Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Revolutionary Time for Ad Agency New Business

A Revolutionary Time for Ad Agency New Business
<http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2008/07/18/a-revolutionary-time-for-ad-ag
ency-new-business/
>

History is in the making with the socialization of media and
information. This is our Industrial Revolution.

A Communications Revolution.

This revolution is already impacting ad agency new business practices.
There is definitely a revolution taking place in the way agency new
business is acquired. The new business paradigm shift that is taking
place requires agencies to position themselves where they can be found
by their prospective clients. This will require the use and greater
dependence upon Web 2.0 tools.

Agencies must practice what they preach and participate in the use of
these tools for themselves to have credibility. They also will be forced
to identify their best target audience and be positioned as having the
kind of expertise and leadership that makes them irresistibly appealing.

In this new era of agency new business prospective clients will actually
let you know when they are ready to engage by initiating the call. And
when they call, the conversation is a longer way down the road. They are
ready to do business. You won't have to woo them.

In any revolution you have those that are sitting on the sidelines
waiting to see what is going to happen. You have those that are
followers. But then you have those thought provoking leaders out in
front of us all. Brian Solis <http://www.briansolis.com/> , Principal of
FutureWork <http://www.future-works.com/> , an award winning PR and New
Media agency is one of those emerging new leaders. Encouraging his
industry to arise to the challenges of this new era. Brian recently
wrote,

"Media is experiencing a textbook Darwinian definition of survival of
the fittest ... Media will re-emerge as a more dynamic, nimble, and
innovative medium.

In the era of Socialized Media, relationships are the new currency and
participation and collaboration are emerging as the new information
exchange.

Mainstay brands will persevere, but the cost of their education to learn
how to compete for the future will be great. Some will wait until it's
too late only to awaken to a daunting challenge of creating and earning
presence and relevance in a new economy."

Times are definitely changing and the mood of a large number of small
and midsize agencies is somberness instead of an excitement for this new
media revolution. They haven't kept up with the changes and find
themselves behind in by a lack of knowledge of social media and how to
use it correctly for themselves and for their clients.

My encouragement is to get involved now. Experience it for yourself to
know the many great opportunities it provides. Learn the use of new
media to engage your prospective client community. It takes time and
effort to have a working understanding of this new technology, but you
will be amazed at how quickly it will provide benefits to your agency
and allow you to utilize these new tools for your clients. Experience
truly is the best teacher.

The cost of your education is going to be great but if you don't invest
in your education now it will be costlier later.

Source:
http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2008/07/18/a-revolutionary-time-for-ad-age
ncy-new-business/

<http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2008/07/18/a-revolutionary-time-for-ad-ag
ency-new-business/
>

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Site provides info, videos about age-related macular degeneration

Nothing special ... but thought I would pass this along:

Site provides info, videos about age-related macular degeneration

Nutraceutical company EyeScience Labs has launched www.EyeScience.com to
provide consumers with information and education about age-related
macular degeneration (AMD) using online video. The site teaches users
about eye anatomy, screening and diagnosis, risk factors, signs and
symptoms, and treatments for AMD. The site also features more than 20
videos about eye anatomy, AMD symptoms, and other issues. An FAQ section
contains expert answers to more than 30 questions about AMD, and an "Ask
the Doctor" section allows consumers to submit their questions to
EyeScience medical experts, who will answer their questions privately
and for free.

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Rebel Physicians Talk Smack on Pharma

More physicians are generating negative word of mouth about pharma

The percentage of U.S. physicians who are deeply dissatisfied with pharma and actively generate negative word of mouth has risen from 12% to 19% in the past year. That's according to new TNS Healthcare research about more than 1,500 general practitioners. The five major European markets--United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain--also show a high proportion of doctors actively creating negative word of mouth, ranging from a low of 19% in Italy to a high of 27% in the United Kingdom. These negative talkers are labeled "rebels," and according to TNS, companies should have no more than 15% of their customer base fall into this category. When rebels make up more than 15%, it becomes more difficult to overcome the negative buzz and promote successfully.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

RE: Breaking News: FDA Approves Pfizer's Depressent Drug for the Annoyingly Cheerful

Where can Jennie get some? ;)

From: Gratton, Fabio
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 4:14 PM
To: Everyone at Ignite
Cc: skypen.ignitehealth@blogger.com
Subject: Breaking News: FDA Approves Pfizer's Depressent Drug for the
Annoyingly Cheerful

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/fda_approves_depressant_drug_for

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Breaking News: FDA Approves Pfizer's Depressent Drug for the Annoyingly Cheerful

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/fda_approves_depressant_drug_for

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How the CDC used blogs, social networks, virtual worlds, Twitter, eCards, mobile-ready Web sites, and other new media technologies to educate about Flu Vaccines

Health Marketing Musings

from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
Director, National Center for Health Marketing
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Getting Viral for Flu Vaccination

I got my flu vaccination. Have you gotten yours? If you haven't, it's
not too late to prevent getting the flu. In fact, that's the main
message of National Influenza Vaccination Week, which is I got my flu
vaccination. Have you gotten yours? If you haven't, it's not too late to
prevent getting the flu. In fact, that's the main message of National
Influenza Vaccination Week, which is taking place this week, December
8-14, 2008. While flu season in the United States generally runs from
October through May, people who get vaccinated in December or later can
still protect themselves and others from the flu. Most of the time
influenza activity peaks in January. Although the CDC has long promoted
annual influenza vaccination as the single most important thing one can
do to prevent catching the flu, far too many people still do not take
this preventive action. Each year, on average in the United States, more
than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications and about
36,000 people die.

So how can we more effectively spread the message and increase its
impact? By combining the research-based traditional (vertical)
strategies of expert-based communication, mass media messages, and state
and local outreach with new media (horizontal) strategies using
interactive, participatory, and peer-to-peer engagement. For the third
straight year, the CDC National Center for Health Marketing is
collaborating with the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory
Diseases on the annual Seasonal Flu Vaccination campaign. This year we
are reaching out through blogs, social networks, virtual worlds,
Twitter, eCards, mobile-ready Web sites, and other interactive, new
media technologies to provide information and to motivate people to "Get
Vaccinated."

The products featured below are being promoted to partners and the
public, but we also count on you to help promote the important message
of seasonal flu vaccination. Please help us support this campaign by
participating in the following activities:

CDC Get Vaccinated Graphical Button for placement on an organization's
Web site. A button is a graphic element used to promote campaigns and
causes online. Buttons remind Web site users to get vaccinated. To add
an English or Spanish language button to your page, please visit
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/NIVW/help.htm and follow the directions posted
there.

CDC "I Got My Flu Vaccine. Have You?" Badge for social networking sites.
CDC's MySpace page will feature messages and a social networking badge
for friends. To add this badge to an organization or individual's social
network site, visit CDC's MySpace page
<http://www.myspace.com/cdc_ehealth> and copy and paste the html code
into your site.

Add a link to CDC's Get Vaccinated Health-e-Cards to a Web site or blog.
Available in several different designs, the e-Cards include flu
vaccination messages for moms and health care providers. The flu e-Cards
link to http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ for more information, and also offer a
space for inserting a personal message.

Add one of the following Widgets to a Web site (all available from
www.cdc.gov/widgets/)

RSS Reader. This widget will read content from CDC RSS feeds and updated
CDC content, including seasonal flu. Content will be displayed in the
CDC RSS widget automatically.

Flu Map. Updated weekly, the CDC flu map widget will display a current
map of reported flu cases throughout the United States.

Visit http://m.cdc.gov <http://m.cdc.gov/> on your Mobile Phone to
access mobile-ready Web content on seasonal flu.

Follow us on Twitter (CDCFlu) for seasonal influenza messages throughout
flu season.

CDC is also reaching out to partners and the public through other
interactive media avenues. We are seeking partners to participate in a
CDC.gov Content Syndication pilot of content from the Seasonal Flu
<http://www.cdc.gov/flu/> Web site. Content syndication allows CDC to
share timely and relevant content that is automatically and seamlessly
updated on partners' Web sites. The display of the content will be
consistent with the partners' look and feel of their own sites. Once
code is posted, no maintenance is required.

Last week, CDC conducted two Bloginars. The bloginar for mommy bloggers
addressed the importance of vaccination, vaccine safety and
communication messages. The bloginar for healthcare bloggers discussed
ways to encourage colleagues to get vaccinated, to respond to questions
about vaccine effectiveness, and to share other clinical updates.

CDC and Whyville, a popular Virtual World for "tweens," (children ages
eight through eleven), will collaborate for a third year on an in-world
activity to engage them and their grandparents in vaccination
activities.

Many of these tools would not be effective without the help of our
partners in public health. We would like to thank the National Public
Health Information Coalition (NPHIC), WebMD, MayoClinic.com,
HealthCentral.com, and QuantiaMD for their help in promoting the annual
Seasonal Flu Vaccination campaign. As we work to use the tools of health
marketing to promote flu vaccination, please join us in spreading the
word. You can get more information on these efforts at
nchminteractivemedia@cdc.gov.

Help spread the word, not the flu.

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Generics Going Viral -- a Definite Must Watch

Look, I'm not saying it's original ... but it's amusing and extremely
relevant in our industry right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIty1lW2q58&e

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Marketers Adapt as Social Networks Attract Older Users

Marketers Adapt as Social Networks Attract Older Users

Increasingly Popular With the 35-Plus Set, Facebook, MySpace Become
Mainstream Marketing Vehicles

by Michael Learmonth <mailto:mlearmonth@adage.com>
Published: February 23, 2009
<http://adage.com/results?endeca=1&return=endeca&search_offset=0&search_
order_by=score&search_phrase=02/23/2009
>

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Sometime in 2007, the recent grads that made up
the core of Facebook came to a doleful realization: Yup, mom and all her
friends are on Facebook. The following year it got worse: The
once-exclusive club of the young was completely infiltrated by
colleagues, bosses, neighbors and others who might not be amused when
little Johnny gets tagged in a photo getting totally ripped with his
pals.

Social networking is no longer a youth phenomenon. As Facebook marches
toward 52 million U.S. users (170 million worldwide), the site is
beginning to look like, well, America. Which is to say, it looks a lot
older. As of January, more than 50% of Facebook users and 44% of MySpace
users in the U.S. were over 35 years old, according to ComScore
estimates. The single biggest age demographic in the U.S. on both
Facebook and MySpace is now between 35 and 44. Indeed, Facebook says its
fastest-growing demo is 55-plus.

That's to be expected, and largely due to the fact that both Facebook
and MySpace don't have a lot of growing room left among the younger set.
According to Pew Internet and American Life data, 75% of online adults
18-24 already have a profile on a social network. "For those to grow,
they'd have to have aged," said Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer. "It's from
growth and expansion to ubiquity."

Generally, somewhere between growth and ubiquity is when uncool usually
starts to set in. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg backpedaled fast over a
privacy flap last week
<http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=134673> , but the story,
which broke on the Consumerist blog, made the NBC Nightly News, a sure
sign that Facebook's niche status is over.

With the cool kids
So far, Facebook's aging demos haven't turned off the college set: It's
the most popular website on campus above Google and Yahoo, according to
an Anderson Analytics poll of college students last fall. MySpace has
taken a bit of a tumble in the eyes of college students, falling to No.
4 this year from No. 2 last year school year and No. 1 during the
2006-2007 school year.

Even as Facebook ages, users are still exposed to the activities of
their friends, and Facebook has added features such as Facebook Connect
to encourage users to take those connections with them as they move on
to other sites. "Social networking is so engrained into the lifestyle of
college students that it wouldn't be any less cool because their parents
and grandparents are there," said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho
Williamson.

So what does it mean for marketers that social networking is getting
older? For Facebook, the upside is they're now being considered for a
wider array of marketing budgets. "A year ago, they thought about it as
a place to reach people in college or high school; now we're talking
about moms, or reaching families looking to go on vacation," said Kevin
Barenblat, CEO of ContextOptional, which has implemented Facebook
campaigns for Guinness, Microsoft and the Los Angeles Times.

Because of its entertainment focus, marketers still see MySpace as
primarily a youth play. Facebook has more users with incomes above
$60,000 than MySpace, indicating an older, wealthier audience, according
to research from Hitwise. "MySpace has evolved into an entertainment
portal with a social-networking component to it," said Scott Symonds,
executive media director at AKQA.

But as social networking becomes more ubiquitous, age demographics
become a less important filter than stated interests and other factors.
"We don't care if a person is 42 or 24; if they are friends with a band
I am sponsoring, that's an opportunity," Mr. Symonds said.

Just as social networks become more of a mainstream marketing vehicle,
marketers are watching to see if the phenomenon ebbs, particularly with
the young. "There are too many examples of things that were totally
cool, became commercial, and then became totally uncool," said Chad
Ciecel, president of WhittmanHart Interactive.

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CPC's desperate need for a makeover - iMediaConnection.com

Today's cost-per-click pricing models cannot maintain growth in their current state. Here are the important changes that need to be made.
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Study: Information-seeking patients more likely to receive latest treatments

Study: Information-seeking patients more likely to receive latest treatments

Cancer patients who seek out health information from the Internet and media are more likely to be aware of and receive the latest treatments, according to a study in the April 1, 2009, issue of CANCER, a journal of the American Cancer Society. Researchers found that information-seeking patients were more likely to have higher awareness of and receive treatment using target therapies. Patients who sought information about treatments were 2.83 times more likely to have heard about targeted therapies and 3.22 times more likely to have received targeted therapies. The study examined the relationship of information-seeking in 633 colorectal cancer patients and the use of novel new agents for the disease.

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Yahoo! introduces image- and video-capable search ads

Yahoo! introduces image- and video-capable search ads

Yahoo! is introducing a new type of search advertising, called Rich Ads in Search, that integrates images and video in paid listings. The company said it has tested the offering with companies such as Pedigree, Staples, Pepsi, and Home Depot. A Yahoo! search for dog food company Pedigree, for example, will result in a light-blue box at the top of the search page containing an image from a Pedigree commercial, which plays when clicked. A Rich Ad in Search can also include a search box asking the searcher to enter his or her ZIP code, which will take him or her to the section of the geographically relevant advertiser's Web site. Yahoo! is charging a monthly fee for the service and is not using the auction-based pricing like most search advertising. The company said some advertisers in the pilot program saw an improvement of as much as 25% in click-through rates.

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