Fordham Fellows

Microsoft Begins Its Campaign to Promote "the Return of View"

Microsoft has begun the first phase of its first advertising campaign designed to counter Apple's control over the image of Vista, according to ZDNet. The first fruit of this is a publicity campaign on the network, which seeks to combat what Microsoft says are false beliefs about their most recent version of Windows, suggesting that those who believe that Vista is fundamentally flawed are the same who believe the earth is flat. So far the campaign had been subtle and has not made direct references on competitors.

 
        

Unilever Sells Its Cleaners

Unilever Plc / NV, one of the world's largest companies, has agreed to sell its division of detergents for signature Vestar Capital Partners for 1.45 billion dollars as part of its programme of liquidation.

This division, which manufactures products Snuggle, Wiske and Surf, has been on sale for over a year due to their inability to compete against market leader Procter and Gamble (PandG).

As reported by Vestar, the new purchase will come within its operations Huish Detergents and take the name Sun Products Corp., which will take second place in the American market.

Referring to the agreement, representatives of both companies announced that Unilever will receive 1,075 billion in cash, together with preferential shares in Sun Products Corp. valued at $ 375 million.

Eugene and David Grin head Laurus

"Pipes" is the Wall Street acronym for "Private Investment in Public Enquity," and this is already a developed market of $17 billion per year. Laurus Capital Management, LLC, founded by Eugene and David Grin, has become one of the most accomplished and more significantly, active investors in this market. With a Capital of only $5 million in 2001, Eugene and David Grin now manage a capital sum of over $1 billion.

"Pipes" refers to deals where companies sell portions of themselves, despite they fact that they are already publicly listed on the stock markets. This is an extremely effective way to bring new finances into companies, and David Grin, together with his brother Eugene Grin through their Laurus, financed over 50 differing small companies, pumping a total of more than $220 million into them in 2005 alone.

Eugene and David Grin founded Laurus, and the Laurus family of funds has brought fame to David Grin and Eugene Grin individually, as their hedge fund has previously earned more than double than Standard & Poor's S&P 500.

Social Branding, Think About the Social Part of Trademarks for Online Marketing

In this sequence of entries that we are doing on the Social Media Marketing, perhaps we are forgetting something important, the mark. And under this new way of understanding more social marketing, ignore the Social Branding, which would be to make the brand into something more social and open. Or in other words, you want to incorporate the user. a bit in it.

In the era in which we are now involved and in terms of products or brands, we must find ways to resuscitate brands that seem tired or have ceased to be visible to the public. For this return to life, and using the Internet, it would be interesting to use the tools of social and involve assessing the prosumers or fansumers (I like the name of evangelists), people who buy a product or brand as a way to represent themselves. They know far better than the company's own brand or product, and talk about it in a natural way, without bending.

If we take a recent study published by CP Proximity on the images in the online world, we see some very interesting findings on users (avoid percentages): proactively appreciate the presence of their favorite brands in their digital life, buy and participation certain products by the notoriety of the mark on the web or in social networks; marks used to define his personality online; interacts with those brands that really defines who he is.

In the social strategy of the mark again on the Internet again to the topic of conversation. This is not about putting an ad with the mark highlighted, nor a website devoted to the mark, rather it is how you arrive and talk with her. More in the sense of something useful, which helps or entertains the mark, learn to listen and know what to do with all the information it collects user. In essence, being social I think of Coca Cola and in the community that has created around your brand, and then prepares a message, and a campaign conducted by and for their fansumers and evangelists. Now marks in the universe of social, or do not deliver anything. On the contrary, they receive. You just have to be put into practice.