Articles

  • Posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - 9:10am

    from SlateThe ability to blast messages to large numbers of people at very little cost has been a boon to marketers, although it is frequently inefficient and always annoying. The overwhelming majority of customers brush off the pitches, reminders, come-ons, exhortations—Subscribe to our magazine! Stop Nancy Pelosi! Buy gold!—that arrive via e-mail and text message.

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  • New AIG CEO Ready to Walk


    Posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - 3:40am

    Has the AIG (AIG) CEO Robert Benmosche, just three months into the job, had enough?

    • Bernhard Warner is editorial director of Social Media Influence.
    • Matthew Yeomans runs Custom Communication

  • Wonk Watch 11.10.09

    Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 5:03pm

    Barry Ritholtz picks up on a keen insight from Floyd Norris, who points out how last week’s unemployment figures were misleading. The official report said that unemployment had risen to 10.2 percent. Norris reports that due to seasonal adjustment, the figures were skewed and that the actual unemployment rate sits at 9.5 percent. Norris also found that the number of jobs grew by 80,000.

    • Matthew McKnight is an intern at The Big Money.

  • Amusements: Used Car Bake Sale


    Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 4:49pm

    Used Car Bake SaleGo to lunch, spot an example of the innovative used-car economy in action. This is from a used-car lot in northeast Los Angeles. I think ”L” stands for “large.” Regardless, they have a 1980 Alfa Romeo on the lot, and getting a free cupcake to drive that strikes me as going well past the payoff for your average bake sale.

    • Matthew DeBord has written about the auto industry for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, and Car Design News.

  • Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 4:04pm

    Remember when we all were going to drown in a sea of offers for male enhancement pills and messages from mysterious bureaucrats with tales of millions hidden in Swiss bank accounts? “Holy mackerel, the Internet is falling!” the cry went out, and the annoyance of junk e-mail messages was built up into an international scourge, costing untold billions in lost time spent hitting the delete key.

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  • Even Microsoft’s Ad Agency Can’t Get People To Advertise Through Microsoft


    Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 3:04pm

    The latest social media survey is making the blogosphere rounds this week. This one comes from RazorFish, Microsoft’s former digital ad agency, which the company sold to Publicis Groupe earlier this year.

  • AdMob Gets a Payday


    Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 2:15pm

    We know you're waiting for the Google's (GOOG) latest stab at resolving the Book Search lawsuit, but it's been postponed till Friday. Meanwhile, here's another big headline for ya: Google has just bought AdMob, the company that specializes in bringing advertising to your mobile Internet device. The price tag? A breathtaking $750 million in Google stock.

    • Chris Thompson is a writer living in Brooklyn.

  • Cash for Clunkers Proves Truck Love


    Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 1:21pm

    Felix Salmon doesn’t like Cash for Clunkers. I think it saved as the U.S. economy. Regardless of who you believe, C4C did prove that American truck owners, given a decent incentive, will trade in their old truck for ... a new truck.

    • Matthew DeBord has written about the auto industry for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, and Car Design News.

  • How To Sell a Tampon


    Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 12:39pm

    It's not easy to market feminine care products. How do advertisers push these items without making everyone uncomfortable?

     

    • Susan Kim is a playwright, TV writer and upcoming graphic novelist. She wrote Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation, with author and graphic designer Elissa Stein.

  • Cadbury Swaps Bunnies for Dogs

    Posted Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 12:32pm
    YouTube screen grab.

    Never mind a hostile takeover bid by Kraft (KFT), Cadbury’s (CBY) creative team is busy on its latest installment of the "Glass-and-a-Half Full" campaign. Previously, we saw a gorilla on drums and a wacky eyebrow dance. Can dogs at play prove to be its next YouTube hit, and maybe even keep the M&A lawyers at bay?

    Title: Cadbury Schwepps—Dogs in Cars

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    • Bernhard Warner is editorial director of Social Media Influence.
    • Matthew Yeomans runs Custom Communication
    YouTube screen grab.