Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone provider, has made a deal with MySpace.com that will allow MySpace users to access their profiles through Cingular phones. Under the agreement, cellphone users will be able to go to their MySpace.com page to edit it, post photos and get messages. For example, a MySpace.com user could take a picture with their cellphone and then immediately post the image to their Web …
Simmons Says, Ice Is Nice
The New York Times looks at Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons' involvement with the diamond trade--an industry now under scrutiny thanks to a critical Hollywood film. “Blood Diamond,” directed by Harvard graduate Edward Zwick, depicts the violence surrounding the diamond trade in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. Simmons entered the diamond trade in 2003 with the opening of his Simmons Jewelry Company, which is supplied by De …
Lawsuits Are Targeting Target, Claiming Copyright Infringment
If you think your local Target is beginning to resemble a Pottery Barn, it may not be your imagination. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on a new lawsuit, and others over the years, that accuse Target of copying other retailers' products: Williams-Sonoma, which operates Pottery Barn and other chains, claims in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that a quilted Christmas stocking sold at Target stores contains "every …
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Major Newspaper Company Absorbs Community Journalism Sites
Poynter's E-Media Tidbits looks at McClatchy's purchase of local citizen media sites, Fresno Famous and Modesto Famous. Fresno Famous was founded in 2004 by now 26-year-old Jarah Euston. The site is a community portal, with blogs, podcasts, Flickr photo galleries, and forums. "Purchasing a strong franchise such as Fresno Famous gives The Bee another way in which to reach younger readers with information they seek," …
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That Was Easy
Staples has sold 1.5 million Easy Buttons--an artifact from the brand's advertising--to date. How does this happen in a culture where people skillfully avoid advertising in all of its hideous forms? Rob Walker of The New York Times Magazine explores the topic. One ad executive speculated in Brandweek that the gizmo’s success comes from its being an “elegant metaphor,” speaking to a yearning for solutions to the …
The Windy City Ad Scene Goes Cold
Crain's Chicago Business takes a closer look at the city's advertising scene. You can tell by the title of the article that the perception is it ain't too good there: Dream of Chicago ad revival is dashed: The city's ad agencies, decimated after years of losing headquarters and major accounts, seemed poised to regain their fizz when local player DraftFCB Group aced out Madison Avenue in winning the Wal-Mart Stores …
Big Media Wants One Of Those You Tube Things
Wall Street Journal is reporting that four major media companies--News Corp.'s Fox, Viacom Inc., CBS Corp. and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal--might join to create a video web site able to compete with Google Inc.'s YouTube. Nate Anderson wonders if the Big Guys can properly design such a site. In their own attempts at creating Internet delivery services for their TV shows, the networks have often done a nice …
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Contrary Media Models United By Profitability
Reflecting on recent turmoil in the executive suites at AOL, Newscorp and CBS Interactive, John Battelle sees an industry grappling to find itself in the brave "New Media" world. Here's what he believes the big guys are thinking: 1. Interactive is now a very important, profitable, and growing business. 2. We can't afford to not view this as strategic to our future. 3. We need someone running theses sites who is not …
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