McDonald's; Hip, Slick and Cool

McDonald's Marketing Chief
McDonald's next generationMarketing chief Mary Dillon has introduced the once-conventional fast-food giant to YouTube, podcastsJOHN SCHMELTZERPublished March 25, 2007
In a little more than 18 months, Mary Dillon, athlete, marathoner and the mother of four children, has taken the world's largest hamburger chain to venues its founder Ray Kroc could not have imagined.While Dillon, 45, who was named executive vice president and global chief marketing officer of McDonald's Corp. in September 2005, hasn't yet run a guerrilla marketing campaign, she has introduced the button-down company to YouTube, Webisodes (short Web-based episodes), cell-phone text messaging in Japan and podcasts, all places where its young adult and "forever young" customers now are found.
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Bally's Bye, Bye?

As with many of the gym's; they will recover or be purchased. What happened here-poor management? No telling...Churn perhaps, and it is a great gym just not so good managment.

Bally warns of bankruptcy; stock plungesBy James P. MillerTribune staff reporterPublished March 16 2007, 11:32 AM CDT

"Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. shares lost more than half their value Friday morning, in the wake of the Chicago health club operator's Thursday evening warning that it may be obliged to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection unless it can restructure its debt.In late-morning New York Stock Exchange trading, Bally shares were down $1.12, or 56 percent, to 87 cents. "
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Is Google Too Powerful? (Go Big or Go Home!)

Go big or go home; Business Week reaches into the stomachs of Yahoo, and the little guy-at least compared to Google. Google is smart, elastic, cohesive and not scared. Is Google too powerful? Is there not a better question to ask-How did they do it? Why are they so big? Google provides a platform other corporations can learn from. How to be big!

Is Google Too Powerful?
As the Web giant tears through media, software, and telecom, rivals fear its growing influence. Now they're fighting back

"It's the year 2014, and Googlezon, a fearsomely powerful combination of search engine Google Inc. (GOOG ) and online store Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN ), has crushed traditional media to bits. Taking its place is the computer-generated Evolving Personalized Information Construct—an online package of news, entertainment, blogs, and services drawn from all the world's up-to-the-minute knowledge and customized to match your preferences. And it's all collected, packaged, and controlled by Googlezon."
Google

Verizon FiOS

Time Warner get ready!

Verizon FiOS to Launch D.C. Local TV News Channel
Katy Bachman
MARCH 29, 2007 -

"In a nod to local cable news channels, Verizon FiOS' will launch Friday its first local TV news channel in the suburban Washington, D.C. area. Called FiOS1, the channel will serve up local weather, traffic, news, sports and community features. "

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Burt's Bees: Smart

A company that is smart in its use of media, sampling and POP advertising. Burt's places thier products in exactly the right places in every store I visit-it is amazing, maybe I just like the products and the niche they have captured. The product is steller and so are thier profits. This is a brand that I am proud of!

Burt's Bees Kicks Off Tour
March 26, 2007
By Kathleen Sampey

In January, Durham, N.C.-based Burt's Bees hired Interpublic Group's The Martin Agency after a review.
"NEW YORK It hasn't been a big media spender since its 1989 inception, but Burt's Bees has found an effective way to engage customers the old-fashioned way: face to face.
Last Friday, the maker of natural skin-care products kicked off the "Burt's Bees Bee-utify Your World Tour," the second such undertaking in two years. Working with the AMP Agency, a unit of Alloy Media + Marketing, the company constructed a giant mobile "hive" that is traveling to different events in 15 U.S. cities, where prospective consumers can sample the client's products through on-site hand massages and skin-care consultations. "

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Can Dell Hang in There?

From the News & Observer
By Jonathan B. Cox, Staff Writer
DURHAM — Michael Dell is preparing his workforce for change as the computer company he founded struggles to sharpen its competitive edge.
He told Duke University students today that the company is developing new products, tuning its organization and finding new ways to sell PCs and other gadgets. Dell spoke at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

“We’re in the midst of a transformation of our company,” Dell said. “There’s a sense of urgency that’s very high. ... We’re really taking a fresh look at the whole business. A lot of things are going right, but this is a chance to reinvent” parts of the business.

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Delray Beach, Good Times

South Florida is not for everyone, so try Delray Beach; a wonderful place to live and visit, if I say so myself. Of course; I lived in Delray for over 7 years and enjoyed the ruthless business practices of the shady 19 year old commodities broker. The food and atmosphere remind me of a carefree 6 year old, and maybe thats why Delray was voted an All American City! The sun shines and brings love to your heart and an overall feeling of wellbeing. The food, lots of places to go; one of my favorites is Gatsby's in Boca.

Delray's Atlantic Avenue nightlife is giving Clematis and Las Olas a run for their money

"If South Florida has a Restaurant Row, it's in downtown Delray Beach. By car, it's near impossible to count the restaurants on Atlantic Avenue between Swinton and the ocean, but one morning a few weeks ago, I walked east from Swinton. I counted 32 restaurants.
And that doesn't count the restaurants I spied up and down the avenues or the half-dozen restaurants in the Pineapple Grove section of downtown or the restaurants situated far away from the city center. Burgers or foie gras? Sushi or fondue? Thai or pub food? French or Florida seafood? "

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Gatsby's

GSK Faces Court Case for False Advertising

Stay alert for FDA restrictions or bills on pharma advertising.


March 27 2007 at 12:48AM

"Wellington - Global drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline faces a court case on Tuesday for misleading advertising after two 14-year-olds found its popular blackcurrant drink Ribena contained almost no vitamin C. High school students Anna Devathasan and Jenny Suo tested the children's drink against advertising claims that "the blackcurrants in Ribena have four times the vitamin C of oranges" in 2004.

Instead, the two found the syrup-based drink contained almost no trace of vitamin C, and one commercial orange juice brand contained almost four times more than Ribena. "


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St Barth Rocking

Here is a post from St Barth News, an all inclusive and dynamite blog on St Barth and surrounding areas. This is direct first hand information.....from the SOURCE.

"The Evan Goodrow Band is playing at Bêtes de L’Azailes, a bar and restaurant on the harbor in Gustavia, from March 5 through March 31. The music starts at 9:00 pm and there is no cover charge. The band features Evan Goodrow, whose formal training was as a jazz guitarist; Rick Oneal, on bass guitar, vocals and cowbell, who has opened for such bands as Kansas, Jefferson Starship, B.B. King, Etta James, George Thorogood, Little Feat and Bonnie Raitt; Carl Benevides on saxophone, vocals and percussion, who directs jazz ensembles, concert and marching bands and serves as a Director on the Executive Board of the New Hampshire Music Educator’s Association when not touring with the band; and Phil Antoniades on drums and percussion. They describe their music as “funked-up street jazz and blues-tinged soul.” Listen to some sound clips on their web site at Evan Goodrow Band.

Sell Out, Smart NBC

More on this later......

A Division of NBC Buys Out One of Its Harshest Online Critics

By MARIA ASPAN
Published: March 19, 2007
"In a review of “Top Design,” the reality show on Bravo Networks, a staff writer for the Web site Televisionwithoutpity.com mused that in the future, the show would be “just another filthy memory whose outcome I’ve long since forgotten.”

He can thank his new employers for the memories. Bravo, a division of NBC Universal, announced its acquisition of Television Without Pity on Tuesday. The television review Web site joins the network’s other online outlets, including the broadband channels BrilliantButCancelled.com, OUTzoneTV.com and getTRIO.com.

Television Without Pity, which provides reviews and commentary on television shows ranging from “American Idol” to “Ugly Betty,” has become well known in the television industry and the online community for its sharp, witty reviews. "

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Third Screen and Others....

"OLD media lagged behind in the race to go online, in part because the prospects for advertising — traditionally the major revenue source for newspapers, magazines and television — seemed unclear on the Internet. Then, online advertising took off, and the old media are still playing catch-up."

Ah, Europe and Asia are always ahead of the states in advertising technology; , just look at digital sigange. So why is america so conservative? The bomb scare in Boston, that was wonderful! Turner Brothers and Interference (thier agency for this project) pieced together a fantastic guerrilla marketing campaign in one city, that obtained national coverage. Did it pay of? Here is an article published in the NY Times this morning about a survey conducted by TNS Media Intelligence on mobile internet use and mobile advertising. I tend to agree that some of these published survey's or research papers are plain ole marketing materials. They do prepare us, educate us, read well, continue to be interesting, and of course market brands, ideas, and the future.

"Now, with the next iteration of the Internet, the mobile Web, spreading around the world, publishers and other content providers are trying to avoid coming in late on another advertising bonanza. Last week in London, the Online Publishers Association released a study showing that mobile Internet use was on the rise, as was acceptance of mobile advertising...."

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