Archive for June 5th, 2006
The National Newspapers Association of Amercia (NAA) has announced the results of a study that shows a 35% surge in the online revenue of newspapers, which grew to $613 million in the first quarter.
This increase marks the eighth consecutive quarter of growth, and it’s looking like 2006 will break the record set by 2005, which was a little over $2 billion for the year.
Impressive.
Is it a sign of things to come for the Middle East’s online newspapers?
Read more at MediaPost.com
June 5th, 2006
For sometime now, I’ve been following the news of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), and it seems that the field of Word-Of-Mouth (WOM), also fashionably referred to as Buzz Marketing, is now seriously becoming scientific!
So much so, that WOMMA have launched a blog to discuss this issue, with posts already including interesting info.
For example, eMarketer say that 43% of all marketers are going to use WOM this year. McKinsey Research say that two-thirds of all US economic activity is influenced by WOM
WOM is gathering pace worldwide, and we’ve always appreciated its importance in the Middle East - does anyone gossip better than us? - but now that there’s a scientific angle emerging on how to cultivate it, maybe it’s worth looking into WOM as a serious part of your campaign.
Have a slice of word of mouth blogging
June 5th, 2006
Maktoob.com’s new home page is online and it has the look and feel of an international portal.
In fact, it provides similar functionality and user-friendliness to Yahoo’s home page, but adding in a Web 2.0 touch with featured Arab bloggers. News is also more prominent.
It makes the Maktoob transformation complete, from a site that started out as a mailbox service to a full-fledged community with comprehensive services, now boasting over 4,600,000 users.
A technicaly neat feature is a ‘consol’ on the home page that automatically logs into your mailbox and alerts you to new messages. You can, of course, log-out and hide that information.
All in all, a welcome change.
Check it out.
June 5th, 2006
There’s good news for TV channels in the UAE, according to MindShare’s Communications Channel Survey (MCCS) in the UAE .
Having carried out 1500 face-to-face interviews, results show that TV remains the most effective medium in UAE, with the assistance of PARC.
Apparently, 77.2% of Arab males impacted by car ads, 71.5% of them perceive TV to be the most effective medium for soft drinks. While among Arab females the percentages are 78.6% for soft drinks and 81.9% for chocolates.
Comparing media, the study shows that 67.8% of the Arab consumers in UAE are influenced by advertisements on TV, 28.7% by outdoor, 30.3 % by newspapers, 18.1% by radio and 22.5% by indoor.
So, basically, the study encourages advertisers to spend more on TV, which should please TV stations.
TV is the most expensive media, and is therefore the most lucrative media for advertising agencies.
So, everybody wins …..
Anybody out there disagree?
June 5th, 2006
