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Advertising Is Coming Back!

(Excerpted from Mediapost’s June 29, 2004 issue)

Bob Coen (Univeral McCann advertising forecasting guru) made his biggest forecast revision between December and June for Internet ad spending, which he now predicts will grow 20% this year to $6.78 billion — that is double the growth rate he predicted for the online medium in December. He told MediaPost that media online media have emerged as an integral part of the plans for most major marketers, "Now they're getting into 2 to 3 percent of bu, , the dgets."

In fact, he said an important driver in ad spending for all media was the reemergence of dot-com brands, which rose to a height of $5.6 billion in traditional media spending during 2000, only to crash to less than one-half that amount in 2001. Mr. Coen said, "The shakeout is over. They're coming back." At $2.65 billion in 2004, dot-com brand spending in traditional media could expand 20% this year, marking the first double-digit growth for the category since the Internet crash, according to MediaPost.

Net operators warming to video ads - News.com

Four Web publishers About.com, CondeNet, World Wrestling Entertainment and iFilm.com are experimenting with new video advertising software from Eyeblaster that allows them to stream commercial clips directly into video broadcasts online, "thereby earmarking new ad inventory." Analysts note that the introduction of these new video ads is yet another step toward the creation of the first real "online commercials." Both Reuters and Microsoft MSN are also "testing the video waters," says the article. (Corante 6/8/04)

http://www.corante.com/internet/redir/48408.html

Los Gatos firms revolutionizing movie rentals - Mercury News

Two startups from University Avenue in Los Gatos Netflix and DVDPlay are playing a key role in disrupting the home movie rental business pioneered by Blockbuster. Netflix now has 2 million subscribers who rent DVDs via the Internet, while DVDPlay recently developed an Internet-connected DVD rental kiosk that counts McDonald’s among its clients. One key reason why both companies are generating momentum and positive media buzz: "The Internet brings huge efficiencies to businesses that deal with large numbers of consumers." The article includes a test drive of the new DVDPlay rental kiosk in the Bay Area, which offers 24-hour rentals for 99 cents each. (Corante, 6/7/04)

- Online Journalism Review June 4, 2004

Over the past 10 years, San Francisco-based Craigslist has developed from a "small e-mail list of local events and parties to become a national and international phenomenon providing local residents with a cheap, simple way to sell junk, find a new job, or find a mate quickly." In the process, Craigslist has become a "powerful alternative to daily newspaper and alternative-weekly classifieds" -- and a role model for other Web sites. The article takes a look at the ‘nerd values’ that have made Craigslist a success (e.g. being content with making "just enough [money] for a comfortable living") and examines ways that Craigslist has disrupted the traditional classified advertising industry. Not to be missed: Howard Rheingold of "Smart Mobs" fame discussing the key selling points of Craigslist.

Suddenly, retail clicks

- Washington Post June 3, 2004

Leslie Walker dissects the latest data on online retailers from Forrester Research and Shop.org. As reported last week, U.S. online sales increased by 51% in 2003, to $114 billion, and average operating profit margins increased to 21% -- two statistics that point to a broad-based recovery for Internet retailers. So much so, says Walker, that "Internet retailers I assumed got killed during the dot-com wipeout keep turning up alive" (e.g. a company that sells light bulbs online). In fact, a closer look at the data shows that "merchants selling exclusively online experienced the biggest profit leap." Given the surprising strength of the numbers, many analysts now concede that, "Nobody has any idea just how big Internet retail will eventually grow." (Corante 6/3/04)

Fax wins a victory…..for a change

A bill that would relieve marketers of an obligation to get written permission before sending commercial faxes received unanimous approval from the House Energy and Commerce Committee at a hearing yesterday (DM News 6/23/04)

Conference Clips – Chief Marketing Officer Council

Marketers at major technology firms have a persistent problem: they cannot easily measure the performance of their marketing programs. With that issue in mind, The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council met at BusinessWeek's New York offices on June 9^th to address what has become a critical issue for organizations: marketing performance measurements (MPM). AS critical an issue as this is, few companies have a formal system in place according to the Council's extensive study of nearly 1,000 top technology marketers.

Both the study and the Council confirmed that the measurements most frequently reported to management are qualified leads generated, feedback from sales and channel groups, revenue impact and Web site traffic and content viewing.

Measures rated least frequently as performance indicators were stock price, share of mind, brand equity and Wall Street perceptions.

Among the hardest-to-measure activities were results from advertising, sales, branding and marketing collateral, the study claimed. Easiest to measure were results from direct mail and e-mail campaigns, Web site and Internet search engine marketing, telemarketing and contact management programs.

It was an interesting and energetic day. More verticals should have councils of these types to help clear marketers heads and support them on the bumpy road ahead as they duke out their struggle to survive with result-oriented number crunching CFO’s who only grasp the outer rim of many marketers’ dilemma.

The CMO Council represents more than 800 technology companies, and was designed to foster high-level knowledge exchange and thought leadership among senior marketing and brand decision-makers. MPM Forum key underwriters include Biz360, Cognos, Google and Unica.

http://www.cmocouncil.org