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Tag: industry
2009-01-08 00:01:56| paidContent.org
In the wake of the financial meltdown, analysts slashed their 2009 forecasts for ad spending on "experimental" mediumsincluding campaigns in and around video games. But execs at the GamePower Conference @ CES said they're actually banking on an increase in ad spending this year, and here's their argument: Gamers like ad-supported content: Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) launched its new Xbox Experience in mid-November, and since then, two of the most downloaded items have been backed by ads: Doritos' Dash of Destruction game, (which has amassed almost a million downloads) and The Guild, a Sprint-sponsored series focused on online gamers. Success metrics go beyond just ratings points or impressions: While ratings of SpikeTV's Friday night game show GTTV are "solid," Spike's Geoff Keighley, executive of game publisher relations, says gamers are watching the show on the Web, downloading it on iTunes, and even paying $3 an episode for it through the Xbox Live marketplaceand that's with the regular TV spots or sponsorship ads included. "They can see the show on TV for free, and yet they pay to get it on their console," he said. That adds up to more revenue for SpikeTV, but also more face time with their target audience for advertisers. Other options for reaching the young male demo are slim: "If [advertisers] are targeting that core gamer market of 18-to-24 or 18-to-34 year-old males, it's hard to access them in other spaces," said Michael Herst, EA's director of entertainment development and programming. Cisco Systems (NSDQ: CSCO), for example, is a prime sponsor of MTV Games' Rock Band 2. That sponsorship includes a call to action on the game box (telling gamers to check out a special Rock Band 2/Cisco documentary), and the series is showcased on both the game's and Cisco's websites.
2009-01-07 00:20:36| paidContent.org
paidContent has learned that Kevin Conroy is leaving his post as AOL's EVP, products, and heading to Spanish-language TV broadcaster Univision as president of interactive media. Before coming to AOL (NYSE: TWX) in 2001 to build AOL Music, Conroy was CMO for new technology at BMG Entertainment, where he worked for eight years. Conroy took on additional duties at AOL last April, when John Burbank departed as CMO less than a year after arriving at AOL. A memo signed by Randy Falco, AOL's chairman and CEO, praised his work on developing iPhone apps for the company and working on the CBS Radio partnership this past summer. No replacement has been announced, though one is expected by tomorrow. Related Industry Moves: AOL CMO Burbank Defects To The Nielsen Company Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.
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2009-01-05 01:44:38| Advertising Age - Homepage
DETROIT (AdAge.com) -- The hangover that walloped the U.S. auto industry in 2008 is still hanging on this New Year, which will be marked by even tighter ad budgets with the biggest expenditures reserved for crucial model launches.
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2009-01-04 01:05:19| Guardian Unlimited Business - more business news
For the fashion industry, it was a Lehman Brothers moment. Chanel's decision to shed 200 staff last week was the first serious tremor from the global financial crisis to hit the luxury goods industry. The company had been seen as one of the most successful brands in this sector.Now the job losses, thought to represent nearly 10% of Chanel's workforce, have raised fears for the industry worldwide. The news comes a week after Chanel announced it was shelving a touring art exhibition designed by the architect Zaha Hadid that was due in London this year. The exhibition, the Chanel Mobile Art Pavilion, attracted controversy in New York where Chanel was reported to have paid $400,000 plus an undisclosed charitable donation to pitch the structure in Central Park."Considering the current economic crisis, we decided it was best to stop the project," a Chanel spokesperson said. "We will be concentrating on strategic growth investments."Creative director Karl Lagerfeld remains bullish. Chanel is a privately run company that does not disclose financial figures but is not seen as being in danger. "I see it like a horrible but healthy thing," Lagerfeld said. "It was too rotten anyway so it had to be cleaned up. It may be a difficult moment for a lot of people, but in the end it was needed, because it was really going too far."Chanel is one of the most profitable and extravagant of the luxury houses, founded on the rigid principles of Coco Chanel, who pioneered its famous tweed jackets, quilted bags and profitable fragrances, including Chanel No 5. Its fashion shows had previously been seen as bold displays of power. For spring/summer 2009, Chanel re-created the entire front of its famous Rue Cambon store in Paris for a 15-minute show - the same store from which 16 members of staff are said to have been laid off.Chanel had benefited from the boom by quietly increasing the price of its bags in recent years with apparently no adverse effect on sales. Lagerfeld believes this gives the brand a cushion against any impending financial difficulties. "The business in the past three years increased so much every year," he said, "that if they [the bags] are suddenly 25% less, that is exactly the point we were three years ago - we weren't poor then."The fashion industry has been in pessimistic mood since major designers began discounting heavily before the traditional Christmas sales, a sign that the economic crisis was affecting consumer confidence. In November, New York designer Marc Jacobs had marked down his autumn/winter range by 40%, and by December he had cancelled his Christmas party, previously an event of notorious extravagance with staff flown to New York from all around the world. Last year Jacobs famously arrived at his Arabian Nights-themed party dressed in a giant camel's toe. The outfit he would have worn for his 2008 party, themed Rock and Roll Circus, has not been revealed.Jacobs's discounting was soon copied by most high-end stores in Manhattan, while in London Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Liberty all discounted heavily before their usual sales, with online vouchers and reductions for store-card holders of up to 50%.Louis Vuitton, another bastion of the luxury goods industry, has shelved plans for a new store in Tokyo, one of its key markets. Donna Karan cancelled plans to shoot a spring advertising campaign, opting for catwalk pictures instead. Shares in LVMH, parent company of Louis Vuitton and Donna Karan as well as Christian Dior and Givenchy, have fallen by nearly 50%, from €82.10 (£78.54) at the beginning of last year to €48.21 on Friday.The industry now fears the knock-on effect of poor sales figures as it enters one of the most crucial periods of the year, with two months of fashion shows that are vastly expensive for the brands that stage the collections, the stores and journalists who travel to them.Many brands have announced cutbacks, with Marni, Fendi and Valentino all opting out of the next menswear shows, and US department stores such as Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus admitting they would be skipping the Paris couture shows. Vera Wang has already announced that her show at the New York womenswear collections in February would be scaled down, while British brand Temperley will opt for a presentation in Manhattan. Other cuts are expected to follow."No one knows how bad it's going to get," said Katie Grand, seen as the most influential British stylist, who next month launches a new magazine called Love for Condé Nast. "It's a very good excuse to step back and think, do we really need a men's show, do we really need to spend a million euros on a fashion show, is that the way to represent yourself at the moment or could that money be better spent?"Grand, who helped launch the careers of models such as Agyness Deyn and designers such as Giles Deacon, and is a consultant for Louis Vuitton and Loewe, said fashion didn't face as big a challenge as other ailing sectors. "It's not the same as the disaster in the music industry, where there's been a complete change in technology. There is that thing with fashion where women can excuse spending vast amounts of money on handbags because they can convince themselves that it's an investment."Grand cites brands such as Hermès, which posted sales rises of 14.2% in the first three quarters of 2008. "If you have a Hermès handbag, if times get tough you can always sell them," she says. "That's how people justify it to themselves."Troubles in the luxury goods industry are causing concern for London's designers, who rely on creative influence rather than financial clout. "Designers have to hold their nerve and carry on doing what they're doing," says Lulu Kennedy of Fashion East, whose biannual shows at London Fashion Week launched now globally recognised designers such as Henry Holland, Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab and Richard Nicholl. "If they have a style they should just stay true to it. People will buy it if they still love it."Kennedy has already noticed cut-backs at some brands. "From talking to the designers they're having to look at their pricing and manufacturing," she says. "They can't carry on regardless. In practical terms they are having to cut back on luxurious fabrics, bargain harder with their suppliers and slightly mix it up with other cheaper stuff."Brands are also altering their patterns to reduce the price tag. "I was round at a designers and they were taking some details out of a sample they were about to send to production," Kennedy says. "They took out some pleats, didn't use double French seams and changed the fabric. There was definitely some scaling back."Some designers, however, are pushing ahead with plans for expansion, like London-based designer Gareth Pugh, favoured by Beyoncé and Kylie Minogue, who is staging his first menswear show in Paris later this month. Giorgio Armani is pushing ahead with plans to launch a new flagship store on Fifth Avenue during New York fashion week, which he called "an act of faith toward the Americans and Fifth Avenue shoppers". And Louis Vuitton hopes to reap the benefits of the alleged $10m fee it paid Madonna to star in its new advertising campaign. It certainly needs to: the shoes featured in the images are said to cost around €5,000 (£4,800).The hope within the fashion industry is that, no matter how difficult the next few months, those with genuine talent will be able to remain in business. "It is an oversaturated market," said Kennedy. "Hopefully good, stylish, pioneering designers will find a way to survive. But it is tough out there, it really, really is."FashionRecessionRetail industryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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2008-12-30 16:40:02| Cablecaster Headlines
A new survey on the Canadian interactive media industry will set the stage for important industry hearings on the n... [Full Story]
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