“'Philadelphia Inquirer' To Launch Electronic Edition In January”

The Philadelphia Inquirer will launch an electronic edition of the paper in January, according to Pressmart Media Ltd., which has signed on to develop and deliver the eEdition.

"Pressmart will co-develop, host and electronically deliver the print-replica eEdition of The Philadelphia Inquirer on its New Media Delivery Platform," the company said in a statement. "Offering Web 2.0 features that include Blogs, Podcast, RSS, and Social Media integration, the electronic edition will be delivered on multiple distribution channels to individuals, enterprises and academic institutions."

The eEdition "will be an actual replica of the print edition and will be available at a regular subscription rate for current and potential Inquirer subscribers," Pressmart added. It is set to go live on Jan. 7, 2008.

Inquirer Publisher Brian Tierney said in a statement: “This new media digital distribution channel includes eEditions, Mobile Editions, and Audio Editions for Podcasts. We can now offer our current print subscribers as well as new subscribers a convenient same-day, same-as-print eEdition delivered to their laptops or PC’s.”

“Trends To Watch in 2008”

MARKETERS HIT A ROUGH PATCH

2008 will be about the economy and politics. Growth is slowing, fuel prices are high and credit is tight. That's a difficult mix for marketers to face as consumers will continue to pull in the reins as disposable income tightens dramatically. With caution flags waving, marketers will keep expectations and spending plans modest. Combined with lots of political "tax-raising" rhetoric , there will be plenty of room for nervousness. But political ad spending will more than make up for sluggish brand-marketing investments.

INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY RULE

Marketers' ingenuity will continue to expand as the competitive marketplace challenges brands to devise ways to reach their audiences online and via other "out-of-the-box" avenues. Targeting consumers using unconventional methods in creative places will be the gold standard for outstanding creative. Marketers won't run away from traditional media -- but will leverage technology and new media to accentuate message delivery to consumers and customers. There is no turning back -- and creativity will rule.

GET SERIOUS ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY

In ANA's 2007 marketing accountability study, it was startling to find that, despite enormous efforts, 42% of marketers were dissatisfied with ROI measurements and metrics. In about half of the companies, marketing and finance don't speak with one voice or share common metrics. Enough! Recognizing the critical importance of accountability, companies will appoint a czar -- the chief accountability officer -- to lead a disciplined, internally consistent approach to marketing measurements, metrics and productivity.

DIGITAL, DIGITAL, DIGITAL (AND PORTABLE TOO)

As Steve Ballmer proclaimed at the 2007 ANA Annual Conference, all media ultimately will be created and delivered digitally. Can anyone legitimately argue with that? Naahhh. And the beat goes on in 2008. Digital offers richness in information management, communication delivery, metrics -- and portability. Simply look at the iPhone and similar devices to know consumers will have all forms of media at their fingertips 24/7. The challenge: Are marketers skilled enough to take advantage of this rapidly changing landscape?

THE 'BRAND SWARM'

Marketers will move decidedly in the direction of DDB CEO Chuck Brymer's "swarm theory" -- the notion that people and their opinions coalesce to form critical forces that massively influence marketplace ideas and concepts. "Swarm theory" will elevate social networking to new levels, confirming the immense impact that consumers have on each another. Marketers that embrace this trend can form consumer brand "advocates" and drive brand loyalty and trust to new heights -- if done responsibly.

GETTING COMPENSATION RIGHT (PLEASE)

Compensation models will evolve in 2008. Agencies and clients will work together to create mutually fair value- and incentive-based approaches. The ANA 2007 Trends in Agency Compensation study showed that only 25% of respondents were very satisfied with their compensation models. Marketers will pay well for great ideas and superb media management. The key is to get expectations right between agency and client. Perhaps Procter & Gamble's just-announced compensation model is a blueprint of things to come.

NEUROLOGICAL MARKET RESEARCH

Going beyond traditional focus groups and consumer surveys, market research will embrace scientific approaches that literally tap consumers' brains to learn how they neurologically respond to commercial messages and make brand choices. The Four A's and ARF have begun researching this topic in earnest with an intensive study, "On the Road to a New Effectiveness Model." In 2008 we will start to see practical applications of these insights as advertisers and shops begin to truly understand engagement.

EMERGENCE OF THE 'RENAISSANCE MARKETER'

A new breed of marketing professional is emerging -- individuals with a holistic view of the world and extraordinary observational powers. These "renaissance marketers" will be part humanist, part psychologist, part anthropologist and part technologist. Cookie-cutter marketing will no longer survive as marketers must take a broader view of the consumer and customer. This includes the need to be socially responsible and to embrace key trends such as green.

THE POWER OF STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

Marketers succeed when brand messages are fully integrated and synchronized across all media channels. That requires strategic alignment -- leadership that ties everything together -- particularly when the forces of change can potentially pull them apart. Strategic alignment is one of the most important roles of the chief marketing officer, and In 2008 more CMOs will ensure organizations are strategically aligned. Lead agencies will be appointed to make sure all supporting agencies carry out the same brand message.

PRIVACY, PRIVACY, PRIVACY

In 2008, marketers will become increasingly sensitive to privacy issues. With "digital-intrusion" and identity-theft issues as paramount consumer concerns, marketers must be extraordinarily careful to respect worries of access to private information. This tug of war between consumer privacy and information access will require marketers to work hard to explain and justify the lifestyle benefits of highly individualized, personalized commercial communications.

“Smart Talk”

Talking they say, is a smart thing to do. Especially when it comes to taboo subjects, because it opens doors and eases the hesitance between people. To transform words into action, one needs to talk even more. The BBC World Service Trust, the charitable arm of BBC which specializes in development communications, has launched a four phase campaign to push men to talk more and more about a taboo subject.

To be run over a period of two and a half years, the media mix for the project consists of TV, radio and cinema, supported by billboards and print. The first phase of the campaign, called Jo Bola Wohi Sikander (JBWS), is under way and the BBC World Service Trust is strategically making attempts to generate interest, compel the target group to take action, and thereby create awareness about the taboo subject. The JBWH contest will run between November 30 and December 20, 2007, and will be seen in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.

In a clever move, the BBC World Service Trust has rolled out the campaign in the form of a riddle. The riddle is thrown as a bait at the target group (primarily SEC C, D and E men in the reproductive age band), who are pushed to enter a contest, answer a simple question and take away prizes.
The TVC has been dubbed in five Indian languages, including Hindi, depending upon the state in which the contest runs. Audiences will be given a local number to call up and leave their answers on – the lucky winners will receive a mobile phone with free talk time.

Guess Who's Seeing Web Traffic Soar

Yes, you read that right. Staid old supermarket staples, once scoffed at as laggards in digital media, are charging online at an unprecedented pace -- and their efforts are being rewarded: Traffic to industry websites in the past year has grown twice as fast as the U.S. internet population.
Unique visitors to package-goods brand websites soared 10% compared with a year ago in the third quarter to 66.4 million, according to data shared exclusively with Ad Age by ComScore. The tally is double the 5% rise in the U.S. internet users to 181.9 million.

The traffic increase, according to ComScore, appears to come primarily from a surge in online display advertising from package-goods players, who, while relatively late to embrace the medium, are now coming on strong.

Mars' Uncle Ben's site, for example, which cracked the industry's top 10 last quarter, according to ComScore, did so primarily by using targeted banner ads on Oprah.com and FoodNetwork.com. They generated nearly 2 million of the 3.6 million visits the site received in the third quarter. UncleBens.com traffic surged more than 1,700% from a year ago.

Courtesy:- Ad age

Well-read women sleep well: Study

It seems that well-read women are more comfortable in bed than men - the more educated a female is, the better she sleeps at night. In case of males, it's just the reverse.

Yes, according to a study carried out by a team of international researchers, women have higher rates of insomnia than men and the more they are educated, the more likely they are to sleep through the night. Conversely, the better educated a man is, the less likely he is to get a good night's sleep, the Science Daily has reported. "Globally, women are up to twice as likely to be insomniacs as men.

But, higher educational attainment improve women's night time sleep quality, it has the opposite effect on men," according to the researchers.

The researchers came to the conclusion after analysing data from a survey on social trends, involving nearly 40,000 Taiwanese people aged 15 and older.

Questions included marital status, employment or occupation, educational attainment, and household income, as well as the number of family members under the age of 15. Insomnia was assessed using criteria developed by the World Health
Image and article source: Deccan Chronicle

Chak De the theme for 2010 hockey World Cup

Shah Rukh Khan's long list of fans has found yet another elite member. This time it is none other than International Hockey Federation president Els van Breda Vriesman, who is in the process of naming the 2010 men's hockey World Cup in New Delhi after the Bollywood superstar.

Impressed by the role played by the movie in popularising the game in India, the FIH president said that the Chak De theme would bring more spectators to the event.

"Chak De is really a great film, inspiring and highly successful. Indian audiences have received it overwhelmingly and we are thinking of utilising the opportunity it provides for us for the 2010 Men's World Cup.

In fact, we will name our campaign suitably after the film," Vriesman was quoted as saying by stick2hockey.com website.

Vriesman also said that King Khan could be roped in for the campaign and FIH would bear the expenses associated with hiring the star. "He may even opt to co-operate with us in the interest of the sport. He is assertive in the film, and very attractive too," she said.

Vriesman became a huge fan of the movie after watching it with Dutch sub-titles. She can now recollect dialogues of the movie, and is particularly fond of the episode when coach Kabir Khan makes the players understand the essence of playing for the country.

"Really Bollywood makes good sense. This is a very good film, picturised in a grand way," she said.

Earth was a slushball

An extraordinary episode of global cooling hundreds of millions of years ago that some experts say caused Earth to completely freeze over has been miscalculated, a new study says. Instead of "Snowball Earth," the planet really became "Slushball Earth," its authors suggest. The great chill - the longest and deepest ice age in Earth's known history happened during the late Neoproterozoic era, 850 to 542 million years ago. The evidence for the Snowball thesis comes from deep sediments in the ocean. Scientists look through these layers to measure levels of the isotope carbon 13 (C13), deposited in plants through photosynthesis, as a telltale of Earth's climate.

Above and below the Cryogenian layer is an abundance of C13. But the Cryogenian layer has negligible levels of this isotope. The explanation is that Earth froze over completely and glaciers crept down into the tropics, possibly even reaching the equator. The brilliant white shell reflected back the Sun's rays, and thus its heat, so well that the Snowball persisted for nearly 200 million years. Eventually the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), welling up from volcanoes, escaped into the air and thankfully set the planet onto a warming trend, and so the icy blanket was melted.

Image and Article source: Deccan Chronicle

Cartoons inspire men

MEN ARE SO KICKED ABOUT WATCHING THEIR FAVOURITE CARTOONS BUT LITTLE DO THEY REALISE THAT APART FROM MAKING THEM RELAX, THESE CARTOONS ALSO MOTIVATE THEM TO PERFORM BETTER IN THEIR AREA OF INTEREST. SOME CELEBS LEARN TO PERFORM THEIR STUNTS, OTHERS BECOME MORE HUMOUROUS AND SOME ALSO COPY THEIR FAVOURITE CARTOON CHARACTER'S STYLE.

Ever thought cartoons could inspire you to perform better? No. If you've always thought of watching cartoons to relax, we give you more reasons to watch them now. Men draw inspiration from animated cartoons and cartoon strips. For example, Tom and Jerry stimulates Akshay Kumar to perform his stunts and, Aamir Khan reads Calvin and Hobbes and derives his sense of humour from them. That is not all. If you've watched the movie Dhoom 2, you would have noticed that Hrithik Roshan was inspired by Jetix to perform his stunts.

"Cartoons are one of my favourites. They always inspire me because they make me imagine how I can put up a great comedy show," says VJ Cyrus Sahukar who is a Top Cat and Johnny Bravo fan. "I really like Hanna Barbera cartoons. They are great fun. I also love reading Asterix comics because they have a hidden meaning in everything they say. That is the basis of what I want to do - telling the truth through the medium of comedy and getting away with it," adds Cyrus who also likes the sound of Pingu (the penguin).

Actor Shreyas Talpade is also inspired by cartoons. To be more specific, Tom and Jerry fascinates him the most. He says that every episode of Tom & Jerry relaxes him and inspires him. "Innovative ideas portrayed through these cartoons definitely help me to be more humourous. I use these ideas in certain actions, depending on the situation that arises. This cartoon helps me do slapstick comedy," says Shreyas.

To beat it all, TV actor Sharad Malhotra not only loves cartoon characters like Johnny Bravo and Popeye, but has also implemented a few of their characteristics in his show. "I get so inspired by these cartoon characters that I do pick up a few of their characteristics. I've tried walking like Johnny Bravo in my serial, Dulhan. And I also get inspired by Popeye whose attitude (after eating spinach, of course) energises me," says Sharad who believes that he gets most of his energy watching cartoons like Flintstones, Scooby-Doo etc.

Where some stars agree that these cartoons inspire them, there are others like actor Vinay Pathak who feels that they might inspire him subconsciously. "Though I love watching my favourite cartoons The Simpsons, I feel that they might inspire me because they have a world of imagination. However, I can't pinpoint and say that they inspire me. Maybe, subconsciously, if they do, it'll reflect in my work. The Simpsons are humourous and they are a complete depiction of story telling," says Vinay who also loves Garfield.

While cartoons motivate men to be humourous or to per form stunts, it's fun to watch them not only because they are relaxing but also because there's a lot to learn from them.
Image and article source: Deccan Chronicle

Curiosity leads youth to smoke

A RECENT STUDY HAS FOUND OUT THAT MOST YOUNGSTERS TAKE UP SMOKING BECAUSE THEY ARE CURIOUS ABOUT THE WHOLE SMOKING EXPERIENCE. AND EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE WELL AWARE OF THE HEALTH HAZARDS, THEY FIND IT DIFFICULT TO QUIT SMOKING..

Youngsters don't start smoking because they think it's cool. They take their first drag out of sheer curiosity, reveals a new study conducted by the Roy Castle Foundation. 82 per cent of smokers pick up the habit before the age of 18, according to the Liverpool Longitudinal Smoking Study. Some youngsters start puffing away as an act of rebellion; others take to it to attract friends and a few do it just to kill time.

Young smokers in the city back up these findings. "I started smoking when I was 17," says Karen Thomas, a software professional at IBM. "There was no particular reason why I started. I was just curious. Then it became a habit to the extent that I was smoking 20 cigarettes a day," says Karen, who is now down to less than 10 a day.

Kshitij Jain, a student at Wesley Degree College, stole his first fag from his dad, who is a smoker. "I tried it when I was 11, but it wasn't a regular occurrence until I turned 19," he says. "I smoke six-seven cigarettes a day and it's not possible for me to stop now. Especially when I go to play snooker and everyone is smoking, I can't resist it," he explains.

The obvious reason to quit would be health effects, but even that's not so easy. Says Karen, "I have cut down a lot 'coz my health is suffering, but I end up smoking when I go clubbing."

Maybe images of diseased lungs on cigarette packets will help, feels Kshitij. "I went to Malaysia recently and saw the awful graphics on the cigarette packs there. That's really got me trying to quit," he says. But most youngsters are well aware of the damage that cigarettes can cause yet find it difficult to give up smoking. "We all know that cigarettes are injurious to health," says Jatin Narang, a student of Icfai. "And they say it causes impotency, but none of my friends have become impotent after smoking," adds Jatin, who started smoking at 17. "One of my friends offered me my first ciggie, but there's no peer pressure. I just smoke when I feel like it," is his story.

However, consultant psychologist and hypnotherapist Srikanth Acharya, of KIMS Hospital, gives us a more helpful explanation. "Youngsters start smoking for various reasons. It could be stress from academics, parents' expectations, some unresolved conflict or even plain boredom. Smoking is also a way of showing that they can make their own choices; they're mature and need advice from nobody," says Acharya. "But whatever the reason, anyone can kick the habit with some systematic steps in behaviour modification. Identify the problem. Are you smoking because of some inadequacy - no girlfriend, no bike or laptop? Figure out when you tend to light up and avoid going to your favourite cigarette shop. Stay away from things which tempt you to smoke and make changes in your smoking pattern. If you usually do it with your right hand, shift to the left. If you like to stand and puff away, try it sitting down. Break the pattern and follow the changes for 21 days continuously. If it doesn't help, get professional counselling," he says.
Image and article source: Deccan Chronicle

Nicole Kidman to Directors: Seduce Me

Nicole Kidman's marriage to Keith Urban has not always been smooth sailing. But the Oscar-winner says she is so happy relaxing with her husband in Nashville, she has to be "seduced" to accept movie roles. In fact, when she was first offered the part of Mrs. Coulter in The Golden Compass, she wasn't convinced. "I actually just didn't want to work," Kidman, 40, said Tuesday at a London press conference to promote the new film (based on the beloved children's book by Philip Pullman). "I was just in a place in my life where I was in Tennessee and I was just feeling a little lazy and wanting to hang out." So what changed her mind? A flattering note from director Chris Weitz and one from Pullman himself. "With those two letters, I was seduced," said Kidman.

The prolific actress (currently filming the epic Australia) also referred to her love of the easy life when asked which daemon – the animal companions to human characters in Compass – she would most like to be. "It changes," she explained. "Yesterday it was a kitten, because I love milk and I like to be petted and taken care of and to sleep a lot." But today, under the spotlight at the press conference, the actress said her daemon would be "a tiger."
Image and article source: www.people.com