OnLine Trading Futures According to eMarketer's just released eCommerce: B2B Report, U.S. businesses are substantially increasing their online trading activity with direct purchasing via supplier websites leading the way. North America now accounts for 71% of online trade, and eMarketer estimates that worldwide business-to-business e-commerce will reach $2.7 trillion by 2004. eMarketer analyst Steve Butler said, "the majority of large enterprises continue to see e-business as a long term strategy." B2B by Global Regions in Billion$ 2000 2001

Branding Sells New research by Jupiter Media Metrix, reported in a recent press release, suggests that marketers who fail to measure online branding will miss the real value of digital advertising. The report shows that the actual return on investment (ROI) from online advertising is at least 25 to 35% higher than most marketers believe. But, according to a Jupiter Executive Survey, only 15% of marketers are conducting formal online branding measurement, while 60% favor click-rate metrics and 75%, cost per conversion. Rudy Grahn, analyst at Jupiter Media Metrix said, "when brand advertising programs generate synergy across all …

For Bargain Hunters According to a new study by the Internet research company Jupiter MMXI, European online advertising prices have fallen by 30% over the past year and are expected to continue to drop over the next six months. The report shows that advertisers paid EUR30 on average for 1,000 page impressions in June 2000 while they now pay EUR20. Jupiter believes that the reason for the sharp decrease lies in a highly competitive market where the supply of space on sites and sales networks largely exceeds the demand for online advertising. The surplus of unsold ad space is …

Grampy's Not Just Rockin' According to MRI's Cyber Stats, collected through April, 2001, use of the Internet among those age 55-64 grew in the past six months to 43% from 36% and 31% eighteen months ago. 133 million U.S. adults - 66% of the adult population – have access to the Internet either at work or home. Of those, 101 million reported using the Internet in the past 30 days. This means that 50% of U.S. adults have used the Internet in the past 30 days. The most common activity on the Internet among consumers 55-64 is e-mail. …

Newspaper Numbers The Newspaper Association of America (naa) reported in a recent news release that newspaper advertising expenditures for the first quarter of 2001 totaled $10.4 billion, a decrease of 4.3% over 2000, according to preliminary estimates. It was the first such decline since the first quarter of 1992. Retail advertising showed the smallest decline, down 0.4% to $4.6 billion. National advertising was off 3.7% to $1.75 billion, and classified advertising slid 8.6% to $4.0 billion. NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm said "Obviously, it would be hard to match the incredible gains of last year, …

Homework Psychographics 88.6 million, or 44% of Americans have Internet access at home and 56% own a personal computer. As a result, more than ten million American adults work where they live. And new MRI data show that "Homeworkers" exhibit measurable differences in media behavior as reported by Mediamark. While MRI data do not qualify or quantify the connection of using specific media while actually working from home, analysis of data shows that certain magazine types, TV programs, and radio formats are more likely to be used by people who work from home. - Full-time Homeworkers are almost twice as …

Skip It! A recent cover story by Michael McCarthy in USA TODAY reported that digital video recorders (DVRs) such as TiVo may let consumers watch a show seamlessly without seeing ads. Some advertisers are embedding ad messages into, rather than around, TV shows to reach the consumer. "The 30-second commercial as we currently know it is an endangered species," warns David Verklin, CEO of Carat North America. McCarthy says that this would be a good time for new ideas in the ad business. "Anywhere from 50% to 80% of TiVo subscribers skip over most of the ads," TiVo's Rebecca …

Customer Relationships According to a recent retailer survey by Gartner Inc., as reported by Rob Williams of SharperMedia, 95% of the respondents rated CRM (customer relationship management) as their highest or moderate business priority. Important for advertising and strategic planners, Gartner has identified five key elements necessary to support a CRM strategy through 2004. - Promote merchandising, marketing, servicing and selling across channels. - Provide a consistent face to the consumer across all points of contact. - Capture and leverage knowledge across channels at a granular level. - Identify, target and differentiate valuable consumers. - Recognize the lifetime …

Friend Or Foe? In a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project called “Teenage Life Online," they find that 17 million American teens online have embraced instant messaging tools to enrich their friendships and expand their social worlds. The results, based on a phone survey of teenagers and their parents by Princeton Survey Research Associates, and an online discussion group conducted by Greenfield Online, show that 55% of the parents say that the Internet has been a good thing for their children, especially when it comes to schoolwork. "The Internet… has become a major 'player' …