How big has Beats Electronics, LLC become? Big enough to warrant a visit by Apple, Inc. CEO Tim Cook to discuss a potential partnership in Beat’s new streaming music service tentatively code-named Daisy. And big enough to relatively easily obtain $60 million in financing from investors looking to help it get Daisy off the ground.
Marketing
Pioneer Launches Navigation System for Bicycles
Pioneer Corp. announced it has entered a new product category with a navigation device specifically designed for use on a bicycle. The cleverly designed device will be available late this month, the company said at a press announcement on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.
See why bicyclists are going to want to mount this device to their bikes… [Read more…] about Pioneer Launches Navigation System for Bicycles
Plasma: The Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
The conventional wisdom in the world of television technology is that LCD won the panel platform wars and most talk of the future has moved from LCD to LED to OLED and beyond. But wait a minute, as new data from market researcher Quixel Research shows, don’t bury plasma in the grave just yet…
The rumors of plasma’s death appear to be greatly exaggerated as the tech shows growth in 2012… [Read more…] about Plasma: The Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Are You Using These Best ‘Tough Economy’ Marketing Practices of Top-Performing SMBs?
How are top-performing small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) adjusting their marketing for the current sluggish economic climate? Act-On Software, a marketing automation software company, commissioned Forrester Consulting to find out by probing hundreds of SMBs in an effort to learn more about their marketing practices – especially in regards to tactics employed in response to the recent economic morass within which we all find ourselves. A few months ago, Forrester and Act-On released excerpts from the research titled Driving SMB Revenue in a Tough Economy – excerpts that revealed several interesting insights into the differences between the marketing practices of top-performing companies as contrasted to overall results…or those of bottom-performing companies.
There are some interesting insights from what they discovered… [Read more…] about Are You Using These Best ‘Tough Economy’ Marketing Practices of Top-Performing SMBs?
Have You Mobilized Your Marketing? Research Shows How Users Interact with Smartphones & Ads
Marketers are going ga-ga over marketing to users via their smartphones. Still a relatively new phenomenon, many marketing organizations are devoting an increasing amount of their budget to developing ads and promotions to be delivered mobilely [OK, I made that word up, but you know what I mean] to users of smartphones.
But new research from AOL called “Seven Shades of Mobile” and reported on by the Harvard Business Review, shows that most of them are getting it wrong…all wrong!
See why you need to understand the motivations for how users use their smartphones… [Read more…] about Have You Mobilized Your Marketing? Research Shows How Users Interact with Smartphones & Ads
Fierce Competition by Ads Challenge the Game for Super Bowl Viewer Attention
Since this is a blog dedicated to marketing strategy, we would be remiss if we failed to comment on last week’s Super Bowl – which has become almost as important to advertisers as it is to the NFL. With advertisers spending an average of $4.0 million for a 30-second spot this year (oh yeah that’s an average, some paid more), you would expect we would see that best that marketers could muster. And, for the most part, you’d be right.
See the Top 10 Super Bowl Ads, as rated by CONSUMERS here… [Read more…] about Fierce Competition by Ads Challenge the Game for Super Bowl Viewer Attention
Sony Hires Army of 400 Experts to Send to U.S. Retailers to Sell Sony TVs
Trapped by their own newly strengthened mandated pricing programs, and a commitment to grow sales profitably, Sony Corp. has resorted to deploying a wave of 400 company employees into the field to sell Sony televisions at U.S. retailers. The move is said to be a way to try to stimulate Sony TV sales without resorting to retail discounting.
Smart strategy? Or is hiring 400 TV ‘experts’ really just thinly veiled discounting?… [Read more…] about Sony Hires Army of 400 Experts to Send to U.S. Retailers to Sell Sony TVs
Turning Lemons Into Lemonade: Toyota’s Innovative New Use for Recycled Prius Batteries
Every year, 6,000 large, expensive, and depleted batteries, recycled by auto dealers all over the country, pour into Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan. The batteries have been pulled out of Prius automobiles as they are replaced by car dealers who then return them to the manufacturer for recycling. And given the growing popularity of the Prius, this rate will almost certainly continue to rise over time.
What to do with them? Toyota has ingeniously figured out a way to refurbish them, reconfigure them, and resell them back to the very dealers who had returned them. How do they do this?
See the ingenious power management system that Toyota will offer its dealers, made from old Prius batteries… [Read more…] about Turning Lemons Into Lemonade: Toyota’s Innovative New Use for Recycled Prius Batteries
While Others Go Small, Panasonic Goes Big with 20-inch Tablet
For those of you who were at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this month: Did you see the new tablet introduced by Panasonic? Featured during the Panasonic press conference as an example of Panasonic’s innovation, the company showed a new tablet computer launching it into the tablet computer fray which is dominated by the Apple iPad…with a rapidly growing Samsung with its Galaxy Note and Tab lines nipping at its heels.
But does this new Panasonic tablet have a market?… [Read more…] about While Others Go Small, Panasonic Goes Big with 20-inch Tablet
Is It Time to Start a Deathwatch on the Industry’s Annual CES?
It is now late January and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is well into our rear-view mirror. Yes, as in other years, there has been a flood of publicity and tons of articles on gadgets introduced at the show. The show’s promoter, the CEA, has already crowed about the event being the biggest ever and all seems well. Or is it?
