by
4 Comments

Behavioral Advertising Gets an Opt-Out icon

posted on October 4, 2010

Some of the internet’s biggest players have agreed to take part in a new self-regulatory program that provides transparency for behavioral advertising. The program was put together with the aid of the Council of Better Business Bureaus in conjunction with the July 2009 paper Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising.

The program revolves around the “Advertising Option Icon,” which will be displayed on or near any online ad that is the result of behavioral targeting. When clicking, the icon will link out to a disclosure statement that outlines the data collection and advertising practices used to produce the ad and it will give the consumer an “easy-to-use opt-out option.”

by
3 Comments

Twitter Executive Moves For Strength

posted on October 4, 2010

Twitter has named a new CEO, former COO Dick Costolo, to replace Evan Williams who will now be able to concentrate on the Twitter product set. This move is one that indicates more than ever that Twitter is getting more serious about itself as a business as well as a service.

The Twitter blog post by Williams states

The challenges of growing an organization so quickly are numerous. Growing big is not success, in itself. Success to us means meeting our potential as a profitable company that can retain its culture and user focus while having a positive impact on the world. This is no small task. I frequently reflect on the type of focus that is required from everyone at Twitter to get us there.

by
2 Comments

Doctors Online More Than Ever

posted on October 4, 2010

If you are a marketer looking to reach doctors your best bet may be to get them online. While doctors are busy people their use of the online space for research and other professional needs has increased significantly according to a study done by eMarketer.

Doctors have been some of the slowest adopters of the online space for many reasons but not the least of which is the reliability of online information. Either they now know where to go or they have decided that convenience is good as well. Whatever the reason, their time online is 3 and a half time greater today than it was in 2002.

by
24 Comments

Forty Percent of Groupon Merchants Say Never Again

posted on October 4, 2010

Last month, we reported on a story of a Portland Cafe owner who claims she lost thousands of dollars doing business with popular deal site Groupon. Some people sided with her, others said she mishandled the situation and Groupon said her story wasn’t typical. But is it?

The folks at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University wanted to find out, so they did a small study to see if merchants were generally happy with their Groupon experience. The study, which was reported on by The Wall Street Journal and other sources polled 150 merchants who had placed deals with Groupon.

by
1 Comment

Cup of Joe: Wheelchair Backflips Aren’t Easy

posted on October 2, 2010

The above amazing video is of Aaron Fotheringham. If you aren’t familiar with Aaron he is the 16-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada who achieved the world’s first back flip in a manual wheelchair. After this amazing stunt was uploaded on YouTube, Aaron gained worldwide fame and was put in the center of the world of extreme sports. He’s been featured on ESPN and has traveled around the world promoting a sport that he founded called “hard-core sitting.”

Aaron is amazing not only for his ability to perform amazing tricks in his wheelchair, but also because he makes it look so easy. Unfortunately, there is more to the story than a 15 second YouTube video. When one begins to watch more footage of Aaron they can see that he has had to repeatedly push his body to the limits to achieve perfection. Take a look at the video below to see what Aaron endures to practice his sport.

by
4 Comments

Movie Marketing: Its Own Worst Enemy

posted on October 1, 2010

With Facebook the Movie: aka The Social Network hitting theaters this weekend it got me thinking about social media and movie marketing. I am not alone in this, as a quick Google search turned up a recent AdAge article that pretty much said what I was thinking, “Why Do Most Movie Websites Suck?”

I’m a huge movie lover, but I’ve hardly ever met an official website I didn’t hate. I always assumed it was because they’re generally full of flash and graphics with very little text. I’m a writer, I like reading. Chris Thilk, the author of the AdAge article agreed with me and he took it one step further. It’s not just that official websites are bad, it’s that the Facebook pages are better.

by
1 Comment

Capturing [the Attention of] the Elusive Millennial

posted on October 1, 2010

Tips for Reaching & Engaging the Elusive Millennial may sound like an Animal Planet special, but it’s actually a very informative webinar from Geoff Ramsey of eMarketer. Millennials are those that came of age in the 2000′s, but for the purpose of the study, they’re defined as the 18 – 34 year-old group.

The biggest factor that differentiates this group from those that went before it, is that these people were born techies. They came into adulthood with cell phones in hand, laptops in their backpacks and an almost innate disdain for print mediums. They are 72 million strong and they have 200 billion dollars to spend. This is an audience you want to please and eMarketer’s presentation has some tips in that regard.