We have written quite extensively over the last several months about the developments brewing within the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to change the current domain name system. In short, companies and organizations located anywhere in the world will soon be able to register and operate a gTLD that corresponds to just about
Adam Snukal
Facebook Gets In Your Face
This post was written by Spencer Wein.
Facebook has rolled out a new feature that uses photo recognition technology to suggest friends’ names to tag in uploaded photos. While certainly an impressive feature, the problem is that the social network giant introduced the feature as a default setting rather than as an opt-in option. This has left…
FTC Dot Com Disclosures — Really?
Many people are unaware the Federal Trade Commission issued a set of guidelines regarding advertising on the web several years ago, known as the "Dot-Com Disclosures". Well, the FTC has decided to revisit these guidelines to determine their applicability with the rapidly changing digital landscapes, and to seek comments from the general public as to…
Performance-Based Revenue: A Marketing Services Grand Slam
The following article appeared in AdAge and we acknowledge the author’s consent to repurpose it for AdLaw By Request.
Much has been presented and written about the increasing use and success of performance incentives in the Client/Agency relationship. Industry bellwethers P&G and Coca-Cola, and more recently Intel, are all touting and branding their own versions of “value-based” compensation. Regardless of what you may call it, be it pay-for-performance, enhanced profitability, or just plain incentive compensation, these are all just words meaning different things to different people. What is clear is that beyond the major creative and media advertising relationships, the use of performance incentives of any type is paltry, at best. Results from the ANA’s triennial Trends in Agency Compensation Survey, published last year, indicate that other marketing services, such as Interactive / Internet / Digital show a 14% utilization of Agency performance incentives, going all the way down to merely 2% for Public Relations firms. (Other marketing disciplines falling between these lows are Promotion / Event Marketing, Multicultural, and Direct Marketing.)
So what are the reasons for the disparity in the adoption of these much publicized arrangements that marketers profess are leading to Agency performance and overall relationship improvements? Many of them can be traced to a reluctance by the service provider community — in particular executive management and that “new” Agency stakeholder, the CFO — to embrace placing any compensation at risk in categories where results are difficult to measure and an Agency’s impact on marketers’ key performance indicators is suspect. All too often, and mainly due to insufficient trust in the relationship, Agency management view these arrangements as marketers’ way (and Client Procurement) to gain unnecessary transparency, to give them a “haircut,” or to make promises which they may or may not choose to fulfill. This situation is most acute in the Public Relations discipline, where firms of all sizes, whether independent or part of a holding company, are stubbornly refusing to play and/or clinging to a remuneration model which Client Procurement and Strategic Sourcing are scratching their collective heads to logically understand.Continue Reading Performance-Based Revenue: A Marketing Services Grand Slam
Doug Wood Takes on Social Media in Hollywood
Doug Wood’s latest social media piece on Law.com smacks a little of Animal Farm, a little Fountainhead, and a little…well you judge for yourself. Enjoy.
Getting Lost in the Amazon
As I was working away yesterday on a SAS (software-as-a-service) agreement and enjoying a most delicious piece of matzah and chocolate egg (a veritable ecumenical feast), I received a call from a client asking me if I knew why his site was down. I’m sure some of you know where I’m going with this —…
Protecting your Trademarks on the Web Is Getting Even Harder
You may want to read this Reed Smith Alert after the holidays are over, but if you can’t wait this alert will shed some important light on certain important evolving dynamics that we’ve written on previously within the universe of domain name registrations, and how they are likely to affect your trademark on the Web.
Active vs. Passive Websites — New Legal Developments
Is my website an active or passive website? This is a question that many companies and their counsel have grappled over, as it has important legal and regulatory applications. Recent case law in the 9th Circuit has shed some light on this issue, and it’s well worth a read. Please click here for our just…
Lots of “Buzz” Around Google Buzz
Earlier this week, Google, Inc. agreed to a proposed consent order over charges that it used deceptive tactics and violated its privacy promises to consumers when it launched its social network, Google Buzz. For more on this important development, please click here.
The First of Many?
Have many people realize the digital advertising industry stood witness to two important developments recently? One was a highly publicized incident and the second one, lesser so. First, on Monday of last week, Aflac announced that it was terminating Gilbert Gottfried as the voice for its iconic duck, as a result of a series of inappropriate tweets…