Battling Poverty in Silicon Valley
Reporters have written that the denizens of Silicon Valley are essentially “swimming in gold,” but is that true for everyone in America’s technology Promised Land? Ronn Torossian says, “no.” Less than five miles away from the place where computers and digital tech means massive fortunes, many people still live in abject poverty. Read More +
Android Profits Plummet – What next?
Apple might be smarting from its legal battles with Ericsson, but it’s not the only mobile provider suffering setbacks. Google’s Android mobile operating system continues to find it difficult to turn popularity into profits for its hardware marketers. In Q4 2014, Android only claimed 11.3 percent of the smartphone profits. That’s less than half its 29.5 percent share in the same period of the prior year. Worse for Android, Apple was up, from 70.5 percent to 88.7 percent. So, to find the market share it Read More + Read More +
Can This Department Store Make a Comeback?
Day before yesterday, the common wisdom was locked in: department stores were dying. Old news. The last vestiges of a bygone retail era. As “yesterday” as the Sears catalogue. The evidence had been mounting for years. Store closures, massive layoffs, profit slides and stock price drops. Sears bought Kmart and almost immediately wished it hadn’t. Macy’s expanded, then got slammed with one PR mess after another. JC Penney began a slow slide into retail irrelevance. Then it tried a “radical” new marketing method that nearly Read More + Read More +
Internal Communication: Improving the Conversation
The marketing perspective of a vast array of businesses have taken a major shift in recent years. Whether the entity is a small business, large corporation, or recruiting firm, retaining talent has become a great priority. By utilizing effective measures of internal marketing, employees are provided with a working environment that empowers them to take on the tasks of learning the ins and outs of their respective companies. It is a highly imperative necessity for employees to have a strong grasp on the know-hows of Read More +
Why Walmart is Winning in Canada
By January 2016, retail market watchers in Canada are predicting that the country will be home to nearly 400 Walmart stores…and exactly zero Target stores. Ronn Torossian explains this shift and what it means for big box retail public relations. First, the shift. Many U.S based retailers have a tough time gaining ground in Canada, but Sam Walton’s brand is moving forward with plans to add 29 more supercenter locations, just one year after adding 35 the prior year. Meanwhile, Target has chosen to succumb Read More +
When Ignorance and Assumption Drive PR
It’s a fair bet that, when people have a problem getting their tax return this year, there will be a number of them who immediately blame President Obama. People are always trying to blame someone – Because these folks don’t know the rules, and, because they have been getting a steady diet of Sky Is Falling rhetoric from their favorite crackpots, they expect all issues this tax season to be related to the changes made to the tax code because of the Affordable Care Act. Read More +
Nick goes Mobile, but are Customers Ready?
Perhaps sensing the changing consumer winds, Nickelodeon has become the latest major cable network to launch a direct-to-consumers paid cable channel. At this point, there are not too many other details to report, but parent company Viacom is expected to announce the launch and offer more details after meeting with advertisers in February. According to Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, the new service will be, “aimed at the mobile market” and “attractive for parents and children.” Some market watchers have called this one more defection from Read More +
What is the Return on Investment for a Superbowl Commercial?
The amount of viewers of the Superbowl makes the Superbowl the most expensive place to advertise. For 30 seconds of air time, a company can pay $3.8 million to place an ad where the over 100 million people watching the game will see it. Does such an expensive advertising spot pay off? Advertisement Quality A large part of the success of any advertisement depends on the ad itself. There are good advertisements and bad ones all over television, not just during the Superbowl. $3.8 million Read More +
Cable: Higher Prices and more Competition, how does it Survive?
The New Year dawned with some bad news for both cable companies and cable TV subscribers. If you love your cable TV, you can expect to pay more for the privilege in the coming year. Major carriers including Time Warner, AT&T, UVerse, DirecTV, and others have all telegraphed price increases in the coming year. So, if you have been considering renewing with a promotional deal, now might be the time. But if you’re not, it’s not the end of TV as you know it. The Read More +
The Value of Having Your CEO Blog
Why should a CEO blog? Because it can make all the difference in a company’s success or failure. In today’s Internet economy, establishing an online presence is vital to successfully competing in the marketplace. With more than a million blogs on the Web, not having one can put a company at a serious disadvantage. The CEO is the best person to write the blog for a number of reasons. Knowledge. No one knows more about the company, or should, than the CEO, who runs it. Read More +
