PRWeek published its 10th anniversary issue this week and reflects on various segments of the industry.  Perhaps the digital arena has grown more than any other.  Ten years ago, only a few people - let alone agencies - had a grasp on how much the digital environment would grow.  Now, “even the most traditional firm is touting its digital guru, in-house departments are racing to understand the environment, and the industry has an expectation that social media will be its greatest shot to increase the stature of the PR function. What a difference a decade makes.”  Their analysis is an interesting look back at how far we’ve come.  The launch of Blogger in 1999 is seen as one of the key events in the history of blogging.

- Cody

McDonald’s announced this week that year-to-year same-store sales rose in the U.S. and abroad.  Forbes.com reports that the rise in sales is most likely due to the McDonald’s “low-price” formula – something very appealing to the masses during these difficult economic times.  Forbes compared McDonald’s place in the food industry to Walmart’s place in the retail arena – both are “the low-cost retailer of choice.”  Sit-down restaurants have already reported serious drops in foot traffic and the rise in fast food sales means that consumers are “trading down” for cheaper fast food fare.

McDonald’s has, thus far, proved to be “recession-resistant.”  Lets hope, for the Hamburglar’s sake, that the prices of sesame seed buns and pickles stay low!

-Cody

Harris Interactive and RetailMeNot.com released shocking data on consumer plans for the holiday buying season.  Nearly half (45%) of adults online plan to spend less money on gifts this holiday season because of the economy.  Fully 89% of online adults think coupons are a great way to save money, and about a third (35%) of those who will be spending less money on gifts this holiday season will use coupons.

Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to do their shopping: most online adults (83%) are willing to make online purchases. Of those who make purchases online, the most popular items include books (71%), music (62%) and electronics (55%).

The good news is coal prices are down so we can all still expect a lump in our stockings if we’ve been naughty.

-Cody

MediaPost is reporting results from online research showing sharp declines in Q4 online sales and casting a shadow over this holiday season and “Cyber Monday.” Online sales are predicted to grow between 6% and 10% this year.  Not bad, right?  Wrong.  When you consider that online sales grew 17% last year, 20% in 2006 and 22% in ‘05, those numbers look considerably smaller.  Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, said that online growth hasn’t just slowed, “it’s fallen off a cliff.”  A Shop.org study shows that “online retailers are resilient, but not immune, to the challenges of this holiday season.”

-Cody

Moms Like Us is an online social network created by Samsung as a meeting place for users of its washers and dryers.  The network allows participants to enter a sweepstakes, post messages, start groups of friends and contribute to the first-ever encyclopedia of laundry tips called the Laundry-Pedia.  Samsung chose a set of brand ambassadors, called “Samsung Moms,” to try the newest products and share their experiences online.  This is a great example of brands creating an online space for consumers that meets the needs of both the brand and its customers. During the nearly three months the site has been up, 17,000 people have joined.

- Cody

According to a new study covered on MediaPost, nearly 60% of LinkedIn’s users “have high personal incomes and hold executive-level or consultant positions.”  The independent study showed a strong correlation between personal income, profession and using LinkedIn.  “Users with personal incomes between $200,000 and $350,000 were seven times more likely than those below that level to have over 150 LinkedIn connections.”  Makes me think I need to make some more LinkedIn connections!

- Cody

Dunkin’ Donuts is the latest brand to get its Twitter on, and it seems to have a good game plan. Dunkin’ will provide special offers to fans, but that isn’t the central goal of their presence on Twitter.  Manager of Interactive Marketing David Tryder said, “We hope the primary reward will be opening up the doors to Dunkin’ Donuts and providing a means for fans of the brand to connect and have a dialogue about or with the brand.”  DD may be arriving late to Twitter since Starbucks arrived a little while ago, but if they’re serious about creating meaningful engagement, they will be just fine.  It’s not about the quantity of followers, it’s about the quality of their conversations.  Kudos to Dunkin’ Donuts!

- Cody

PRWeek published a great article on using real-time outlets like Twitter to connect with consumers.  They also shared some interesting tips that would help clients wanting to vocalize in the space.

• Even though Twitter is a low-cost investment, companies must ensure they have the resources to support the effort. This includes frequent updates and the capacity to quickly respond.
• Consumers have become skeptical of companies joining the social media conversation simply as a PR move. To be effective on sites like Twitter, companies should provide value for customers by answering questions about the brand or providing technical information
• Because there is no barrier to entry on Twitter, some companies have been “brandjacked” on Twitter. It’s best to set some branding guidelines so that users can identify the company’s official Twitter feeds.
• For most tech companies, at least a part of their audience will be on social networks like Twitter. But they should be prepared for some users to prefer not to be contacted through social media.

- Cody

The newly-designed AOL homepage will allow users to integrate all their social network connections!  This is quite a change from the AOL of the past that acted like a casino, trying to keep people inside its friendly confines.  Clear out your desk, yellow AOL guy - there’s a new AOL in town and it wants you to Twitter!  Twitter like you’ve never Twittered before!

- Cody

Margaret penned an op-ed piece that was featured in today’s issue of PRWeek.  She shares some common sense tips to help clients narrow their search and help agencies win the business they want.

• Limit the number of firms that can be invited to pitch to six or less. Agencies, of course, would prefer to be alone in the room. But would-be clients too often think the more the merrier – maybe because they can’t decide on big versus small, geography, or the experience needed. But when agencies learn that there are 40 firms being considered (as we recently did), the only conclusion is that the client couldn’t possibly know what they want. If agencies decide to compete, the size of the competitive pool in itself is a disincentive to deliver the best work.

• The brief must include clear business goals, and measurable marketing and communications objectives. A brief that gives cloudy direction will usually result in an off-target, wandering response. A brief that articulates an ROI is more likely to get a realistic response.

• Answer questions directly. The way to get a firm’s best ideas is to spend the time answering questions one-on-one. Agency conference calls rarely work as competing firms often avoid asking meaningful questions. Questions answered via mass e-mails shed little light.

• Remove procurement from the creative brief. When procurement is the go-between on creative, it is virtually impossible to get good direction.

• Give people time to think. “I want it tomorrow” produces only as much thinking as 24 hours allow. Give an agency two weeks to produce breakthrough, creative strategy.

• Say “No thanks” and tell the real reasons why. It’s hard to tell an agency “No.” But no firm should have to call to find out that it didn’t make it, or worse, read about it in the trades. Such behavior is not only sloppy business practice, but it reflects poorly on the enterprise. Firms spend mountains of time on presentations. A debrief on reasons why something didn’t go an agency’s way is the way we’d all get better.

The new business process is constantly changing and evolving, especially in today’s troubled market, but these tips will help the communication process between prospective clients and agencies be clear and results-oriented.

- Cody

YouTube - by far the world’s most popular video sharing site - has tossed its 10-minute time limit and revamped to include full TV programs and more licenced material from CBS, HBO, Showtime, Sony and Lionsgate. YouTube will now feature full episodes of the original Star Trek, MacGyver and Beverly Hills, 90210.

- Cody

Yesterday, Google released an upgrade to the Google Analytics platform.  The new version offers users “flexible and free options for ways to view data, as well as methods to integrate Google Analytics data with other data sources.”  Google Analytics continue to be a great way to track online interaction between consumers and websites – hopefully, these new tools will offer even better ways to mine insight from online data.

- Cody

Check out Google’s Haunted House to calculate how much money you can save by implementing green techniques.  Getting rid of monsters (inefficient heating and cooling devices), vampires (home electronics) and zombies (computers left on) can save you some serious green.  Great way to have some fun with an important topic.

- Cody

A recent University of Southern California study revealed that men are 13% more likely to “feel as strongly” about their online communities as their offline groups.  Men also spend an average of two more non-work hours online than women do. 

- Cody

MediaPost reviewed a recent Nielsen study about moms online. Who is a “Power Mom”? They are women between the ages of 25 and 54 who have at least one child, are 25% more likely to blog and “nearly twice as likely as the average Web user to offer frequent advice about topics including parenting and household and beauty products.” They aren’t afraid of technology and rely on the Internet to connect with friends and family.

- Cody