Madison Ave Insights

Category Archives: Digital

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Spring Fashion Series: Retail Growth in the Digital Age

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Marketing, Social Media

In this post I will examine the growth of retail store sales.  Sales at brick-and-mortar retail stores constitute 90% of all retail sales in the United States.  And many major retailers have found that their digital consumer engagement and investments made toward boosting their online presence has actually resulted in increased in-store visits.  In fact,… Continue Reading

FTC Updates Dot Com Disclosure Guidelines to Catch Up with New Technology

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Mobile

I talk here on Madison Ave Insights all of the time about the importance of mobile and social media for advertisers.  Technology is always changing, and with new technology comes a set of new challenges for industry groups, brands, and regulators.  In light of the rise of smartphones, tablets, and social media, the Federal Trade… Continue Reading

Understanding the FTC’s Expansion of COPPA: A Conversation with the Director of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Marketing, Mobile

Surrounding a breakfast seminar, which was held at Davis & Gilbert today entitled, “Complying with the FTC’s Final Amendments to its COPPA Rule: What You Need to Know,” I thought a great post would be to examine that very topic.  In addition, I had the chance to speak to Wayne Keeley Director of the Children’s… Continue Reading

Brand Mascots Come to Life on Social Media

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Marketing, Media, Social Media

A few weeks ago, Chester Cheetah, the beloved “spokescat” for Cheetos, joined Twitter as @ChesterCheetah with a campaign to reach 50K followers.  And when he does, “a family gets a kitten.”  Chester Cheetah is just the latest of many brand mascots that have taken social media by storm in recent years.  Furthermore, digital media is… Continue Reading

The New Auto Industry: Friend of the Environment and Tech Star

Posted in Digital, Environmental, Marketing, Technology

Back in October, I talked here on Madison Ave Insights about the FTC’s just-released Green Guides and what they would mean for marketers moving forward. The FTC moved against unfounded and overused “environmentally friendly” and “green” claims in marketing for a range of products. The standards as established challenge the use of unqualified general environmental… Continue Reading

FTC Amends COPPA to Strengthen Children’s Privacy Protections

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Marketing, Mobile

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ended 2012 with a bang by adopting final amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). For those of us who work in children’s advertising, these long awaited amendments came as no surprise. The final amendment, which goes into effect on July 1, 2013, came only weeks after the… Continue Reading

2012 Holiday Shopping Season: Significant Changes in Only Five Years

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Mobile

2012 is projected to be a big holiday shopping season, with consumer spending expected to return to near pre-recession levels.  The National Retail Federation’s 2012 consumer holiday spending survey forecasts that the country’s holiday spending will rise 4.1% to about $586 billion – the most optimistic forecast since the recession.  But a lot has changed… Continue Reading

Are Mobile Payment Apps the Next Big Thing?

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Mobile, Privacy

Cash and credit and debit cards are certainly dominant in the payment space today.  Some think change will never happen, but they are dead wrong.  Mobile payment is in its infancy, but the benefits are clear:  simplicity, convenience, relevance, and targeted offers and rewards.  No more wallets with multiple cards, just one device.  And this… Continue Reading

Settling the Argument: Regulation and Disclosure in the Digital World

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Regulatory

We are in a “perfect storm” fueled by big data, technological change, media transformation (especially mobile), and global competition.  The conventional model of linear digestion of media followed by the linear transaction process is disappearing.  With digital media, consumers have multiple sites and screens open at the same time.  This year the number of Internet… Continue Reading

Choices, Choices: Do Consumers Really Know What They Want?

Posted in Advertising, Digital, Marketing

Increased mobility and access to information with digital media and mobile gives consumers real power to shape the marketplace.  Yet consumers can be fickle and easily distracted, to say the least. With so many options and constant change, the question for advertisers is:  how do we determine what reasonable consumer behavior and perceptions are when… Continue Reading

Privacy and the FTC: Inside Perspective from FTC Commissioner Julie Brill

Posted in Digital, Media, Privacy

On Thursday during Advertising Week in New York City, I hosted an event called “Mission Impossible: Truth & Privacy – The Future is Now,” featuring Commissioner Julie Brill of the Federal Trade Commission, along with Frank Abagnale, one of the world’s foremost authorities on fraud and identity theft (you may know him best from the… Continue Reading