As the economy worsens and advertisers allocate a larger percentage of their budgets to measurable marketing efforts like Pay-per-Click (PPC) and Pay-per-Action (PPA), the click factories of Eastern Europe are increasing their activity as well according to a NY Times article of May 13th.
Factory clickers are an old tactic. There was a thriving online cottage industry coordinating the efforts of East European click hackers headquartered in London in the late 90’s. They were used extensively by marketers at companies like About.com to juice audience rankings in the late ’90s. It looks like fraudulent clicking continues to be a growth industry.
I attended the Spencer Stuart’s CMO Summit yesterday afternoon at the University Club on 54th St. in Manhattan. The event was somewhat scaled back compared with last year’s conference at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, but one assumes that executive search firms like Spencer Stuart are among the first to feel the pain of the current economic downturn.
In addition to simply being a great opportunity for networking with some really smart people, the conference also reminded me that marketing is a cross between science, wishful thinking, and black magic. The buzz this year was on behavior changes influenced by the recession, e.g. a shift towards generic brands, a longing for family and traditional values, and the opportunity and need to hone your brand’s message within the rapidly changing context of the worst economic scenario the country has seen since the Great Depression.
Even though the CMO Summit is at heart a soft-sell, marketing device for Spencer Stuart’s executive search practice, the event still manages to provide some fun moments and meaningful marketing tidbits. Comments ranged from “I bet at least 50% of the audience here is between engagements” to an earnest discussion of the importance of corporate “authenticity” via Susan Boyle.
The speakers at this year’s conference included Lisa Baird, Chief Marketing Officer of the United States Olympic Committee; Kim Feil, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Walgreens; Antonio Lucio, Chief Marketing Officer of Visa; and Michael Mendenhall, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Hewlett-Packard Company.
Thanks to Spencer Stuart and Ad Age for sponsoring the event.
AnI-Movix SprintCam was used during the Beijing Olympics to capture live sports events in slow motion HD. The product is targeted to the professional video market, but the execution is so well done, and the technique so compelling that it’s easy to imagine using the technology for cars, detergents, sneakers, package delivery, and endless other product categories. The technology is hypnotic. Great potential in the hands of the right creative team. Take a look!