ECONOMIC SITUATION - Down or up?

Seems to change dependant on which company you ask. I have personally seen here in Finland most major ad and media agencies lay-off people. It's very difficult to fire someone here in Finland without real cause & hence in some ways the economy has helped these agencies to go into this process called "cold termination" - which essentially is a BS way of saying we are gonna fire a whole bunch of you and give you some legal mumbo jumbo that its up the company to decide who goes! It has given agencies the opportunitiy to review their strategies & get rid of the old useless people who have no understanding of the ad/media landscape today.

Right now, lots of talk is going around about new divisions specializing in digital opening up, ROI based models and so on - Funnily enough friends are telling me that these are radical new ideas when really, is it just that Finland is two steps behind the rest of the world - creatively there are great guys/girls here but strategically I really can't say I have seen anything that would meet the standards I have adhered to in the UK, Australia and other major markets...

Old colleagues in Australia have said by January 2010 brands will be recruiting again - 90% digitally focused... Here in the Nordics the market is quite stale - companies are not sure and in most cases companies in the Nordics are very "safe" and don't take big risks. 

Simply interested to hear whats going on out there... Finland is slowly curving back up I think and by the end of the year/beginning of next year gaps will start to be filled. How about the UK?

SPAMBOOK - Is Facebook becoming the next SPAM medium?

 SPAMBOOK - Is Facebook becoming the next SPAM medium?

Facebook... the new giant that has a generation almost attached to it. Generation F some call it! The 70's were "free love", the 80's were "rock", the 90's were "grunge", and now... "Social networks - FACEBOOK".

So is this new so-called generation soon going to get angry? Why? SPAM.... While many successful brands are moving forward & embracing social platforms and new avenues of reaching their consumers, many are misusing these channels & quite frankly just ruining them for other brands. I've noticed an influx of brands in particular one or two in the Nordics simply attacking Facebook & using it as a personal source of SPAM. At this stage I am really narrowing down my friends in Facebook and what I see on the homepage. I really don't want to see 20 updates on my homepage about one brand - SPAM SPAM SPAM. Too some extent its becoming a little like MySpace but at least we as the user, do have somewhat control but seems rude to delete all your fan pages and friends.

In the past 6 months a massive explosion of brand pages have been created. Facebook has become like the web during the dotcom boom - brands then said "we need a website - just create us a website" & now they are saying "we need a Facebook page - just create us a Facebook page" - So what’s the long-term strategy, what’s the point of difference, how will Facebook align with all your other marketing channels, how will you engage your consumer more so than other brands, without spamming them? Yes, another SPAM giant was email - no segmentation, no behavioral targeting, no strategic approach at all - just spam those consumers and hope for the best - What ever happened to first impressions last? Well it seems to me like Facebook is slowly moving towards this & if brands don't follow a marketing strategy to align all their mediums and have "original concepts" to apply to Facebook then well... soon We'll be seeking the next "anti-spam" platform.

One thing is clear that we need to build up our brands across all channels - and yes, we have to start somewhere, but not SPAM. Somewhere means having an in-depth long-term strategy as to how you will use these new channels of media to promote your business. Being marketing professionals we are obviously much more critical of the way brands place themselves to the consumer, but the consumer remembers - they are not dumb! Assume the consumer is smart, savvy, and intelligent - tell them what they want to hear, give them what they want to see... Target them & be their friend - But guys... Stop and think & ask yourselves one question - What are you trying to do in the long-term and are you going to achieve it with your current approach? I for one object to being spammed in anyway - email, facebook, telesales, forums... - Leave me alone :)

Love to hear anybodies thoughts on this on a regional level. Examples would be great but I am personally trying to stop myself from attacking individual brands.