TV viewing is going up, not down, according to Manish Bhatia, president of advanced digital services for Nielsen, and it's still the dominant video medium by far, blowing online video out of the water. In 2008 Nielsen said that the average American viewed about 4.6 hours of TV a day, versus just 2.5 minutes of online video. Lookin forward, Bhatia expects this trend to continue at least for the near future: "People will spend more time, not less time, on TV as a medium." That said, to remain an attractive medium for advertisers Bhatia said it has to be more …

There are products collecting public sentiment on the Web. There are technologies that aggregate comments. You can manage the chat with the software, which seems like a more effect way to manage your brand and reputation. Talk about branding. Did you see the Jet Blue video aimed at CEOs that can no longer take private planes? A couple of takeaway messages: 1) We're not sure if there is a difference between branding and direct response 2) Folks in online media need to be more experts that generalists.

When big bad economic news hits your brand big time, sending more direct mail may not be the right approach -- especially if you are a big name bank in this economy. “I’m getting 10 solicitations a month from Citibank,” says Stephen Sonnenfeld, president, of consumer solutions of WPP Group’s Enfatico. “Now they are polluting my house with this stuff. How does that affect my brand?” I think we know. He doesn't give those companies much credit.

Lose your job and own a Hyundai? No worries. Kristi Vandenbosch, president at Tequila USA, notes the car company has launched the most brilliant campaign message in the marketplace: If you lose you job, we will take back your car. Vandenbosch said the clause has been in contracts for years, but never brought to light. Is this branding or marketing? The panel, "What Happens to Branding in this Economy?," discussed branding vs. marketing. The panel agreed that few people can do both branding and marketing well. Until people gain the expertise of both, the roles will remain separate, but …