We have done studies on both how to go to market better in a recession and how to communicate and motivate Mom. "The Seven Rules Of Superior Recession Proof Design" and "Seven Keys To Mom's Heart" are two of our white papers on the subject.

In those studies we found the ways to build loyalty and preference beyond a simple lowest price strategy include;
1) Focusing on branded connections at the point-of-purchase to overcome the barriers to purchase,
2) Empathizing with consumers' need to cut back,
3) Providing assistance in helping them make better decisions
4) Helping Moms make their job fun and easier and
5) Simplifying shopping experiences with solution based partners

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I don't understand the harsh words toward Mr. Sorrell in this comments section. He's still making a substantial profit that is better than most companies in the world.

Furthermore, whether through accident or not, his staffing "reduction was insufficient as revenues fell faster than budgeted," did save a few thousand jobs at least in the short term, giving peers more time to figure their financial livelihood out.

The harsh reality in this storm does come with silver digital lining.

We've conducted extensive research we're releasing in a few weeks entitled "XL Marketing Trends." The Top 10 Trends changing the marketing landscape now and over the next 10 years.

Some highlights concluded from our study and confirmed independently by WPP's most recent earnings and more importantly by Veronis Suhler Stevenson's (VSS) US Communications Industry Forecast, finds for 2009, US advertising overall will decline by 7.6 percent, with a 1 percent decline to follow in 2010 and expected growth in 2011 - 2013.

The segments forecasted to decline most rapidly in 2009, newspapers (down 18.7 percent, to $35.5 billion); consumer magazines (down 14.8 percent, to $11 billion); radio (down 11.7 percent, to $15.8 billion); and broadcast television (down 10.1 percent, to $43.0 billion).

The few sectors to increase their advertising dollars this year, include mobile (up 18.1 percent, to $1.3 billion) and the Internet (up 9.2 percent, to $23.8 billion).

The media industry is actually expected to be the third-fastest-growing economic sector over the next five years, after mining and construction. Almost none of that growth is forecast to come from traditional media.

Instead, it will be drawn from areas like Internet and mobile devices, branded entertainment and word of mouth marketing and public relations.

Paid interactive television gaming and advertising, mobile advertising and content tied to broadcast television, Internet and mobile home video downloads, mobile advertising and texting, e-mail and in-game advertisements will be the front runners within those growth segments.

2008 was the first time in the history of modern electronic communication consumers spent more time with media they paid for, like books, cable television, online subscription services than with ad-supported media, like newspapers and magazines.

What all this means is, every marketer right now needs to develop three important strategies;
1) Mobile
2) Social Networking and a
3) Digital Video Strategy
(for phones and computers).

This maybe the first and last time you read this in Ad Age but, "give Martin Sorrell a break."

And to fend off the negative comments toward me, no I don't work for him and no, I'm not sucking up. I just call it like it like I see it.

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Four Moose art directors will be showing their work at tomorrow’s Art Crank event, a poster party for bike people. Having no boundaries gets their gears turning and the results are freakin’ sweet. www.artcrankpostershow.com

 Matt Dale!

 

 Ryan Doggendorf!

Jake Houvenagle!





Rob Brooks!

     

The NFL has a long history of consistently delivering a coveted male audience and being rewarded handsomely for doing so.

According to Forbes, The NFL in totality is worth $33.3B, up from $11.6B 10 years ago.
19 NFL teams are valued at over $1B. The New York Yankees are the only MLB team worth more than $1B. The most valuable NBA team, the New York Knicks is valued at $613M.

Major League Baseball's 30 clubs are worth $14.1B all in, up from $6.6B 10 years ago. The NBA teams are worth $11.4 billion from $5.3 billion, and the NHL, $6.6B from $3.6B.

Six of Forbes Top 10 Most Valuable Sports Franchises in the world are NFL teams.
1. Manchester United $1.8B
2. Dallas Cowboys $1.6
3. Washington Redskins $1.5
4. New England Patriots $1.32
5. New York Yankees $1.3
6. Real Madrid $1.29
7. Arsenal $1.2
8. New York Giants $1.18
9. New York Jets $1.17
10. Houston Texans $1.17

The NFL achieved this position by being relentless in understanding and delivering it's large core audience.

MLB wouldn't allow Michael Vick on the field because MLB is "America's past time" and an "affordable family sport" that generates the majority of its revenue from licensing and ticket sales. That's why so many deserving players, who have done what most would deem lesser offenses than Michael Vick and many other Hall Of Fame NFL players, are purposely being kept out of the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

Baseball revenues include $670M in TV rights, licensing $3.3B, $505M in corporate sponsorships, 79.6M fans in stands that net out to over $2B in ticket and stadium sales.

The NFL nets well over $4B in broadcast rights, $3B in licensing, $785M in sponsorships, over 17.6M fans that net out over $1B in stadium sales, and still more revenue is earned through other special content and individual team deals.

According to Michael Vick's federal indictment, when dogs at his Bad Newz Kennels lost a fight, or didn't perform, they were regularly killed. Methods included electrocution, drowning and in one instance "slamming" the dog onto a concrete floor.

Vick is a good fit for a league dedicated to beating-itself every year by rolling with the punches and pulling out all the stops.

In an odd way, he is now in a similar position as his canine victims. He has to perform every time. If he fails early on, there won't be room for him in the NFL. You can also be certain that the players across the line from him are motivated to take him down.

"Vick Victorious!" or "Vick Slammed Down"? Either way, avid fans of the sport will be watching, betting and evaluating him based on his physical performance.

The NFL will review at the end of the season, determine which moves were good and which were bad as they plot their next playbook for global domination in the sports world.

Vick's READ FULL ARTICLE

I wish Sony well. I think their heart is in the right place. They have stumbled a few times in social networking.

One instance they were outed for trying to portray consumer advocacy that was fabricated, which called attention to an insurmountable issue, their new game console wasn't upgraded enough to justify the cost.

Thus there was pent up backlash from avid fans who had hoped for so much more.
The fake social networking ploy became the poster child that epitomized all that was wrong with Sony's new game platform that so underwhelmed from a purest perspective, they had to hire fake enthusiasts to get the word out.

Now, at every turn in social networking, Sony chooses the path most followed in hopes of attracting those who typically choose the path less followed.

It's safe to find a proven blogger audience and be 100% transparent in your communication to them. They do a good job of getting the word out. But there is a currency of "wow" that doesn't translate well with this approach.

That's because it is a watered down version of the contrived fake approach, the only real difference is the degree of transparency.

Sony should dip their toe back in the water and expand their social networking strategy to include more organic initiatives to address the blogosphere. Providing real informational tools for bloggers to discover and share on their own without any direct relationship with Sony, will bring back a little "wow" factor and wonder back to Sony.

But, Sony cannot afford to take the risk of being labeled contrived once again. They also cannot control the messages of unpaid bloggers who could post negative thoughts and opinions about them for any random reason like reviewers in magazines and newspapers often do.

But if Sony's products are exceptional and they truly have an advantages that opinion leaders can get excited about, then an organic approach will deliver a significantly higher engagement and pass along value.

We have a white paper on the subject and a new study coming out in a few weeks that drills down on the specifics of monitoring and addressing social network conversations.

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School's started, and the dust has barely settled in the 'choir loft' area of the building where we keep our interns. This year's group was one of the most vibrant we've had, and we're missing them already. So much so that we put together this video tribute to the Intern Olympics. One of our most cherished traditions at Moosylvania, the competition is complete with crazy mascot costumes, insider trivia and speedwalking.

2009 Intern Olympics Blog Post from Randy Lutz on Vimeo.

 

Following a valiant effort by all participants, Tyler Davis, an Account Service intern, emerged victorious – making this the second straight win for an intern in the grapes getup.

It's not the total Tweets that count. It's the macro message; "Harry Potter Rocks!" or "I hate movie X."
Why? Because either could become a top topic trend. When that happens, it appears as a "most discussed topic" and people click on to see what the fuss is about.

Don't believe me? Ask P. Diddy.
For a few weeks earlier this year there was a negative Tweet campaign against him, because some people felt he was over Tweeting and promoting himself. A few folks even created Twitter personas with names that reflected their disdain for his Twitter practices.

GI Joe had mixed Tweets. A lot of, "I'm excited to see it," met with, "I just saw it and it sucked!" all on Friday morning of the opening weekend.

The film opened with a $54 million domestic box office weekend, well below the $70 million studio forecast. I made note in Ad Age commentary on opening day, things didn't look so good on Twitter for GI Joe.

The film reportedly cost $175 million to produce and 10's of millions more to promote.
It still stands a chance to make money both domestically and internationally. But the studio is not making the money they had anticipated domestically. All that said, here's where things get a little scary for Hollywood with Twitter, Facebook and social networking in general.

Over 75% of people Tweet from their phone vs. computer. So instant reviews can take place even before walking out of a theater.

If there are enough negative Tweets to make the top 10 topic list, all of sudden, you've got a message that people can read as late as while they're buying their movie tickets, even early on opening day.

We found in a special study we're releasing in a few weeks titled XL Marketing Trends, the most popular (users favorite, not necessarily most used) phone App in use is Facebook.People who use Twitter also use Facebook. Twitter is just easier for quick messages. But you have to assume, if they are Twitting about a movie, they or some of the people they are Tweeting, are also making posts on Facebook, which has almost six times the users as Twitter.Once you have a consistent message across both footprints, you have to assume, especially with the Gen Y audience, you're going to feel the negative or positive effects.

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For our inaugural 'as seen by Moose' post, we're featuring one of our favorite Moosylvanians, Astro. He regularly comes to the Embassy with Ann (an Account Director), as do his furry friends Hazel, George, Mia, Flo and other playful favorites. They're not quite up to par on Photoshop (yet) but they do wonders in helping soften the stress of the ever-impending deadline.

 

Photo by Mike Cassimatis (an Art Director).

On the final day of our 2009 internship program, we brought together the leaders of our agency to offer candid advice to our fledgling marketers, as we send them out into the world.

Gus, our president, encouraged them to be proactive 'gunners', because natural talent will only get you so far. Our VP of Creative, Lynn, shocked them with stories of a time without computers, telling them to stay ahead of the technological and cultural curves.

Then Mike, a seasoned veteran of the industry and a CD, gave his advice in a less expected way...

 

Words Of Wisdom from eric flinn on Vimeo.

(After pizza paired with serious advice, we let loose with our beloved tradition of Intern Olympics – rest assured those photos are still to come.)

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