The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) looks at the publishing industry's recent moves in India. Lured by a growing pool of deep-pocketed readers and advertisers anxious to reach out to India's 300 million-strong middle class, some 10 foreign consumer magazines have launched Indian editions in the past two years, and close to 20 more are expected to start publishing in India in 2007. Indian versions of Maxim, …
Community News Site Suffers Setback
Despite having sold 550 ads to local businesses since April, citizen journalist website Backfence is in trouble, according to The Washington Post. In May 2005, Backfence won $3M in funding from local investors and national firms, but last week they lost three executives, including their co-founder. Apparently, the management team reached an impasse with investors on the best way to enter new markets. "It always ends …
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Geography No Obstacle
Ad Age reports on one agency's solution to the industry-wide shortage of Spanish-speaking creatives. In an innovative solution to the chronic talent shortage facing the U.S. Hispanic market, one Latino shop is going where the creatives are: Buenos Aires. Los Angeles-based independent Grupo Gallegos is opening an office this month in Argentina, where creative teams are starting work on Comcast, the California Milk …
Will Diversity In Firing Reflect Diversity In Hiring?
This Ad Age chart shows, in actual percentages and numbers, the mandates for diversity hiring in New York City's advertising agencies. But we all know how unpredictable the ad industry is, and inevitably, some of these ad agencies may hire new staff only to fire them if they lose business. So will their layoffs reflect that diversity? At the Philadelphia Enquirer, now run by a former ad agency exec, it's already an …
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How Do You Say “Deja Vu” In German?
Another month, another young, high-profile, so-called "change agent" gets the boot. Ad Age reports on the departure of Kerri Martin, the marketing exec at Volkswagen who dumped Arnold and hired Crispin: Ms. Martin, the 36-year-old executive who helped establish BMW's Mini in the U.S. with a much-lauded campaign from Crispin, arrived at Volkswagen a marketing rock star. "VW has always been at its best when we make …
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Chief Transparency Officer
Richard Edelman is the president and CEO of the world's largest independent public relations firm with 1800 employees in 40 offices worldwide. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1972, has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. In other words, he's a smart guy. Given his native intelligence, he wants to "set expectations" for the myriad bloggers on his …
What CGC Really Looks Like
CBS Interactive isn't going to fake it on Superbowl Sunday, they're going to place a real consumer generated video on the airwaves. Mercifully, it will only last 15 seconds. The video above is actually one of the better contest offerings I viewed. It's produced by a You Tube "pro," with 64 homemade videos to her credit. She's even been profiled by SiteSpeed's News of the Day. This video is a better example of …
Reality Strips The Gloss From Magazines (Or Not)
In today's Sunday Style's section, the reality of fashion and popular culture magazines is exposed. What is found there may not please those looking for the fictional renderings recently made popular by books, film and TV. Krishtine De Leon, one of six interns picked to star in an MTV reality series set at Rolling Stone, expected an office out of “Almost Famous,” the 2000 movie about the early-1970s heyday of the …
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