BoDO (Business of Design Online) has been featuring some articles by Mark McGuinness on Time Management. Some interesting stuff. They've compiled the information from his postings into a free eBook. You can get it here.
Challenge your geography IQ.
DF Krause makes fun of Wendy's tagline: That's Right(TM).
Google is working on technology that would use unused television airwaves for wireless Internet access.
Google is the third company to build technology that would work with the unused airwaves, known as white spaces, located between channels used by TV broadcasters. Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, and Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe's biggest consumer-electronics company, submitted test devices to the FCC earlier this year.
The three companies are part of a group that wants the FCC to free up the airwaves for unlicensed uses, such as free mobile Internet access, after broadcasters convert to digital signals in 2009. The so-called White Spaces Coalition must first convince the FCC that the products won't disrupt TV reception.
CBS to open concept restaurant at Gillette Stadium.
The restaurant will sit at the mouth of the stadium as part of the adjacent Patriot Place retail complex under development in Foxborough. Kraft said he initially considered the sports dining venue ESPN Zone for the site, but decided he wanted a fresh concept for the massive new shopping and entertainment center and approached a friend, CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves. ESPN Zone offers a similar set-up, serving grill food with big-screen televisions and nonstop sports coverage.Um. Ok.
"We want to be a unique destination. We have a great relationship with CBS, and their network is so much bigger than sports," Kraft said.
CBS Scene is the network's first foray into the restaurant industry, following in the footsteps of other broadcast stations like ESPN and Fox, which each operate restaurant chains. CBS televises most Patriots games and also owns WBCN-FM, the Patriots flagship radio station. The network also airs other major sporting tournaments, including the US Open, the Masters, and the NCAA basketball tournament every March.
On the first floor in Foxborough, CBS Scene will have meeting space and a store selling DVDs of network and classic shows, hats, T-shirts, and other merchandise. There will be dining on the second floor and a bar on the top floor. Architect Cambridge Seven Associates is designing the entire restaurant like a studio, with lighting grids and state-of-the-art monitors, and is equipping the location with satellites and other technology to broadcast live radio and television events.
"It's a way to expand the CBS brand in a great location, and this could be the first of a number of restaurants," Moonves said.
Color of the year for 2008? Pantone says it will be PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris.
"It best represents color direction in 2008 for fashion, cosmetics and home products," explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. "As a reflection of the times, Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspect of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast. Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic. Look for it artfully combined with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays."
Packaged Goods See Web Traffic Soar.
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.
Marketers Focus More On Global 'Tribes' Than on Nationalities -
xecutives seeking to expand their companies' global reach long have focused on tailoring products to fit the local tastes of consumers in different countries. Increasingly, however, they also have a strong sense of the commonality of their global consumers. As the world shrinks, especially for young, Internet-savvy consumers, they must now also cater to particular subcultures of customers who share very similar outlooks, styles and aspirations despite their different nationalities and languages.
"We're seeing global tribes forming around the world that are more and more interconnected through technology," says Melanie Healey, president, Global Health and Feminine Care at Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati.
Among these tribes: teenagers from every continent who socialize on the Internet and like the same music and fashions, working women trying to juggle careers and families, and baby boomers. "If you focus on the similarities instead of the differences [in these tribes], key business opportunities emerge," says Ms. Healey.
Managers in P&G's feminine-care products division, for example, are using this approach to efficiently reach more global customers. After conducting extensive market research, they concluded that teenage girls on every continent have the same concerns and questions about puberty. That means "we can write all the answers at once for the Web site -- which is available in 40 countries -- and then translate these into many languages," says Bob Arnold, Global FemCare interactive manager and head of P&G's beinggirl.com Web site. "It's more efficient -- and we don't need offices all over the world to do this."
"Historically we used to be focused on discovering the common hopes and dreams within a country, but now we're seeing that the real commonalities are in generations across geographical borders," adds James Haskett, brand franchise leader of P&G's Global Always/Whisper brands.
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