TheAlphaMarketer: October 2006 Archives

« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »

Oct31	Will YouTube just become an online DVR? Gary Bourgeault October 31, 2006 Know More: Online Community, Online Networking, Social-Networking, User-generated content, YouTube 2.0, Online Networking With the continuing assault upon YouTube to drop copyrighted material, it does seem to be a bad move by networks and studios that make come back to bite them. If they decide to clear out all their stuff that make people talk and comment, what possible good can it do for them? If their only purpose is to turn YouTube into an online DVR, it's not going to help them much. The one remaining question that will determine not only what YouTube is going to become, but whether it will survive without diminishing into a smaller niche business, is how much change will be demanded of it by the networks and studios. If all it does is regurgitate their TV or movie fare, then it is pretty much a DVR service. If they adopt the same technology that MySpace is about to adopt, users won't even be able to use music to include with their online video. Continue Reading Posted at 1:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct30	Wendy's "Molly Grows Up" scoring big on YouTube Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 Wendy's introduction of three videos on October 20 has caused a little bit of a stir from the community, but overall they've done well; especially "Molly Grows Up," which is closing in on 600,000 views. Spokesman Denny Lynch said the... Continue Reading Posted at 7:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Yahoo in exclusive partnership with Nissan for Online Concert Series Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 With 24 million users visiting the Yahoo Music portal, Nissan has signed on as an exclusive sponsor of Yahoo's new initiative; a biweekly concert. "The experience is delivered online, but part of the goal is to take things we're creating... Continue Reading Posted at 5:45 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Chase taking aim at Hispanic market Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 "Confia en Ti. Confia en Chase." (Believe in yourself. Believe in Chase.) That's the motto being presented to the burgeoning Hispanic market by Chase Card Services. The Hispanic market is America's fastest growing and largest ethnic market, with an estimated... Continue Reading Posted at 4:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Personalized and targeted email campaigns greatly increase results Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 At the recent ClickZ Specifics: Email Marketing conference in New York, Jupiter Research VP and research director David Daniels revealed to marketers that 25 percent of email campaigns are implemented without any differentiation or targeting in any way. And another... Continue Reading Posted at 1:23 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct29	Does it matter if teens are leaving MySpace? Gary Bourgeault October 29, 2006 In my unofficial wonderings around the Web, I've noticed, and research confirms, that online social sites like MySpace are experiencing their demographic growing older. From a business point-of-view, this should be great news, as long as they are replaced in... Continue Reading Posted at 6:34 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The more accurate you are, the less intrusive you'll be Gary Bourgeault October 29, 2006 One of the ongoing discussions is about how to interact with customers who are increasingly resistant to interfering with their current experiences. Sometimes some of the ways that are discussed border on almost the impossible. All sorts of tips and... Continue Reading Posted at 5:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Going Viral and not becoming a One Hit Wonder Gary Bourgeault October 29, 2006 With the video-viral craze showing no signs of slowing down, we need to understand better what it is that this implies for us as marketers; this isn't just in video, but in any area where there is a potential for... Continue Reading Posted at 4:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct28	Is a technology company any different than a media company? Gary Bourgeault October 28, 2006 Talking about an earlier piece this month by Andy Kessler, Mike at Techdirt comments that the conclusion he draws from Andy's posting is that there is no longer any distinction between the two. Mike says: "Any media company now needs... Continue Reading Posted at 6:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct27	Second Life traffic continues to soar: Is that good? Gary Bourgeault October 27, 2006 With all the press that Second Life has been getting, it's causing a huge increase in members, along with traffic surge. With the increased numbers has also come a growing demographic change. Like the Web itself, this self-contained virtual world... Continue Reading Posted at 6:09 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Six Apart introduces private blogging tools Gary Bourgeault October 27, 2006 Six Apart has been in beta for the last several months testing a new blogging to specifically targeted to those who want to publish online, but to only those that they want to see it. You can publish images, video,... Continue Reading Posted at 5:26 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	10% of Web consumers watch TV broadcasts online Gary Bourgeault October 27, 2006 In a recent survey, it was concluded that 10% of U.S. Internet users watch television broadcasts online. The major reason give was so they wouldn't have to watch commercials and for its convenience. The survey, by Conference Board Consumer Internet... Continue Reading Posted at 3:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct26	Let's see! I'm going to watch Online TV Channel 102,657 tonight Gary Bourgeault October 26, 2006 It won't be very long before those words become a reality online. There are already a huge amount of lesser-known companies starting their online TV channels and networks. One example of that is Narrowstep, a four-year-old company that offer over... Continue Reading Posted at 8:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Chevrolet launches Viral Campaign Gary Bourgeault October 26, 2006 In an attempt to reach out to the 18 to 25-year old demographic, Chevrolet (GM) has decided to use the Internet, 16 college students and eight Aveo cars, according to the Auto Channel. What they've done is to take two... Continue Reading Posted at 6:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online success helps Meredith Corp. increase profits Gary Bourgeault October 26, 2006 With the newspaper industry still not able to keep up with its loss of offline income, Meredith Corp., publisher of numerous magazines, including the popular Ladies Home Journal, got great results with profits increasing by 15 percent in the third... Continue Reading Posted at 3:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct25	A Lesson from AOL's Continual Identity Problem Gary Bourgeault October 25, 2006 AOL, like many online companies, is having trouble differentiating themselves from everyone else. We've talked here before about the growing video market is going to become a commodity soon. Who isn't going to offer movie downloads in the near future. Everyone... Continue Reading Posted at 5:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	COCA-COLA dipping its feet into the viral marketing world Gary Bourgeault October 25, 2006 Hesitant to just step into what it considered an unsure situation when the Diet Coke-Mentos clips went viral, Coke (KO)has now seen the light and have partnered the original creators of the clip, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz. The two... Continue Reading Posted at 3:38 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct24	GM joins Second Life, sets up Motorati Island Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 Tapping into the growing Second Life phenomenon, GM (GM) Pontiac has bought up a 96-acre section of the world to attempt to create a "car culture" on the island. They are attempting to build a community built around car fans. With... Continue Reading Posted at 10:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Moms online are a huge potential market Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 When it comes to moms, TV is no longer the best way to reach them. The potential to reach them through the Internet is growing exponentially, as more moms use the Internet than watch TV. What is the preferred method... Continue Reading Posted at 9:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Local, targeted search surging Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 According to research from comScore, consumers are increasingly looking for much more specific information from their search engine queries. The Internet is increasingly becoming the place of choice to search locally. And when you talk local, you're talking very specific.... Continue Reading Posted at 5:34 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	SEO still needs to be kept simple Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 We continually hear about the need for all the fancy flash and interactive elements that seemingly differentiate an online business from others. While this has some value, once people find who you are, it's not effective at all when it... Continue Reading Posted at 2:48 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct23	Was YouTube's strategy intentional? Gary Bourgeault October 23, 2006 When the music industry pretty much sued Napster out of existence (I know they're still here), they had a side issue that they didn't understand: they took one of the best ways of offering music off of the web. They... Continue Reading Posted at 10:56 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Most Internet U.S. households buy Online Products Gary Bourgeault October 23, 2006 A new report from Forrester Research (FORR) shows that of the 80 million U.S. household online, 75% of them have purchased products using the Internet. Of the 75% making purchases, almost 70% of them have purchased an online product within... Continue Reading Posted at 6:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	General Motors to Boost Digital Ad Spending Gary Bourgeault October 23, 2006 In a confirmation that the auto sector is not weakening in its online spend, General Motors (GM) affirmed that it is allocating more of its marketing budget to online strategies. Merril Lynch (MER) analyst Lauren Fine said: "more of GM's... Continue Reading Posted at 4:55 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct22	"Dancing with the Stars" and other hits giving huge boost to studio Websites Gary Bourgeault October 22, 2006 According to comScore Media Metrix, the introduction of the fall TV series has given a huge boost to the studios' Web sites last month. Some of the shows and how they affected the ratings are the "Deal or No Deal"... Continue Reading Posted at 9:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	What will YouTube become? Gary Bourgeault October 22, 2006 With the inclusion of Hollywood studios having a stake in YouTube now, the question has to be asked about what they will now become. Now with Universal Music Group, BMG Music Entertainment, and the Warner Music Group now having stakes... Continue Reading Posted at 5:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct21	Are you an ethical spammer of your opt-in email customers? Gary Bourgeault October 21, 2006 If we have opt-in email lists we regularly send messages to, we must understand who our customers are, why they signed up in the first place, and what they want today. In the past, the verification of someone opting into... Continue Reading Posted at 8:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Anheuser-Busch Internet entertainment network Bud.TV already coming under fire Gary Bourgeault October 21, 2006 Anheuser-Busch, the largest beer company in America, is slated to start their new Internet entertainment network "Bud.TV" in February. Several actors including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Kevin Spacey and Vince Vaughn have been in discussions about potentially developing programming for... Continue Reading Posted at 6:34 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Remember to ask your Customers what they want Gary Bourgeault October 21, 2006 A key thing that we need to remind ourselves about all the time when we're in marketing, business, or sales, is to continue mining our existing customers for information. John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing recently talked about this very... Continue Reading Posted at 3:22 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct20	Controversial study shows Web membership sites more valuable to marketers Gary Bourgeault October 20, 2006 An interesting research study be the Online Publishers Association shows that marketers prefer membership and niche websites to portals (Yahoo (YHOO), AOL, MSN (MSFT) and others). Online Media Daily says: "Specifically, the report concludes that OPA visitors are 97% more... Continue Reading Posted at 3:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct19	Joint Economic Committee may try to tax Virtual World Economies Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 Rep. Jim Saxton, head of Joint Economic Committee, confirmed that they are now looking into tax issues in reference to online virtual worlds that include virtual economies. The one good thing is that Saxton, a Republican, believes that it would... Continue Reading Posted at 8:36 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MySpace kicks YouTube's rearend in video streaming Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 In what many are considering a big surprise, YouTube is only in third place in video streaming in the U.S. The Fox (NWS) behemoth MySpace is way out ahead with a total of 1.4 billion streams being watched in the... Continue Reading Posted at 6:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	One area where Opera misses it Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 We've been talking off and on lately about how in the Internet world being first to market in any area guarantees absolutely nothing; contrary to how things have worked in the offline world. Even now a lot of big players... Continue Reading Posted at 6:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Google starting to clobber Yahoo in U.S. Web Ad Spend Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 In an extraordinary push, Google (GOOG) has become the first company to reach the level of taking in 25% of the U.S. online ad spend in 2006. When we consider that as recent as 2005, Yahoo (YHOO) and Google were... Continue Reading Posted at 2:52 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct18	Important results from new Email best practices study Gary Bourgeault October 18, 2006 The Internet Retailer website, citing a study by Silverpop, "Email Creative That Works," offers some confirmation and a few surprises on the best way to go about email marketing. One of the key findings of the study, whether it concerns... Continue Reading Posted at 7:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct17	Reuters embeds reporter into Second Life Gary Bourgeault October 17, 2006 While bloggers and independent reporters have been a part of Second Life for awhile, Adam Pasick of Reuters has become the first reporter from old media to be sent to the online virtual world. For those of you who may... Continue Reading Posted at 11:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Search the main Driver behind Automobile Referrals Gary Bourgeault October 17, 2006 A new study by Compete called Search: Driving Awareness and Consideration, shows that search has become the top tool for referrals for car dealers and manufacturer websites. The study concluded that, “In the second quarter of 2006, search generated 58%... Continue Reading Posted at 8:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Yahoo profits drop by 38% for the 3rd Quarter Gary Bourgeault October 17, 2006 With Yahoo's recent warnings concerning a soft ad market for them because of automotive and finance companies using their business less, results are out that they dropped in profits by 38% for the 3rd quarter; they finished with $158 million.... Continue Reading Posted at 5:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct16	European Union trying to regulate video-sharing websites Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 The European Union is attempting to regulate websites by redefining them as broadcasters. The result of the attempted legislation would be to require websites and mobile phone services that include video to conform to standards of broadcasters as determined in... Continue Reading Posted at 11:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Study says Behavioral Ads Convert Better Out of Context Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 In a study conducted by Blue Lithium’s BL Labs, it was found that behaviorally targeted ads do receive a higher rate of hits when it is in the same category of content, but conversion rates that are viewed out of... Continue Reading Posted at 8:45 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Do you know who your best customers are? Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 A mistake a lot of online marketers make is to not develop some type of reward program for their best customers. For some reason it's not one of the things thought of in their strategies. Even if you're marketing to... Continue Reading Posted at 6:12 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why Paris Hilton works as a brand Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 Whether you love Paris Hilton or hate her; as a brand, she works. There has been a secret that many people that are successful in marketing have understood and known for years, that once is understand, will bring the success... Continue Reading Posted at 3:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct15	Will new audio-signature technology ruin YouTube? Gary Bourgeault October 15, 2006 The Associated Press reported this week that the deals YouTube made with the major recording companies (Warner Music Group, Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment) include conditions that well could bring the viral video era to a... Continue Reading Posted at 4:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct14	Reputation the key to Email Delivery Gary Bourgeault October 14, 2006 In a striking study by Return Path, contrary to what most email marketers think, 77.3 percent of email delivery issues are related to reputation and not to content. George Bilbrey, VP and general manager of Return Path's Delivery Assurance division... Continue Reading Posted at 3:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct13	Online Retail Companies Making Huge Email Mistakes Gary Bourgeault October 13, 2006 A survey by EmailDataSource.com found that out of 355 retail websites, a large number of them have failed tremendously in managing and delivering their email campaigns. The greatest failure has been in responding to email signups themselves. An amazing 33%... Continue Reading Posted at 8:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online Advertising should be great for Q3 Gary Bourgeault October 13, 2006 With quarterly earnings about to be reported by major Internet media and advertising companies, analysts are saying that growth should continue to be strong. There has been a considerable amount of chatter because of Yahoo's recent disclosure that they were... Continue Reading Posted at 5:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct12	It's about the community being the carrier Gary Bourgeault October 12, 2006 An interesting thing when considering viral marketing, is that many times it is the virus part of the process that is focused on; this is a mistake. For example, the type of message that was sent to cause something to... Continue Reading Posted at 5:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct11	Viral is how deep you go; not how wide Gary Bourgeault October 11, 2006 Eric Kintz had a conversation recently with Bernardo Huberman, Senior HP Fellow and Director of the Information Dynamics Lab at Hewlett-Packard Labs. He is an expert in the area of the dynamics of viral marketing. Kintz adds concerning Huberman and... Continue Reading Posted at 9:59 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why did Google's Eric Schmidt meet with News Corp. Execs? Gary Bourgeault October 11, 2006 With the YouTube acquisition fresh under his belt, Googles' CEO Eric Schmidt almost immediately got together with News Corp. (NWS)executives to try to smooth over any problems that might have come about from the deal. The meeting included Rupert Murdoch... Continue Reading Posted at 7:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why you want fans and not just eyeballs Gary Bourgeault October 11, 2006 One time in an unrelated field, a mentor mentioned to me something that has stuck with me throughout the years. He said, "Once people get a piece of you, they want all of you." He was referring to those that... Continue Reading Posted at 5:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct10	Jury awards $11.3M over Internet posts Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 We all may need to be more careful in what we say online. A Florida woman was awarded $11.3 million for defamation against a Louisiana woman who said on the Internet that she was a "crook," a "con artist" and... Continue Reading Posted at 11:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Understanding the forces that build an online community Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 Here's an interesting thought to consider: The more someone is an individual, the more they want to be part of a group. Have you ever thought of that? Think Harley Davidson. Who would want to buy a cool motorcycle, customize... Continue Reading Posted at 9:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Is "engagement" really a myth? Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 Steve Rubel has a great article, writing for Ad Age, in commenting on the myth of "engagement." He asks the questions: Can anyone really define what "engagement" means? Have you seen it? He continues by saying "I Googled 'engagement marketing'... Continue Reading Posted at 8:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The offline world and online world are becoming one Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 The longer the Internet is around, the more it mimics the real world. This is the major reason why online community has always been part of the experience; the tools are simply here now to make it easier to interact.... Continue Reading Posted at 5:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 9	Tips on how to decrease online shopping cart abandonment Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 The shopping cart abandonment by eshoppers is getting so high that its having a huge impact on whether an online business is successful or not. The average for ecommerce sites is a whopping 59.8% abandonment rate, according to Marketing Sherpa.... Continue Reading Posted at 10:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Mark Cuban on Niche Marketing and Newspaper Web sites Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 At the recent Online News Association conference, Mark Cuban threw around his thoughts about niche marketing as it related to newspaper Web sites. Here's what he said: "Every high school talent show and every high school theatrical performance should be... Continue Reading Posted at 8:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online holiday shopping to skyrocket Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 The Performics 50, an index of online search advertising, projects that online sales for the fourth quarter of 2006 will grow by over 50% over last year. "Experienced (search engine marketing) and program managers are harnessing the full value of... Continue Reading Posted at 8:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why a Niche is the Marketing Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 As we go deeper into the secrets of a niche being the marketing, we'll look at some examples of businesses that represent that. I'll use one that I observe daily because my wife is one of the "true believers" of... Continue Reading Posted at 3:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Going deeper into the explosive secrets of Niche Marketing Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 There is one thing that the majority of people promoting or even involved with niche markets don't really know: Having the niche is the marketing. Now think slowly and clearly about what I just said. The niche itself is not... Continue Reading Posted at 12:16 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 8	Why not Produce your own Internet Niche TV Channel? Gary Bourgeault October 8, 2006 The one thing that will probably explode in the near future is the Internet becoming the biggest TV studio and platform in the world. It may already have arrived there. What does that mean to you and your online strategy?... Continue Reading Posted at 8:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The final ingredient in the foundation for writing great ad copy Gary Bourgeault October 8, 2006 In talking about direct response marketing, we've looked at two pieces of the foundational puzzle that are required in order to even get into the marketing game. We've glanced at having an insatiable curiosity and then an imagination that puts... Continue Reading Posted at 4:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Obsess on the needs of the people you serve Gary Bourgeault October 8, 2006 Marketing isn't as complicated as many make it out to be. Those that are having the most trouble at this time are those that market to the masses. Now there they do have a problem as they must find ways... Continue Reading Posted at 2:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 7	A secret to creating products and services Gary Bourgeault October 7, 2006 Several thousand years ago a wise man revealed that there is "nothing new under the sun." If that was true back then, I would say it's also true today. What we may think of as new today really isn't. The names... Continue Reading Posted at 7:09 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Imagination: A key to direct marketing success! Gary Bourgeault October 7, 2006 We've talked about the importance that curiosity plays in direct response advertising; while it is an essential element to advertising success, it's not the only component to look at. What curiosity ultimately leads to is your imagination. When you go... Continue Reading Posted at 6:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Looking at Niche Marketing from another angle Gary Bourgeault October 7, 2006 In reading a press release the other day, it made me realize that a lot of companies aren't really getting what it means to develop a niche market. The release started real good with describing where the direction of the... Continue Reading Posted at 5:16 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 6	What major thing ad agencies want when marketing online Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 What is the No. 1 issue that advertising agencies demand on a website they're considering marketing on? Insurance! Insurance that when they put their brand up there, there won't be any surprises and repercussions to it. This is something that... Continue Reading Posted at 11:03 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MySpace users are getting older! Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 The social-networking landscape is changing as users of the service continue to grow in average age. Citing a comScore Media Metrix analysis of MySpace, Online Media Daily said they found that only 30 percent of current users are under the... Continue Reading Posted at 10:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Google said to have made $1.6 Billion offer for YouTube Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 A report in the New York Times says that Google (GOOG) has entered serious talks into acquiring YouTube. According to sources involved in the negotiations, the offer is for $1.6 billion in cash and stock. This is one of a... Continue Reading Posted at 5:27 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Become an information voyeur Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 A lack that many online marketers have is in the direct response advertising discipline. Success in any business has to do with getting people to take an action that you want. Direct response advertising is the means to get them... Continue Reading Posted at 3:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 5	Surprise! Surprise! Holiday eshopping earlier than ever Gary Bourgeault October 5, 2006 Online retailers are starting their promotions earlier this year, says AXcess News, citing a survey by BizRate. A full 38.5% of are starting promotions earlier, with a huge 62.5% asserting they are beginning before November 4th. One of the reasons... Continue Reading Posted at 7:22 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Study says 20% of online advertisers going viral this year Gary Bourgeault October 5, 2006 Citing a report by Jupiter Research, the Internet Retailer reported that 20% of online advertisers have plans to try viral marketing on social-networking sites this year. With 69% of people visiting social networking sites saying they don't trust product information... Continue Reading Posted at 5:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 4

Oct31	Will YouTube just become an online DVR? Gary Bourgeault October 31, 2006 Know More: Online Community, Online Networking, Social-Networking, User-generated content, YouTube 2.0, Online Networking With the continuing assault upon YouTube to drop copyrighted material, it does seem to be a bad move by networks and studios that make come back to bite them. If they decide to clear out all their stuff that make people talk and comment, what possible good can it do for them? If their only purpose is to turn YouTube into an online DVR, it's not going to help them much. The one remaining question that will determine not only what YouTube is going to become, but whether it will survive without diminishing into a smaller niche business, is how much change will be demanded of it by the networks and studios. If all it does is regurgitate their TV or movie fare, then it is pretty much a DVR service. If they adopt the same technology that MySpace is about to adopt, users won't even be able to use music to include with their online video. Continue Reading Posted at 1:31 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct30	Wendy's "Molly Grows Up" scoring big on YouTube Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 Wendy's introduction of three videos on October 20 has caused a little bit of a stir from the community, but overall they've done well; especially "Molly Grows Up," which is closing in on 600,000 views. Spokesman Denny Lynch said the... Continue Reading Posted at 7:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Yahoo in exclusive partnership with Nissan for Online Concert Series Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 With 24 million users visiting the Yahoo Music portal, Nissan has signed on as an exclusive sponsor of Yahoo's new initiative; a biweekly concert. "The experience is delivered online, but part of the goal is to take things we're creating... Continue Reading Posted at 5:45 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Chase taking aim at Hispanic market Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 "Confia en Ti. Confia en Chase." (Believe in yourself. Believe in Chase.) That's the motto being presented to the burgeoning Hispanic market by Chase Card Services. The Hispanic market is America's fastest growing and largest ethnic market, with an estimated... Continue Reading Posted at 4:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Personalized and targeted email campaigns greatly increase results Gary Bourgeault October 30, 2006 At the recent ClickZ Specifics: Email Marketing conference in New York, Jupiter Research VP and research director David Daniels revealed to marketers that 25 percent of email campaigns are implemented without any differentiation or targeting in any way. And another... Continue Reading Posted at 1:23 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct29	Does it matter if teens are leaving MySpace? Gary Bourgeault October 29, 2006 In my unofficial wonderings around the Web, I've noticed, and research confirms, that online social sites like MySpace are experiencing their demographic growing older. From a business point-of-view, this should be great news, as long as they are replaced in... Continue Reading Posted at 6:34 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The more accurate you are, the less intrusive you'll be Gary Bourgeault October 29, 2006 One of the ongoing discussions is about how to interact with customers who are increasingly resistant to interfering with their current experiences. Sometimes some of the ways that are discussed border on almost the impossible. All sorts of tips and... Continue Reading Posted at 5:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Going Viral and not becoming a One Hit Wonder Gary Bourgeault October 29, 2006 With the video-viral craze showing no signs of slowing down, we need to understand better what it is that this implies for us as marketers; this isn't just in video, but in any area where there is a potential for... Continue Reading Posted at 4:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct28	Is a technology company any different than a media company? Gary Bourgeault October 28, 2006 Talking about an earlier piece this month by Andy Kessler, Mike at Techdirt comments that the conclusion he draws from Andy's posting is that there is no longer any distinction between the two. Mike says: "Any media company now needs... Continue Reading Posted at 6:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct27	Second Life traffic continues to soar: Is that good? Gary Bourgeault October 27, 2006 With all the press that Second Life has been getting, it's causing a huge increase in members, along with traffic surge. With the increased numbers has also come a growing demographic change. Like the Web itself, this self-contained virtual world... Continue Reading Posted at 6:09 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Six Apart introduces private blogging tools Gary Bourgeault October 27, 2006 Six Apart has been in beta for the last several months testing a new blogging to specifically targeted to those who want to publish online, but to only those that they want to see it. You can publish images, video,... Continue Reading Posted at 5:26 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	10% of Web consumers watch TV broadcasts online Gary Bourgeault October 27, 2006 In a recent survey, it was concluded that 10% of U.S. Internet users watch television broadcasts online. The major reason give was so they wouldn't have to watch commercials and for its convenience. The survey, by Conference Board Consumer Internet... Continue Reading Posted at 3:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct26	Let's see! I'm going to watch Online TV Channel 102,657 tonight Gary Bourgeault October 26, 2006 It won't be very long before those words become a reality online. There are already a huge amount of lesser-known companies starting their online TV channels and networks. One example of that is Narrowstep, a four-year-old company that offer over... Continue Reading Posted at 8:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Chevrolet launches Viral Campaign Gary Bourgeault October 26, 2006 In an attempt to reach out to the 18 to 25-year old demographic, Chevrolet (GM) has decided to use the Internet, 16 college students and eight Aveo cars, according to the Auto Channel. What they've done is to take two... Continue Reading Posted at 6:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online success helps Meredith Corp. increase profits Gary Bourgeault October 26, 2006 With the newspaper industry still not able to keep up with its loss of offline income, Meredith Corp., publisher of numerous magazines, including the popular Ladies Home Journal, got great results with profits increasing by 15 percent in the third... Continue Reading Posted at 3:39 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct25	A Lesson from AOL's Continual Identity Problem Gary Bourgeault October 25, 2006 AOL, like many online companies, is having trouble differentiating themselves from everyone else. We've talked here before about the growing video market is going to become a commodity soon. Who isn't going to offer movie downloads in the near future. Everyone... Continue Reading Posted at 5:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	COCA-COLA dipping its feet into the viral marketing world Gary Bourgeault October 25, 2006 Hesitant to just step into what it considered an unsure situation when the Diet Coke-Mentos clips went viral, Coke (KO)has now seen the light and have partnered the original creators of the clip, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz. The two... Continue Reading Posted at 3:38 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct24	GM joins Second Life, sets up Motorati Island Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 Tapping into the growing Second Life phenomenon, GM (GM) Pontiac has bought up a 96-acre section of the world to attempt to create a "car culture" on the island. They are attempting to build a community built around car fans. With... Continue Reading Posted at 10:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Moms online are a huge potential market Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 When it comes to moms, TV is no longer the best way to reach them. The potential to reach them through the Internet is growing exponentially, as more moms use the Internet than watch TV. What is the preferred method... Continue Reading Posted at 9:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Local, targeted search surging Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 According to research from comScore, consumers are increasingly looking for much more specific information from their search engine queries. The Internet is increasingly becoming the place of choice to search locally. And when you talk local, you're talking very specific.... Continue Reading Posted at 5:34 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	SEO still needs to be kept simple Gary Bourgeault October 24, 2006 We continually hear about the need for all the fancy flash and interactive elements that seemingly differentiate an online business from others. While this has some value, once people find who you are, it's not effective at all when it... Continue Reading Posted at 2:48 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct23	Was YouTube's strategy intentional? Gary Bourgeault October 23, 2006 When the music industry pretty much sued Napster out of existence (I know they're still here), they had a side issue that they didn't understand: they took one of the best ways of offering music off of the web. They... Continue Reading Posted at 10:56 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Most Internet U.S. households buy Online Products Gary Bourgeault October 23, 2006 A new report from Forrester Research (FORR) shows that of the 80 million U.S. household online, 75% of them have purchased products using the Internet. Of the 75% making purchases, almost 70% of them have purchased an online product within... Continue Reading Posted at 6:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	General Motors to Boost Digital Ad Spending Gary Bourgeault October 23, 2006 In a confirmation that the auto sector is not weakening in its online spend, General Motors (GM) affirmed that it is allocating more of its marketing budget to online strategies. Merril Lynch (MER) analyst Lauren Fine said: "more of GM's... Continue Reading Posted at 4:55 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct22	"Dancing with the Stars" and other hits giving huge boost to studio Websites Gary Bourgeault October 22, 2006 According to comScore Media Metrix, the introduction of the fall TV series has given a huge boost to the studios' Web sites last month. Some of the shows and how they affected the ratings are the "Deal or No Deal"... Continue Reading Posted at 9:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	What will YouTube become? Gary Bourgeault October 22, 2006 With the inclusion of Hollywood studios having a stake in YouTube now, the question has to be asked about what they will now become. Now with Universal Music Group, BMG Music Entertainment, and the Warner Music Group now having stakes... Continue Reading Posted at 5:14 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct21	Are you an ethical spammer of your opt-in email customers? Gary Bourgeault October 21, 2006 If we have opt-in email lists we regularly send messages to, we must understand who our customers are, why they signed up in the first place, and what they want today. In the past, the verification of someone opting into... Continue Reading Posted at 8:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Anheuser-Busch Internet entertainment network Bud.TV already coming under fire Gary Bourgeault October 21, 2006 Anheuser-Busch, the largest beer company in America, is slated to start their new Internet entertainment network "Bud.TV" in February. Several actors including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Kevin Spacey and Vince Vaughn have been in discussions about potentially developing programming for... Continue Reading Posted at 6:34 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Remember to ask your Customers what they want Gary Bourgeault October 21, 2006 A key thing that we need to remind ourselves about all the time when we're in marketing, business, or sales, is to continue mining our existing customers for information. John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing recently talked about this very... Continue Reading Posted at 3:22 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct20	Controversial study shows Web membership sites more valuable to marketers Gary Bourgeault October 20, 2006 An interesting research study be the Online Publishers Association shows that marketers prefer membership and niche websites to portals (Yahoo (YHOO), AOL, MSN (MSFT) and others). Online Media Daily says: "Specifically, the report concludes that OPA visitors are 97% more... Continue Reading Posted at 3:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct19	Joint Economic Committee may try to tax Virtual World Economies Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 Rep. Jim Saxton, head of Joint Economic Committee, confirmed that they are now looking into tax issues in reference to online virtual worlds that include virtual economies. The one good thing is that Saxton, a Republican, believes that it would... Continue Reading Posted at 8:36 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MySpace kicks YouTube's rearend in video streaming Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 In what many are considering a big surprise, YouTube is only in third place in video streaming in the U.S. The Fox (NWS) behemoth MySpace is way out ahead with a total of 1.4 billion streams being watched in the... Continue Reading Posted at 6:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	One area where Opera misses it Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 We've been talking off and on lately about how in the Internet world being first to market in any area guarantees absolutely nothing; contrary to how things have worked in the offline world. Even now a lot of big players... Continue Reading Posted at 6:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Google starting to clobber Yahoo in U.S. Web Ad Spend Gary Bourgeault October 19, 2006 In an extraordinary push, Google (GOOG) has become the first company to reach the level of taking in 25% of the U.S. online ad spend in 2006. When we consider that as recent as 2005, Yahoo (YHOO) and Google were... Continue Reading Posted at 2:52 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct18	Important results from new Email best practices study Gary Bourgeault October 18, 2006 The Internet Retailer website, citing a study by Silverpop, "Email Creative That Works," offers some confirmation and a few surprises on the best way to go about email marketing. One of the key findings of the study, whether it concerns... Continue Reading Posted at 7:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct17	Reuters embeds reporter into Second Life Gary Bourgeault October 17, 2006 While bloggers and independent reporters have been a part of Second Life for awhile, Adam Pasick of Reuters has become the first reporter from old media to be sent to the online virtual world. For those of you who may... Continue Reading Posted at 11:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Search the main Driver behind Automobile Referrals Gary Bourgeault October 17, 2006 A new study by Compete called Search: Driving Awareness and Consideration, shows that search has become the top tool for referrals for car dealers and manufacturer websites. The study concluded that, “In the second quarter of 2006, search generated 58%... Continue Reading Posted at 8:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Yahoo profits drop by 38% for the 3rd Quarter Gary Bourgeault October 17, 2006 With Yahoo's recent warnings concerning a soft ad market for them because of automotive and finance companies using their business less, results are out that they dropped in profits by 38% for the 3rd quarter; they finished with $158 million.... Continue Reading Posted at 5:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct16	European Union trying to regulate video-sharing websites Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 The European Union is attempting to regulate websites by redefining them as broadcasters. The result of the attempted legislation would be to require websites and mobile phone services that include video to conform to standards of broadcasters as determined in... Continue Reading Posted at 11:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Study says Behavioral Ads Convert Better Out of Context Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 In a study conducted by Blue Lithium’s BL Labs, it was found that behaviorally targeted ads do receive a higher rate of hits when it is in the same category of content, but conversion rates that are viewed out of... Continue Reading Posted at 8:45 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Do you know who your best customers are? Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 A mistake a lot of online marketers make is to not develop some type of reward program for their best customers. For some reason it's not one of the things thought of in their strategies. Even if you're marketing to... Continue Reading Posted at 6:12 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why Paris Hilton works as a brand Gary Bourgeault October 16, 2006 Whether you love Paris Hilton or hate her; as a brand, she works. There has been a secret that many people that are successful in marketing have understood and known for years, that once is understand, will bring the success... Continue Reading Posted at 3:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct15	Will new audio-signature technology ruin YouTube? Gary Bourgeault October 15, 2006 The Associated Press reported this week that the deals YouTube made with the major recording companies (Warner Music Group, Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment) include conditions that well could bring the viral video era to a... Continue Reading Posted at 4:08 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct14	Reputation the key to Email Delivery Gary Bourgeault October 14, 2006 In a striking study by Return Path, contrary to what most email marketers think, 77.3 percent of email delivery issues are related to reputation and not to content. George Bilbrey, VP and general manager of Return Path's Delivery Assurance division... Continue Reading Posted at 3:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct13	Online Retail Companies Making Huge Email Mistakes Gary Bourgeault October 13, 2006 A survey by EmailDataSource.com found that out of 355 retail websites, a large number of them have failed tremendously in managing and delivering their email campaigns. The greatest failure has been in responding to email signups themselves. An amazing 33%... Continue Reading Posted at 8:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online Advertising should be great for Q3 Gary Bourgeault October 13, 2006 With quarterly earnings about to be reported by major Internet media and advertising companies, analysts are saying that growth should continue to be strong. There has been a considerable amount of chatter because of Yahoo's recent disclosure that they were... Continue Reading Posted at 5:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct12	It's about the community being the carrier Gary Bourgeault October 12, 2006 An interesting thing when considering viral marketing, is that many times it is the virus part of the process that is focused on; this is a mistake. For example, the type of message that was sent to cause something to... Continue Reading Posted at 5:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct11	Viral is how deep you go; not how wide Gary Bourgeault October 11, 2006 Eric Kintz had a conversation recently with Bernardo Huberman, Senior HP Fellow and Director of the Information Dynamics Lab at Hewlett-Packard Labs. He is an expert in the area of the dynamics of viral marketing. Kintz adds concerning Huberman and... Continue Reading Posted at 9:59 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why did Google's Eric Schmidt meet with News Corp. Execs? Gary Bourgeault October 11, 2006 With the YouTube acquisition fresh under his belt, Googles' CEO Eric Schmidt almost immediately got together with News Corp. (NWS)executives to try to smooth over any problems that might have come about from the deal. The meeting included Rupert Murdoch... Continue Reading Posted at 7:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why you want fans and not just eyeballs Gary Bourgeault October 11, 2006 One time in an unrelated field, a mentor mentioned to me something that has stuck with me throughout the years. He said, "Once people get a piece of you, they want all of you." He was referring to those that... Continue Reading Posted at 5:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct10	Jury awards $11.3M over Internet posts Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 We all may need to be more careful in what we say online. A Florida woman was awarded $11.3 million for defamation against a Louisiana woman who said on the Internet that she was a "crook," a "con artist" and... Continue Reading Posted at 11:13 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Understanding the forces that build an online community Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 Here's an interesting thought to consider: The more someone is an individual, the more they want to be part of a group. Have you ever thought of that? Think Harley Davidson. Who would want to buy a cool motorcycle, customize... Continue Reading Posted at 9:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Is "engagement" really a myth? Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 Steve Rubel has a great article, writing for Ad Age, in commenting on the myth of "engagement." He asks the questions: Can anyone really define what "engagement" means? Have you seen it? He continues by saying "I Googled 'engagement marketing'... Continue Reading Posted at 8:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The offline world and online world are becoming one Gary Bourgeault October 10, 2006 The longer the Internet is around, the more it mimics the real world. This is the major reason why online community has always been part of the experience; the tools are simply here now to make it easier to interact.... Continue Reading Posted at 5:01 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 9	Tips on how to decrease online shopping cart abandonment Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 The shopping cart abandonment by eshoppers is getting so high that its having a huge impact on whether an online business is successful or not. The average for ecommerce sites is a whopping 59.8% abandonment rate, according to Marketing Sherpa.... Continue Reading Posted at 10:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Mark Cuban on Niche Marketing and Newspaper Web sites Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 At the recent Online News Association conference, Mark Cuban threw around his thoughts about niche marketing as it related to newspaper Web sites. Here's what he said: "Every high school talent show and every high school theatrical performance should be... Continue Reading Posted at 8:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Online holiday shopping to skyrocket Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 The Performics 50, an index of online search advertising, projects that online sales for the fourth quarter of 2006 will grow by over 50% over last year. "Experienced (search engine marketing) and program managers are harnessing the full value of... Continue Reading Posted at 8:17 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Why a Niche is the Marketing Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 As we go deeper into the secrets of a niche being the marketing, we'll look at some examples of businesses that represent that. I'll use one that I observe daily because my wife is one of the "true believers" of... Continue Reading Posted at 3:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Going deeper into the explosive secrets of Niche Marketing Gary Bourgeault October 9, 2006 There is one thing that the majority of people promoting or even involved with niche markets don't really know: Having the niche is the marketing. Now think slowly and clearly about what I just said. The niche itself is not... Continue Reading Posted at 12:16 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 8	Why not Produce your own Internet Niche TV Channel? Gary Bourgeault October 8, 2006 The one thing that will probably explode in the near future is the Internet becoming the biggest TV studio and platform in the world. It may already have arrived there. What does that mean to you and your online strategy?... Continue Reading Posted at 8:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	The final ingredient in the foundation for writing great ad copy Gary Bourgeault October 8, 2006 In talking about direct response marketing, we've looked at two pieces of the foundational puzzle that are required in order to even get into the marketing game. We've glanced at having an insatiable curiosity and then an imagination that puts... Continue Reading Posted at 4:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Obsess on the needs of the people you serve Gary Bourgeault October 8, 2006 Marketing isn't as complicated as many make it out to be. Those that are having the most trouble at this time are those that market to the masses. Now there they do have a problem as they must find ways... Continue Reading Posted at 2:37 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 7	A secret to creating products and services Gary Bourgeault October 7, 2006 Several thousand years ago a wise man revealed that there is "nothing new under the sun." If that was true back then, I would say it's also true today. What we may think of as new today really isn't. The names... Continue Reading Posted at 7:09 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Imagination: A key to direct marketing success! Gary Bourgeault October 7, 2006 We've talked about the importance that curiosity plays in direct response advertising; while it is an essential element to advertising success, it's not the only component to look at. What curiosity ultimately leads to is your imagination. When you go... Continue Reading Posted at 6:24 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Looking at Niche Marketing from another angle Gary Bourgeault October 7, 2006 In reading a press release the other day, it made me realize that a lot of companies aren't really getting what it means to develop a niche market. The release started real good with describing where the direction of the... Continue Reading Posted at 5:16 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 6	What major thing ad agencies want when marketing online Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 What is the No. 1 issue that advertising agencies demand on a website they're considering marketing on? Insurance! Insurance that when they put their brand up there, there won't be any surprises and repercussions to it. This is something that... Continue Reading Posted at 11:03 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	MySpace users are getting older! Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 The social-networking landscape is changing as users of the service continue to grow in average age. Citing a comScore Media Metrix analysis of MySpace, Online Media Daily said they found that only 30 percent of current users are under the... Continue Reading Posted at 10:06 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Google said to have made $1.6 Billion offer for YouTube Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 A report in the New York Times says that Google (GOOG) has entered serious talks into acquiring YouTube. According to sources involved in the negotiations, the offer is for $1.6 billion in cash and stock. This is one of a... Continue Reading Posted at 5:27 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Become an information voyeur Gary Bourgeault October 6, 2006 A lack that many online marketers have is in the direct response advertising discipline. Success in any business has to do with getting people to take an action that you want. Direct response advertising is the means to get them... Continue Reading Posted at 3:49 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 5	Surprise! Surprise! Holiday eshopping earlier than ever Gary Bourgeault October 5, 2006 Online retailers are starting their promotions earlier this year, says AXcess News, citing a survey by BizRate. A full 38.5% of are starting promotions earlier, with a huge 62.5% asserting they are beginning before November 4th. One of the reasons... Continue Reading Posted at 7:22 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Study says 20% of online advertisers going viral this year Gary Bourgeault October 5, 2006 Citing a report by Jupiter Research, the Internet Retailer reported that 20% of online advertisers have plans to try viral marketing on social-networking sites this year. With 69% of people visiting social networking sites saying they don't trust product information... Continue Reading Posted at 5:11 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Oct 4

Devoted to online marketing, viral marketing, and web marketing