Budgets lag interest in digital marketing: CMA, Marketing study

http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/media/article.jsp?content=20081028_175104_22104

Senior managers are very interested in digital marketing even if they aren’t committing much of their budget toward it, reports a new study conducted by Ipsos Reid for the Canadian Marketing Association, released in advance of the CMA and Marketing’s Digital Marketing Conference this week.

The research revealed that marketers are broadening their priorities from traditional, mass vehicles, like television, to include more targeted Internet and digital marketing tactics.

While digital currently accounts for only 8% of total marketing spend, almost two thirds (65%) of the marketers surveyed strongly agreed that their “senior management is very interested in digital marketing,” and 39% expect spending on TV to decrease over the next two years.

In-store Displays Are More Effective Than Price Cuts

Price discounting is seemingly the one sure thing in an economic downturn, but research by WPP Group shopper-marketing agency OgilvyAction indicates it's still not as effective a sales tool as that old stalwart: in-store displays.

Specifically, OgilvyAction's research from the spring indicates that 29% of U.S. shoppers impulsively buy from categories they didn't plan to when they entered the store. Of that group, 24% said they were influenced by secondary displays (away from the product's usual aisle), 18% by in-store demonstrations, and only 17% by price promotion.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=132767

Continental Promotion Group Enters Chapter 11; Clients to Cover Rebate Checks

http://promomagazine.com/news/continental-promotion-bankruptcy-1124/
Continental Promotion Group, Inc., one of the country’s largest rebate-processing companies, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing liquidity problems.

Meanwhile, the firm apparently is reducing headcount. The court papers state that it had 242 employees prior to the petition, and that it would have 61 afterward. It was not clear at deadline whether these layoffs have occurred.

A Downturn Is Just the Market's Way of Opening Doors

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=132758
Rob Master, director-North American media for Unilever, also noted that keeping up brand awareness through a recession is vital. "Brands matter more than ever in tough times. Consumers can't afford to take a risk when buying something," and they want to be reassured that they are making the best choice for their dollar.

Report: Web Still Growing Despite Recession

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/metrics/e3i6158980e36306f736860a288a1d4b93f

Online ad spending approached $5.9 billion during the third quarter, an increase of 11 percent versus the same quarter in 2007 and up 2 percent versus Q2 of this year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers

Zoom Media has just announced its acquisition of Smart One Media's digital signage assets

Zoom Media currently has 700 digital screens in its sport and resto-bar networks and plans to increase screen inventory in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City, where it plans to install at least 100 digital screens over the next three to six months.
http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20081121/zoom.html

WPP Digital acquires stake in Proclivity Systems

http://www.wpp.com/wpp/investor/financialnews/default.htm?guid=%7b0fe94350-6fcf-4cee-ac7d-d247505ee8e0%7d

WPP Digital announces that it has acquired a minority stake in Proclivity Systems ("Proclivity"), the developer of a platform that provides predictive insight into online shopping and purchasing behavior for advanced target marketing and merchandising. Proclivity has its headquarters in New York City and secured US$5.5 million in Series B funding. WPP joins lead investor Fung Capital USA Investments and the Pilot Group. This investment continues WPP's strategy of investing in more targeted and measurable forms of advertising and strengthening its capabilities in digital media technologies.

Transcontinental gains Redwood Custom Communications

http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20081118/transcontinental.html

Montreal-based Transcontinental has acquired Toronto-based custom publisher Redwood Custom Communications, adding to its newly established Marketing Communications Sector.

Redwood offers data sciences, research and measurement, premedia tools, database marketing, variable printing and photo studio tools, among other features.

François Olivier, president and chief executive officer at Transcontinental, says his company's main goal is to aid customers in reaching and retaining their target audiences, and that Redwood is at the frontier between traditional publishing and direct marketing.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2008/18/c9634.html

Key clients of Redwood Custom Communications include Aeroplan, CanadianAutomobile Association (CAA), Home Depot, Mazda, Procter & Gamble, Sears andSobeys. Redwood's team of 130 employees will remain under the leadership ofEric Schneider, Chief Executive Officer, Redwood Custom Communications, whowill stay on as an equity partner.

Transcontinental paid cash for the 75 per cent of Redwood that was owned by U.S. communications giant Omnicom. Redwood CEO Eric Schneider, who owns 25 per cent, remains an equity partner.

Publicis Puts Another BRIC In Its Wall: Acquires Brazil's Tribal, Expands Digitas Footprint

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.san&s=95066&Nid=49531&p=296990

Paris-based global ad giant Publicis Groupe this morning announced the acquisition of one of the leading digital agencies in a key emerging market - Sao Paulo, Brazil-based Tribal - which will become part of the burgeoning global network of Publicis' Digitas unit.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the companies said that Tribal would retain its brand identity in Brazil, one of the fastest growing ad markets for both digital and traditional media, and that it would continue to be managed by its existing team, including CEO Pierre Mantovani and Chief Creative Officer Renato Fabri, who will report to François de La Villardière, CEO of Digitas Latin America.

Citi: Online Ad Market Fading Fast

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.san&s=94916&Nid=49489&p=296990

Display advertising is declining faster than expected and marketers are holding back on spending in 2009 because of growing economic uncertainty, according to a new report by Citi Internet analyst Mark Mahaney.

Based on insights gained from last Friday's AdRevenue 08 conference in San Francisco, Mahaney suggested that the online ad market is in worse shape than previously imagined.
"October spending in display saw a sharp deceleration from September as advertisers continue to worry about the macro environment," he wrote. "Premium, guaranteed advertising, especially, has been highly impacted across all verticals."

A separate analysis by TechCrunch of online ad revenue of the top four Web companies--Yahoo, Google, AOL and Microsoft--showed only 0.6% growth in the third quarter, down from 12.7% growth in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Citi only last week revised its 2008 Internet ad forecast downward from 16.1% to 11.4%, and its 2009 outlook from 14.1% to 5.8%. Anecdotal information picked up at the AdRevenue conference suggests that estimates could be lowered again in the coming months.

On the bright side, ad budgets are shifting from traditional media (mainly print and radio) to performance-based display ads, ad exchanges and search advertising. Citi predicts ad exchanges and ad networks to benefit from that trend into next year. Even so, the report noted that publishers complain about too many ad networks claiming to do similar things.

"As such, there appears to be a flight to quality and to vertical ad networks, especially as marketing budgets become constricted in the current macro environment," it stated. With more than 300 ad networks in operation, industry observers are already projecting that the downturn will force the category to contract.

Transactional e-mail seen as powerful marketing tool

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081117/FREE/811179971/1078/newsletter011

A new study by JupiterResearch finds that transactional e-mail—notifications of completed online orders or service-related messages, for example—can drive new revenue by including product offers or advertisements.

Among e-mail marketers surveyed for the JupiterResearch E-mail Marketing Forecast, 60% reported they increased sales by including offers or ads in their transactional e-mail. In addition, about half the respondents said that receiving such marketing messages increased brand recognition and satisfaction with the company.

Digital Ad Spend Up At The Expense of Traditional

According to a new Epsilon CMO Survey, Chief Marketing Officers at many of the biggest brands in the nation are seeing a major shift in the marketing landscape. 63% of the 175 marketing executives surveyed see an increase in their spending on interactive/digital marketing while 59% report a decrease in traditional marketing spend.

65% of CMOs say that the money spent on advertising as a whole will decrease due to the current economy. In contrast, 94% of CMOs and marketing executives agreed with the statement, 'A tough economic period is precisely the time when marketing plays a key role.'

When asked how their firm determines their target market for each channel:
50% stated that they use data driven marketing techniques
31% of respondents agreed that they use sophisticated modeling tools to analyze existing customer behavioral, preference and demographic data
19% said that they analyze past purchase behavior
28% said they made rough estimates based on past experience

http://www.epsilon.com/epsilonstatic/media/press/2008/09/08_cmo.html

Point.360 Acquires the Assets of Video Box Studios, Inc.

Point.360 , a leading provider of integrated media management services, announced that it had acquired the assets of Video Box Studios, Inc. Video Box is a premier provider of 3D animation, visual effects, motion design and digital finishing services. Haig S. Bagerdjian, the Company's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said: "Video Box provides Point.360 with added capabilities to meet our customers' needs for 3D and visual effects. The widely respected Video Box team will be located in our West Los Angeles facility to expand our presence in that important market. We expect Video Box to add about $1.5 million in revenues in the first twelve months."

http://www.shootonline.com/go/index.php?name=Release&op=view&id=rs-web2-675889-1226371192-2

GPJ Acquires JUXT Interactive and MobilePromote

http://promomagazine.com/news/1111-gpj-acquires-juxt/

Experience marketing agency George P. Johnson has acquired online marketing agency JUXT Interactive and mobile device platform MobilePromote, underscoring the growing convergence of live events and digital marketing.

Newport Beach, CA-based Juxt has created work for clients including Toyota, BMW, Coca-Cola and Adobe. Founded in 1998, the firm is best known for its Web design and branding services. It has recently added social marketing credentials, creating a Facebook app for the 2009 Toyota Corolla and a MySpace page for Cherry Coke, among other projects.

MobilePromote meanwhile, offers a software platform that can integrate SMS and MMS messaging with live conferences and other events. At the 2008 Oracle OpenWorld event in San Francisco, its system was used to provide schedule updates to 9,000 attendees and to conduct session evaluations, according to GPJ.

http://www.clickz.com/3631645

Razorfish acquires agency in Spain

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081103/FREE/811039997/1078/newsletter011

Digital marketing agency Razorfish announced the acquisition of Wysiwyg, a digital ad agency based in Madrid.

Marketers say social media, customer engagement and analytics are top trends for 2009

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081112/FREE/811129991/1087/newsletter011

Understanding and engaging customers, using new media such as social networks and digging deeper into data are some of the top trends for 2009, said a panel of top marketers at BtoB’s Best Luncheon Tuesday.

Top marketers from companies including American Express Co., Eastman Kodak Co., IBM Corp., Motorola Corp., Oracle Corp. and Siemens Corp. discussed strategies they will use to drive marketing next year in a tough economy.

Gannett acquires social media provider Ripple6

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081114/FREE/811149992/1001/newsletter011

News company Gannett Co. has acquired Ripple6, a provider of social media platforms for customer engagement and social marketing.

WPP Execs Offer Tips on Weathering the Recession

http://adage.com/article?article_id=132538

Reassessing the structure of one's loyalty programs is also something Rob Norman, global CEO Group M Interaction believes marketers need to do. He said defining loyalty in tiers based on who spends the most is not the approach to be taking during a recession.

One thing Marylee Sachs, global director of consumer marketing, Hill and Knowlton said she would like to see her clients do more of is cut back on simply experimenting in the online space and instead make the commitment and "put a truly significant spend behind their efforts."

John Quelch, Harvard Business School professor and WPP Group board member said it's also a good time for marketers to "drain the swamp" and get rid of all the marginal products and brand managers who aren't cutting it. He added that, for some marketers, it might also be a good time to introduce value brands to protect their premium products.

WPP to swap assets with The Nielsen Co.

WPP said it's going to swap assets with The Nielsen Co. Nielsen will buy the 50% of AGBNielsen Media Research, the international television media measurement firm, that it doesn't already own from WPP. In return, Nielsen will give WPP: SRDS, a leading provider of media rates and data; PERQ/HCI, which provides a range of services to give insights into media planning, trading and post campaign effectiveness in the field of healthcare; and Nielsen's 11% share in IBOPE PDM, IBOPE LA and IMI.Com, which are part of the IBOPE Group, a Latin American multinational firm specializing in media, market and opinion research. WPP already holds a 31% stake in IBOPE

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7b6008C48A-3282-4E74-B617-307AAA0AC8A4%7d&siteid=yhoof2

Japan's Dentsu to buy U.S. advertising firm

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINT18080820081112?rpc=44

Dentsu Inc (4324.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Japan's biggest advertising firm, is in talks to acquire McGarry Bowen, one of the largest independent advertising companies in New York, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Dentsu has long struggled to increase its presence in the U.S. market. The company, although ranked the world's fifth-biggest, earns most of revenues in Japan and has been trying to boost business outside its slowing domestic market.

In buying McGarry Bowen, Dentsu would be acquiring an agency with close ties to big marketers, said the WSJ. McGarry Bowen, with about $57 million in revenue last year, counts Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and J.P. Morgan Chase among its clients, said the report.

Dentsu, which bought San Francisco-based digital and design firm Attik last year, is looking to get about 30 percent of its revenue from North America by 2010 via organic growth and acquisitions, said the Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Acxiom(R) Acquires Quinetix to Further Enhance Services Related to Customer Growth, Retention and Pricing Optimization

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AcxiomR-Acquires-Quinetix-to-bw-13592270.html

Acxiom® Corporation (Nasdaq: ACXM - News), a global leader in interactive marketing services, today announced the acquisition of Quinetix, LLC, a Rochester, N.Y.-based provider of analytics and predictive modeling for large and medium-size businesses in retail banking and other industries.

U.S. foodmakers boost ad spend in tough times

http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/marketer/article.jsp?content=20080910_164411_26748

Foodmakers may be worried about higher costs for key ingredients, pushing through price increases and still maintaining their profits. But for some big name brands, these slim times don’t mean doing away with their advertising budgets.

While the food companies, like other large advertisers, pulled back on their spending as the economy soured, many big foodmakers plan advertising punches in the coming months. The shift comes as consumers worried about rising costs eat at home more and shop with budgets in mind—a trend that’s leading many of them to generics, or private-label brands.

So while automakers may be less apt to advertise right now, food companies say they are jumping back in the game. If they want to keep selling their own brands, they have to keep them in the minds of shoppers.

Zoom buys ClubCom to expand digital offering

http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/media/article.jsp?content=20080916_150916_29140

In a move intended to “accelerate“ growth in the burgeoning digital out-of-home sector, Montreal’s Zoom Media has purchased a Pittsburgh company that operates digital media networks catering to the fitness and bowling industries.

ClubCom, a division of fitness equipment manufacturer Precor, operates 25,000 ad-supported digital screens in 1,600 venues throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Australia. Its product offering includes overhead screens in the common areas of fitness clubs, as well as personalized screens attached to fitness equipment. The company also owns an extensive library of digital music videos. ClubCom will continue to operate under its current name, with no changes in management or staff levels, says Zoom.

In addition to 55,000 static billboards, Zoom operates 1,250 digital billboards in more than 8,500 venues throughout the U.S. and Canada. While its digital business is still in its infancy, Zoom president Andy Querin predicts “high double-digit growth” for the sector on a year-over-year basis.

Online ad spend up 25% - Canada

Online advertising should hit $1.5 billion in 2008, a 25% increase from the $1.2 billion spent in 2007, according to research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada.
Despite economic uncertainty, the IAB also points to other studies that suggest online advertising will continue to grow at a double-digit pace in 2009.
IAB has no data for the estimated growth of online advertising in 2009, but it cites a recent eMarketer survey which predicts a 15% increase in online ad spending in the U.S. next year, although other studies that take the recent economic downturn into account have concluded there will be zero growth in digital ad spending.
Each study had a different viewpoint of the industry, resulting in distinct forecasts, said Paula Gignac, president of IAB Canada. The total decline to zero in some studies is “a worst-case scenario, and should really only be considered to apply to the U.S. market,” said Gignac.
http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/marketer/article.jsp?content=20081111_173432_10276

Digital Signage Biz To Boom

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.san&s=93942&Nid=49140&p=296990

Close on the heels of a cheery forecast for ad revenue for digital out-of-home media, another research firm is forecasting comparable growth in the nuts-and-bolts end of the business, including making, installing and managing digital signage. Together, the two forecasts suggest digital out-of-home will not only survive the current economic downturn, but see a significant boost in the future.

According to the forecast from ABI Research, the overall U.S. market for digital signage software, hardware, installation and management services is poised to grow from $641 million in 2008 to $1.4 billion by 2013, an increase of almost 120% in five years.

Spread out evenly over this period, that equals a cumulative annual growth rate of about 17% per year. However, given the vertigo-inducing economic plunge now underway, average growth rates will probably be lower in the next one to two years, and higher thereafter.

Overall, Quinn sized the digital out-of-home advertising market at $2.43 billion in 2008, up 11% from $2.19 billion in 2007. According to Quinn, the market tripled in size from 2002-2007. In the years to come, the forecast has ad revenue growing at a cumulative annual growth rate of 12% from 2007-2012, which puts it just under $3.9 billion in 2012.

Promotional Swag More Effective Than Ads

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/promotion/e3if0819d6addd2a0fe3b7a46b87f92137f

As marketers continue their debate over the next great advertising medium, a new study released today by the Advertising Specialty Institute found it's not TV, print or radio that gets consumers' attention, but good old promotional swag.This includes coffee mugs, pencils, retractable solar-powered flashlights or any other product bearing a company logo.

Promotional products made up a $19.6 billion industry in 2007, per the ASI. Through surveys conducted both online and in-person in major cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, the institute also found that promotional products generate a cost-per-impression average of $0.004, compared to $.033 for national magazine ads or $0.019 for prime time TV ads.

Behavioral Targeting: A Tricky Issue for Marketers

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/digital/e3i9e2284979c0b8c78ba188179079a495b

According to Forrester data, 24% of advertisers used behavioral targeting in 2008. Last year it was only 16%; the year before, only 13%. And BT's popularity is only going to grow, Riley said. "Almost half of advertisers say, 'Even if I didn't use behavioral last year, I definitely want to this coming year,' and this big jump between 'not currently using' and 'plan to use' indicates a lot of excitement around the topic," she said.

Rough Seas Ahead?

Talk to a digital agency CEO about the coming economic woes and you'll hear the same mantra: Traditional advertising will suffer much more in a downturn, mostly because of the comparatively lower cost and higher measurability of interactive, and the fact consumers continue to migrate from traditional channels to digital outlets. Yet underneath the surface-level cheeriness, most admit fortunes could change on a dime in the next 12 months -- who would have predicted the Wall Street collapse just a year ago? -- and are preparing contingency plans.

There are already signs that interactive has been hit. Clark Kokich, CEO of Microsoft-owned Avenue A/Razorfish, said the shop has felt the effects of the turbulence on Wall Street with its financial services clients and in consumer spending with auto clients like Ford. Across the board, he said, clients are scrutinizing spending much more closely and making cuts to experimental programs.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3ie08aadb553c2ade9d24ae2ea45ce6bf6?pn=1

Russian search company Yandex acquires ad agency

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10072621-2.html

Russia's largest search site, Yandex, announced today that it acquired Mediaselling, an online display ad agency, for an undisclosed amount in an attempt to bolster its advertising initiatives and establish itself as Google and others try to create a foothold in the country.

Yandex, which recently postponed its plans for an IPO, will allow Mediaselling to continue to operate as an independent entity for a short while, but the advertising firm will eventually become a part of Yandex, according to Mediaselling CEO Lev Gleyzer.

Russian watchdog rejects Google bid for ad firm

Russia's anti-trust watchdog rejected on Thursday a $140 million bid by Google Inc. to buy the Begun advertising agency, claiming the deal would reduce competition in the online advertising market.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE49M21K20081023?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews

As the Lines Blur, Digital Agencies Are Taking Lead

http://adage.com/agencynews/post?article_id=132026

While most clients still seek best-in-class specialists for every discipline, more are showing interest in digital agencies to serve as the lead on integrated communications efforts, consultants said. The uptick is particularly visible among marketers in the retail sector and other product categories where there is opportunity for e-commerce.

What's more, clients are becoming less and less fixated on the type of agency handling their ad accounts and more on the individual brains behind the marketing campaigns.

No Ifs About It: Isobar Acquires IF, Expands Global Footprint Into Malaysia

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=93425

Aegis Group continues to expand the global footprint of its burgeoning Isobar network, announcing yet another acquisition this morning of IF, one of Malaysia's leading independent full-service digital shops. IF, founded in 2002, has a client roster that includes Heineken and Discovery

MTV Networks Measures with Quantcast

In a step away from panel-based measurement to one that measures based on site activity, MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, selected Quantcast to measure traffic on its online properties. Metrics will aid marketers, advertisers, and agency media buyers to make more informed decisions on ad inventory and site visitors.

With a pixel and a cookie, Quantcast is able to provide publishers, and therefore advertisers, with the number of unique visitors, cookied visitors, and page views on a particular site. In addition, the service provides aggregate user data so advertisers can see what site visitors look like.

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3631558

Unilever VP Takes an Axe to Old Broadcasting Theories

Mr. George has been instrumental in identifying interactive, customized opportunities for brands such as Axe, Degree, Suave, Dove and Sunsilk over the last three years. Interactive TV has become an increasingly larger part of Unilever's corporate strategy, too, with more than 30 brands currently testing the technology. Now that the footprint is larger -- more than 70 million cable households have interactive capabilities -- marketers like Mr. George are finding the engagement metrics behind a clickable TV ad are far more compelling than rerunning the same 30-second spot.

Unilever's "Advanced" TV ads, as they're occasionally called, have appeared in a variety of forms, from interactive overlays during on-demand programming to text-message opt-in requests to clickable pre-roll ads. And sometimes don't appear in the form of ads at all. Earlier this year, the company created a full-length music video for Axe that aired on on-demand network Music Choice, featuring the fictional band the Bom Chicka Wah Wah's. The music video became one of the top 10 most requested for Music Choice and has already garnered more than 1 million hits on YouTube.

http://adage.com/madisonandvine/article?article_id=132306

Local Interactive Ad Growth to Slow Next Year

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3i7f30abddb493befbb9c1f4713bfcb921

After growing at break-neck speed for the last few years, local interactive advertising, up 47 percent this year to $12.9 billion, is poised to grow only 8 percent in 2009 to $13.9 billion, according to a Borrell Associates report released Thursday (Nov. 6). Factoring in national interactive, total interactive segment is forecast to moderate from 10.4 percent growth this year to 7.2 percent growth in 2009 for a total of $40.4 billion.

Kraft Tests Recipe for Selling in a Recession

Ms. West was named CMO last October, and the company has continually vowed to increase marketing spending during her tenure. In the past year, Kraft has also reinvigorated its salad-dressing and Maxwell House brands following repackaging efforts. Analysts were clamoring for divestiture of both businesses back in August 2007.

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=132302

AUTOS' PLIGHT MAY DRIVE NEW AD FORMULA

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11102008/business/autos_plight_may_drive_new_ad_formula_138004.htm

Though automakers were some of their most profitable and prized accounts, ad execs nevertheless complained for years about the pernicious influence of "bean counters" who pressure agencies to accept lower fees while demanding more for their money.

At the same time, despite automakers' focus on the bottom line, agencies didn't overhaul their organizations or push for a different compensation system. Most agencies still bill their clients by the hour.

Detroit's decline could serve as a challenge to the ad industry to figure out a better way to build a partnership - one with clear objectives, performance standards and commensurate pay - rather than settling for a quick buck.

"It could cause a rethinking of the agency-client relationship to one that is more modern," said Ron Berger, chief executive of ad agency Euro RSCG's New York office, who labels the ad industry's past efforts to adjust its business model as "Band-Aids."

Digital Not Layoff-Proof, But Coping

March added that since the economic downturn hit, his agency has actually been able to hire a greater degree of quality talent, as experienced buyers have shown an increased willingness to change jobs.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/esearch/e3i8a864b21b4f19fc563c5183287606d36

Cheerful Gloom From Mary Meeker

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/cheerful-gloom-from-mary-meeker/

Over time, she said, advertising revenue grows and shrinks three times as fast as the gross domestic product. If G.D.P. is unchanged next year, which is Morgan Stanley’s current forecast, ad spending for all media will fall by 4 percent. And it gets worse fast. A 2 percent drop in G.D.P., for example, would bring a 10 percent reduction in ad spending.

For Internet advertising in particular, there isn’t enough data to have such a precise correlation. Ms. Meeker said that in the slowdown from 2000 to 2002, online advertising fell by 27 percent, although the Internet economy had been inflated by a bubble of venture-backed ad spending. This year, Internet ad spending trends are much closer to other forms of advertising.

Ms. Meeker didn’t specifically forecast what will happen to online ads. “Display advertising will continue to be challenged, but search will do better.”