Top links of the month | October 2008 (Crisis impact, Online Advertising + Media + Viral & WOM + Brand monitoring + Social media)

During the time I spent on browsing during the last month, I came on a lot of very interesting articles and insights. I am happy to share them with you in this post. I hope you will have as much fun and interest as I had at reading them ;)

The impact of the crisis on advertising

• Carat Revises Global Ad Spend Forecasts



• Q2 Advertising expenditures fell 3.7% compared to last year, the largest quarterly decline since 2001 according to TNS



• Marketing Spending Priorities Shift : Digital looking good & Traditional may take a hit  & on Adage



• But content blogs such as the ones of Gawker Media are still already adapting to a drop of revenues and reduce their costs



• PepsiCo try to adopt a new approach with advertising and Super Bowl. The brand launch a contest with $1 Million Prize for the consumers' commercial that will generate the most buzz according to Anheuser-Busch's Top Ranking



• Some advertising professionals are protesting against the heavy cost and uselessness of free call of offer (in French)



• Adage try to put a price on Digital Production.  Costs Are Rising, but Without a Method of Standardization, How Does the Industry Determine Pay?



• Some hints : Marketers’ Top 10 Wish List for Agencies of the Future



• Maybe is salvation coming from emerging markets?



• TNS just published “The China Source Book”

Online advertising, ad banners and digital marketing

• Microsoft multiply studies to prove that ad banners are efficient (when Nielsen Online recorded a 6 % drop of display investments on Q1-Q2 2008 vs Q1-Q22007)



• Some disagree : The X Factor: Banners and the death of advertising



• 5 ad operations disasters



• 7 experts tackle online marketing myths



• How much marketing is digital? A lot—unless marketers are overestimating



• Maybe, digital marketing needs a reboot?



• At least, digital ROI surpasses that of TV according Kraft who created a shocking announcement with a study with Kellogg Special K showing they got more results only using Word of Mouth and digital marketing versus TV



• Advergaming : Advertisers have yet to unlock the power of play : "But videogames don't just project images; they simulate experiences. For the first time since the quaint sponsor spots of the golden age of television, we have in the videogame a medium that can actually make claims about the features, functions, benefits and drawbacks of products and services. Or of public policies and causes, for that matter."



• The critics need a reboot. The internet hasn't led us into a new dark age.

Social media, PR, blogs, seeding & Influential Marketing

• Steve Rubel on how blogs are changing the face of PR. Steve explains that brands should stop focusing on specific new technology (Twitter, Facebook,…) when the challenge is about defining an holistic strategy with social media



• For some the whole PR Industry is “Not Necessary Anymore”



• Even agencies do not seem to get it totally right and are accused to be "inconsistent" in social media



• According to Imediaconnection, the death of analog will change the industry



• Agencies should start to tackle social media



• For a panorama on how firms are already adopting social media, check this



• Edelman is already thinking about solutions and has just published an interesting document about the trends that will help define the future of PR and marketing



• And Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra try to explain how brands can win in the blogosphere by planning their full strategy before jumping in



• GM Blog Manager Shares Top 10 Blog Mistakes & How to Avoid Them



• 20 free eBooks on social media thanks to Chris Brogan



• Interpublic, SocialVibe go fishing for brand evangelists & the socialvibbe site



• Even lawyers wants to bring blogging under control



• How-To: Managing a Blog Crisis Like a Pro : http://www.marketingvox.com/how-to-managing-a-blog-crisis-like-a-pro-040872/?camp=newsletter&src=mv&type=textlink



• How to Talk to a Blogger. Or, how Not to talk to a Blogger



• How To: Pitch Bloggers



• MyNameIsKate.ca Blog Policy



• According to this study, France is still the 1st country in terms of blogs/web users



• But this article (in french) explain that it is still impossible to rank and quantify the worldwide blogosphere and that you can use figures to show one thing and its contrary



• This one is trying to classifying the unclassifiable: are bloggers media?



• Lots of useful graphs about 2.0



• Facebook avails public listings to Search Engines

Media

• News Flash From the Cover of Esquire: Paper Magazines Can Be High Tech, Too



• NBC Universal, Google to Work Together on Ad Sales. Partners will adapt Technology for Local Ads, Gather Data on TV Viewers and Tv Ad networks are struggling & experimenting to find a new business model

Word of mouth, UGC buzz & viral marketing

• Procter & Gamble is giving some tips on winning its business and on how important digital and word of mouth marketing are becoming



• P&G has just used bloggers moms for Unconventional Product Launch for Crest Weekly : http://adage.com/article?article_id=130476



• Women seems to be a key WOM spreader : ‘Gamma Women’ 55 Million Strong, to Define New Marketing Model : http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/gamma-women-55-million-strong-to-define-new-marketing-model-5925/?camp=newsletter&src=mc&type=textlink



• We are proud to launch the 2nd edition of the Viral Film Festival in Paris on the 21st of October : www.viralfilmfestival.com. Germany seems to prepare a similar event with the Viral Video Award : http://www.viralvideoaward.com



• Even car dealers are learning the art of viral video and 25% of them in the USA are now using the tactic for its low cost and fast, easy measurability



• YouTube is launching a new feature to measure audience “attention” when looking at YouTube videos



• UGC : 4 easy steps for a rewarding video contest



• Why social media demands killer creative (I can only agree ;) )



• 'Meatnormous' Master Bogusky Pens Diet Book. Creative Behind BK, Domino's Campaigns Now Urges Restraint & on Creativity Online



• Meet Twiller: An Online serial drama for Twitter Users



• Paramount's new-style movie marketing : http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/20623.asp



• Forward to a friend, soon to be forbidden in Belgium? http://www.journaldunet.com/ebusiness/le-net/actualite/marketing-viral-vers-une-interdiction-de-l-envoi-a-un-ami-en-belgique.shtml



• Things are not what they stream. Have corporate-sponsored Internet pranks gone too far?

Buzz & Brand Monitoring

• The End of Consumer Surveys? P&G, Unilever Join ARF in Effort to move from paneling to buzz, blog & social media monitoring. “(…) a shift in paradigms, and most likely budgets, away from surveys and toward mining insights from blogs, social networks, consumer comments to websites and more”, said Joel Rubinson, chief research officer of the ARF. The initiative grew out of a July meeting on how better to listen to and track opinions consumers already are sharing spontaneously, Mr. Rubinson said. "Within about an hour, this session really became transformational," he said. "Researchers were starting to sound like planners."



• Monitoring measuring social media



• Les marques pharmaceutiques en danger sur le Web. MarkMonitor publie son dernier Brandjacking Index sur l'industrie pharmaceutique. Ce dernier révèle que les brandjackers s’attaquent de plus en plus aux marques réputées. « Notre rapport annuel met le doigt sur la gravité de la situation : le nombre de consommateurs cherchant à faire des économies en achetant des produits pharmaceutiques sur le Web est en hausse constante, tandis que les escrocs utilisent la perte de contrôle dans la vente en ligne de médicaments de manière toujours plus offensive », déclare Irfan Salim, p-dg de MarkMonitor. « L’industrie pharmaceutique doit donc s'assurer que ces clients ne mettent pas leur vie en danger en achetant des médicaments contrefaits ou de qualité médiocre. » La communication de ces pharmacies et de ces sites est de plus en plus agressive. MarkMonitor estime que les brandjackers dépensent 26 millions de dollars par an (17,9 millions d’euros) pour de la publicité sur les moteurs de recherche en n’utilisant que six mots-clés.

SEO & SEM

• SEO on a shoestring



• Natural SEM is key according to LightSpeed Research : 93% of webusers look at the natural results VS only 7 % at the sponsored links (French):



• Google Webmaster Blog Answers SEO Questions



• Majestic SEO Proclaimed 'Most Advanced Backlink Analysis Tool'



• Google Releases Free AdWords Editor Guide and a good info pdf about it



• A complete list of tips and tricks for Google fanatics that will make their life easier



• Ciao, the comparison site has been baught. MSFT absorbs Price Comparison Site, vows to change face of search

Recruitment & HR

• Ad Shops Shift Hiring Tactics. The Souring Economy Has Changed Many Aspects of Recruiting, Right Down to the Personalities Big Agencies Strive For



• Employers using Social-Networking sites to research job candidates



• How to Cope With a Scarcity of Interactive Talent. Hire From the Market You Have, Not the Market You Want



• The new salary index in USA

Webdesign

• Cool CSS Fonts



• Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites



• 10 killer websites worth watching

Webjam : other links and insights worth to blog about

• After freedom of speech, EU Commission may declare Broadband 'A Universal Right'



• Phone builder will finally maybe give a chance to QR code by standard initial adoption? Samsung Camera Phones: Pre-Loaded with Barcode-Reading Software



• Google is launching its “mybloglog like”



• 12 Things You Should Never Say to a Client



• Flawed’ Brands Are Key to Success



• Making America Stupid

Feel free to send me your best links ;)