Cheapertising

Arlo and Janis courtesy of my local newspaper:

How can you learn about marketing in the new media? Not by going to school. Like I’ve told many people in and out of the business, everybody’s still learning, so the teachers are few and far between, as this BNET article confirms: Education Lags In Online Marketing. One quote: “The industry is so young that most who know online marketing are still trying to figure out their own careers.” It’s mostly self-taught right now. Better get cracking….

In another sign of the changing ad times, major advertisers are challenging the “Big Three” commercial networks (remember when there were only three –ABC, CBS and NBC?) over network integration fees. What used to be some of the accepted costs of running commercials are about to go the way of the dinosaur. Call it collateral damage in the drive for marketing ROI. Combine this with the recent study showing that advertisers see declining effectiveness in their TV advertising, and I start to wonder if anyone will notice when the switch from analog takes place next year.

For those who have been watching the painful demise of the daily newspaper (I notice it every day when I pick up my copy at the end of the driveway), what about the magazine? A Gawker post from earlier today gives us a hint: 

“…Is the magazine industry actually changing as quickly and perilously as business types seem to think? In one sense, yes; the latest circulation figures showed almost no big gains among the top 25 magazines, and Time and Playboy even took double-digit dives. The biggest winners were AARP’s in-house publications, which is not a good sign for the youthful vitality of the industry.”

Check out the rest here….  

In an attempt to revive an ancient spiritual practice, Catholics in Holland have “re-branded” Lent. I’m not sure what this says about Europe, but it’s sure a sign of the times – Christian Ramadan?

Long-time tech watcher Esther Dyson examines the influence of social networks on the effectiveness of “traditional” (?!) online advertising in this WSJ article: The Coming Ad Revolution. As a new generation exerts control over their own personal information, it will change how companies cater to them. 

 Been a crazy week. Back soon….

Just read this excellent post by Seth Godin on another shift I’ve felt in marketing lately toward the customer. Is branding on the downslide? A couple of days ago, I re-read Marty Neumeier’s fast-paced The Brand Gap, which I first picked up almost two years ago (still worth the read). Reading it this time, I occasionally thought, “This sounds dated.” So I double-checked the copyright: rev. ed. 2006. Boy, things are sure moving fast….

Ran across this parody of a new ad pitch for “Kiddy Care.” As I believe they say across the pond, it’s “spot on.” Enjoy at your own risk….

[On Writing] Biz dev emails and first impressions