The marketing behind the product

I constantly am amazed at how much difference there is in the way the different products are marketed by companies. Since electronics are deemed to be a masculine area, these ads are always edgy and manly, while for things like bedroom sets, the format is usually more feminine. That is how the marketing and consumer worlds function, but what I find interesting is that they almost have a sort of sociology undercurrent going on. Interestingly, more and more companies are realizing this bias and changing the way they make their ads, and focusing some of their ads more towards women.

Are mobile ads viable?

According to a new study by research company Knowledge Networks/SRI called How People Use Mobile Video 2007, it was found that while mobile users are quite willing to watch ads, most mobile ads have nothing to really say to them. An estimated 80% of consumers who use phones and iPods with video capabilities, said that they are open to watching mobile ads if they are able to access free content. Less than 30% of respondents felt that ads were relevant to them.

According to David Tice, vice president and managing director of Knowledge Networks/SRI, “While mobile can indeed be part of larger campaigns, we need to recognize its differences, as well as the ways that different target groups use the medium.” The thing is that most consumers don't really differentiate between mobile video ads and those on the television and ads seen on personal video products are not more influential on users.

Its all about the marketing

Marketing is what it all comes down to these days. For any product to be successful, it needs to be marketed well and only then there is a chance that it will reach its full potential. LA Management provides exactly this kind of expertise and know how to such an extent that it has gained quite a following. This Multimedia Company Produces Online Videos for small Businesses and shows that it is possible to get it done right even on a small budget. With their range of services such as online marketing, advertising, video production, website design and multimedia production, LA Management is fast emerging as one of the best known companies to take care of all aspects of online marketing.

Having been in the field for over 30 years and have experience in specialized fields such as medical practices, LA Management has become one of the companies taking care of cosmetic surgical practices across the nation. It's definitely a good time to be in the industry as there is no other more vibrant and dynamic industry as are the advertising and marketing industries. The power that resides in these sectors is what controls how products and services ultimately fare. With clients such as the Make A Wish Foundation and Koch Entertainment International, the company is well on its way of creating a reputable name for itself.

Online ad targeting and spending

JupiterResearch has released an interesting report titled "21st Century Portals: Thriving in the Google-MySpace Era", which claims that 55% of online users who pay for services could be lured by entertainment and communication portals such as MySpace. David Card of JupiterResearch adds that with portals such as Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN dominating online usage, the companies account for 55% of online advertisement budgets.

From the audience point of view, as measured by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (conducted with ForeSee Results), US consumers expressed more satisfaction with Google than Yahoo!, AOL or MSN. And they claimed more satisfaction with all portals other than AOL, MSN and Yahoo! That includes second-tier portals like Lycos, Excite, Univision and Netscape.

Ads in subway tunnels

Residents of San Francisco, Boston, London and a few other cities might already be familiar with this phenomenon. The tunnel walls of the subway are one of the newest forms of advertising. Canada's SideTrack and New York's Submedia are some of the companies who are focusing on advertising on subway tunnel walls and some of the biggest brands like Microsoft, Target, Coca-Cola, Rebook and Honda are advertising on them.

SideTrack installed the system on San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system last month as a trial. How it works is that a long series of still photographs are installed in a subway tunnel which are illuminated by rapidly flashing spotlights as the trains go by, resulting in a movie like effect. Campaigns are 15 seconds long.

Michael Swistun, CEO of SideTrack, explained that his company's technology is designed to present riders with a 24- or 30-frame-per-second "movie," depending on the speed of the train.

The technology requires that trains pass the ads going at least 25 miles per hour. If they're going slower, the lights stay off and the tunnels stay dark.

Submedia has project pending in Paris, Prague, Singapore and India currently. Here is the Submedia India site.

Bloggerwave makes its debut

The newest kid on the get paid to blog platforms is Bloggerwave, which is absolutely brand spanking new. It's actually so new that there are just a couple of advertisers on board as yet. The format is great, bloggers sign up with them and register their blogs, select opportunities to write up on and get paid by them. Yes, there are lots of other sites doing this already, I know, but Bloggerwave seems to be taking in all the inputs from earlier editions and coming up with an improved version. Bloggerwave will be using statistics from Alexa, Technorati, Google Page Rank etc to judge how a blog is rated and paid. It definitely the right time to be a blogger, for sure!

Branding through good deeds

Do brands that contribute to society gain more than just profits? Yes, according to research that shows that humanitarian efforts are being applauded the world over. An estimated 60% of adults above 18 feel that they would trust a company more if they know about its work for the environment and the world at large. These findings come from the Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability (LOHAS) Consumer Trends Database conducted by the Natural Marketing Institute in Harleysville, Pa.

In Kenya, Coca-Cola is helping teach children how to test drinking water for contamination. The company also is providing water-purification systems for some of the country's most poverty-stricken areas.

In India, Starbucks is addressing sanitation-related health problems by donating $1 million to WaterAid. With World Water Day looming (March 22), Coca-Cola and Starbucks have taken the opportunity to illustrate the good they are doing for the 1.1 billion people who lack access to clean drinking water.

Cost effectiveness of online advertising

WebProNews writes about the increase in online ads, with advertisers spending $12.5 billion and revenues from the industry growing 34% for the year 2005. The effectiveness of online advertising has often been questioned, but with figures like these even the sceptics have to agree, online advertising has become one of the most cost efficient forms of advertising. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau's Internet Advertising Revenue Report which is collaborated with PricewaterhouseCoopers, online advertising is here to stay and get more entrenched for newer sections of the market.

The multi-billion dollar market has been a big driver of the activities of the big Internet players. Google of course has made its fortune from online ads, which deliver 99 percent of the company's revenue.

Yahoo spent 2006 feverishly reworking its Internet ad system to more closely emulate Google's relevance model for delivering advertising to viewers. Early accounts have been favorable as ad agencies start to see greater activity on Yahoo ads.