Things worth reading for January 17th:
Brands Create Media Outlets Online, Bypassing Magazines – NYTimes.com – “In the not-so-distant past, a luxury brand like Richemont, the Swiss company that owns Piaget, Dunhill and Montblanc, would have killed for even the slightest attention from Jeremy Langmead, the editor of British Esquire.
“Now, he works for them, building a menswear e-commerce site.
“Luxury brands have always advertised in the likes of Vogue, Esquire and Architectural Digest and tried to impress their editors enough to get mentioned in the editorial pages, as well. But now companies like Richemont are reaching out directly to consumers — and cutting out the middlemen.”
Pubs Push Own Ad Nets – Don’t miss this important piece by Brian: “For years now, many big-name publishers have resisted the siren song of digital ad exchanges. True, the exchanges offer companies the possibility that they can move more of their inventory while cutting out the ad networks that traditionally serve as middlemen, but the risk of putting further pressure on their ad rates seem to outweigh the benefits.
“Now, several publishers, from NBC Universal to Time Inc. to IDG, are opting for a third way.
“They’re setting up private exchanges that allow them to retain a semblance of control over pricing and quality, and avoid channel conflicts with their sales staffs. Only certain buyers are welcome, and there are strict rules about what’s for sale and at what price.
“…if they take off, these new marketplaces could speed a huge shift in the ad-buying world. Say goodbye to the stereotypical dinner-and-cocktails sales life as teams are made redundant by data-driven buys.”
Report: iPhone 5 will be “Completely Redesigned” – RWW looks harder at the redesigned iPhone 5 with NFC than at Jobs’ illness.
PAUL ISAKSON: Being Where You Are – Nice prose + video post about photographer Scott Schuman (a.k.a. The Sartorialist) and how he focuses his time. New tag for this sort of thing is “Be Here Now.”
Mobile Self Checkout Coming to a Store Near You « THE DIGITAL BLUR – Nice piece about Near Field Communications and self-checkout by Jason– we’re covering this at iMedia Breakthrough in March– check it out at imediaconnection.com. Relevant snipped: “If you live in New York, you can now get a taste of the future of mobile payments at any Starbucks via the mobile Starbucks card app. After doing so since launch about a month ago, I put mobile payments in the same bucket as a DVR and RSS reader, you can live without it until you try it. Then life changes forever. Mobile payments are without a doubt a big part of our future. Starbucks will be the proof of concept for others as they roll out mobile payments globally over the next couple of years.”
What does Steve Jobs’ medical leave mean for Apple? – Nice POV on Jobs’ medical leave.
Top ten brains of the digital future « Prospect Magazine – An interesting and surprising list.
With I.P.O., Groupon Is Said to Value Itself at $15 Billion – NYTimes.com – “Groupon, the social buying site that spurned a $6 billion offer from Google, is pushing ahead with plans for its initial public offering, a debut that could value the company at $15 billion or more.
“The company, which just raised a record $950 million from big investors, discussed a public offering with bankers this week, according to two people with knowledge of the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Banks are pitching Groupon on dizzying valuations at which they expect to take the company public, with many at $15 billion, these people said.”
2010: the year in internet stats | VentureBeat – Don’t know who Royal Pingdom is or whether or not to rely on these numbers, but they’re interesting…
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