From Monday the price of the weekday Times will rise by 10p to 80p, matching the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and the Independent for the first time since the price wars that began in 1993, when Rupert Murdoch dropped its price from 45p to 30p and sent circulation soaring.
We were at News when The Times dropped its price and we played a big part in the price war. It was alot of fun and for a time price was an effective circulation builder. But its a war that should have ceased long ago. The battle now very sensibly transfers from cover price discounting to subscription discounting. A much more intelligent battle and one of course the Telegraph has a real advantage in.
Should be interesting.
Lets hope that the marketing guys wake up to the real opportunity to reward purchase loyalty not just with price discounting but with added value benefits as well. The case (as blogged here before) for loyalty programmes is growing stronger and stronger.
Friday, 29 August 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
(bad) News Digest 28th August
Heres todays (bad) news digest from Print & Publishing sector.
Half-yearly profits tumbled 35.6% at the Independent and Independent on Sunday titles due to challenging trading conditions and poor consumer confidence, the papers' parent company said today.
The People has suspended its sports editor, Lee Horton, over alleged 'financial irregularities'
Johnston Press has said advertising revenues have slumped 21% year on year in the first seven weeks of the second half of 2008
Any good news anyone?
Half-yearly profits tumbled 35.6% at the Independent and Independent on Sunday titles due to challenging trading conditions and poor consumer confidence, the papers' parent company said today.
The People has suspended its sports editor, Lee Horton, over alleged 'financial irregularities'
Johnston Press has said advertising revenues have slumped 21% year on year in the first seven weeks of the second half of 2008
Any good news anyone?
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Clever Vending - under utilised
Electronics retailer Best Buy has installed vending machines at 8 major
It's a pilot program for the company's new Best Buy Express kiosks, which are large vending machines that carry cell phone and computer accessories, digital cameras, flash drives, MP3 players, headphones, gaming devices, travel adapters, and other items that are likely to appeal to customers on the go. Prices are similar to those in Best Buy stores.
Ive always thought vending was under utilised. Serves as the ultimate in convenience retailing and a huge visual brand ad. This stuff is going to get really big when we can use our phones to pay (as in Japan and Finland etc)
Thursday, 21 August 2008
What price loyalty in a recession?
The ongoing global financial situation continues to soak up the average consumer's spare cash, forcing people to re-assess their spending on a daily basis. I for one am bored of having to phone the bank to pre-authorise a personal loan to fill up the car with a tank of petrol before I travel on the motorway. While the media may be guilty of fanning the flames of recession talk, they certainly aren't guilty of lighting the fire in the first place.
I'm waiting for one of my favourite brands to approach loyalty smartly in these cash conscious times. I'm on databases, they have my email address, and probably my mobile number, and I'm ready and waiting for my loyalty to be rewarded. If they invest in me, then I'm happy to commit to them, there's always a good deal to be done in times like these.
However, only two brands are talking to me and trying to save me money. The Times, with their 20% off subscription offer, which is flexible, good value and promoted out of the newspaper itself, which is an industry first, and Varsity bars. Varsity bars is an odd one in this context, as it's a student focused drinks business, and my student days pre-date the internet. No matter, I signed up online to see how their CRM process worked, and to be honest, it's surprisingly good. Received an email and an SMS highlighting their special offers to save me money on beer this week. They are talking to me, and if I was a student right now, I'd be listening.
Those who know us, will recognise that we are passionate about loyalty. Identify your best customers and prospects so you can communicate with them on as near an individual basis as possible, then recognise and reward their loyalty. It's a long term game, but an ultimately profitable one. Get it right, then it can securitise a business in the medium to long term. And therein lies the challenge. The average tenure of a marketing director is apparently under three years in the UK. Successful loyalty programmes need time to develop, implement and nurture. They grow over time, but are not a short term fix, they need investment, resource and expertise to get them off the ground in a smart and successful manner. Like children, they need nurturing, attention and money.
Our view, the time is right now for successful loyalty schemes to take root, when consumers want to be recognised and rewarded. Question is, who is going to take the plunge and back a medium-term investment rather than a short term fix? Time will tell.
I'm waiting for one of my favourite brands to approach loyalty smartly in these cash conscious times. I'm on databases, they have my email address, and probably my mobile number, and I'm ready and waiting for my loyalty to be rewarded. If they invest in me, then I'm happy to commit to them, there's always a good deal to be done in times like these.
However, only two brands are talking to me and trying to save me money. The Times, with their 20% off subscription offer, which is flexible, good value and promoted out of the newspaper itself, which is an industry first, and Varsity bars. Varsity bars is an odd one in this context, as it's a student focused drinks business, and my student days pre-date the internet. No matter, I signed up online to see how their CRM process worked, and to be honest, it's surprisingly good. Received an email and an SMS highlighting their special offers to save me money on beer this week. They are talking to me, and if I was a student right now, I'd be listening.
Those who know us, will recognise that we are passionate about loyalty. Identify your best customers and prospects so you can communicate with them on as near an individual basis as possible, then recognise and reward their loyalty. It's a long term game, but an ultimately profitable one. Get it right, then it can securitise a business in the medium to long term. And therein lies the challenge. The average tenure of a marketing director is apparently under three years in the UK. Successful loyalty programmes need time to develop, implement and nurture. They grow over time, but are not a short term fix, they need investment, resource and expertise to get them off the ground in a smart and successful manner. Like children, they need nurturing, attention and money.
Our view, the time is right now for successful loyalty schemes to take root, when consumers want to be recognised and rewarded. Question is, who is going to take the plunge and back a medium-term investment rather than a short term fix? Time will tell.
Monday, 18 August 2008
Is this the way its going for news?
This is powerful stuff (thanks to guardian.co.uk). Pew is the best and most credible of all US media usage surveys so we have to listen
Pew report: New breed of 'net newsers' shape US media habits
A new generation of well-educated, technically-savvy young web users are shaping the media habits of the US, with one in 20 Americans saying they do not watch TV on a typical day and a sharp decline in newspaper readership, according to new research.
The biennial Pew Research Center report on changing news audiences described 13% of the US public as "net newsers" - web users under 35 who read more political blogs than watch national news coverage, rely heavily on web-based news during the day and have a strong interest in technology and technology news.
Yahoo, MSN and CNN were the three most popular web news destinations, though users gave many of the leading mainstream media websites low credibility ratings.
Just 6% said the Huffington Post was very highly credible and 13% said the same of Google News, which aggregates news from mainstream news organisations.
Net newsers are typically affluent and 80% are graduates, making them a highly desirable demographic for advertisers.
They do favour some traditional media brands, including the New Yorker, The Atlantic and the BBC, the Pew survey of 3,600 adults found. But only 47% watch TV news on an average day.
The research paints a picture of steady decline in the US newspaper industry, with the percentage of Americans who regularly read print titles falling from 58% in 1993 to 34% in 2008.
According to the long-running survey, respondents saying they listened to radio news fell from 47% to 35% over the same period. As for network TV, the national news dropped from 60% to 29% and local news from 77% to 52%.
Cable TV grew from 33% of Pew respondents saying they watched it in 2000 to 39% this year, while the number of people who turn to web news at least three days each week rose from 2% in 1996 to 37% in 2008.
"For more than a decade, the audiences for most traditional news sources have steadily declined, as the number of people getting news online has surged," said the Pew report.
"A sizable minority of Americans find themselves at the intersection of these two long-standing trends in news consumption."
However, TV is still the most popular medium for the US, with 46% of the public classified as "traditionalists" who watch throughout the day, but are likely to be older and less well educated than net newsers.
More than 40% of this traditionalist group are unemployed, and were found to prefer visual news stories to audio and have little interest in science or technology news.
A further 14% are described as "disengaged", a poorly-educated group with little interest in current affairs.
Pew's research identified a further 23% of US media consumers as "integrators", an older group who are affluent and influential but still rely mostly on TV news and are interested in politics.
The research also found that the proportion of young people in the US getting no daily news has increased from 25% in 1998 to 34%, with only 10% of people using social networking sites for their news
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Associated CD's Mcflying into the Bermuda Triangle?
A quick thought on the newspaper ABCs for July 2008. Apart from The Sun and The Sunday Times showing increases month-on-month thanks to some effective marketing, the numbers for the Mail on Sunday are most interesting.
Month on month the MoS remained level, but the year-on-year comparison makes more interesting reading, down almost 5%. This is despite heavily backed McFly and Barry Manilow CD giveaways, which would have been expected to perform well in a normally quiet month.
What to make of this? Is Barry no longer the hearthrob of the middle England twinset? Would McFly have flown better off the shelves or digital music racks than they did off the news-stand?
Either way, our view has been for a while that the free CD or DVD should be the last resort rather than the regular fare of a forward thinking marketing professional. Anyone can give something away and see a short term uplift. Very few can build sustained growth in a shrinking print market.
While The Sun and The Sunday Times are investing for future sustainable growth, what next at Associated newspapers, who have an equally might marketing war chest? We wait with interest to see some innovation in their marketing approach.
Month on month the MoS remained level, but the year-on-year comparison makes more interesting reading, down almost 5%. This is despite heavily backed McFly and Barry Manilow CD giveaways, which would have been expected to perform well in a normally quiet month.
What to make of this? Is Barry no longer the hearthrob of the middle England twinset? Would McFly have flown better off the shelves or digital music racks than they did off the news-stand?
Either way, our view has been for a while that the free CD or DVD should be the last resort rather than the regular fare of a forward thinking marketing professional. Anyone can give something away and see a short term uplift. Very few can build sustained growth in a shrinking print market.
While The Sun and The Sunday Times are investing for future sustainable growth, what next at Associated newspapers, who have an equally might marketing war chest? We wait with interest to see some innovation in their marketing approach.
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Pot Noodle: the musical - Does exactly what it says on the pot
"Pot Noodle: the musical" is being heralded as being at "the vanguard of a revolution which could transform advertising and possibly the entertainment industry over the next few years". A big claim for a play based on the students' favourite freeze dried convenience snack.
Mother has developed the concept in its "content" department to break away from the traditional advertising "product" and PN:tm is currently playing to standing ovations on the Edinburgh fringe. The result, and I quote directly from The Times, is "a riotous hour's entertainment set in a Pot Noodle factory and very very loosely based on Hamlet".
Given that the Mamma Mia film has seen the Abba Gold album rocket back to the charts for the first time in 15 years, will this alternative approach to advertising PN see the familiar plastic pot leap off the shelves of Aldi's across the country?
Either way, we applaud the vision, and the commitment to trying new ways of advertising product to audiences. The world is changing, and brands with the courage to test new routes to market now will in our view be hugely rewarded in the longer term. Put the kettle on, it's noodle time......
Mother has developed the concept in its "content" department to break away from the traditional advertising "product" and PN:tm is currently playing to standing ovations on the Edinburgh fringe. The result, and I quote directly from The Times, is "a riotous hour's entertainment set in a Pot Noodle factory and very very loosely based on Hamlet".
Given that the Mamma Mia film has seen the Abba Gold album rocket back to the charts for the first time in 15 years, will this alternative approach to advertising PN see the familiar plastic pot leap off the shelves of Aldi's across the country?
Either way, we applaud the vision, and the commitment to trying new ways of advertising product to audiences. The world is changing, and brands with the courage to test new routes to market now will in our view be hugely rewarded in the longer term. Put the kettle on, it's noodle time......
Saturday, 2 August 2008
A challenger to supremacy of Google in search?
In an attempt to upstage their former employer, a trio of ex-Googlers have launched a search engine of their own. They are calling it "Cuil" - pronounced "cool," (not bad) - and they say it "goes beyond today’s search techniques."
They say they get "richer display of results" by indexing a whopping 120 billion web pages. According to the company, that's three times more than any other search engine.
Its going to be tough (impossible?) to knock out google as they have installed base of many many millions of content serach customers.
Here at Market Evolution towers we encourage and support competition (both as business people and as consumers) so I'm going to give it a go...........
Tell us what you think www.cuil.com
They say they get "richer display of results" by indexing a whopping 120 billion web pages. According to the company, that's three times more than any other search engine.
Its going to be tough (impossible?) to knock out google as they have installed base of many many millions of content serach customers.
Here at Market Evolution towers we encourage and support competition (both as business people and as consumers) so I'm going to give it a go...........
Tell us what you think www.cuil.com
Steve Fossett - what ever happened to him?
Ive often wondered what happened to Steve - the great adventurer and friend of Richard Branson. Steve was declared officially dead in February 08 after disappearing in a light aifcraft.
The conspiracy theorists are out and about (surprise, surpise) in the media. Heres quite a good one as it comes from several investigators who were charged to find the body.
Click on Steve below and enjoy.
Steve
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Timeshifting - brand friend or foe?
There's been some debate about which brands are embracing the new consumer ability to choose when, where and how to consume and interact with content and products.
One brand which has managed to re-invent itself in my personal world in the last 2 years has been the BBC. Old time, pillar of the UK society, somewhat staid in its view, it was something I consumed without really a second thought.
Now though, it's all changed. My view of the brand, and the way I interact with it have changed radically recently.
I rarely watch BBC on TV at the time they would like me to. The i-player gives me the ability to carry around my TV on the laptop to watch when I want to watch it. I used to listen to BBC radio when I could. Now, I download the podcasts I want onto my MP3, and listen at my leisure. Not convinced on bbc.co.uk's relaunched new coat, but that's a minor quibble.
I have control, which is nice, but I'm now getting into a routine of when and what I download, which is a commercial brand's dream relationship with a customer. Which non-licence fee funded brand is going to build a relationship like this with me? So far, no-one has.
One brand which has managed to re-invent itself in my personal world in the last 2 years has been the BBC. Old time, pillar of the UK society, somewhat staid in its view, it was something I consumed without really a second thought.
Now though, it's all changed. My view of the brand, and the way I interact with it have changed radically recently.
I rarely watch BBC on TV at the time they would like me to. The i-player gives me the ability to carry around my TV on the laptop to watch when I want to watch it. I used to listen to BBC radio when I could. Now, I download the podcasts I want onto my MP3, and listen at my leisure. Not convinced on bbc.co.uk's relaunched new coat, but that's a minor quibble.
I have control, which is nice, but I'm now getting into a routine of when and what I download, which is a commercial brand's dream relationship with a customer. Which non-licence fee funded brand is going to build a relationship like this with me? So far, no-one has.
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
McFly bigger than Barry Manilow!
The Mail on Sunday's exclusive giveaway of the new McFly album boosted its circulation 300,000 copies above its non-promotional average to 2.4m copies, according to estimates.
Couple of things strike me about this the latest in a long, long line of CD giveaways.
Firstly, McFly are more popular than Barry Manilow amongst MOS readers. Thats extraordinary. Surely no one I mean no one is bigger than Barry in middle Britain .
Who are McFly anyway?
Well the answer must lie in the popularity of McFly with MOS readers children me thinks.
Is this pester power at work at the news stands
Second thing that strikes me is how attrition seems to be finally taking its toll on these promotions. McFly beat Manilow but fell well short of Prince's Planet Earth CD last year.
All involved with these promotions are very polished at heralding their success but once again isnt it time to call into question the ROI of these deals. Its estimated that Associated Newspapers alone spend £100m a year on this type of stuff. Meanwhile the piles of unused, unwatched and unlistened to CDs and DVDs pile up - unloved - on readers shelves.
Car boot sales are the major beneficiary of these deals!
Wouldnt the money or at least part of it be better spent investing in long term relationship building with readers rather than short term bribery?
Maybe recessionary times will necessitate move toward strategic rather than tactical marketing at the papers.
That would at least be one good thing to come from these challenging times.
Couple of things strike me about this the latest in a long, long line of CD giveaways.
Firstly, McFly are more popular than Barry Manilow amongst MOS readers. Thats extraordinary. Surely no one I mean no one is bigger than Barry in middle Britain .
Who are McFly anyway?
Well the answer must lie in the popularity of McFly with MOS readers children me thinks.
Is this pester power at work at the news stands
Second thing that strikes me is how attrition seems to be finally taking its toll on these promotions. McFly beat Manilow but fell well short of Prince's Planet Earth CD last year.
All involved with these promotions are very polished at heralding their success but once again isnt it time to call into question the ROI of these deals. Its estimated that Associated Newspapers alone spend £100m a year on this type of stuff. Meanwhile the piles of unused, unwatched and unlistened to CDs and DVDs pile up - unloved - on readers shelves.
Car boot sales are the major beneficiary of these deals!
Wouldnt the money or at least part of it be better spent investing in long term relationship building with readers rather than short term bribery?
Maybe recessionary times will necessitate move toward strategic rather than tactical marketing at the papers.
That would at least be one good thing to come from these challenging times.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Is Google a victim of its own success or of a declining market
Google shares were off 8% in late trading today as it posted a profits gain but fell short of estimates.
Whilst its hard to feel sorry for these guys its ours to wonder whether they arent a victim of their own success. Posted growth in this market would be enough for most brands to set the shares alight but not Google. They post gains and analysts say not good enough and shares fall - hard.
But its not that simple is it.
Clearly Google are not only a bell weather for the advertising industry but the entire economy . Any sign of slowdown adds more evidence to what we already know so well - we are entering an economic nuclear winter.
Its unfortunate for Google stock holders that the business has become economic 'canary in the cage'
Keep warm
Whilst its hard to feel sorry for these guys its ours to wonder whether they arent a victim of their own success. Posted growth in this market would be enough for most brands to set the shares alight but not Google. They post gains and analysts say not good enough and shares fall - hard.
But its not that simple is it.
Clearly Google are not only a bell weather for the advertising industry but the entire economy . Any sign of slowdown adds more evidence to what we already know so well - we are entering an economic nuclear winter.
Its unfortunate for Google stock holders that the business has become economic 'canary in the cage'
Keep warm
Monday, 14 July 2008
iPhone opening weekend sales
Apple has sold more than 1m of its new iPhone 3G handsets, the consumer electronics giant announced today, just three days since the chaotic launch of the second version of the smartphone.
Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs said that the new iPhone 3G has had "a stunning opening weekend".
"It took 74 days to sell the first 1m original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world," Jobs added.
Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs said that the new iPhone 3G has had "a stunning opening weekend".
"It took 74 days to sell the first 1m original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world," Jobs added.
Bellwether report: Ad budgets see sharpest downturn since 9/11 attacks
guardian.co.uk,
Monday July 14, 2008
UK businesses are slashing their marketing and advertising budgets for the third quarter in a row in the sharpest downturn since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, according to the latest Bellwether report published today by ad agency trade body the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.
Internet marketing was the sole bright spot, with 19% of companies reporting a rise from the budgets set at the start of the year, and only 12% reporting a decline.
But even the growth of digital spend has slowed dramatically since the first quarter of 2008, when 27% of respondents reported an increase in their online marketing budgets since the start of the year.
Monday July 14, 2008
UK businesses are slashing their marketing and advertising budgets for the third quarter in a row in the sharpest downturn since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, according to the latest Bellwether report published today by ad agency trade body the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.
Internet marketing was the sole bright spot, with 19% of companies reporting a rise from the budgets set at the start of the year, and only 12% reporting a decline.
But even the growth of digital spend has slowed dramatically since the first quarter of 2008, when 27% of respondents reported an increase in their online marketing budgets since the start of the year.
Friday, 11 July 2008
Friday Queues
Soho on a Friday morning is usually an oasis of calm, with media and arty types stumbling towards lattes, cappucinos and wet decaffeinated skinny americanos.
Today however, a queue snaking along the pavement. At 8.45am. Was the European opticians having a black chunky framed glasses sale? Was the executive man-bag shop doing 2 for 1 deals?
No, the queue was for Carphone Warehouse. For the next generation i-Phone launch.
Have to hand it to Apple, it has brand loyalty like few others, and customers who go that extra mile without complaint.
Looking forward to seeing the phone in action.
Today however, a queue snaking along the pavement. At 8.45am. Was the European opticians having a black chunky framed glasses sale? Was the executive man-bag shop doing 2 for 1 deals?
No, the queue was for Carphone Warehouse. For the next generation i-Phone launch.
Have to hand it to Apple, it has brand loyalty like few others, and customers who go that extra mile without complaint.
Looking forward to seeing the phone in action.
Credit Crunch - just how bad is it?
With shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - two pillars of the US housing market - continuing to plummet yesterday investors and federal officials contemplated the possibility that the giants of the mortgage business could require a federal bailout.
OMG this is pretty serious stuff. These 2 companies are key part of the infrastructure that holds together the US economy (together they underwrite nearly 50% of US mortgages). Whilst they wont (cant) be allowed to fail its a huge concern that we are even close to this situation.
The conclusion that we draw from this is that the economic situation is far far worse that we are being told.
Hold on to your hats and tighten you belts
OMG this is pretty serious stuff. These 2 companies are key part of the infrastructure that holds together the US economy (together they underwrite nearly 50% of US mortgages). Whilst they wont (cant) be allowed to fail its a huge concern that we are even close to this situation.
The conclusion that we draw from this is that the economic situation is far far worse that we are being told.
Hold on to your hats and tighten you belts
Women kills husband with folding couch
Well its friday and high time for a little lightness after a wet and rather depressing news week
Thanks to Reuters for this one - you could'nt make this stuff up
ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - A Russian woman in St Petersburg killed her drunk husband with a folding couch, Russian media reported on Wednesday.
St Petersburg's Channel Five said the man's wife, upset with her husband for being drunk and refusing to get up, kicked a handle after an argument, activating a mechanism that folds the couch up against a wall.
The couch, which doubles as a bed, folds up automatically in order to save space. The man fell between the mattress and the back of the couch...................
Thanks to Reuters for this one - you could'nt make this stuff up
ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - A Russian woman in St Petersburg killed her drunk husband with a folding couch, Russian media reported on Wednesday.
St Petersburg's Channel Five said the man's wife, upset with her husband for being drunk and refusing to get up, kicked a handle after an argument, activating a mechanism that folds the couch up against a wall.
The couch, which doubles as a bed, folds up automatically in order to save space. The man fell between the mattress and the back of the couch...................
TMG pan for digital ad gold abroad
Telegraph Media Group's partnership with AdGent 007, a global digital advertising services company to sell ads abroad, makes a lot of sense.
British Newspapers are very popular abroad and as recorded here in a previous post well over 50% of online usage of newspapers comes from outside the UK
The Telegraph does particularly well abroad - according to the latest ABCe audit, it recorded over 18.4m unique users globally, an increase of more than 150% over the previous year.
In a market where newspapers are experiencing the 'double whammy' of falling circulation and (fast) falling advertising revenues this kind of deal is very sensible and potentially very important.Thursday, 3 July 2008
The winds of change
Just glancing back through the archive of posts here looking for a couple of things, and couldn't help noticing how the mood has changed.
What ever happened to social networking, incredibly high valuations of digital businesses and all the hype surrounding Web 2.0?
Now it's all credit crunch, high street bloodbath, advertising recessions and redundancies.
Those who keep their heads and invest wisely in brands and audience should be able to reap the benefits in the medium term, it'll be interesting to see "who dares wins".
What ever happened to social networking, incredibly high valuations of digital businesses and all the hype surrounding Web 2.0?
Now it's all credit crunch, high street bloodbath, advertising recessions and redundancies.
Those who keep their heads and invest wisely in brands and audience should be able to reap the benefits in the medium term, it'll be interesting to see "who dares wins".
Monday, 30 June 2008
Trinity Mirror - Kicking a dog when its down
Trinity Mirror shares today crashed 25% after the group said profits would be 10% lower than expected.
No surprises here. Its tough out there. We have heard tales of woe from right across the newspaper market. And it aint going to get any easier anytime soon is it.
Its crazy however that the 'City' react (or overreact) in the way they do. Current market conditions have been priced into share values for sometime now so further falls in share price based on more bad news are not welcome or necessary.
Talk about kicking a dog when its down
No surprises here. Its tough out there. We have heard tales of woe from right across the newspaper market. And it aint going to get any easier anytime soon is it.
Its crazy however that the 'City' react (or overreact) in the way they do. Current market conditions have been priced into share values for sometime now so further falls in share price based on more bad news are not welcome or necessary.
Talk about kicking a dog when its down
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