Facebook: $100 Billion Company? by Erik Sass

Facebook has revealed the target price per share for its initial public offering, in the range of $28-$35 per share, which would give the company a value of $96 billion. The lead underwriters are Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs, with additional participants including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Allen & Co., Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank. While only a relatively small portion of shares are actually going up for sale -- totaling perhaps $13.6 billion -- the IPO will gauge whether the market agrees with the overall valuation. ...Read the whole story

  • Social Overtakes Search, Closes In On Display As Agencies' Top Digital Focus by Joe Mandese

    Social media has surpassed search, and is poised to overtake online display advertising as the No. 1 source of digital media planning and buying, according to the latest edition of a quarterly survey of U.S. advertising agencies. The survey, conducted by Strata, the agency media software and processing firm owned by Comcast, found that 69% of agency executives now consider social the "focus" of their digital ad spending, up 32% over the past year, and now a close second behind display (71%) as the dominant digital media-buying platform in the minds of agency executives. ...Read the whole story

  • retail Men's Wearhouse: Not Your Father's Suit by Aaron Baar

    Looking to change the idea that being or wearing a "suit" is somehow undesirable, Men's Wearhouse is targeting a younger, hipper client in a new advertising campaign that encourages young men to show off their inherent, individual styles. ...Read the whole story

  • Online Music Strategy Becomes Line Item In Marketers' Budgets by Laurie Sullivan

    Creating a music strategy that makes it easier for brands to connect with the trillion-dollar youth market and its cultural values will become the next challenge for marketers. Michael Paull, EVP and global digital business for Sony Music, believes the opportunities to connect through music will come from location-based services and multichannel experiences. ...Read the whole story

  • LinkedIn Doubles Revenue, Acquires SlideShare by Mark Walsh

    LinkedIn doubled its first-quarter revenue to $188.5 million from a year ago on strong growth across its employment services, subscription and advertising business lines in the first three months of 2012. The professional network reported a profit of $5 million, or 4 cents a share, up from $2.1 million, and break-even, in the year-earlier period. LinkedIn also announced its acquisition of online content-sharing service SlideShare for almost $119 million in cash and stock. ...Read the whole story

  • Kids From Affluent Backgrounds Video Chat Most by Gavin O'Malley

    Youth from higher-income and higher-education families are more likely to video chat than youth from lower income and education households, Pew found. Teens who use Facebook and Twitter are also more likely to use video chat. ...Read the whole story

  • food Oscar Mayer Selects Makes Limited-Time Social Offer by Karlene Lukovitz

    Themed "It's Yes Food," the campaign - one of the largest in Oscar Mayer's history - kicked off with three humorous TV spots showing a mother having to say "no" to all kinds of things, but happy to say "yes" to Selects cold cuts, hot dogs and bacon. ...Read the whole story

Moms Take Pinspiration To The Next Level by Jenny Vandehey

The other week, Pinterest moved in to the No. 3 spot as the most-popular social network in the U.S, trailing only Twitter and Facebook, eclipsing LinkedIn, Tumblr and other more seasoned social sites. Where Pinterest is winning is with women, and, in particular, with moms. ...More

  • NHL PrePlay App Looks Beyond Check-ins, Tune-ins and Social TV by Steve Smith

    The National Hockey League is going beyond Social TV with second-screen gaming that revives a familiar predicitive play model. The hope is not only to get people to tune in or check in, but to stay in their seats, fully engaged with the TV programming. ...More

  • How Not To Be A Marketing Clown In Online Techy Communities by Paul Gillin

    When a big technology client asked me to be its eyes and ears in a big online technical community, my initial reaction was "Whom did I offend?" This 1.8 million-member online community of technology specialists thrives on topics like storage arrays and server scripting. Was I intimidated? You bet. During four months of trial and error, though, I learned how to appreciate and even enjoy the unique language and style of the uber-geek community. If you're a marketer trying to reach technical types through social media, here are some tips: ...More