Manufacturers Awarded for Frame Design

"Top industry names Rodenstock and Luxoittica were amongst the winners of the  OptraAwards for the most inspiring frames of 2011 at Optrafair," according to OptometryToday. "

Luxottica achieved four accolades while International Eyewear and Marchon each achieved two. The winner of the female ophthalmic frame category was Luxottica with the Chanel black gloss acetate 3201 C501 with a delicate temple logo. Second was The Eyewear Company with Vanni V1084 C518, and third was Fashion Eyewear International with Dilem OFO53."

TV Is King. Long Live the King?

Contrary to the way many of you wrote in your short reports, the Internet is not the king of media at least as far as advertisers are concerned. "The internet is consuming ever more of our waking moments, not to mention ever more ad spending, but that doesn't mean that traditional media is the loser. At least not when "traditional media" means TV," according to a post on AdAge.

Companies with Internet Marketing Campaigns

Companies that run extensive Internet/digital/interactive marketing campaigns:

McDonalds (digital, interactive, internet)
Proctor and Gamble (digital, interactive, internet)
American Express (digital, interactive, internet)
Mountain Dew (digital, interactive, internet)

Domino’s Turns to Facebook for March Madnes

"Domino's Pizza launched a Facebook contest on March 14 encouraging consumers to vote for their favorite style of pizza," reports DMNews.com. "The delivery chain is promoting the contest to opted-in members of the company's e-mail database, as well as its Facebook fans."

Jameson and Guinness Zig and Zab

"Iconic Irish brands Jameson Irish Whiskey and Guinness are taking nontraditional approaches to their St. Patrick's Day promotional efforts this year," according to ClickZ.com.

An Interactive Marketing Campaign

Here's a ClickZ.com story about a marketer and its advertising agency parting company, but it also gives a hint at the marketing program: 'Burger King and Crispin Porter + Bogusky are parting ways, ending an agency-client relationship that produced some of the more celebrated interactive campaigns. Over seven years, CP+B's digital output for the burger giant included 'Subservient Chicken,' 'Whopper Sacrifice,' 'Sith Sense' and BK-branded Xbox titles that were sold cheaply in the chain's restaurants."

Social Networks Still Growing

"In 2011, 63.7% of US internet users will use social networks on a regular basis, amounting to nearly 148 million people. Although the pace of growth will be less dramatic in the next few years than it was in 2009 and 2010, usage will remain strong and shows no sign of declining. Marketers and media companies alike now know that in order to reach their audience, they must have a presence on social networks," goes the post on eMarketer.com.

Display Advertising Up

"Total advertising expenditures increased 6.5% in 2010 and finished the year at $131.1 billion, according to Kantar Media." That's what a MarketingVox post noted. "Internet display advertising increased 9.9% compared to the prior year, the second largest growth rate among media sectors. Outdoor advertising was close behind with a gain of 9.6%."

Viral Marketing for “Limitless”

MarketingVox posted this item recently:

What: a video [watch it here] that went viral on YouTube recently purporting to show a man using his iPhone to hack a New York's Times Square' billboard.

What it Really Was: A promotion for the soon-to-be-released film "Limitless" developed by viral marketing company Thinkmodo (via the New York Times).

Marketers Spending More

"Marketers modestly increased spending on various media in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the Direct Marketing Association's quarterly business review. A majority of marketers also told the industry group they are optimistic about the near term," says DMNews.com. "A majority (54.7%) of marketers said they increased revenue generated from direct and digital marketing activity in Q4 2010 compared with the same period of 2009. Most marketers and suppliers (53.5%) said they are optimistic about their near-term profitability, yet fewer than half (46.1%) forecasted improved performance in the first quarter of 2011."

Can You Believe This? Small Businesses Don’t Use Websites

"Less than half (45%) of small businesses have websites, according to data analyzed by data management firm Formstack. However, this figure, recorded by Discover Credit Cards in 2009, still represents roughly 36% growth from 33% in 2007," according to a report on MarketingVox.com. "The most common reason given by small business owners lacking a website is that their business currently does not need one (41%). This is more than double the percent who gave the next-most-popular answer, cost (19%). The other leading reason is lack of time (16%)."

Chain Restaurants Turn to Social Media

"As the US restaurant industry recovers, operators are increasingly employing mobile and social media marketing to meet consumer expectations. Businesses that engage, provide value and reach potential diners where they spend their time will be at a distinct advantage." That's the word from eMarketer.com.

Car Manufacturers Spend More $ for Online Marketing

"To convert more browsers into buyers, auto marketers are revving up their online ad spending," reports eMarketer.com. " eMarketer estimates that online automotive advertising, including spending by manufacturers, dealer associations and dealers, will hit $3.24 billion this year, or 11.4% of total US online ad spending. Through 2015, it will grow faster than the overall online advertising market, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.7%."

Advergames the “New” Social Media Advertising Forum

"Driven by the wildfire success of Zynga, the creator of popular social network games like 'Farmville' and 'Mafia Wars,' game developers are increasingly relying on advertising as a viable revenue stream -- and making the cost of advertiser entry quite low," according to AdAge. You might want to check the two games for companies that use Internet marketing, such as Coke, Ford, Toyota, and Pepsi.

Viral Video for Old Navy, Volkswagen, and Old Spice

"It's been a week of viral video turnover, with some new inductees (and a sole Super Bowl survivor) rounding out the most-viewed ads on the web." That's how AdAge
introduces its post about the viral videos (read Internet marketing videos) for Old Navy, Volkswagen, Old Spice, and Apple.

Ideas for Long Report

Coke's Internet marketing campaign: http://www.google.com/search?q=Coke%27s+internet+marketing+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Toyota's Internet marketing campaign: http://www.google.com/search?q=toyota%27s+internet+marketing+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

If you want to write about a company's Internet marketing campaign, go to Google.com. Type in the following: Companyname's Internet marketing campaign. You should get a long list of stories. Now you have to figure out which one's a relevant.

Nissan Allows Customers to Design Their Jukes

Creativity-Online
reports "Nissan is allowing customers to get creative and design their own versions of the Juke on its new Juke Studio website. It asked up-and-coming artists Jim Mahfood, Jeremyville and Tristan Eaton to create artwork representing each of the Nissan Juke's three driving modes (Eco, Sport and Normal). Their art became vehicle wraps that any Juke owner can purchase to customize their ride."

Kleenex Cleans Up with Facebook

"Samples usually are one-way, unrequested offers from marketers, and online sampling mostly involves signing up to get freebies yourself. But an offer this cold-and-flu season for Kleenex that lets people send free packs of tissues to [Facebook] friends and family has scored big," according to AdAge. "The Kimberly-Clark Corp. brand last week sent its millionth requested mini-box of tissues in North America. And the 'Softness Worth Sharing' campaign, aimed at introducing a new softer version of the tissue, has lifted market share 1.7 points since October, said Kleenex Brand Director Craig Smith. Nielsen data from Sanford C. Bernstein show Kleenex share up 3.9 points to 49.9% for the four weeks ended Feb. 19 vs. the period before the campaign began."

Toyota Working with Pandora

"Toyota and Internet radio provider Pandora launched a campaign March 4 that pairs one Toyota model with a Pandora genre radio station each month," according to DMNews. "At launch, the 'Legends & Icons' campaign partnered the Toyota Highlander SUV with Pandora's Top 40 genre station. The company is targeting 18-to-49-year-olds with this initial pairing, said John Trimble, chief revenue officer at Pandora, via e-mail. Consumers can view the campaign through the Web, mobile and tablet devices."

Companies Advertising on Skype

"Skype is launching its first ad platform, with Groupon, Universal Pictures and Visa Inaugural among the first companies to try out the format. The advertising will appear in the Home tab in Skype, starting this week, the company says. Ads will appear in the US, UK and Germany initially and then roll out on a wider basis," according to MarketingVox.