Avis Bumps Fists With Zipcar On $500 Million Acquisition by Thom Forbes

Avis Budget Group is buying Zipcar, the 13-year-old company that controls about three-quarters of the $400 million car-sharing industry in the U.S., for about $500 million, causing some dismay among urban hipsters, environmentalists and proponents of "dis-ownership" across the country. But others see the corporate resources of Avis as a good thing, able to propel the borrow-rather-than-buy movement from the economic back roads to the Interstate. ...Read the whole story

  • beverages Nielsen Offers Alcohol Marketing Insights by Karlene Lukovitz

    Effective marketing by alcoholic beverage makers and retailers demands a nuanced understanding of varied mindsets and behaviors within consumer demographic segments, as well as behavioral differences seen within beverage categories. ...Read the whole story

  • research Goodbye To Surveys For Companies That Mine Social by Karl Greenberg

    Social media research firm newBrandAnalytics says surveys are defunct, since now companies can get all the data they want online. The firm says companies got a 25% increase in online customer reviews on their social sites. Now they focus on social feedback. ...Read the whole story

  • technology Polaroid Creating Branded Retail Stores by Aaron Baar

    "I recognized the human and societal obsession with taking pictures, but [then] people weren't taking the pictures off their camera phones," Warren Struhl, founder and CEO of Fotobar, tells Marketing Daily. The first store opens in February in Delray Beach, Fla. ...Read the whole story

  • financial services AIG Campaign Thanks America by Tanya Irwin

    American International Group features its employees in a campaign that thanks America for its support during the global financial crisis. The effort also highlights AIG's recovery, commitment to the communities it serves, and the full repayment of U.S. government support, plus a combined positive return of over $22 billion. ...Read the whole story

  • automotive Analysts Agree: Industry Looking Good For 2013 by Karl Greenberg

    December gave automakers the gift of a strong finish to the year. Now, with a last-minute deal to avoid the cliff, the market gets another gift for 2013: continued recovery. Southfield, Mich.-based market auto analysis firm Polk sees a 6.6% rise in sales versus 2012. ...Read the whole story

  • insight Is Everything Old New Again? by Gray Hammond

    In 1994, Giep Franzen wrote a book called "Advertising Effectiveness." His analyses of TV commercials and print ads led me to wonder whether there's a ... ...More

insight Attention, Advertisers - Your Canvas Is Shrinking by Shawn Burns

As the canvas shrinks, our messages need to shrink with it. Design, content, copy, responsiveness, and perhaps the toughest bar of all -- relevance -- ... ...More

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