The growth in China's exports has slowed. In October, its U.S. export/import balance showed a $17.5 billion surplus, a record produced not by soaring exports but by falling imports. The country, fearing repercussions of a downturn in spending here and abroad, announced a $586 billion economic stimulus program to prop up its slowing economy.
While I'm not a expert on foreign trade, I would like to send along an idea for the consideration of the Chinese government. If you really want to stimulate Chinese manufacturing and export, why not use that money to send each of the 300 million Americans an $1,800 gift card to Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)?
Imagine the consequences, all good for the Chinese economy. Chinese factories will once again be busy making plasma screen TVs, basketball shoes, thongs and wax lips. Chinese ships will again carry jam-packed cargo containers to the U.S. And, as Americans snatch up the Wal-Mart goodies, the stimulus cash will come flooding back to China. Then they can loan it back to us so we can give our own people a stimulus package and buy yet more foreign goods.
The odd thing is, the idea isn't all that crazy. But it should be.
Certainly, President-elect Obama has a number of highly-qualified executives who could fill the role of Secretary of the Treasury. However, in the interest of thinking 'outside the box' (that phrase always makes me think of cat-litter boxes, not wholly irrelevant), and reaching beyond the D.C. and Wall Street establishment, I thought I'd present a few candidates of my own.
1. Ed McMahon. Poor Ed really needs the work, according to Hollywood gossip. He has a great deal of experience in giving away huge sums of money thanks to his Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes gig. Can you imagine the glee on the faces of AIG executives when Ed shows up at their door with a presentation-sized check for $122 billion?
2. Willie Nelson. The country and western singer is already a large investor in the country's tax system, and probably knows more IRS personnel than Paul Volcker. And if the market keeps tanking, you can count on Willie to provide some help mellowing out nervous investors.
3. Bob Barker. Bob's out of work now, having turned over the reins of The Price is Right after 100 years. His expertise, obviously, would be in determining target prices for the market. If we reach the point that we have to choose which banks to bail out and which to allow to close, Bob (and Vanna, of course) could make the selection process much more enjoyable. "Citigroup- come on down!"
The eighth annual World Toilet Summit and Expo convened today in Macau, China. I suppose you expect a joke here - sorry. The fact is, 2.5 billion people don't have access to sanitary toilets (and this doesn't include you when stranded between two McDonald's), and the misery that stems from that lack is enormous. The U.N. has declared 2008 The International Year of Sanitation, and the American Restroom Association (yeah, I was surprised too) is a supporter of the conference.
The only Platinum sponsor of the conference is the Swiss company Geberit International AG (VTX:GEBN), which sells sanitary tech throughout the world. It might be worth considering for your green portfolio.
According to the World Toilet Association, 60% of the world's rural disease can be traced to poor sanitation. Legendary killers such as cholera and typhoid thrive when human waste is not properly contained and processed.
The issue also goes hand in hand with the availability of clean drinking water. The WTA promotes the use of dry toilets, for the simplicity, cost efficiency and protection of water resources.
The World Health Organization funded a study to put numbers to the cost of providing toilets and clean water to the world's deprived. The costs were amazingly slight- $22.6 billion to provide minimal services to all of those in need, chump change in the era of bailouts. The savings in public health could translate into economic growth, as well as reduce the cost of disease treatment.
How seriously does the founder of the World Toilet Association, Sim Jae-duck, take the issue? Check out the photo of his own abode, built in the shape of a commode.
When Oprah speaks, America listens, and when she reads (God bless her!), Americans read, too. Thus her gush about Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) electronic reader the Kindle has come as a blockbuster for the online merchant.
According to Advertising Age, as soon as Oprah mentioned the Kindle on her October 24th Oprah's Book Club, Google searches on the term went up fivefold. Traffic directed to Amazon from Oprah.com went through the roof (15,000%) and the aggregate of all visits to Amazon were bumped up 6%, an enormous spike in a mature site. Given these numbers, her Kindle endorsement is a home run for the platform, and should drive huge Christmas sales.
Since Amazon spiffs referring sites 10% of the sale price, Oprah.com stands to rake in over $35 per Kindle sale. And, of course, this establishes the platform as a fulfillment alternative for each subsequent Oprah's book recommendation. Ka-ching!
According to Wikipedia, publishers believe Oprah has 20 to 100 times the sway of any other public figure in driving book sales. For example, a recent announcement that she selected The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski inspired the publisher to order a run of 750,000 copies. Each one carrying the Oprah selection tag was given its own ISBN to track her impact.
Honda (NYSE: HMC) is about to unveil a truly mind-boggling ad campaign. On stretches of highway in California, it has created sets of grooves, similar to the rumble strips found on highway berms, that are spaced and sized in a way that creates a series of musical notes as cars drive over them. Apparently, altering the vibration of the auto can create a scale of notes that are readily discernable to passengers of the right vehicle that are passing over them at the right speed.
The video explains the process far better than I can, but I must say, I found the audio produced by driving over the test strips striking. At best, I expected a lick or two of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, but the effect produces a much wider range of sounds, not at all similar to the percussion usually produced by rumble strips.
If they ever put them on highways I drive frequently, however, I want a say in what music is getting grooved. Can you imagine a daily commute passing over the same advertising jingles month after month? I'd probably detune my car.
Yet another shoe fell in the newspaper industry today as The Christian Science Monitor announced plans to switch from a daily to weekly format in April of 2009. More tellingly, the paper will focus most of its energy on growing its website, CSMontior.com, according to Mediapost.com.
The Monitor is coming late to a party already in full swing at papers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, at television news networks, and on sites sprung from the loins of e-businesses such as AOL. And like so many of the traditional lions of print journalism, the CSM is sitting on a stable of experienced and polished writers, too many for one weekly magazine, so layoffs are expected. By focusing on the web with 24/7 coverage updates, it obviously hopes to keep the best of its staff working. However, few except the WSJ have been able to make a subscription-based service work, and advertising alone probably won't cover the wages of those top-notch reporters.
The Monitor has been bleeding money, with $18.9 million in losses last year, according to Business Week. Circulation, which peaked at 223,000 in 1970, is down to 56,000. Even worse, less than 10% of its print revenues comes from advertising.
Because the newspaper is owned by the Christian Science Church, it may not have always danced to Mammon's tune like Rupert Murdoch, but even it cannot long ignore the lack of readers. Given its narrow market, lack of media partners, and late entry to the game, to succeed the Monitor will need some help from above.
And I mean even further above than Rupert Murdoch.
As a child, I would pore over TV Guide, imaging what wonders lay in store for me in the coming week, unaware that the shows would almost always fall short of their promise. For many years, TV Guide and broadcast television were virtually inseparable. Now it's worth a cup of coffee.
The sale demonstrates the difficulty faced by businesses that try to do in print what the electronic world can do better. Want to know what's on tonight? Sites such as AOL Television can provide up to the moment listings, with links and background. With a majority of Americans on cable, program listing are only a button push away. Traditionalists can still find listing in the newspaper.
The type of insider features that were once the meat and potatoes of TV Guide have become core programming for a multitude of magazines such as People and another dying franchise, Reader's Digest. The airwaves are replete with meta-TV programs about TV programs, such as Entertainment Tonight.
No doubt OpenGate intends to reinvent TV Guide, but I have doubts that there is enough value left in the brand to claw its way back to relevancy.
However, I can't quibble that The Price Is Right (CBS, 11:00 a.m.).
The day may seem bleak here in sub-9000 DJIA America, but we've been here before, and came back swinging. Perhaps Steely Dan can remind you of how we in the market world still know how to rock 'n roll.
"When Black Friday comes I'll stand down by the door and catch the gray men when they Dive from the fourteenth floor"
Where does a business handcuffed by a covenant that caps debt at 7.5 times cash flow go when it needs more money? If it's Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), it reaches into the bulging pockets of major shareholder and chairman Sheldon Adelson. According to The Wall Street Journal, Adelson has loaned Las Vegas Sands almost half a billion dollars.
The move will allow the company to remain within the covenant of its current $5 billion facility, which is crucial as it looks to raise an additional $2 billion for ongoing projects and refinance a current $3.3 billion loan. Earlier this month, S&P lowered the company's credit rating to B+ from BB-, reflecting weakness in the gaming industry and illiquidity in the company's position.
Traditionally, the large casino-based companies have looked to investment banks for project financing (ouch!) and LVS continues to press forward on plans to build not just in Macau, but other Far East markets such as Singapore and perhaps Taiwan. Even before the current tight money climate in the U.S., though, LVS and other major players in the Far East casino development business have been looking overseas for financing.
According to AdAge,McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) broadside at the battleship Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) has been delayed by the credit crunch. The chain's plans to build coffee bars in its 14,000+ locations won't meet its previous deadline of April 2009. The delay means the ad campaign planned to accompany it will also be postponed, to the disappointment of the media world.
The magazine reports that in an internal memo the company explains that the program it runs through Bank of America to loan franchisees development funds has been tapped out earlier than expected. Franchisees are expected to resort to local funding sources for operational and development loans, in the short term.
The coffee bars are expected to cost each outlet around $100,000. A later launch could result in the bars landing in the hot summer months, not prime time for coffee drinks.
Too bad for McDonald's, since the economic uncertainty of the moment would provide a wonderful marketing platform for lower-cost, boutique coffees. Perhaps the government will include a little taste of TARP money to compensate Mickey D's for this loss of business. Crazier ideas have been floated.
The last dying gasps of Hurricane Ike were strong enough last week to knock out power here in Ohio for four days. As a confirmed electricity and Internet addict, I found the thought of going cold turkey (and warm beer) terrifying. Thankfully, I had my Blackberry to nurse me through this crisis.
How did I use Research in Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) gem? E-mail is a given. I was able to keep up with the normal flow of jokes, funny video links, cat photos, and occasional work-related messages. I had loaded the new AOL Messenger for Blackberry a few days before, which worked flawlessly, so I could also keep in contact with our writing team by IM.
I'd already uploaded a nice playlist of tunes, which helped fill the silent hours. The mobile portal for YouTube offered video entertainment if I wished, although the connect speed wasn't as fast as I would have liked. I kept up with the news via the web browser and the electronic version of WSJ.
I also used the screen as a flashlight. The most interesting use, though, was as an e-book reader. I can't go to sleep without reading for an hour in bed beforehand, and my flashlight-and-book routine didn't work so well. The alternative? I bought a novel (Running Blind by Lee Child) from MobiPocket and read it on my phone screen. With a blue background and white text, I found the text very readable and less tiring on my eyes. Nothing like snuggling down in bed with a good phone.
Now if I could only get my BBerry to do laundry, chill beer and write blog posts, I would never fear a power outage again.
Innovation, thy name is Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). A couple of its latest innovations came across my screen this week -- a patent application for sea-based server farms, and a cooperative venture to create a satellite network.
The more interesting of the two, to me, is the sea-based server farm concept. The patent application described this water-based data center as a system that "includes a floating platform-mounted computer data center comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or more sea-water cooling units for providing cooling to the plurality of computing units."
It expands this concept to include wave, motion, tide, wind power generation and the use of sea water to cool the server farm. The idea is very sexy, straight from many science fiction novels but more practical every day. Air-conditioning land-based server farms is a huge expense.
Google has also partnered with Liberty Global and HSBC to create O3b networks, according to Cnet.com. The company's goal is to place sixteen satellites that would link with ground units to provide wide-ranging wireless communications, including Internet connectivity, to underserved world populations, including those of Africa and Asia.
The aggressive target date for the satellite network completion is 2010. The sea-based server farm idea is just a patent application today, but with Google's nest egg and focus on innovation, the time to implementation could be shorter than you might think. I think my next science fiction short story will be about server farm pirates.
This post is part of our Ads Gone Bad series. Share your thoughts and memories of this ad in the comments, and be sure to check out our other posts on marketing gone wrong.
Blending cultures is a particular challenge for advertisers. How do they appeal to one culture without offending others, who may misunderstand references and not recognize noted figures featured in ads? These are questions that Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) is probably asking.
To market its "Triple Play" offering (bundled cable, broadband, and telephone), the company hired globalWorks to create ads featuring the music and stars of reggaeton. Reggaeton, urban music that became popular with Latin American young people in the 1990s, is a fusion of Caribbean reggae and Latin forms such as salsa with rap and hip-hop.
This post is part of our Ads Gone Badseries. Share your thoughts and memories of this ad in the comments, and be sure to check out our other posts on marketing gone wrong.
In 1995, Calvin Klein had clawed back from the verge of bankruptcy and was poised for expansion, hoping to jump into the top tier of mass-merchandised high fashion. Apparently, somebody forgot to tell the marketing department, which was happily rolling out yet another over-the-edgy ad campaign. When the offal hit the fan, it covered the whole company with a foul stench.
The campaign in question featured videos set up to resemble screen tests for low-budget skin flicks. Young men and women stood in front of cheap wood paneling, the kind one might find in the rec room of an 8mm director wannabe. These kids are interviewed by an unseen older adult, who asked them provocative questions and made suggestive comments about their physiques.
The growth in China's exports has slowed. In October, its U.S. export/import balance showed a $17.5 billion surplus, a record produced not by soaring exports but by falling imports. The country, fearing repercussions of a downturn in spending here and abroad, announced a $586 billion economic stimulus program to prop up its slowing economy. 
Certainly, President-elect Obama has a number of highly-qualified executives who could fill the role of Secretary of the Treasury. However, in the interest of thinking 'outside the box' (that phrase always makes me think of cat-litter boxes, not wholly irrelevant), and reaching beyond the D.C. and Wall Street establishment, I thought I'd present a few candidates of my own.
The eighth annual 
When Oprah speaks, America listens, and when she reads (God bless her!), Americans read, too. Thus her gush about 
Yet another shoe fell in the newspaper industry today as The Christian Science Monitor announced plans to switch from a daily to weekly format in April of 2009. More tellingly, the paper will focus most of its energy on growing its website, 
Don't end the week on a dour note! Here is a little gallows humor to lighten your day, culled from the 'net for your enjoyment.
According to 
Innovation, thy name is 
This post is part of our 
This post is part of our 
Collectible Investments: 100-year old $20 gold piece up 65% in past five years
Best Buy (BBY) may end up getting a lump of coal in its stocking
Closing Bell: Dow closes below 8,000; C, ETFC, FNM, GM, LVLT, YHOO all got hammered
