Recently, Gravity Media’s Vice President Yuriy Boykiv contributed to the story of Doria Xie, an up-and-coming blogger who concentrates on cross-cultural communications. Yuriy provided great insight into the changing media landscape, the exponential growth of cross-cultural communications and the rise of new media. Fierce competition is on the rise and innovative thought is essential in achieving success. For further information here is the abstract of her post and the link to her blog. Hope you find it interesting.

It has always bugged me of why we pay so much more for products that are popular among celebrities. I have been a victim of the association marketing myself. By association, I do not mean belonging to a group of people that share similar values and goals, but rather a feeling of associating a product with a specific individual that I admire or aspire to become. Many tried researching the logic behind association marketing, with few really understanding the reasons of what makes us tick and what is the dollar value behind associations. Let’s try to dig deeper.

Because of the use of widgets, there has been an increase in the a mount of people switching over to Internet TV. Over the past few years television industry leaders have been discussing ways to simplify IPTV through the use of widgets. As our lives become progressively integrated with technology, and as innovation continues to evolve, there have been no predictions of television ever becoming obsolete. Since it’s no secret that the Print industry is fading out as technology is taking over, people are becoming more digital as innovators continue increase the ease of access to information.

I am back from South Africa and ready to report on my experience. In my last blog entry I promised to provide feedback on how FIFA sponsors leverage the World Cup sponsorship opportunities in South Africa and beyond. Most of my trip was around Johannesburg area and the North West of South Africa, so my reporting is based on what I have seen in the industrial part of the country.

Here is the fact: World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world. On average each game will be watched by 265 million people worldwide - and there are 64 games! It is bigger than Olympics and Super Bowl combined and US marketers started seeing it as well. How global corporations capitalize on this event is something I want to write about here.

Here are some of the major World Cup sponsorship deals:

 Adidas

I must admit I have been one of the pickiest travelers lately. With so many choices and cheap fares, travelers are much more spoiled than before, especially corporate travelers. In order to boost the so-called Business Class Load Factor (percentage of all business class filled seats on a plane), airlines decreased the required amount of MQMs (qualifying miles) passengers need to reach a "special " status.

I recently read an interesting article in Time magazine regarding the new Census NOT labeling Hispanics as a race. Hispanics are labeled as "origin", but in the race category Hispanics have a choice of either "Black", "White" or "Other". The debate has been very heated over the issue and Time magazine has a great article describing the consequences that the nation will face in 2011.

Also, check our own section on Post 2010 analysis:

Hi, Marketers:

Today, I want to talk about an evolution of SWOT analysis. It seems like such an old term that everyone in college had to learn and quickly forget. However, there is no management or marketing plan that lacks these four letters. SWOT analysis has its critics as well, who claim it to be a distraction and a waste of time. Judge for yourself.