Google+ a Ghost Town as Brands Decamp for Pinterest

Google has been working quite hard to become a bigger player in the social media marketplace with its Google+ venture. But as of now, the results are disappointing.
As in Cotton Delo reports in Advertising Age: “Google+ launched brand pages six months ago, introducing new social lingo, including ‘hangouts,’ ‘circles,’ and ‘+1s.’ But strike up a conversation with a digital marketer these days, and talk of ‘+1s’ has been replaced by that of ‘pins.’ Rather than challenge Facebook and Twitter for mindshare, Google is a distant fourth to Pinterest, with its ‘pin it’ button now appearing alongside Facebook, Twitter, and E-mail buttons on prime Web real-estate such as eBay and Amazon product pages.”
Click the icon for the full Advertising Age story.

Posted in Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is the Era of Big Box Retail Dominance Coming to an End?

Big-box retailers have been dominant over the last two decades. But is this changing?
That is the question raised recently by David Welch, Chris Burritt, and Lauren Coleman-Lochner, writing for Bloomberg: “The new mantra is small box. While Best Buy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Target Corp. are still opening large stores, all are putting increasing emphasis on smaller ones. Best Buy plans to double the number of its smaller Best Buy Mobile stores by 2016. Wal-Mart is building as many as 100 small-format stores this year, while Target is opening five CityTarget locations.”
Click the photo for the full Bloomberg story.
The Era of Big Box Retail Dominance Is Coming to an End

Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Posted in Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Kim Williams: The Polka Dress

The Polka Dot Press moved from the dining room of Kim Williams’ home to a storefront on Main Street in her Florida town. This stationery business has grown and offers opportunities to her local community.
View Kim’s full story here.
Posted in Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Video Clips (non-career) | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment