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Over five million Romanians use the internet; they are using the internet to make informed decisions about love, life, real estate, what they will eat for lunch, how to raise their children, and much more.
We do exciting things. There is no one else in Bucharest more willing to tell what is really going on. We share our views and opinions with the Press and others.
France’s second largest bank, Societe Generale, and parent of the Romanian bank, (BRD) has real problems. As more information about Societe Generale’s losses in the credit market scandal becomes public, its shares are falling across several European exchanges from Berlin to Paris. On Friday, SOGN Paris shares closed down 2.28 percent at 76.22 Euro.
Standard & Poor criticizes Societe Generale’s lack of risk management strategy and security deficiencies as a bigger problem than possible writedown losses from the US issue. Last month, Jerome Kerviel, a young trader for Societe Generale, caused a 4.9 Billion Euro loss.
In 1995, Nick Leeson bankrupted the British bank, Barings, after he lost $1.38 billion on Asian futures markets. The loss wiped out the bank’s cash reserves and brought it into bankruptcy overnight.
With the outlook for Societe Generale in the negative, customers have reason to be concerned.
On Friday, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev affirmed the importance of freedom of information on the internet. Medevedev told journalists that he goes online at the start and end of everyday. He commented that he reads the online news to keep up with what’s really going on.
Although televised, print and radio news is manipulated by the Russian state and politically-aspiring oligarchs, Russian online media presents a fuller view of public opinion and reaction. Like many others, Medevedev relies on the internet to keep updated on the issues and views.
See Medvedev in the video below.
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“There is a need for the same passion for truth and authentic opinion in Romania,” says Lavinia Cosac, a student in Bucharest. “Real opinion can only come from real people. Television, radio and newspapers present one-sided stories that fit with the views and interests of their self-absorbed owners and advertisers.”
Yahoo! Board of Directors had a change of heart and rejected Steve Ballmer’s offer for 42 Billion dollars. Since the unsolicited bid by Microsoft, Yahoo! has been talking to Time Warner-owned AOL, Rupert Murdoch, Google, and others.
On Wall Street, financial analysts criticize Ballmer’s zeal for Yahoo! and believe the 42 Billion dollar bid is not merited- a higher offer would be considered “ridiculous”.
Meanwhile, Microsoft stock tumbled in the New York Stock Exchange. Some critics believe this is because the market does not agree that Yahoo! brings value to Microsoft. Today, Microsoft stock closed at $28.42 representing a 40 Billion dollar drop in Microsoft value- almost the same amount bid for Yahoo!
See the video below to see a viral user video that portrays a negative perception of Ballmer.
European markets look poised for a downturn as more information comes in on from banks on bad loans.
“We can’t just blame the Americans,” said an anonymous UK financial analyst. “The fact is that we all wanted to make money. The banks pushed money on the American market. We pushed the American real estate bubble as far as it could go and it burst.”
When things were looking up last month, the future was not bright. See the video below.
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As businesses around the world prepare for tough times, online spending appears to be increasing. According to online experts, online advertising, website development and social media investments are being pursued with greater tenacity. There is the hope that every little bit will help when the global economic downturns get scary.
There is no end in sight for the U.S. downturn. According to experts, there is a decline in sales across the board. Electronics, furniture and computers are getting less purchase- sales from computers stores are down five percent. In less than a year, gas prices rose 22 percent and so too the prices of many other products.
With bare necessities consuming a lot more of the American household budget, Americans are buying less. Sales are declining, demand for services waning, and it looks like the beginning of a widespread foreclosure on homes. The outlook is negative for Americans and the world.
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The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. criticized the Bush Administration for inadequate measures regarding home foreclosures. Bush’s Project Lifeline provides a 30 day moratorium on foreclosures, but the Rainblow PUSH coalition explains that 90 days is better advised.
“People loosing homes will become people who loose jobs,” explains a concerned Chicago-land homeowner. “As unemployment rises, sales will decline further and faster. The Administration needs to be strategic in preventing a tragedy that will impact on the global economy. Bank writedowns are nothing in comparison.”
Got gold? Find out why you should have a little gold during a recession. See the video below:
The Internet is proving to be the most powerful political campaign tool in the 2008 Party races for a Presidential nominee.As Hillary Clinton recently found out, all the King’s horses and all the King’s men cannot put humpty dumpty back together again. Despite all her plans, her best game and years of wheeling and dealing with Democratic Party bosses. Barack Obama came from far behind and put her in the back seat of the Democratic ticket.
How did it happen? Obama’s campaign team and fans have overcome the impossible with a passionate integrated campaign strategy with heavy emphasis on the online. The political online strategy includes sophisticated websites, video and blogs.
will.i.am, front man for the Hip hop chart-buster, Black Eyed Peas, led the victory march when he put his “Yes We Can Song” video online. Based on a speech given by Obama, several celebrities sing parts of Obama’s speech. Featured is the beautiful Scarlet Johansson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Herbie Hancock, and others. See the Yes We Can Video below.
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The song and video which would have cost millions to make and months to produce was made in two weeks at no cost by will.i.am who was inspired by Obama and wanted to make a difference in American politics. The Obama presidential campaign team had no knowledge of what will.i.am was doing.
The video went viral overnight, registering approximately 16 Million views in the first week. Untold hundreds of thousands of Republicans, Hillary fans, and others were profoundly touched by the video and Obama’s message of unity, change and hope.
Many changed sides overnight. Two weeks later, Obama is being proclaimed as the next President of the United States of America.
A quick search for online advertising agencies in Bucharest will provide surprising results.
The top performing online advertising companies in Bucharest either do not have websites or do not have great websites. Perhaps, they are too busy doing client work. Or, could it be, that they don’t believe in what they sell? OR they are not the masters of online strategy that most believe them to be.
Searching Google for Romanian websites with the english search term, “online advertising”, we only found Arbomedia on the first page of results.
Searching Google for Romanian websites with the Romanian search term “publicitate online”, we found Vodanet (believed to be closed).
Ironically, none use search advertising for themselves, despite the fact that search advertising is the most effective interactive and online advertising tool.
Does your online agency eat its own dogfood? If not, why not?
Cammie Dunaway, Former Yahoo! CMO (head of customer experience division) and CMO for Nintendo America suggests that marketers must totally rethink what they have been doing.
Dunaway explains that marketers need to understand the consumer as an individual, integrate marketing strategy, use online media and pay attention to both user engagement and customer behavior. Just pushing information to a general audience is outdated.
In the video below, learn eight quick steps to customer experience:
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The proliferation of media, Dunaway believes, has helped marketers remove the guessing from previous marketing strategizing. Most of all, she explains, it provides “the ability to really get to the right consumer at the right time with the right message in ways that you couldn’t in the past.”
According to Dunaway, Yahoo! is putting more money into online channels such as search engine marketing and great brand experiences. “You’re getting people when they are raising their hands saying, ‘Talk to me about a product.’” And you know what product they want to hear about. That’s timing!
“I always make online media a big part of my media plans; I believe in eating my own dogfood,” says Dunaway.
Supposedly, Yahoo’s board of directors are considering Microsoft’s offer. But if resistance is futile, can Yahoo’s instinct for innovation survive assimilation? Or would a Microsoft takeover only accelerate what seems to the industry to be a gentle diminishment of the brand?
Is the not-so-hostile bid about online advertising revenues? Search technologies? Or both?
Or, is this $44 Billion bid an artifice for peers to consolidate advantages and confidence in the face of the economic slowdown and investors’ fears?
If slowdown and fear, what will Google do? Grab AOL?
We do know one thing: Ballmer is an animal. See what we mean in the video below:
