Walmart Spends Their Way Out of Trouble.

Read any advertising trade publication, and you will hear reports (ad nauseum) of major national advertisers that have cut their annual advertising and promotional budgets. A notable exception is Bentonville, Arkansas based Walmart. Walmart has actually increased their advertising budgets by approximately $300 million while their major retail competitors have dramtically reduced their ad expenditures. Walmart repoirtedly spends only 0.5% of gross sales on advertising compared to 4.5% at Macy’s and 2% at Target.

It Pays to Advertise........

Leo Burnett Advertising has agreed to pay paid former client, the U.S. Army, $15.5 million to settle claims of over-billing. The original lawsuit alleged that the ad agency calculated its average hourly cost without any allowance for the fact that in many cases, less expensive third-party contractors were used for work billed by the ad agency. The agency denied guilt when agreeing to the settlement.

Read all about it here....

Strativity Says........

There's a firm (named Strativity Group) and they work extensively on “the customer experience.” Their President, Lior Arussy, has made some new points to ponder. According to him most of the critical issues involved in “the customer experience” haven’t changed because of the recession. Some of his observations include:

Commoditization. Core products and services were perceived as
commodities, forcing organizations to seek new ways to innovate
their value proposition and to differentiate themselves.

Heightened Competition. Competitors were catching up and you
need to move the needle to even be in the game, let alone have a
hope of winning.

Customer Impatience. Customers demanded more for their money.
They made sure you earned every dollar through greater value.

Holistic Problem-Solving. Realizing that customers face challenges
that existing products and services could never satisfy, we expanded
to address those needs.

Value Awareness. Customers refused to be taken for granted and
perpetually demanded to receive fresh value.

Personalization. Customers wanted a solution that fits their needs
and often refuse to conform themselves to the company’s product
or business model.

One major thing that has changed ------“In the past, customer experience was a positive differentiator ── used as a means to command premium prices, generate long-term loyalty, and drive growth. Today, customer experience is no more than a value defender ── a way to retain customers, reduce churn, and control customer attrition.”
It’s becoming a condition of sale and less of a motive of sale.

Scary Stuff.

THE NEXT WORLD HORROR CONVENTION WILL BE HELD IN
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada : April 30 - May 3, 2009

How about this for a family getaway.......consider a car trip to The World Horror Convention in Winnipeg (that makes it a "World" event apparently. This one features something called a Gross-Out Contest in which writers will have three minutes to sicken members of the audience. (Party till you puke).

The World Horror Convention is an annual gathering of professionals in the horror industry; publishers, authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers, dealers and, of course, horror fans. WHC serves as both an industry insider's networking event and a chance for fans of the genre to get together, meet some of the creative talents in the field, and generally spend a weekend celebrating All Things Scary.

In the late 1980's, a growing number of horror professionals and fans who attended the World Fantasy Convention (at that time one of the only conventions for horror fans) felt that they needed a convention of their own. Founded by Beth Gwinn (who had the original idea), Joann Parsons and Maurine Dorris, the first World Horror Convention was held in Nashville, Tennessee in 1991.

There has been a World Horror Convention every year since, in cities all over the world. Guests of Honor have included virtually every living legend in the horror field in literature, movies, television, art and more.

The World Horror Convention is presided over year-to-year by the World Horror Society, an unincorporated literary society made up of professionals in the horror field and past convention chairs. The first WHS Board consisted of, Beth Gwinn, Jo Fletcher, Charles L. Grant, Steven Jones, Ginger Buchanan, Stanley Wiater, Joanne Parson & Maurine Dorris. The current Board is listed on the WHS Website.

Learn more at: http://www.whc2009.org/

The Day The Muzak Died........

Muzak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This is the company that was once credited with conducting its own psychological research, and customizing the pace and style of the music provided throughout the workday in an effort to maintain productivity (a technique it called ‘’Stimulus Progression’’). It also began recommending that the music be provided at low, almost subliminal, volume levels, and discovered that alternating blocks of music with periods of silence increased the effectiveness of the product.

Muzak is also the company that Ted Nugent once said he wanted to buy so he could put it out of business. In 1989, he publicly made a $10 million bid to purchase the company with the intent of shutting it down. His bid was refused, but served as a name-branding publicity stunt for both parties.