Gap, the fashion retailer that has traditionally used high-profile TV ads to build its brand, is scrapping the medium in favour of social networks for a campaign to publicise its new line of denim-wear.
Ludicrous levels of over-investment in a market without solid foundations prompted a catastrophic crash with widespread job losses in the sector.
This is not a snapshot of the current economic situation, but a flashback to the spring of 2000 when the online bubble burst and the dot.com world fell to its knees.
The digital market-place has made some serious strides since those dark days and if the UK economy recovers to such an extent that the online media world has done over the past nine years, then we should all remain highly confident that the economy in the UK can return to a model of progressive and sustainable growth.
With online ad revenue growth expected to reach 7-9% in 2009, online media consumption and e-commerce levels at an all time high and marketers increasingly turning to digital to deliver results, the online media industry looks well placed to establish itself even further up the marketing food chain over the next 18 months.
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Get the inside track from the very top on how the search giant is reacting to the downturn and innovating daily for advertisers.
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As the credit crunch takes hold and consumers feel the pinch, savvy shoppers have been turning to online in their droves not just to purchase but to seek advice and sharing tips with each other whilst shopping. Consumers aren’t just looking for the cheapest bargains, they are increasingly looking for reassurance and solutions. This isn’t just looking at user reviews. This is the online world’s equivalent of having a natter with shoppers on the high street and pointing out which stores to go in.
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For February’s Vista, we canvassed the views of both our Paid Search and SEO teams to help identify 10 of the main developments we can expect in Q1 and the new opportunities and challenges these represent for our clients in 2009.
1. YouTube Advertising
2. Beyond-Text Advertising
3. AdWords Upgrade
4. Advanced Targeting
5. Relaxation of Policy
6. Mobile Search
7. Blended Search
8. Semantic Search
9. Google SearchWiki
10. Local Search
The success of social networks such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo has caught the imagination of marketers everywhere.
eBay is increasingly moving away from the traditional auction model towards more ‘buy it now’ sales. They now allow major retailers such as Argos and Littlewoods to list items at fixed prices.
The business had dramatic success since the emergence of dotcom largely because the auction model is much fairer for people with the price linked to supply and demand, not set at some arbitrary level by the seller. (more…)
Like Facebook, both Bebo and MySpace have now opened up their platforms to support third-party applications, encouraging users to send mass notifications and invites across the big three social networks. But since their peak in November last year, all of Facebook’s top 10 applications have shown a significant drop in daily users. The novelty is clearly starting to wear off. (more…)
In 2005, mobile marketing accounted for $255 million and 2006 was proudly unveiled as ‘The year of Mobile’ with giant leaps in web usage anticipated. Three years on and slow connection speeds, expensive data charges, clunky devices and the complexity of modern websites have stalled progress. With the iPhone launching in June last year however, and its 3G equivalent leading the current surge of touch screen phones, the suggestion is that that moment isn’t far away. (more…)