Archive for October, 2009

Posted on October 29, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Tough love for Newspapers: Will They Embrace Change?

The infrastructure of a business model is evaluated one niche market, one customer segment at a time.  It’s hard work.  It takes quantifiable research.  It takes experience to know when to proceed with the analysis and when to cut bait. 
But the first requirement is objectivity.
This may be a little tough for passionate, dedicated intelligent journalists [...]

Posted on October 22, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Is Green Advertising Overload Blocking Successful Value Propositions?

People are busy, consumers are fatigued with too much advertising and really don’t get how their vacuum is now, “Green!” No doubt, high caliber advertising can deliver valuable information creatively, but the past economic prosperity has created advertising overload.  
Overload becomes lack of action and lack of action creates more advertising attempting to justify a premium price for [...]

Posted on October 19, 2009 - by Janet Smith

New Business Models for Newspapers: Let the old one R.I.P.

Unfortunately, there are many intelligent, experienced, passionate professionals who are casualties of newspapers, many who recognize that the existing business model has been outdated for over a decade.  The old infrastructures’ revenue model is dying and should be; it is time to pay final respects, and allow the old model to rest in peace.  For [...]

Posted on October 13, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Are Corporate Social Responsibility Programs Increasing Shareholder Value?

More and more, executives in mega-enterprise-wide companies are doing the right thing: diligently implementing processes to measure and manage carbon emissions, not an easy feat in a worldwide supply chain. Energy efficiency, reuse and water conservation are hitting top-of-mind-awareness for many CEOs and their efforts are packaged, positioned and presented in corporate sustainability reports (CSR).

Posted on October 6, 2009 - by Janet Smith

‘Sell News Online’: Three Words that Do Not Go Together

Remember the scene in Blazing Saddles when the sheriff installed a toll booth in the middle of the prairie, and all the bad guys lined up on horseback to pitch a dime in the turnstile rather than ride around the gate?  Classic 1974 Mel Brooks; revisited with a twist of 2009 irony.
After the U.C. Berkeley Media [...]

Posted on October 5, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Firms Invest in Carbon Counting, but what Marketing Gain is Achieved?

Corporations like GE have spent the price of a small country on programs like Ecomagination, but are the investments generating brand loyalty and top of mind awareness commensurate with their green efforts?
Three interesting reports were issued recently: 

Quarterly update of the EPA’s National Top 50 Green Power Purchasers.
The 2009 ImagePower Green Brands study, an international study conducted by WPP agencies [...]

Posted on October 2, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Counting Emissions: One Product Line, One SKU, and One Supply Chain Vendor at a Time.

Public reporting companies live every day, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” They also know that capturing these carbon metrics is about as much fun as calculating mark-to-market, required by Sarbanes-Oxley.

Imagine having to answer the probing question, “What are your emissions, your forecasts and how are you improving the numbers?”

Posted on October 1, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Simplifying Renewable Energy Messages

Regardless if you believe reports on climate change, it doesn’t matter; the smoke belching out of tailpipes and factories worldwide…it’s just not good.