Working for a major Canadian digital publisher, I have seen the ups and downs in the past months as advertisers and agencies scramble to decide what to do with their ever precious marketing dollars. The nice thing, is that in most cases, I have seen the ups as digital spend, which still usually represents less than 10% of total marketing budgets has remained intact or often grown substantially. The reality is that marketers worldwide are shifting more of their budgets into cheaper, more-measurable categories and that usually means online.
This week Nielsen begins a controversial move to measure the online behavior of a small subset of its national TV ratings sample, writes MediaBuyerPlanner.
Because the test uses a portion of the same accredited, national TV sample that it uses to generate TV ratings, some researchers are pointing out that it could potentially impact TV ratings results. Nielsen has responded that the impact of measuring both TV and online behavior in a small subset would be minimal, but that they will monitor the situation closely, says MediaPost.
ReportingOn.com is a simple way for journalists to update their peers on the stories they’re working on right now. Journalists can tag 140-character-or-less updates with the beat they are on, and find peers reporting on similar beats to make connections. This way they can introduce themselves to potential mentors, or discover an unsung heroes in their field.
Back in December I wrote a post about maintaining the status quo in a down economy. In that post I reference the auto industry and how some companies, like Hyundai had an incredible opportunity to increase share of voice and ultimately sales as a result of their competitors reducing ad spending. Without doing so much as maintain status quo, there was tremendous opportunity to take market share away from the competition. Apparently The New Yorker thinks the status quo is not even enough and goes as far as saying that ratcheting up spending during a downturn may be the best way for a company to make it through the recession. While that might sound counterintuitive, it’s the theme of several pieces of research that James Surowiecki highlights in this week’s column in The New Yorker.
With all the fuss over the growth of Twitter let us not forget that there is a little site called Facebook that in the US, has still been under-represented compared to other countries in terms of it’s importance. In the US, visits to social networking websites increased 4% in February 2009 vs. February 2008 among a custom category of 55 of the top properties, while visits decreased 1% compared with January 2009 among those sites, according to data from Hitwise (via MarketingCharts).
Over one in ten (11%) online adults in the US say they have used Twitter or similar services to share updates about themselves or view updates about others. What’s more, those who use Twitter have a greater affinity for mobile devices, according to new research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project (via MarketingCharts).
Wireless internet users also are more likely to be users of Twitter and other status updating services. 14% of users who access the internet wirelessly via a laptop, handheld or cell phone have used Twitter or the like, compared with 6% of users who go online but do not do so wirelessly.
General Motors Corp. might not wait 60 days to declare bankruptcy. The automaker’s new CEO, Fritz Henderson said GM could head to bankruptcy court for a quick reorganization before June 1 if it can’t make deep cuts fast enough to meet the Obama administration’s mandate for a revised revitalization plan in 60 days.
Under GM’s earlier restructuring plans, filed late last year, the company would keep four of its eight vehicle brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, although Pontiac would remain as a niche nameplate with a much smaller lineup. Mr. Henderson said GM is executing that plan and he said it was inappropriate to discuss whether some of those four core brands might not survive should GM enter bankruptcy court.
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