E-Commerce Blog

A few weeks ago, Johnson & Johnson presented the blogosphere with an ad for its brand name pain reliever Motrin that was aimed at mothers who were experiencing back pain from carrying their babies around in slings. The backlash was swift. The ad struck many viewers as having a tone that mocked, or at best condescended to, the very demographic the company was hoping to win over. Chastened, Johnson & Johnson withdrew the ad. Making blanket assumptions about who will view an ad in cyberspace is a mistake that could ruin an otherwise good strategy.

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How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Online Ad Campaign, Part 1

Yahoo is plugging its Internet radio service into CBS’s webcasting network in a move driven by dramatically higher fees for airing music online. Yahoo’s retreat from operating a standalone service, announced Wednesday, makes it the second major Web site this year to flee the rising royalty rates by hitching its radio service to CBS. AOL Radio, owned by Time Warner, hooked up with CBS in June. Yahoo’s radio channel, called “Launchcast,” will combine with CBS beginning in February.

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Ballooning Royalty Rates Chase Yahoo Radio Into the Arms of CBS

The Pakistan Software Houses Association recently handed out its peer awards for the Pakistan IT industry. The awards provide an industry snapshot at a time when Pakistan has become the third most popular global IT outsourcing destination on RentACoder, an outsourcing marketplace. India and the U.S. are the top two outsourcing destinations. Two factors account for Pakistan’s success: cost and quality. One year ago, IT and back office work in Pakistan was 20 to 25 percent cheaper than India.

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Pakistan’s Software Industry Celebrates Achievements

CBS said Thursday it swung to a third-quarter loss, weighed down by a hefty $14.12 billion write-down related to a drop in value of its media assets. The New York-based media company reported a loss of $12.46 billion, or $18.58 per share, compared with a CBS said earlier this month that it would record the charge to reflect a decreased book value for its radio and TV stations. Its adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $290.3 million, or 43 cents per share.

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CBS Bathes in Red Ink as TV, Radio Values Decline

National Public Radio, already strong online with free downloads from many of its shows, is boosting its digital ambitions with Monday’s introduction of social-networking features akin to Facebook. NPR also plans to overhaul its Web site and expand the tools for sharing its programs elsewhere over the next few months. And it is working to increase the flexibility of its popular “podcasts,” audio downloads that have tripled in usage over the past two years. These digital initiatives are aimed at capturing and retaining audiences.

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NPR Dials Up Web 2.0 Strategy