Mediaboss Marketing

More important than ever. Thats what Simply Measured has to say about social marketing.

A pioneer in social analytics, the company has just released its third annual State of Social Marketing report, which provides insights from more than 2,700 social media professionals in 111 countrieswith the perspectives of both brands and agencies.

At the end of the day, your job as a marketerany kind of marketeris to sell. This is true even if you are tasked with increasing brand awareness and cultivating a community on social, as three-quarters of our survey respondents are, said Scott Fallon, vice president of Marketing at Simply Measured. It just means that your target market is closer to the top of the funnel. As more budget is devoted to socialsocial spending is expected to rise to 17.3 billion by 2019 social marketers will be pressed to make the link between engagement and conversions. Social marketers wont stop paying attention to engagement and amplification metrics, but they will be asked to set and meet conversion goals, too.

There is a severe gap here today: 90 percent of marketers surveyed struggle to measure ROI and/or tie social to business goals. The report positions 2017 as the year of contradictions, with social ad investment increasing, but a lack of industry-wide goal-setting, and more than half of brands saying that influencers are vital to the success of their social programs, but over 76 percent of brands saying they have no dedicated budget for influencer marketing.

Agencies, however, are pushing for results from social more than brands: 73 percent of agencies set goals for either web traffic or conversion goals, while only 57 percent of brand marketers do. This indicates that social marketers at agencies have stronger goal-setting (and achieving) baselines than social marketers within the brand environment.

Whether brand or agency, social media is a foundational marketing strategy thatif properly tracked and analyzedhas the ability to impact the buyers journey at all stages in the funnel, explains report author Lucy Hitz, head of Marketing Communications, Simply Measured. However, marketers still find difficulty quantifying the impact of social media and are unsure of how to distribute resources to generate the most value from their social campaigns.

To learn more, check out the full report here.

The rest is here:
Simply Measured Research Points to Increase in Social Marketing's Importance - Mobile Marketing Watch

Indore: The second day of the 2017 IIM Indore- NASMEI Summer Marketing Conference held at IIM Indore witnessed huge enthusiasm from the research scholars and delegates.

Around 300 participants presented papers on various themes ranging from advertising and promotion, consumer behaviour, business to business marketing, digital marketing, e-commerce, social marketing, consumer culture and society, marketing education, marketing for public sector and non-profit sector and marketing strategy to name a few.

The day began with a formal inaugural ceremony wherein IIM Indore director Prof Rishikesha T Krishnan shared the progress made by the Institute over years. This was followed by first address by Indian Management and Marketing Research Consultant Rama Bijapurkar.

Speaking on Customer Value- What the Industry Needs, she shared insights on how the changing consumer market is affecting marketing strategy of industries. Citing Missed call was something created by the customer, which now is served as a facility by various companies to get feedback from customers and stay connected without charging them, she noted Customers these days are better innovators than the industry itself.

Her talk was followed by that of Prof Raji Srinivasan, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas, Austin. Her topic of address was Creating Value by Managing Customers (Not Products). Discussing about two big giantsAmazon and Adobe, which understood their customer needs with changing time, she implied customer life value (CLV) to their marketing strategy and utilised it for gaining profits.

She concluded her talk discussing about Customers as Assets from the perspective of company and customers themselves, public policy perspective and investors perspective. Next speaker Prof Manoj Agarwal from School of Management, Binghamton University deliberated on The Value of Customer Value to the Firm.

Professor Agarwal said If any organisation has at least one board member with proper marketing experience, then it would have three per cent more chances of gaining profit even at the time when sales are declining, he said, adding that Its time to link marketing with metrics and develop correlation between CLV and firm value.

The inaugural ceremony concluded with a talk by Prof P Venugopal from XLRI, Jamshedpur, who deliberated on Incorporating Sustainability in the Realm of Marketing. He said that Amount of resources we are consuming today is driven by social norms and well-being is decided by the amount of things we buy and accumulate. According to a study, around 81 per cent of customers claim to care for environment and 50 per cent are aware of the products they use and willing to support sustainability, which have non-monetary implications.

We need to try and build up consumerism in a way to support sustainability, reorient marketing and develop products following the 3RReduce, Reuse and Recycleto encourage the consumers to do the same, he concluded.

See the original post here:
Indore: 300 participants present papers on varied marketing themes - Free Press Journal

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment about the removals, which appear to affect only users in Apples China app store generally those who have indicated a billing address in mainland China.

This is not the first time that Apple has removed apps at the request of the Chinese government, but it is a new reminder of how deeply beholden the tech giant has become to Beijing at a moment when the leadership has been pushing to tighten its control over the internet.

The removals signal a new push by China to control the internet. In the past, the Great Firewall has used technology to disrupt VPNs, and Beijing has shut down Chinese VPNs and even aimed a huge cyberattack at a well-known foreign site hosting code that circumvented the filters.

But they also mark the first time China has successfully used its influence with a major foreign tech platform, like Apple, to push back against the software makers.

While internet crackdowns often peak every five years, ahead of a key Chinese Communist Party congress, this years efforts cover fresh ground, a likely indication that stricter controls of things like VPNs will persist after the congress this autumn. Earlier this month, China also began a partial block of the Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp.

Greater China is Apples largest market outside the United States. That has left the company more vulnerable than almost any other American technology firm to a Chinese campaign to ween itself off foreign technology and tighten control over foreign tech companies operating there.

In response, Apple has made a number of moves to ensure that it stays on Beijings good side. Last year, the company complied with what it said was a request from the Chinese authorities to remove from its China app store news apps created by The New York Times.

This month, the company said it would open its first data center in China to comply with a new law that pushes foreign firms to store more of their data in China.

Apple has operated its app store in China for many years with only the occasional run-in with the government. The VPN crackdown and Beijings move in December to target news sites indicates that Chinas internet regulators have taken a deeper interest, and are exerting more control, over what is available on Apples China app store.

Carolyn Zhang contributed research from Shanghai.

More here:
Apple Removes Apps From China Store That Help Internet Users Evade Censorship - New York Times

In a system that sets much store by retaining the power to censor films in the name of certifying them, random attempts by petitioners seeking cuts or even a ban often add to the pre-release anxieties of filmmakers. While rejecting the petition filed by a person claiming to be the daughter of the late Sanjay Gandhi to set aside the certificate granted to Indu Sarkar, a film directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, the Supreme Court has rightly banked on a well-established principle that freedom of expression cannot be curtailed without a valid reason. It has reiterated that the film is nothing but artistic expression within the parameters of law and that there is no warrant or justification to curtail it. Earlier, the Central Board of Film Certification, which under its present director, Pahlaj Nihalani, has not exactly distinguished itself, had granted a certificate to the film after suggesting 14 cuts. The Revision Committee had reduced the number of cuts, leaving nothing to be adjudicated as far as the suitability of the film for exhibition is concerned. Yet, a single individual managed to create some uncertainty over the release of the film by approaching the courts. The film relates to events set during the 1975-77 Emergency and, going by the directors disclaimer, its factual content is limited to 30%. Apart from the expression of concern by some Congress functionaries, there was little to suggest that anyone would take seriously the claim that the partys leaders may be convincingly shown in a bad light.

Recent experience suggests that the CBFC does not always see itself as a certifying authority, but rather plays the censor quite merrily. In the case ofUdta Punjablast year, it was seeking to be the guardian of Punjabs honour against the depiction of the high prevalence of drug addiction in the State. The Bombay High Court had to remind the CBFC that certification, and not censorship, is its primary role and that its power to order changes and cuts must be exercised in accordance with constitutional principles. More recently, the CBFC sought to play the moral censor with regard to Lipstick Under My Burkha, a film it thought was too lady-oriented to be given a certificate, presumably because it depicts their fantasies. The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal had to intervene to secure the release of the film, with an A certificate. These instances demonstrate that challenges to freedom come from both within the systemic framework and outside. It is a matter of satisfaction that the courts prefer to protect the right to free expression rather than entertain excuses such as maintenance of law and order and public tranquillity, or someones sense of hurt or the fear of someone being portrayed in a bad light. It is disconcerting, nonetheless, that the battle for free expression is having to be fought so often these days.

Read more from the original source:
Cinema & censorship - The Hindu

MECCA: Malaysian haj pilgrims need not worry about moving around the Masjidil Haram (Grand Mosque) to perform religious rituals and acts of worship as the situation in the holy city is safe and under control.

Deputy Head of Malaysian Haj Delegation (Welfare) 2017, Nurrin Anuwar Shamsuddin said Tabung Haji (TH) had been working closely with the Malaysian Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate General in Jeddah to keep tabs of the situation and so far, no warning notice was issued to the pilgrims.

"The situation in Mecca is still under control, pilgrims are free to move around the Masjidil Haram ... no restriction so far.

"To all their families (in Malaysia), don't worry. InsyaAllah, everything is alright and under control," he told the Malaysian media at the Mecca TH headquarters at the Abraj AlJanadriyah Hotel here, Saturday.

Malaysia has condemned the attempted missile attack aimed at the holy city of Mecca and hope that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Friday said the abhorrent act, reportedly launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels, could threaten the safety of pilgrims.

The Saudi Defence Forces on Thursday (July 27) intercepted a ballistic missile, known as 'Burkan-1', 69km away from Mecca at Al-Wasliya area of Yaif Province.

According to international media reports, the Houthis on Friday confirmed the launch of a Burkan-1 ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia but said it targeted King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, the kingdom's busiest airport. No casualties were reported as a result of the attack.

Meanwhile, Nurrin Anuwar also advised the Malaysian pilgrims to follow the schedules set by the TH and to be on high alert of their surroundings.

"Alhamdulilah, TH is proud to say that Malaysian pilgrims are among the best in terms of discipline, knowledge and following instructions as long as they adhere to all instructions, they will be fine.

"If there is an incident or rally, stay away! We are here to perform religious obligation, so let's just focus on doing that," he said.

Nurrin Anuwar said the TH also had its own patrol team to monitor security of Malaysian haj pilgrims in the holy city.

"Our patrol team members have experience working with security forces and they know how to assess the situation out there," he added. Bernama

See original here:
Security in Mecca under control: TH - The Sun Daily