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As a consumer of many Sony products, I used to say that the investment amounted to owning stock in the company.   Starting with a Walkman, then several D5 portable cassette recorders, moving along to a D7 DAT recorder, several Trinitrons, a Cybershot camera, VAIO Laptops and desktops -  I have been loyal to this brand over the years.     They have recently lost much ground to Samsung (flat panel TVs), Nintendo (gaming), and portable music devices (Apple).   Interesting article in today’s New York Times about Sony’s strategy for success in 2010, how they will compete with Apple and others while trying to recapture market share: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/technology/29sony.html

The Times article highlights the opening of a new Sony retail outlet in Nagoya, Japan and what it means for the consumer electronics industry.

Google Latitude is being decried by many in the tech community as a dangerous erosion of personal privacy.  While I understand the concerns, I view this new feature as a rich new venue for interactive advertising.  It is beneficial to both consumers and advertisers.   The new service, an add-on social network widget called Latitude, clearly aims to focus on social networking–connecting friends and family by sharing their whereabouts–the application could easily adopt mobile marketing applications that target users with special deals and ads at specific locations such as Blockbuster or Cosi as they drive or walk down the street.

The possibilities for a new, ultra-precise channel over which marketers can target audiences by changing geographic location are vast.  Look for massive growth on this outlet in the coming months.

http://www.google.com/latitude

Advertisers participating in the initiative  include All State, Applebee’s, Capital One, Nestle, Purina and a couple that have not been disclosed, who will get rights to purchase the first new inventory that will be made available with the new format, but otherwise, the goal is to simply improve the effectiveness of online advertising for the industry, and the quality of the viewing experience for consumers.  Read it all at MediaPost.

New article posted on ClickZ which arrived on my desktop via RSS.

OK but what does this mean for me?

Most of us in the Internet Marketing industry subscribe to feeds like this one from Clickz.   Who has a chance to read it all?  One of the functions of this blog is to deconstruct the information overload associated with Internet Marketing and present insightful analysis which allows a concise, straight-to-the-point explanation.   Lets cut through the hyperbole and jargon yes?

Basically the news is that according to the OPA, generating coverage in “free media” and placing “paid media” in the newspaper sites, television network sites and local channel web sites channels generates a higher degree of online exposure than content placed in “social media” channel.  (for now).  Obviously the value of social media channels is not being discounted here.

- CMI

Here’s an excerpt from the article, and a link to the full version

OPA Sees Increase in Ad Effectiveness on Original Content Sites

By Douglas Quenqua, ClickZ, Jan 8, 2009

So OPA decided to look again in an effort to determine whether the economic downturn had any impact on its initial findings. What it found was that tough times might actually be good news for publishers of content sites.

According to a new OPA study being released today, ads on sites with original content (think Web sites for newspapers or TV networks) had actually improved their scores for effectiveness in recent months in comparison to ads on non-content sites (such as portals like Yahoo or ad networks that may represent inventory on social networks, e-mail or other pages).

“As budgets are being further scrutinized and people are looking for a better return on investment, we wanted to see if the metrics are changing,” Pam Horan, president of OPA, said. “What we found is that now more than ever OPA sites outscored industry norms across all 47 ad metrics.”

While it is hardly surprising that a group dedicated to the promotion of content sites would suggest that such sites are the optimal place for your ad dollars, it is worth noting that OPA’s findings are based on an analysis of Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms database, a standard industry tool for measuring the effectiveness of ads, and do not represent its own research.

The data show that since July, aided brand awareness scores on OPA member sites have increased 38 percent, while scores on ad networks have declined 19 percent. It also shows that brand favorability scores for OPA sites have risen 27 percent, while the scores for ad networks have dropped 29 percent, and portals have dropped 17 percent.

Precisely why ads on content sites would become more effective as the economy worsens is anyone’s guess. But Horan said the findings make it clear that quality content is always more engaging and hence a better environment for advertising

Read the full article at http://www.clickz.com/3632296.