Marketing Pilgrim

GoDaddy CEO Warren Adelman got a Christmas card from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. It said simply, “welcome to my world.”

It all began when GoDaddy announced that they were supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. The act calls for a block on any domain that allows the posting of materials protected by copyright. Sounds reasonable, until you realize that Facebook could be blocked if someone posts a celebrity photo that is owned by one of the big licensers like Getty.

GoDaddy initially said they were behind SOPA and instantly, thousands began pulling their domains away from the company. Some went so far as to put up a boycott GoDaddy site and declare December 29, “Leave GoDaddy Day.”

The Consumer Confidence Index is up for the second month in a row, rising to 64.5 in December from 55.2 in November.

The survey, which was conducted by random sample by Nielsen for The Conference Board, showed an improvement in both current conditions and hope for the new year.

The Present Situation Index increased to 46.7 from 38.3. 16.6% said the business conditions are “good,” up from 13.9%.

There was also in increase in those who thought available jobs were “plentiful” and an almost equal decrease in those who said jobs were “hard to get.’

What’s really encouraging is the outlook for the future. The Expectations Index rose to 76.4 from 66.4. A higher percentage expected business to improve and they anticipated more available jobs in the near future.

Mobile is on everyone’s minds these days. Whether you are talking about iOS v. Android devices or wondering just how many people have smartphones these days, there is plenty to discuss.

As marketers we are most interested in who has them and if they respond well to advertising. eMarketer points out some data around the performance of in app ads that is, well, not exactly awe-inspiring. First, there is a look at some data from a Lab42 study about just how many in app ads users click on.

Of course, I can only speak from a personal perspective but I don’t know if I have clicked on more than 10 ads anywhere in my life so to see that even some 30% have clicked on 6 or more in app ads is interesting to me. Of course, the other 70 percent is at 5 or less clicks with 20% of those surveyed never clicking on an in app ad.

I know it seems like I am obsessing over the fact that Google is marketing Google+ but it is a rare phenomenon in this world to see a company that almost never used traditional advertising channels now turn to them to build awareness around a critical piece of their story.

We have seen plenty of TV ads for Chrome that elude to the Google ecosystem but recently that are all about Google+ and nothing else. We have seen the Muppets and I have seen one ad with NBA analysts during the opening day marathon of games on Christmas Day.

One that caught my eye though was this from the New York Post’s online edition.

In 2011, small business owners in Singapore set up shop on LiveJournal and completed transactions worth $72 million USD. They call them “blogshops” and there are over 50,000 of them currently running on the social blogging site.

Livejournal recently released a statement about their success and it is pretty amazing, mostly because it’s a singularly Singaporean phenomenon. They say the businesses are mostly small, home-based operations that have grown organically as an inexpensive way of getting started.

Right now, says LJ, only 10% are earning more than USD $1,500 a month but that’s nothing to cry about. Top earners are pulling in as much as USD $15,000 a month selling mostly clothing, beauty item and tech items.

Last night, after the gifts were opened and the holiday glow was being to wear off, I saw a TV commercial for Wal-mart that shook me to the core. Wal-mart opens at 5 a.m. on December 26 for the the biggest, blow-out, post holiday sale ever.

I had instant Black Friday flashbacks. Seriously? 5 a.m.? I used to be a big post holiday shopper, but like 44% of the people Consumer Reports polled, I can’t deal with the crowds.

Consumer Reports also says that the holiday shopping season will continue until the ball drops in Times Square as 4 out of 10 Americans say they’re still shopping.

82% are hoping to take advantage of post-holiday sales. And a quick look around, says there are plenty of deals to be had. Stores aren’t just marking down holiday items, they’re clearing the shelves.