Monday, May 3, 2010
Simon Mainwaring: Gucci Group: How big brands fast track their way to social media, community and new customers
This week I had the great pleasure of speaking at the Gucci Group Conference in Miami. Not only were they the best dressed group of attendees I have ever seen -- no surprises there – which was thoroughly intimidating – still no surprises -- but their conference was a wonderful example of how a brand (or brands) react to the emerging social web in a way that is truly creative, effective and inspiring. As such, I wanted to share the steps they took to demonstrate how successful creative brands are rethinking their strategies to suit a new consumer-driven marketplace. Read more: Simon Mainwaring
Clusterstock: 10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell
Here's what you need to know this morning:
* China has increased the reserve requirements for its banks by 50bps, in an effort to quell rapid growth and speculation in the country. Asian stocks have tumbled on the news. For background on the China bubble see here.
* Continental (CAL) and United Airlines (UAL) have officially merged creating the largest carrier in the world. The company is to be valued at $6.8 billion at the time of merger, though unions and the U.S. government must still approve the deal.
* Norsk Hydro is set to buy the Brazilian aluminium manufacturing business of Vale for $4.9 billion in a stock and cash agreement. The deal is seen by Norsk Hydro as a long term play on the aluminum market, with an impact that will be felt for 100 years.
* Mining stocks are experiencing downward pressure this morning, as the Australian government announced a 40% tax on industry gains for the purpose of funding its beleaguered medical system. BHP and Rio Tinto have been some of the hardest hit by the announcement.
* As more details of the EU-IMF support measures for Greece come to light, it has been revealed that Greek sovereign debt will be accepted as full collateral for loans, taking the stress off both the sovereign and banks holding Greek debt.
* Private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Silverlake Partners are set to announce the buyout of Interactive Data Corp, or IDC, from its parent company Pearson. The deal is valued at $3.1 billion and would see Pearson give up its 61% stake in the firm.
* Goldman Sachs is planning on changing the way it conducts business with institutional clients in an effort to preemptively deal with the SEC's charges against the firm. New rules would require Goldman to confirm with clients their understanding of the risks involved in their purchases.
* It has emerged that BP, the company at the center of the Louisiana oil spill storm, will only be on the line for $75 million of any lawsuits involved with the spill. This is because the U.S. government set up a fund to pay out in the event of such a spill in the 1980s, protecting corporations. See amazing pictures of the explosion here >
* The cost of cleanup for the BP (BP) oil spill is now being estimated at $14 billion. Both BP and the other investor in the well, Anadarko Petroleum, have seen their share prices drop as a result of the rising costs and negative headlines.
* The manhunt for the would be Times Square bomber continues with some security footage pointing towards a single suspect in the case. The bomb, which failed to detonate Saturday evening due to faulty construction, has been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
* Bonus: Jessica Simpson attended this weekend's White House Correspondent's dinner, and made hints she might have a new boyfriend. No word yet in whether or not another MTV series is on the way featuring their exploits.
Read more: Clusterstock
* China has increased the reserve requirements for its banks by 50bps, in an effort to quell rapid growth and speculation in the country. Asian stocks have tumbled on the news. For background on the China bubble see here.
* Continental (CAL) and United Airlines (UAL) have officially merged creating the largest carrier in the world. The company is to be valued at $6.8 billion at the time of merger, though unions and the U.S. government must still approve the deal.
* Norsk Hydro is set to buy the Brazilian aluminium manufacturing business of Vale for $4.9 billion in a stock and cash agreement. The deal is seen by Norsk Hydro as a long term play on the aluminum market, with an impact that will be felt for 100 years.
* Mining stocks are experiencing downward pressure this morning, as the Australian government announced a 40% tax on industry gains for the purpose of funding its beleaguered medical system. BHP and Rio Tinto have been some of the hardest hit by the announcement.
* As more details of the EU-IMF support measures for Greece come to light, it has been revealed that Greek sovereign debt will be accepted as full collateral for loans, taking the stress off both the sovereign and banks holding Greek debt.
* Private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Silverlake Partners are set to announce the buyout of Interactive Data Corp, or IDC, from its parent company Pearson. The deal is valued at $3.1 billion and would see Pearson give up its 61% stake in the firm.
* Goldman Sachs is planning on changing the way it conducts business with institutional clients in an effort to preemptively deal with the SEC's charges against the firm. New rules would require Goldman to confirm with clients their understanding of the risks involved in their purchases.
* It has emerged that BP, the company at the center of the Louisiana oil spill storm, will only be on the line for $75 million of any lawsuits involved with the spill. This is because the U.S. government set up a fund to pay out in the event of such a spill in the 1980s, protecting corporations. See amazing pictures of the explosion here >
* The cost of cleanup for the BP (BP) oil spill is now being estimated at $14 billion. Both BP and the other investor in the well, Anadarko Petroleum, have seen their share prices drop as a result of the rising costs and negative headlines.
* The manhunt for the would be Times Square bomber continues with some security footage pointing towards a single suspect in the case. The bomb, which failed to detonate Saturday evening due to faulty construction, has been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
* Bonus: Jessica Simpson attended this weekend's White House Correspondent's dinner, and made hints she might have a new boyfriend. No word yet in whether or not another MTV series is on the way featuring their exploits.
Read more: Clusterstock
Sunday, May 2, 2010
PR2.0: Engage: A Video Introduction
Engage helps businesses and brands build, cultivate, and measure success in the new web and it is now available online and hopefully in a book store near you.
Please consider reading the book and if you find it helpful, please also help me share it with those who are looking to learn about social media and how it can help them in their work.
This book and all that’s in it, was written with passion and dedication over the last year to address the issues that have now become paramount to the success of social media within businesses and industries of all shapes and sizes. I wrote this book for you…and it would mean everything to me, if you could join me in leading a new, more meaningful era of socialized media and engagement.
Please visit a book store near your or order now from (click on your favorite outlet):PR2.0
Darren Herman: If we could all set the bar like Apple
If you follow the tech space or watch the evening news, you will have heard/read that Apple is charging initial iPad advertisers millions of dollars to be the first marketers on their devices as part of the iAd product rollout.
Journalists (inclusive of bloggers) initially highlighted the price tag in most of their rants as very high. Yes, it is high (keep out the riff raff) but what is of importance here is nor the price rag but something very different.
Apple is all about controlling the experience for the end user. This sometimes doesn’t make them friends amongst the developer community but ultimately satisfies consumers (just look at their stock price). Apples foray into advertising has started with the Quattro acquisition and they are methodically working towards rolling out an experience for their users that creates a mutually beneficially relationship between Madison Ave and consumers.
What is most important to me about this rollout is that apple can set the bar so damn high for the initial advertisers and get away with it. There are virtually no other brands out in the world that can set this bar: upfront millions of dollars, Apple designs/develops ads (with minimum agency interaction), and no guarantee of launch date. When I had my in-game advertising company and we were doing huge integrations into top titles from the likes of EA and Activision, if we demanded these types of terms, Madison Ave would have laughed at us.
Apple has all the leverage in the world here. Creative departments and agencies have grown up on Macs, Apples stock is soaring, and Steve Jobs is the man Madison Ave wants to be; all of this works in the favor of Apple’s roll out for iAd.
The iAd roll out needs to be and will be treated like the guest list and dress code of the latest club opening in Downtown LA. Partners will be handpicked with stringent rules in order to set the bar for future marketing partners. Who and how Apple lets people in will influence the future success of the program.
Oh by the way: there are other ways to advertise on “iPad content” without having to pay these huge initial fees. While they aren’t iAd certified, they may deliver a similar or even beyond experience:
1. Sponsor an iPad app
2. Purchase ads on websites that have high viewership by iPad readers
3. Create your own iPad app
4. Buy standardized ads within apps
Darren Herman
Journalists (inclusive of bloggers) initially highlighted the price tag in most of their rants as very high. Yes, it is high (keep out the riff raff) but what is of importance here is nor the price rag but something very different.
Apple is all about controlling the experience for the end user. This sometimes doesn’t make them friends amongst the developer community but ultimately satisfies consumers (just look at their stock price). Apples foray into advertising has started with the Quattro acquisition and they are methodically working towards rolling out an experience for their users that creates a mutually beneficially relationship between Madison Ave and consumers.
What is most important to me about this rollout is that apple can set the bar so damn high for the initial advertisers and get away with it. There are virtually no other brands out in the world that can set this bar: upfront millions of dollars, Apple designs/develops ads (with minimum agency interaction), and no guarantee of launch date. When I had my in-game advertising company and we were doing huge integrations into top titles from the likes of EA and Activision, if we demanded these types of terms, Madison Ave would have laughed at us.
Apple has all the leverage in the world here. Creative departments and agencies have grown up on Macs, Apples stock is soaring, and Steve Jobs is the man Madison Ave wants to be; all of this works in the favor of Apple’s roll out for iAd.
The iAd roll out needs to be and will be treated like the guest list and dress code of the latest club opening in Downtown LA. Partners will be handpicked with stringent rules in order to set the bar for future marketing partners. Who and how Apple lets people in will influence the future success of the program.
Oh by the way: there are other ways to advertise on “iPad content” without having to pay these huge initial fees. While they aren’t iAd certified, they may deliver a similar or even beyond experience:
1. Sponsor an iPad app
2. Purchase ads on websites that have high viewership by iPad readers
3. Create your own iPad app
4. Buy standardized ads within apps
Darren Herman
Saturday, May 1, 2010
SPECIAL EDITION: 10 Things You Need To Know That Are Going On This Weekend
Here's what you need to be paying attention to this May Day.
The Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) annual shareholders meeting is happening right now. Already the company has reported monster Q1 profits, and both Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have taken turns defending Goldman Sachs (GS), which is one of their portfolio companies.
Obama is flying to the Gulf Coast on Sunday morning to inspect the damage and response to the Deepwater Horizon oil crisis. The sense right now is that we're looking at an environmental tragedy on the scale of Exxon Valdez, maybe worse, since there's no short-term prospect of plugging the massive leak in the ground that's spewing oil. Current estimates suggest BP (BP) is on the hook for at least $3 billion.
Greece/IMF/EU talks continue. According to Greek government officials, some kind of announcement may be made today. The market is hoping to hear something that's orders of magnitude stronger than any bailout announcement we've gotten so far, or otherwise the feeling will be that it can and will fall through again.
Of course, there are fresh violent, anti-austerity protests going on today in Athens. The fact that it's May Day, a day for celebrating anti-capitalism only adds to the tension.
New reports suggest the criminal probe into Goldman Sachs is not just a perfunctory follow-on to the SEC charges, but rather a truly separate thing that's wider than Abacus, and that started before the SEC's investigation. HUGE.
The New York-based Economic Cycle Research Institute says the economy is already beginning to slow.
With just five days before the election, UK's The Guardian has endorsed the Liberal Democrats, the country's biggest third party. Its leader, Nick Clegg, has surged thanks to a string of strong debate performances, Gordon Brown's disastrous campaigning, and a lingering sense of unease with the conservatives.
Korea has confirmed that a torpedo sank the Cheonan, though it still won't blame North Korea directly.
The Volcker Rule -- which would mark a partial return to the Glass-Steagall era -- is gathering steam, says WSJ.
And we're just putting it out there, because it's out there, but the National Enquirer is running an Obama sex scandal story that's really short of details, but basically claims that anti-Obama folks are offering $1 million for a videotape and story that would confirm the President had an affair with ex-aide Vera Baker at some point in the last six years. It could be 100% nonsense, but remember they OWNED the John Edwards story.
Clusterstock
The Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) annual shareholders meeting is happening right now. Already the company has reported monster Q1 profits, and both Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have taken turns defending Goldman Sachs (GS), which is one of their portfolio companies.
Obama is flying to the Gulf Coast on Sunday morning to inspect the damage and response to the Deepwater Horizon oil crisis. The sense right now is that we're looking at an environmental tragedy on the scale of Exxon Valdez, maybe worse, since there's no short-term prospect of plugging the massive leak in the ground that's spewing oil. Current estimates suggest BP (BP) is on the hook for at least $3 billion.
Greece/IMF/EU talks continue. According to Greek government officials, some kind of announcement may be made today. The market is hoping to hear something that's orders of magnitude stronger than any bailout announcement we've gotten so far, or otherwise the feeling will be that it can and will fall through again.
Of course, there are fresh violent, anti-austerity protests going on today in Athens. The fact that it's May Day, a day for celebrating anti-capitalism only adds to the tension.
New reports suggest the criminal probe into Goldman Sachs is not just a perfunctory follow-on to the SEC charges, but rather a truly separate thing that's wider than Abacus, and that started before the SEC's investigation. HUGE.
The New York-based Economic Cycle Research Institute says the economy is already beginning to slow.
With just five days before the election, UK's The Guardian has endorsed the Liberal Democrats, the country's biggest third party. Its leader, Nick Clegg, has surged thanks to a string of strong debate performances, Gordon Brown's disastrous campaigning, and a lingering sense of unease with the conservatives.
Korea has confirmed that a torpedo sank the Cheonan, though it still won't blame North Korea directly.
The Volcker Rule -- which would mark a partial return to the Glass-Steagall era -- is gathering steam, says WSJ.
And we're just putting it out there, because it's out there, but the National Enquirer is running an Obama sex scandal story that's really short of details, but basically claims that anti-Obama folks are offering $1 million for a videotape and story that would confirm the President had an affair with ex-aide Vera Baker at some point in the last six years. It could be 100% nonsense, but remember they OWNED the John Edwards story.
Clusterstock
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
