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Coca-Cola Company Drops ”Classic” Label
Coca-Cola, the world’s premier soft-drink company, has announced the removal of its ”Classic” name because of its irrelevance today. The ”Classic” designation was added to the packaging in 1985, to distinguish the original formula from a sweeter, unpopular new version of Coke. The marketing tactic of introducing a new coke to replace the ”Classic” one is touted by many as one of the biggest blunders in marketing history. The dropping of the now extraneous logo brings to an end the infamous episode, when the company was openly boycotted in protest of the new drink, and company employees had to work overtime on its complaints hotline. According to a company spokesman, Coca-Cola decided to make the change as it launches a new global marketing campaign called ”Open Happiness.”
Smartphones Boost Mobile Gaming, Says Report
According to a report from comScore, the rapid growth in smartphone adoption has propelled the number of gaming subscribers by 17% last year compared to 2007. Gaming downloads nearly tripled in smartphones, while it dropped by 14% in feature phones. iPhone and Blackberry are also quickly rising up the charts trying to pip Motorola Razr in the list of leading smartphones which promote complete gaming experience. The iPhone is reported to have accounted for 14% of mobile game downloads; 32.4% of iPhone users have downloaded a game, compared with a market average of 3.8%, last year. Analysts believe that the reason for iPhone’s success in the gaming arena is because of the tight integration of the App Store, which makes downloading and playing games easier than on alternative platforms. Successful game developers Electronic Arts (EA), Sega, and LucasArts are hoping to capitalize on this success in the market too.
Fiat CMO Resigns ”to Pursue New Opportunities”
Luca De Meo, Chief Marketing Officer of Fiat Group and CEO of Alfa Romeo and Abarth, unexpectedly resigned from his positions, reports confirm. No official comments were offered by the company as to reasons of his departure, but unnamed sources said that he left to ”pursue other opportunities.” Meo joined Fiat Group in 2002, and was promoted to Head of Marketing at Lancia and named as CEO of Alfa Romeo in quick succession. Analysts term the departure of Meo as a bad sign for the company which is battling decreasing sales and global recession. Meo, 41, was the youngest executive and was known as one of the rising stars in the company. He was appointed as CEO of Alfa Romeo to revive the dying sales of the premium sports car brand in the market.
PC Industry’s Dominant Players Axe Jobs Due to Declining Sales
Many big shot companies
of the PC industry had to pare their workforces in response to weakening sales. Microsoft Corp. announced that it is cutting 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months including 1,400 job cuts effective immediately. The company said that it would lay off about 5% of its work force as a result of the company’s 11% decline in profit for the second quarter. The job cuts are reported to be in the areas of R&D, HR, marketing, sales, finance, legal, and IT and will be one of the first significant cuts in Microsoft’s 34-year history. Additionally, Intel announced that it would lay off 5,000 to 6,000 workers and close down plant operations at some places, due to dismal fourth quarter earnings. Intel reported a 23% drop in revenue and a 90% fall in net income in the last quarter. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also a large supplier of PC chips reported a 33% decline in fourth-quarter revenue posting a $1.42 billion loss. AMD said that it would reduce its work force by close to 9% to combat the downturn more effectively.
Coke, Pepsi Restart Cola Wars with New Campaigns
Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc, both rival cola companies are trying on new marketing strategies
to stem the tide of sales decline. Coke‘s global marketing campaign in which its flagship cola logo and other logos were overhauled, comes close on the heels of a similar marketing strategy proposed by PepsiCo recently. Also, Coca-Cola has unveiled a new tagline, “Open Happiness” and is marketing it aggressively. Coca-Cola will also hit other high-profile advertising events like the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards for the promotion. Coke’s launch comes only weeks after Pepsi introduced an effort tagged ”Refresh Everything.” As part of its campaign, Pepsi made its presence felt at Obama’s inauguration, with headlines featuring ”Yes you can” and a redesigned logo similar to Obama’s presidential campaign logo. Analysts do not regard the campaigns to be co-incidental but attribute them as a marketing antidote to the overall decline in sales of carbonated soft drinks.
One-Third Americans Decline to Use Broadband Because of High Costs
According to a recent study by Pew Internet & American Life Project, more than one-third of Americans were cited as saying that they wouldn’t use broadband Internet because of the monthly expenses incurred. The report which included two surveys of 4,254 people illustrates that Obama’s goal of bringing broadband and internet facilities to rural areas might face a potential holdup. About 57% of the nation uses broadband services, even though 91% of homes have access to it. Computer access and the difficulty of using the technology are also cited to as additional barriers to widespread broadband use, according to the report. President Obama has made broadband deployment an important catalyst to create 3 million jobs and invigorate the economy. Building of more broadband networks is also a part of his initiative to “build a 21st century economy.” Many public interest groups are also pushing for specific proposals that would render reduction in prices and effective training for people about the Internet.
Ford’s Global Marketing Director, Designer, Leave
Ford Motor Company’s Global Marketing Director Anne Belec and Auto Designer Camilo Pardo announced that they were leaving the company. Both were associated with the automaker for about 24 years and did not cite any particular reason for their departures. Anne Belec’s career consisted of a three-year long period as the President and CEO of Volvo, North America. Pardo, best known for his work in designing Ford GT, started his career at Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan studios, before spending time in Ford design studios in Cologne, Germany, and Turin, Italy. According to Advertising Age, Belec wrote in an email to her co-workers that she doesn’t know what the future holds for her but remarked that the future ”possibilities are exciting.” It has been rumored that Ford was forced to work out an early retirement package due to the company’s economic troubles.
Burger King Deactivates Apps after Facebook Intervention
Burger King said last week that pressure from Facebook has caused it to pull off a unique application that gave its members a Whopper for every 10 Facebook friends they dumped. The campaign was named as the ”Whopper Sacrifice” campaign and helped the application users earn a free burger by publicly deleting 10 of their friends on Facebook. According to inside sources, Facebook lost more than 233,000 friendships between its users. A spokesperson revealed that Facebook felt that the Burger King application was working against their company motto of ”connecting people.” They even suggested changes such as not alerting people that they’d been sacrificed and wanted it to be disabled. Burger King terminated the campaign rather than making the changes as it felt there was a ”difference in philosophies.” Burger King was lately offering people the use of what they call an Angry-Gram, which sends people animated angry, screaming Whoppers; but stressed that they are intended to be ”humorous” and not ”to harass.”
Yahoo! Appoints New CEO; Microsoft-Yahoo Deal on the Table Again
Yahoo! Inc. announced Ms. Carol Bartz as the company’s new CEO, who succeeds Co-Founder Jerry Yang. Yahoo! announced that it is paying its new chief executive an annual salary of $1 million and linking her overall pay package tightly to her ability to revive the struggling online portal’s share price. Bartz is to receive equity grants valued at $18 million and an annual bonus worth $4 million. Bartz, former executive chairwoman at Autodesk Inc., took the reins from Jerry Yang, who said in November that he planned to resign. The new employment agreement is for four years, Yahoo! said. Meanwhile, reports confirm that Microsoft’s CEO Steven Ballmer met with Roy Bostock, Yahoo!’s chairman recently. Analysts speculate the meeting to be the starting point of a new deal between the two companies.
Becoming an Internet Marketing Professional
Marketing is the key to the success of any company. Previously, marketing was done in different ways but with the changing times, marketing is done widely through internet. The marketing of products and services on the internet is termed as internet marketing. Today every company, whether it is big or small, has a website on the internet and thus they need to market it online. A business cannot ignore its internet marketing budget if it wants to succeed in such high online competition. There are various aspects of Internet Marketing, and to be in this profession, you must know quite a bit about it.
There are numerous courses which are offered by various universities and institutions in Internet Marketing. A computer graduate or one who has done computer engineering can also become an Internet Marketing professional by understanding the concepts through gathering information from the Internet.
An internet marketing professional must know about the following concepts and how they are executed:
Search Engine Optimization
Link Building Process
Pay Per Click Campaigns
SEO-Friendly Design
SEO-Friendly Content
Social Bookmarking
They need to update their knowledge continuously by reading Search Engine guidelines, Views of Experts, and more.
The job responsibilities of an internet marketing professional are multifold and depend on his designation. At an executive level, an internet marketing person works under the supervision of a senior. He might be asked to perform one or many internet marketing tasks like keyword analysis, search engine submissions, writing content, finding links, and more.
A content writer writes keyword rich content for websites and articles. A web designer’s
work is to create an attractive and appealing website that is in tune with the search engine guidelines. The work of a competitor analyst is to analyze the competitors. A keyword analyst does research on various keywords that are related to similar businesses. A link building professional does link building activities.
A senior professional or team lead is responsible for getting work done by juniors. He analyses the project and makes an SEO plan as to what needs to be done. He also explains to his team members about new SEO concepts and gives training. He is also responsible for coordinating with designers and other SEO professionals for work. Next in the hierarchy is the Internet Marketing Manager. All team leads report to him and he is responsible for the smooth functioning of the department. He is the one who keeps the team motivated and ensures that there is discipline. He also communicates with the clients and coordinates with the team leads. He sets goals for his team and also does appraisals.
Internet marketing professionals have a great scope as they are in great demand. There are thousands of internet marketing firms looking for experienced and qualified professionals. The salary of an SEO professional can range from $25,000 to $95,000 depending on the experience, job roles and designation. One can also offer a freelance internet marketing service or start his own firm by forming a team. There are immense work opportunities if you are good at networking, client communication, and negotiation.
One Stop Money Making Machine: Does it Exist?
So how exactly do you make it happen? First you need to decide whether you want to market your product by yourself or if you want to use the services of a third party. This is a huge factor in deciding how to market your product and hence you need to think about it hard.
An example of a third party would be Clickbank. This is a place where others are given the opportunity to promote your product for you. They create banners and place them on websites so that others will have the opportunity to click on those banners and see your product. If they like it, then they will be able to make a purchase, meaning that you have sold your product, and the person who helped your promote it will also get a share. This could be seen as a one stop money making machine because it is easy to use and you barely have to do any work.
If you would rather promote your product by yourself then it will be necessary to create a website. In doing so you will have to make sure that your site is keyword optimized. Optimizing for keywords will require that you use Google AdWords to find the most used keywords associated with the product you are trying to sell, and then you will need to incorporate those into your website. This will seem very tedious at first, but once you get it set up you should have no problem making sales so long as your product is something that people will want.
There is no one particular ”One stop money making machine”, but with a little bit of work you can start making money with minimal effort. Whether you market the product yourself or you get a third party site to market it for you there should be no issue with cash flow. Just ensure that you go with the option that best suits your wants, needs, and the time you have available.
Just keep in mind that you will have to market to a lot of different people, and some of those people might not like what you have to sell. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t make many sales at first, because all companies had a rough start, excluding Microsoft of course, because when they came out with their product there was nothing else like it, and even though there was that fact, everyone still needed it. Good luck with your marketing campaign! Hopefully you will be able to build up a lucrative business that is very successful.
Top 9 Traits of a Great Marketing Leader
Competition is tough in the marketing world and the marketer is expected to reach or surpass company revenue goals. This is a tough role to play and only the best survive.
Following are the top 9 traits of a great marketing leader:
Plans with direction
take into account the different aspects of the business – finances and human capital; and these plans also capitalize on customers’ needs. Marketer always includes the possible scenarios, formulates back-up strategies, and considers additional cash infusion should there be a need. All these are planned within company capabilities. The goals are specific and the directions are clearly defined.
Has outstanding functional skills
A good leader is able to communicate accurately and effectively. In marketing, objectives and strategies are all directed towards the business survival. Inside the corporate world, a marketer deals with a team or teams, networks with other teams, and must be able to propel the team/s, and should grasp opportunities that help the company seize the buy-in momentum.
Understands company goals
Leader leads towards a direction and must know the many by-ways or routes that lead to that direction. This is not so difficult if the marketer understands the company’s goals, vision, mission, and objectives. Like an architect and an engineer, marketer must have the full grasp of the company’s working framework and the underlying foundation of the business. This understanding is a crucial tool in all leadership roles.
Has a great analytical skill
Marketer works to create a need. Marketer needs to view things from the customers’ viewpoints. With the help of analytical tools marketer must be able to translate statistics into meaningful and useful information. The ability to measure and evaluate qualitative and quantitative values is a marketer’s secret to great marketing strategies.
Understands company machinery
Strategies and techniques are devised to consolidate the knowledge – what customers need, how they want these, and how often will they want these. To achieve a perfect blueprint, marketer must understand how the company works with its limitations, resources, and target timelines. This too requires a working knowledge of how the different units in the system work together.
Dares to be different
Based on his analysis of customer trends and company goals and resources, marketer must be able to devise new strategies. In marketing, a great marketer is able to stay ahead of competition. The same marketing strategies applied all over again will eventually lose the company its customers but a fresh approach can resuscitate the image.
Can inspire people to work
A great marketer like a great leader can inspire people to do their best without being pushy or authoritative. He or she is the promoter for training opportunities for the team and encourages skills enhancement tutorials.
Works with the team
A great marketing leader does not just order people around but shows he/she is part of the team by doing the chores he or she is supposed to do; this further inspires people to contribute more.
Is firm
Rules should be observed and violators should be given consideration with a soft glove. Great leaders take the time to listen and learn from others.
Creative Career Opportunities Expand With Growing Media World
The media world continues to grow at an exciting pace, creating all kinds of exhilarating new careers and job titles for people who love to be creative and want to pursue artistic kinds of endeavors as their livelihood.
Consider all of the different job titles that exist today in media-related fields. There is director of content development, multimedia writer, cable television production assistant, website designer, search engine optimization specialist, graphic designer, animator, search engine marketing specialist, radio producer, director of photography, music video director, television producer, journalist, web content writer, web editor, JavaScript programmer, video game developer, news analyst, broadcast technician, audio technician, cable program director, copywriter, public relations specialist, media buyer, market research executive, publicist, director of new media, telecommunications director, wireless network administrator
, video editor, audio engineer, news analyst, photo imaging specialist, computer games developer, interactive media manager, and literally hundreds of others.
Many of these careers didn’t even exist 50 years ago, and that’s great news for creative types. But creative careers are also incredibly competitive, and it can be difficult to break into the field. Beyond getting a degree in your specialty, how do you make yourself more marketable, especially in a struggling economy?
There are certain things you can do:
1. Create a portfolio of your work.
Depending on the type of media you aspire to create or the area you want to work in, this may or may not be a traditional portfolio. It could be a DVD of a computer game you created or a music video you conceptualized and directed working with a local band. Whatever it is, it shows prospective employers several things: you’ve got raw talent, you’re willing to take the initiative to create a body of work to showcase what you can do, and you’re serious about your career plans.
2. Seek out creative projects, even if they aren’t paying ones initially.
Most writers got started out writing free for non-profits or fledgling magazines. It’s the same with photographers who began by taking photos of their relative’s children and their friends’ weddings. But there is great value in pursuing your creative endeavor even if you don’t get paid at first. By volunteering your services to a local non-profit, you get the experience you need to put on your resume, learn important things about what it really means to work in the field, and can generate samples for your portfolio. It also shows your altruistic side, which is never a bad thing.
3. Study your field of choice with a passion.
If you want to be a music video director, study music videos with a determination to learn all that you can. Pay attention to all of the different elements like lighting, photography, choreography, video, etc.; take notes; watch music videos constantly in all musical genres; read books about the subject; buy DVDs you can watch about the making of a music video; and do anything else you can think of to learn, learn, learn. Jot down your own innovative ideas and make plans for what you could do with a similar project of your own.
Creative opportunities abound and will continue to grow as new media continue to be introduced and existing media evolve. It’s the ”go getters” out there who have the talent, passion, and determination to succeed who will get the dream jobs. One of them could be you, if you get as creative with your desire to get hired as you do with your particular creative genre.
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