Sir Martin Sorrell portrayed as a dunce in the New York Post after stream of bad WPP news
An article entitled 'WPP's Dell Tolls' in feisty daily newspaper the New York Post catalogues WPP's woes, including the closure of JWT in Chicago, resulting in the loss of 50 jobs, O&M axeing 10% of its staff and most recently, the folding of WPP's Dell-only agency Enfatico into Y&R. One former Enfatico executive is quoted as saying Sir Martin will keep Enfatico alive "because his ego is invested in it now". A picture of Sir Martin accompanies the piece but with a dunce's hat superimposed on his head. New York Post, 11 April 2009
Ford launches new Fiesta using 100 one-to-one marketers
Ford is using a in the US. The car giant has loaned 100 web-savvy Generation Yers Fiestas for six months and asked them to post unedited videos of their adventures on YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. The aim is to generate buzz in the US about the new fuel-efficient Ford Fiesta. Marketing Direct, 9 April 2009
Macy's refuses to hand over customer data
Macy's is embroiled in in a jewelry product recall case involving a claim of false advertising by the department store chain. LA Deputy District Attorney subpoenaed Macy's in January to reveal its customer data to help with the product recall but Macy's argued that customer privacy issues kept them from revealing till and CRM data on customers who had purchased the jewelry. DM News, 9 April 2009
Brands can't ignore Twitter now, New York Times says
, thanks to its instaneous nature. Companies like , and can see what their customers are thinking as they use a product, and the companies can adapt their marketing accordingly. Amazon felt compelled to respond to complaints on Twitter over the Easter break. New York Times, 13 April 2009
Direct response salesman films reality show
Billy Mays, famous for DRTV ads such as OxiClean, Kaboom, Mighty Putty and the Awesome Auger, is to feature in ' on the Discovery Channel. Mays believes in the hard sell and tells the LA Times: "I cut through the noise, through the clutter. People want to hear the pitch." LA Times, 7 April 2009
FT profiles Iris employees as they swap jobs and lives to gain new skills
Julia Richards and Luke Purser, to gain new skills. While other companies arrange job swaps, such as Google's job swaps with Procter & Gamble, exchanging both jobs and homes is still rare. Purser took part in the swap to "experience different cultures and management styles and learn new skills". Financial Times, 7 April 200
Facebook, Amazon and Apple: kings of self-segmentation
Recession and a more volatile society makes traditional segmentation redundant, argues . The traditional, static definition of consumer segments is becoming less reliable in our extremely volatile society, especially in today's economic climate. A consumer's lifetime value may have decreased significantly in the past six months, not least because of redundancy, a fact not reflected by any segmentation method. Apple, Amazon and Facebook allow customers to self-segment through group and interest identities. Ad Age, 13 April 2009
Mobile phone users signing away privacy rights
by upgrading to the latest handsets, reports The Telegraph. Human rights campaigners warn that the latest models can disclose the user's location, their internet shopping habits, friends and interests. Many people unwittingly give consent for the information to be sold to marketing companies by not reading the terms and conditions of their contracts. The Daily Telegraph, 3 April 2009
List companies must diversify to survive
As many industries are evolving to face a new digital age, some say , reports DM News. Jay Schwedelson, president of list management company Worldata, which is launching a research division, claims: "If you are a list company and that's all that you do, you are in bad shape now." DM News, 30 March 2009
Mobile ad revenue slows but opportunity remains
, reports Dow Jones. Mobile ad companies argue their ability to measure the effectiveness of a campaign provides a strong return on investment. When President Barack Obama was running for office, Quattro Wireless sent text message to battleground states reminding people about early voter registration. Dow Jones, 3 April 2009
US mail producer defends junk mail
Marcy Clarke, co-owner of Service Mailers in Los Angeles makes when speaking to David Lazarus of the LA Times. She claims direct mail is good for the economy and that it will always be around "but it will get smaller, and it will have to get smarter". LA Times, 8 April 2009
.jpg)
.jpg)