Entries for month: December 2011
Practical planning in times of economic crisis
22 December 2011 · By Herman Verwimp
Too much optimism can kill.
In times of economic crisis, your marketing and sales departments need several competencies: speed, flexibility, realism and persistence.
What we learned from earlier crises is that those companies that react fast and creatively can best control the damage. Those who react (even a bit) too slowly will lose money and market share. Most media company boards will only accept a budget that is better than last year's. They call it, most years, a budget with “ambition.” Well, this year it's time to change that behavior.
Who on earth is able to make a budget for the whole year 2012? Not one government, not one company, and surely not a company that is dependent on income from advertising. I would call a budget with growth in income next year a “lie,” a “dream,” or a “bad piece of work.” For those who are in an income-growth position, I invite you to speak at the next INMA conferences, and to speak with the INMA staff for an in-depth interview. I'm afraid we will only meet a handful of people.
...[more]How can newspapers re-capture advertising share?
16 December 2011 · By Scott Stines
Changes in consumer news consumption already have led to significant changes in how and where advertisers invest their marketing budgets.
Traditional media’s share of ad spending continues to decline as advertisers shift their budgets to more efficient media channels. By 2016, interactive marketing (social media, e-mail marketing, display ads, mobile marketing, and search marketing) is projected to account for 35% of total ad spending in the United States, or roughly the amount advertisers will spend on TV advertising this year (Forrester Research, U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2011 to 2016).
How can newspapers re-capture advertising share and compete for interactive marketing budgets? What are the keys to future success?
...[more]Tasteline.com: stretching your brand and becoming more relevant to your customers
06 December 2011 · By Hilde Torvanger
For more than 10 years Tasteline.com has helped the Swedish people with recipes and inspiration when it comes to food and food experiences. Their vision has been to be the complete food site for inspiration for food, beverages and health. “Christmas delights, how to make your own dumplings, the menu of the week, how to make a tasteful dinner in 15 minutes” et cetera are all typical content of the Web site.
Tasteline.com is a strong brand in Sweden and they realised that there was a great potential for brand extensions into related businesses. The retail food industry in Sweden has yearly revenue of approximately SEK 300 billion, and is definitely the biggest category. At the same time, e-commerce was growing, and food had by far the fastest growth. Obviously there was a promising opportunity there.
They chose to develop and launch a home delivery service of food called “Tasteline Matkasse.” This means Tasteline Food Box. The food box consists of food and recipes for five dinners for four people. It is a subscription offer, and the food box is delivered every second week.
By doing this they not only connected even better with the consumer and hence could strengthen the brand, but they also took control of a larger part of the value chain. And they could fulfill their vision in a broader perspective.
...[more]
