Here’s a definite entry in the category of “Things I sure wouldn’t want to have to do in today’s economy.” Imagine having to go to your boss, your board of directors, your business partners or that person staring at you in the bathroom mirror and explain why you spent $3 million to run a TV commercial. Once. For all of 30 seconds. (Oh, and FYI, the cost to actually make the commercial was extra.) That’s the average price a number of companies are paying NBC for a TV commercial on this year’s Super Bowl.
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With mothers controlling 85% to 90% of household spending, brands need to mesh with women’s recession-inspired concerns. Recent surveys indicate that moms have a whole new balancing act brought on by today’s economic concerns — managing basic needs, providing at-home affordable entertainment options and being green. Have you seen marketing materials that address the need to fill the grocery cart, have a little R&R and do it in an eco-friendly fashion? Have you adapted your brand?

As a search marketer, obtaining high paid and natural rankings on Google is obviously a primary goal. According to a recent post on the New York Times, Google handled 72.1% of all search queries in December 2008. Yahoo remained a distant second with 17.8%, MSN Live nabbed 5.6% and Ask.com remains relevant with 3.4% of all searches. [Since the data only looks at search engines, search data from YouTube, MySpace and Facebook is not included.]
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Unfortunately, creativity in our industry is recognized by the industry for some of the wrong reasons. According to its website, the CLIO Awards, produced by Nielsen Business Media — a part of The Nielsen Companies — recognizes agencies for their most current, breakthrough work — work that makes an “impact on modern culture.” Agencies who receive the ADDY, awarded by the American Advertising Federation, are recognized for the best copywriting and best art direction. But isn’t this subjective if the judges don’t know what “best” means from the perspective of the agency’s client?
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Trendwatching.com, an independent consumer trends firm relying on a global network of 8,000 trend spotters, has identified six consumer trends for 2009. One of the trends they claim can be applied profitably by any business is what they call Feedback 3.0 — the latest take on the feedback functionality that the Internet has enabled over the more recent years.
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