If you're wondering what investment in infrastructure looks like, take a look at the terrific corporate-led model presently underway in Kansas City. Google selected the Hanover Heights neighborhood in Kansas City, KS to be the first “fiberhood” in America, and the search giant is now busy supplying the area with its most awesome Google Fiber. The action on the ground, as you might imagine, is spurring significant …
When “The Numbers” No Longer Mean Anything…
It's the ad business. We throw projections around like confetti at a wedding. Of course, there's nothing wrong with a little optimism. But there is something wrong with the numbers. Jean-Louis Gassée, a general partner at Allegis Capital in Palo Alto, writing for The Guardian, argues that the $20bn "opportunity" in mobile advertising is "a mirage." Gassée believes we have trouble seeing things for what they …
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Will The Newspaper Industry Save Itself By Reinventing Online Advertising?
Local advertisers in New Orleans are not happy about the recent announcement from New York-based Advance Publications that The Crescent City's daily newspaper, one of the oldest in the nation, will be printed just three days a week starting this fall. “The Times-Picayune has long been a cornerstone of my restaurant group’s local marketing,” notes Ralph Brennan, President of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group. …
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Can “The Crowd” Compete?
Just two and a half years after crowdsourcing agency Victors & Spoils was formed from Crispin's rib in Boulder, Colorado, the company has sold a majority stake to Havas. That's rapid return on investment. Which begs the question what is so special about this agency and its controversial business model? John Winsor, V&S's CEO has one answer. "Collaboration, co-creation and crowdsourcing are the future of not …
The Economy Isn’t Hurting WPP, Far From It
WPP, the world's largest marketing services company, earned record profits of more than $1.45 billion for 2011, up a whopping 43% from the year prior year. According to Ad Age, income at WPP was up was up 11.4% year-over-year to $16.05 billion. I'd like to ask that you pause, like I am, and consider this wealth. $1.5 billion after operating expenses, just last year. WPP will make more this year, and next …
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Downton Abbey And Many Other Programs Are Free With A Strong Antenna
Cable TV is an unaffordable expense for many American households. For others, cable is simply not the place to invest one's money or time. Benefitting from the both the cord cutting Gen Y crowd and the budget constrained "working poor" is Antennas Direct, a St. Louis company that expects to double last year's sales of about 600,000 antennas, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company's antennas cost …
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Have Your Hugged Your Bricks and Mortar Retailer Today?
Stepping out of the house can get costly when you are headed to the mall, the grocery, Costco, lunch, etc. Plus, there's much "work" involved, parking spaces to wait for, lines to stand in and so on. Of course, there is another way. You can see what Brown will do for you. According to a recent report from the Commerce Department, $61.8 billion of retail sales were transacted on the Internet in the fourth …
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One of Adland’s Stranger Marriages
Strawberry Frog has Leaped to What's Next, namely the acquisition of the firm by APCO Worldwide, a stakeholder-engagement firm (whatever that means). The strawberry frogs will no doubt want to know what it's like to work at APCO Worldwide. No worries, the stakeholder-engagement firm (whatever that means) has made a video to answer that. According to Stuart Smith of Politics of Marketing: The spin on …
