Central Perk

luni, 30 iulie 2012

Seth's Blog : The theater of the mind

The theater of the mind

The most effective marketing story isn't the one you tell to someone in your audience, it's the one the person tells himself.

Consider this no parking sign. Instead of stating the fine, the signmaker states the range of the fine. At this point, it's up to the observer to have a conversation with himself. "Well, maybe I'll just get a $50 fine. Hmmm, why would that happen? With my luck, it'll be the maximum... I'll just park somewhere else."

It's not an announcement, it's an invitation to a little internal drama.

Too often, we don't give people a chance to fill in the blanks.

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duminică, 29 iulie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

JCPenney to Eliminate All Checkout Clerks, Instead Using RFID Chips and Self-Checkout; End of JCPenny? How Many Jobs At Risk?

Posted: 29 Jul 2012 06:44 PM PDT

By 2014 JCPenney PLans to Eliminate All Check-Out Clerks, and instead use self-checkout machines and RFID chips.

Struggling retailer JCPenney is making some big changes that will affect customers and its clerks. The store is getting rid of its check-out counters.

CEO Ron Johnson said it will remove check-out counters in stores and replace them with a system that won't require clerks. It's all part of an effort to return the department store chain to profitability.

Shoppers will be able to use self check-out machines, similar to those found in grocery stores.

JCPenney is also planning to replace traditional bar codes on price tags with high-tech radio frequency identification, or "RFID" chips to make purchases faster.

Johnson told "Fortune" magazine he hopes to phase out check-out counters by 2014.

End of JCPenny?

My first thought was a question: Will this work?

A move to entirely self-service is a risky bet-the-company type of move.

Given that many large grocery stores have both self-checkout and manned checkout lanes, I suspect in reality that JCPenny will not go big-bang with this concept but instead will use a series if trials to see how customers respond.

How Many Jobs At Risk?

I personally loathe self-checkout but it's not my opinion that counts. If there are enough who think like me, and JCPenny does go big-bang, this move will the death of JCPenny.

However, If I am wrong, then note that JCPenny has 1100 stores so we are talking about the elimination of lots of jobs. Also note that if the move by JCPenny is successful, other stores will follow.

Finally, even if this ends up as a half-way measure, we are talking about the elimination of 10's of thousands of jobs if other stores follow suit.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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Foreigners Dump Nearly €80 Billion in Spanish Debt; Haircuts Come After More Dumping

Posted: 29 Jul 2012 09:13 AM PDT

Through the first half of the year, foreigners reduced Spanish debt by Nearly €80 Billion as banks in Spain gobbled up more of the toxic garbage.

Foreign investment in Spanish public debt has decreased by €78.168 billion in the first six months of the year, standing at €203.271 billion euros, compared to €281.439 billion which reached the end of 2011. This is a break of 27.7% over last year.

The largest decreases were recorded in February and March, at nearly €25 billion each month.

Analysts note that Spanish financial institutions that are supporting strongly the Treasury issues and thus raising their level of debt thanks to interventions by the ECB.

Contrary to popular belief, the LTRO and other ECB financing programs that allowed Spain to accumulate more Spanish bonds is not a favor to Spain but rather a favor to foreigners who are now unloading the debt.

Just as happened with Greece, as soon as foreigners dump enough Spanish debt, haircuts on the bonds will come.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Remarketing Is Now Simpler

Posted: 27 Jul 2012 09:21 AM PDT

Google's made some exciting announcements about remarketing.

You can use one AdWords remarketing tag on all pages of your site, and then create as many remarketing audiences as you like from it. The audiences are then defined according to the URL of visited pages.
You can (after "a small edit") use a Google Analytics tag to make remarketing audiences for a linked AdWords account. This is being rolled out "in waves by the end of the summer", so keep an eye on your Analytics account for the remarketing option!

Why is this exciting?

Needing just the one tag means it's much simpler to install on all pages, so it should be quicker for your (or your client's) web development team.
It's also easier to check that the right code is on the right pages.
You don't need multiple AdWords tags on one page if they're viewed by multiple audiences. If you already use AdWords and Analytics, you won't need tags for both. Fewer tags mean faster load times – and faster load time helps user experience, improves landing page quality (a quality score factor) and may be a ranking factor.
You can start with a simple remarketing strategy and then refine or split out audiences when you know they're successful.
When you realise only after the remarketing advertising has started that you want to exclude visitors to a particular page (like pages only converted customers will see) you can make a new audience and exclude it, easily and quickly.

On top of that, some more variations of retargeting are coming soon:

You'll be able to make audiences of people with browsing histories similar to the people in your remarketing lists. This will be available "in the coming weeks".
There's a beta that allows you to customise your search ads seen by the people in your remarketing list. If you've got an account big enough to have its own Google manager, ask them about it.

Of course with all this innovation you still need to remember not to creep out your visitors by overdoing remarketing too much – remember to keep membership duration of audiences a reasonable time, and use a frequency cap!

Seth's Blog : Improving your condiments

Improving your condiments

It takes a bold and confident cook to serve a naked hot dog. No roll, no kraut, no mustard.

And a movie shown on a bare wall in an empty room is never going to be received as well as one seen in a crowded theater.

It might be bold to put your work into the world unadorned, but it's probably ineffective.

We know that a placebo works better if it's handed to you by a doctor in a lab coat, and that the little show the sommelier puts on improves the taste of wine.

The packaging, the service, the environment, the hours, the interactions, the way it feels to tell our friends--these are all the free prize.

This bonus, the extra free prize that doesn't seem to be the point of the item itself, is often more important than the thing you think you actually make. The single most effective way to improve your impact is to do a better job of providing it.

Sure, a better hot dog is always appreciated. But when you want to increase user satisfaction, don't forget to offer better mustard.

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sâmbătă, 28 iulie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Federal Bankruptcy Court Lets Stockton, California Cut Retiree Health Care Benefits; Flood of City Bankruptcies Coming

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 08:28 PM PDT

In a welcome, common sense ruling, Court lets Stockton, Calif. cut retiree health care

A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday cleared the way for Stockton, California to cut health care benefits for retirees while it is in bankruptcy proceedings.

Stockton is seeking Chapter 9 protection from its creditors and said that it would cut retiree health benefits while it reorganizes. Retired employees sued to stop those cuts.

Judge Christopher Klein on Friday issued a temporary order denying the bid to stop the benefit cuts, and he said a formal decision was on its way.

Stockton's attorneys had argued that bankruptcy law gave the city wide latitude on how to spend its revenue while it prepares a plan to restructure its finances.

"For the reasons explained in the forthcoming decision of this court, the Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction or in the Alternative for Relief from Stay is DENIED," Klein wrote.

Flood of City Bankruptcies Coming

This is a good start for what needs to happen. The next step needs to be huge clawbacks on promised benefits, preferably top down, so that those with the highest pension benefits bear the brunt of the hit.

As soon as cities realize this is the way out, a flood of bankruptcies will be on the way.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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Schäuble Rejects ECB Help for Spain; Full Bailout Still Coming

Posted: 28 Jul 2012 09:49 AM PDT

As any clear-thinking person should have expected, Schäuble rejects ECB help for Spain

Berlin - For days, it is speculated that the European Central Bank (ECB) is planning, together with the bailout fund EFSF Spanish government bond buy - so come back to Spain to cheaper capital. The "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" According to the euro countries willing to support this approach . Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), but has now dismissed the reports in an interview with the newspaper "Welt am Sonntag".

"No, at this speculation is not true," Schäuble said the newspaper. The Finance Minister said it was already a sufficiently large aid package for Spain have been laced.

The 100-billion-euro package to recapitalize Spanish banks also close an emergency aid of 30 billion €. "The short-term financial requirements of Spain is not so great", said Schäuble, "the painfully high interest rates - but the world will not, if you have to pay for some bond auctions a few percent more."

Full Bailout Still Coming

Schäuble is saying the right things. For starters, ECB backdoor bailouts of Spain are likely against the German constitution. Even if they weren't, why should German taxpayers accept the risk of any of these leveraged proposals that have been circulated, and recirculated?

It's important to understand that the near-7% current market rate does not affect interest on prior bonds (only the current value of them). However, high rates do reflect the interest Spain would have to pay to float new bonds or rollover existing ones.

Thus, high rates reflect extreme stress and are unsustainable for the long-term, but they are not an immediate killer for Spain.

Regardless, Spain is deep in recession and there is no way it can meet its deficit targets. A full bailout of Spain is a certainty.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

luni, 30 iulie 2012

Seth's Blog : The theater of the mind

The theater of the mind

More Recent Articles

duminică, 29 iulie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Remarketing Is Now Simpler

Remarketing Is Now Simpler

Seth's Blog : Improving your condiments

Improving your condiments

More Recent Articles

sâmbătă, 28 iulie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

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luni, 30 iulie 2012

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