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Foreign Ad Market

As I head to Italy – I will be on the lookout for all sorts of traditional and nontraditional media expressions and impressions alike.  I'm looking forward to report on my findings, so as this initial set-up may seem short, the American market will get biweekly updates from me abroad as I observe, react and report on how those Europeans do it differently.

Stay tuned for an exciting adventure through the World of Advertising!

A World Without Internet

The internet has allowed us to do many things, talk to friends, share pictures, shop online, check out the score of the game last night, blog, email, and get pretty much any information on anything that you would possibly want. The internet is a beautiful thing, and life has changed drastically because of it. So, here are some internet facts that truly show how important the internet is and what life would be without it.

1. Since 2002, the number of internet users has quadrupled, an increase to 2.3 billion people worldwide.

2. The internet has allowed us to connect with virtually anyone, and has given us access to an infinite amount of information.

3. There are approximately 550 million websites, with 300 million sites added in 2011.

Imagine a world without the Internet

4. The cost of a full set of Encyclopedia Britannica is $1200

5. Paying for stamps instead of sending emails would cost the US $6.3 Trillion

6. The cost of online content is $0

7.  Your favorite internet companies would have never existed: Facebook, Twitter, Ebay, Groupon, Google, Amazon, etc

Nobody would have an internet job

8. Facebook by itself created 450,000 US jobs

9. The internet creates 2.6 jobs for every job it makes obsolete

10. The spread of information would come to a screeching halt.

11. 65% of people get their news online

12. 1 minute of Twitter equals 100,000 tweets

13. In one month of Facebook, 30 billion pieces of content are shared

14. Revolutions would take longer: The fall of the Berlin wall took 4 months, it took one week for 90,000 Egyptians to organize a revolution and only 18 days of protest to overthrow 30 years of dictatorship

15. Collectively, we spend 35 billion hours on the internet every month

16. Every day we consume 3 times the amount of information that we did in the 60's

False Advertising

Honestly… how many times have you purchased a product, due to a very convincing commercial, so excited about the results they boast… only to be disappointed that you seem to somehow have different results than the beautiful model with perfect hair or the handsome man who's getting all the ladies due to his new body spray?

Advertising can be a businesses' best friend, but it can also ruin you just as quickly.  Here enters False Advertising.  As a business owner, I would much rather be honest about the product I'm selling, because at the end of the day, what is more important – getting 100 people to buy your product once and be disappointed, or have 50 repeat customers for years to come..?

As a consumer, I am frequently discouraged when I see a convincing commercial about a product that will supposedly make my life easier, or my hair smoother, make my skin better, or make me smell like a movie star..  but at the end of the day – I simply can't understand why a company would advertise in a way to go for the quick buck, taking advantage of the naive consumer, instead of taking the time to actually make a quality product that will keep them coming back for more.  Now, speaking as one of the naive consumers out there, I have a vested interest in improving the market and what it provides.  I'm saddened by the loss of trust that buyers have (something we commonly experience as a business ourselves, when speaking to potential clients).  Every deal in the market now seems “too good to be true”.  It makes it that much harder for the honest, hardworking businesses to convince the jaded public that they indeed do have a good product that will provide exactly what it promises.

I understand there is no immediate fix to this 'false advertisement'/'lack of trust' problem.  Unless folks somehow regain their conscience… it's going to be here for a while.  But, I do ask the consumer to try and hold onto your faith.  Don't lose it completely.  If something sounds too good to be true, as they say, it probably is… but sometimes, just sometimes… a business, service, or product comes along that prides themselves on providing quality.  And those are the ones worth listening to.  They are the ones worth buying into who deserve your loyalty, respect and repeat business.

Not everyone out there is trying to trick you – but it takes some attention and a good eye to spot the ones who aren’t!

Jumpin’ Jehosaphat Jacksonville Jaguars!

I don't fault Jones-Drew one bit for wanting to renegotiate. He's 27. He's in the prime of his career and a franchise player, playing a position with a very short shelf-life. He's the face of the franchise and receiving mediocre pay. Aside from that, Jacksonville could use more marquis players that spend their careers exclusively in Jacksonville, a la the beloved Fred Taylor. Jacksonville could be the new Mecca for runningbacks the way that Penn State markets themselves as Linebacker U or the way my alma mater, Southern Illinois University markets the defensive effort put forth by their tenacious defense on the basketball court as “Floor Burn U”.

Gene Smith, as general manager, is granted an enormous amount of clemency due to the fact that we have a novice owner, and he can leverage his knowledge and experience in his favor. Not only would releasing or trading MOJO result in poor fan reaction and possibly turnout, but it would change the culture of football in Jacksonville, and that's a very dicey thing to do. Without being too heavy-handed with the econometrics, it makes financial sense to give MOJO the contract extension he seeks (around 4 years with elevated salary and some performance incentives should do). You can even include in the contract that he MUST always appear at mini-camp and other optional team activities.

This blog is meant to be two-fold…shedding light on a flawed advertising campaign, and for me, as a 3rd party to parlay my wisdom to the business public and pray to the football Gods that Gene Smith or other top executives within the Jaguar organization read this and elect to alter their perceptions of the current situation facing our beloved Jaguars. Come what may, I will always be a Jags fan to the end.

Mobile Advertising is Taking Over

Where do you spend your ad dollars? With online usage jumping through the roof the past couple years, advertisers now have to consider this as a means of advertising. After reading an article by Richard Ting on theAtlantic.com I thought about these changes to the advertising world, and was able to put some numbers to it. People are now spending about 10% of their media time on their smartphones, but only 1% of ad-dollars is being spent on mobile ads. To compare this to what is spent on print, people spend 7% of their media time with print, but 25% of ad-dollars are being spent here. Just looking at these numbers, we can see a problem. As we know, print has been on its way out, not only because of the mobile web, but because of the web in general. But these numbers would make you think it hasn't gone anywhere.

More than 2/3 of the time spent on a mobile phone is now used for something other than talking. Mobile is making moves to surpass TV as their main source of entertainment (not to mention that you can now watch some forms of TV on your smartphone).  This is the way entertainment is headed and advertising has to move with it.

Spending on the mobile web has gotten much easier. As stated earlier, it isn't just ads on mobile sites anymore, its in between a round of Words with Friends, in between songs on Pandora, and of course there's Facebook. Not to mention, this is still just the early years as far as smart phones and mobile web, we have a long way to go. So, if you haven't already jumped on the bandwagon, now might be a good time to try.