Launch Group

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Online is anyone's domain

By Fleur Brown

From Marketing Magazine Digital Survival Guide - September 2007

The digital revolution has given the Public Relations industry its first real opportunity in decades to re-invent itself - if it moves swiftly - and to shift from content brokers to content creators writes Fleur Brown.
...

We're a cheerful bunch in the Public Relations industry; yet it's not easy to remain poised and persuasive whilst enduring years of mindless prattle about your profession.
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Labels: Media Entertainment and Technology

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Fair Trade in Bloom

By Andrew Downie

VARGINHA, Brazil - Rafael de Paiva was skeptical at first. If he wanted a "fair trade" certification for his coffee crop, the Brazilian farmer would have to adhere to a long list of rules on pesticides, farming techniques, recycling and other matters. He even had to show that his children were enrolled in school.

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Labels: Make a Difference

Agencies Will have to Steer Marketers Towards the Big Ideal In This Marketplace, the Four P's Are No Longer Enough

By Jonah Bloom

For years now, corporate-communications experts have been telling anyone who will listen that a company's financial performance is tied to what the company stands for beyond the balance sheet. But their theories have fallen on deaf ears, with colleagues in the marketing department preferring a brand-centric focus on price, promotion and product benefits to the business of dealing with awkward issues and their company's place in the world.

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Labels: Business and Finance, Consumer Trends

Monday, October 1, 2007

A Cellphone Without Borders

By David Pouge
It's amazing the way the Internet keeps toppling traditional businesses. Telegrams have gone away. Music CD sales are tanking. Newspapers are hurting. One especially lucrative business, however, has somehow escaped the Internet's notice so far: international cellphone calls. That's about to change. Early next month, a small company called Cubic Telecom will release what it's calling the first global mobile phone. But first, some background. Cellphones from T-Mobile and AT&T rely on the same type of network (called GSM) that most of the rest of the world uses. In theory, then, you can take these phones to other countries and make calls as usual. (Most Verizon and Sprint phones work only in the United States.)
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Labels: Media Entertainment and Technology