Calvin Klein explores
e-commerce
Ad Networks and Analytics:
- Brand.net, an ad network for brand advertisers, raised $10 million in its second round of funding, led by Norwest Venture Partners. This brings its total funding to $13 million. The money will be used to build a technology platform for display and video advertising.
Agencies and Marketing Execs:
- Kelly Brett is now Head of Original Productions at Bebo. Prior to that, Brett worked on Bebo's KateModern web series for over a year.
- The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) extended its submission deadline for the Multicultural Excellence Awards to September 15.
- WPP sold its 25 percent stake in a Zimbabwean ad agency involved in President Robert Mugabe's reelection. The stake sold for $1, and the exiled Zimbabwean unit agreed to remove any references to Young & Rubicam.
Biz Buzz:
- Google cut back on its culinary program. While breakfast and lunch remains free to all Googleplex workers, dinner is now reserved for engineers.
- Ebay believes modeling itself after Amazon, slashing sale items and better marketing "Buy It Now" sets, will make it a viable business again.
- Google is purportedly on the verge of announcing a major deal in the TV advertising arena.
E-commerce:
- Hoping to draw attention to its improved line of white-label sportswear, Calvin Klein added an e-commerce microsite to calvinklein.com.
- PhotoShelter, an online community of independent photographers, launched PhotoShelter Prints, a set of poignant images for sale as art pieces.
Gaming:
- WPP purchased a minority stake in IGA Limited, the parent company of InGame Ad Interactive Technology. The latter is a major dynamic in-game ad network in China.
Legal, Government and Regulation:
- Overstock.com lost a lawsuit against SmartBargains, which it alleges displayed unsolicited pop-up ads to its visitors. The lawsuit is about four years old.
- Canadian regulators are increasingly concerned about the Google/Yahoo sponsored search pact.
Mobile:
- Google may close a mobile search deal with Verizon Wireless.
- JumpTap closed a fourth round of venture funding for $26 million, led by AllianceBernstein. JumpTap will use the money to expand the global ad sales and operations division for its mobile search offerings.
Overseas:
- In the first half of 2008, ad spend in China grew to a record 244.9 billion yuan — that's $34.99 billion, 17 percent more than the same period last year. TV netted 84 percent of total spend; print, 14 percent (compared to last year). Pharma, medicine, healthcare and women's skincare topped product category ad spend.
- According to marketing search firm Romir, 85 percent of Russian internet users shop online. 70 percent of them pay in cash upon delivery.
Publishing:
- Lad labels Maxim and Blender chose Steak, an SEM firm, to manage their search marketing campaigns.
- Brad Fredricks, former head of marketing at VICE, has launched a digital marketing blog. One post explores digital marketing outsourcing and its implications for interns — which will need to juggle more balls for less money in order to compete.
Search:
- Google is taking Search Suggest out of beta. The feature works like typical "Did you mean…?" services. Its ultimate goals are to help form more coherent queries, reduce spelling errors and minimize the number of keystrokes needed to search.
User Experience:
- Observing that over 52 percent of US Hispanics are online and highly receptive to search marketing, Search Engine Land laments marketers' neglect of this demographic.
