status updates" on his every move? That's a worthy struggle. "It's my candy," he explains, noting that he logs on as much as 20 times a day. "That's pathological."

And what can help us to understand this a bit better? Maybe what are does sites used for according to eMarketer will help.

Capt. Sullenberger and US Airways social media landing

Fascinating article about Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III Fan page on Facebook.

Capt. Sullenberger was the pilot of the US Airways airplane that landed on the Hudson River last Thursday January 15. By Sunday January 18, the page had gather more that 300K fans and 14K post.

Meanwhile, Vitrue's Social Media Index was showing scores for US Airways soaring since Thursday. At their peak, the airline's scores were up 171% from its December average, reaching a three-day average of plus-135%. The Index is a proprietary reporting technology that measures a brand's online conversations.

For the time being the airline public relations department has created their group in facebook (One Million Strong For "Sully".) It would be interesting to see if US Airways uses this “social clamor” in the future.

Blogs as display ads platforms

We have known for a while of how effective blogs are to gain consumers confidence. But a recent article on eMarketer hints to a different strategy. While display ads on social networks are still viewed as ineffective, ads in blogs benefit from the blogs traction and attract more interest.


Also, as we have seen on Samsung partnership with the Pioneer Woman for the Moms Like Us site, a relationship with a blogger is an effective way to drive traffic to a site, and to create an engaged audience.

Isn’t easy being green?

A Yahoo Green Study identifies five segments regarding “green” purchases. Two groups, “deeply committed” and “trendy” are ready low hanging fruit for marketers.


Yahoo report on Research Brief

Here It Comes

It was inevitable. After weeks of banks and financial institutions going done on almost a daily basis, endless talks about bail-outs and all the markets going, going, gone down, it has to hit the digital space.

In his Video Insider blog, Tod Sacerdoti’s starts the conversation about how this crisis is going to affect us all. He mainly covers three factors.

1. A flight to quality, recognized publishers.
2. Their increase on inventory
3. How content syndication translates into a surplus of parties selling the same inventory.

Stay tune because this is only the beginning.