The Think eBiz Blog

I am Time Person of the Year, and so are YOU

Thank You - Thank YOU for this great honor, being named Time Magazines 2006 Person of the Year. And congratulations to YOU too. For this year, the person of the year is YOU.

What Time Magazine observed is just how active on the web we are. Whether it is blogging or MySpace/FaceBook'ing or YouTube'ing - the social aspects of the web are intense and incredible. This social aspect is referred to as Web 2.0, the social interactivity of the web between me and the web masters - and each other - YOU.

And while this honor was being bestowed on us today - there was also an article about how MySpace has unseated Yahoo as the most visited web property (page views/web traffic). Social networking overtakes the old guard.

What will be the affect on web based advertisting? We already see how online ad dollars are benefiting at the expense of traditional offline platforms. Online media will need to transform to meet the needs of the web 2.0 masses - social advertising? We'll explore this in upcoming Think-eBiz blog articles.

The online space is getting more and more exciting every day. 2006 Time Person of the Year, wow what an honor. I can't wait to tell my mom (via email), she'll be so proud!

Thank You - Thank YOU for this great honor, being named Time Magazines 2006 Person of the Year. And congratulations to YOU too. For this year, the person of the year is YOU.

What Time Magazine observed is just how active on the web we are. Whether it is blogging or MySpace/FaceBook'ing or YouTube'ing - the social aspects of the web are intense and incredible. This social aspect is referred to as Web 2.0, the social interactivity of the web between me and the web masters - and each other - YOU.

And while this honor was being bestowed on us today - there was also an article about how MySpace has unseated Yahoo as the most visited web property (page views/web traffic). Social networking overtakes the old guard.

What will be the affect on web based advertisting? We already see how online ad dollars are benefiting at the expense of traditional offline platforms. Online media will need to transform to meet the needs of the web 2.0 masses - social advertising? We'll explore this in upcoming Think-eBiz blog articles.

The online space is getting more and more exciting every day. 2006 Time Person of the Year, wow what an honor. I can't wait to tell my mom (via email), she'll be so proud!

2006 Online Spending Jumps, Channels Shift

Online buying jumped 25% on the second week of December (2006) to over $3.75 Billion, which is reported to be one of the busiest of the year - and nearly $700 million on Dec 13 alone! (Reported in the WSJ on Dec 23, 2006). These kind of numbers serves as a wake up call to those not leveraging online and to those that are find their site under-performing. We believe that 2007 will be a year where online advertisers take a hard look at their ad spending and web assets and make critical long term adjustments. Even this selection of channels will come under scrutiny.

In 2005 (2006 statistics not yet available), affiliate programs, pop-up ads and email all took a spending decrease (-27.3%, -97.5% & -25% respectfully). Contrast this to the 193% increase in search engine optimization (SEO) and 8.4% and 10% increase in search engine and banner placement.

And we continue to believe that online offers the smaller brands the opportunity to compete effectively with their bigger breathen. According to Safa Rashtchy (Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Piper Jaffray); "In the offline world, it's impossible for any company to beat Home Depot and Wal-Mart. In the online world, it's possible..."

We couldn't agree more fully; online marketing evens the competitive playing field.

Online buying jumped 25% on the second week of December (2006) to over $3.75 Billion, which is reported to be one of the busiest of the year - and nearly $700 million on Dec 13 alone! (Reported in the WSJ on Dec 23, 2006). These kind of numbers serves as a wake up call to those not leveraging online and to those that are find their site under-performing. We believe that 2007 will be a year where online advertisers take a hard look at their ad spending and web assets and make critical long term adjustments. Even this selection of channels will come under scrutiny.

In 2005 (2006 statistics not yet available), affiliate programs, pop-up ads and email all took a spending decrease (-27.3%, -97.5% & -25% respectfully). Contrast this to the 193% increase in search engine optimization (SEO) and 8.4% and 10% increase in search engine and banner placement.

And we continue to believe that online offers the smaller brands the opportunity to compete effectively with their bigger breathen. According to Safa Rashtchy (Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Piper Jaffray); "In the offline world, it's impossible for any company to beat Home Depot and Wal-Mart. In the online world, it's possible..."

We couldn't agree more fully; online marketing evens the competitive playing field.

Nestles Shifts Ad Spending - tilt towards online

Nestles announced that it has cut back TV Advertising spending from 68% to 60% of it's overall budget - in favor of digital.

"The advent of the digital age continues," announced Nestlé Australia's Ian Alwill. "Nestlé has legislated that we will spend more in the digital space."

The article, from the Sydney Morning Herald, goes on to state how accountability is becoming an even more important theme in advertising. Many of us who have been in the online space for awhile know this to be true - and it makes sense. Spend where the conversions occur.

"If you cannot prove that your media is delivering something, and more often than not these days it's sales rather than brand health, then you have a right to be concerned," Mr Camplisson said.

If this is true, then we will see even more of a shift from the traditional media (newspapers, tv, radio) and into the digital world. Stay tuned (or will this now be.. stay online?).

Nestles announced that it has cut back TV Advertising spending from 68% to 60% of it's overall budget - in favor of digital.

"The advent of the digital age continues," announced Nestlé Australia's Ian Alwill. "Nestlé has legislated that we will spend more in the digital space."

The article, from the Sydney Morning Herald, goes on to state how accountability is becoming an even more important theme in advertising. Many of us who have been in the online space for awhile know this to be true - and it makes sense. Spend where the conversions occur.

"If you cannot prove that your media is delivering something, and more often than not these days it's sales rather than brand health, then you have a right to be concerned," Mr Camplisson said.

If this is true, then we will see even more of a shift from the traditional media (newspapers, tv, radio) and into the digital world. Stay tuned (or will this now be.. stay online?).