Harte-Hanks: Pharma/Healthcare Posts Double Digit Growth
Direct marketing services agency Harte-Hanks posted a 4.6 percent increase in revenue in the third quarter over the same quarter last year.
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Direct marketing services agency Harte-Hanks posted a 4.6 percent increase in revenue in the third quarter over the same quarter last year.
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Some consumers would support advertising on their cell phones in exchange for free features, were the option to be offered.
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Text messaging, one of the first value-added services wireless carriers offered to mobile customers, continues to be the one that mobile users truly value.
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Top companies in retail, automotive and financial services are allotting 10 to 15 percent of marketing budgets for the internet, with additional dollars for mobile media and other areas, says Steve Grubbs, CEO of PHD USA.
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N.C. AG Roy Cooper North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper filed suit in Wake County Superior Court against Buzz Telecom of Merrillville, Indiana alleging that the company used unfair and deceptive practices and violated the state’s telemarketing laws.
Internet ad spending will account for 7.0 percent of global ad spend in 2008, according to a forecast update from ZenithOptimedia, which increased its outlook from April, when it had projected a 6.5 percent share (and 6.0 percent in December) for internet ad spend, reports ClickZ (via MarketingVox). The “pace of development in Internet advertising” was the factor cited for the most recent upgrade.
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By a more than three-to-one margin (321 to 101), the House of Representatives on Thursday passed telecommunications legislation that for the most part corresponds with the agenda of the largest telephone companies, writes the New York Times (via MarketingVOX). Lawmakers also rejected, 269 to 152, a Democrat-backed amendment to ensure Net neutrality. That is, the legislation would not prevent phone and cable companies from charging internet content providers more for carrying services that might compete with the telco’s own services, such as online video.
Anti-media activists will join consumer groups today to register their collective opposition to the proposed $67 billion AT&T BellSouth reunion, just meeting the FCC deadline for submitting comments on the suggested merger that could speed AT&T into the TV industry, writes Broadcasting & Cable. By June 6, the groups said they would announce “new activities and strategies” to stop the deal.
Last month, it was reported that AT&T is spending $4.6 billion on efforts to provide TV over broadband in up to 20 U.S. markets by the end of the year, reaching some 19 million homes across more than 40 markets by the end of 2008
Virgin Mobile, in a joint venture with Sprint Nextel, will give subscribers the opportunity to earn free minutes by agreeing to view and interact with ads, either via text messaging on their phones or on their computers, MediaPost writes. Subscribers can earn up to 75 free minutes per month via the initiative, dubbed SugarMama.
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Posing more competition to cable companies, telecommunications giant AT&T is reportedly spending $4.6 billion on efforts to provide TV over broadband in up to 20 U.S. markets by the end of the year, reaching some 19 million homes across more than 40 markets by the end of 2008, writes Informitv. Some analysts, however, are skeptical regarding the feasibility of the plan in the proposed timeframe.
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Although the majority of Republicans voted against chairman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin’s “network neutrality” bill 20-13, with the help of all the Democrats, the House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed the legislation that would use antitrust law to enforce nondiscrimination in the provision of internet service by networks like cable operators and phone companies, writes Broadcasting & Cable. The bill adds another obstacle to the passage of telecom reform legislation this session.
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Hoping to hasten broadband internet use and lower prices by creating competition for the cable and telephone giants currently dominating the web, M2Z Networks has asked the FCC for permission to use free of charge a band of radio spectrum for its free high-speed, nation-wide wireless internet network, writes MediaWeek.
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Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts welcomes the competition posed by telcos entering the video sector, believing he could take more phone customers from the Bells than the telcos could capture in video customers from cable, writes Broadcasting & Cable.
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Most consumers are reluctant to watch full-length content, like TV shows, on mobile phones because the screens are too small, preferring to watch full-length programming on a full-size TV set, according to a new study from London-based research company Red Bee Media and British digital media research agency iBurbia, Media Life reports.
It could just be a coincidence, but it looks like a new advertising trend is taking root. Adrants writes that Hilton, GM and Sprint all have half or full page ads in today’s Wall Street Journal with the word “Yes” big and bold in the headline.
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Expecting to convert its positive relationship with parents and children into a winning wireless brand, Disney unveiled its new Disney Mobile phone service Wednesday, positioning the service as a communications option for busy families, writes the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Cosmopolitan, CosmoGIRL and Seventeen magazines will have new sites accessible via any U.S. mobile phone network, giving magazine readers additional health and beauty tips, horoscopes, and the ability to buy ringtones or cellphone wallpapers, Mediapost reports. Maxim announced a similar initiative last week.
The Republican-backed bill to let telephone companies offer nationwide television-based video services faces an initial public hearing March 30, Brandweek reports.
A new report by eMarketer predicts that more than 100 million people will view paid or sponsored mobile broadcast video by the end of 2009, Mediapost reports. Only 4.2 million will watch TV on their phones this year (44.5 million will view some form of video), with an estimated 13.9 million watching broadcast TV next year (114.2 million will view video).
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Though the wireless industry was optimistic about cellphone-based advertising and content distribution, the fear of consumer backlash has influenced the latest big wireless content deals to be exclusively subscription based, reports Ad Age.
