Aflac Duck May Quack En Espanol

Aflac Duck May Quack En Espanol
by Emily Burg
Friday, Dec 15, 2006

SUPPLEMENTARY INSURANCE COMPANY AFLAC, KNOWN for its memorable quacking duck, is training its sights on the growing Hispanic market.

Columbus, Ohio-based Aflac, the world's largest seller of supplemental insurance, gets 70% of its revenues from Japan, and has been looking for a way to increase its U.S.-derived revenues.

The buying power of the Hispanic population is forecast to grow from $735.6 billion to $1.08 trillion in 2010. Financial services is a category where Hispanic spending typically increases as the family's disposable income rises.

Aflac's first step was to launch aflacenespanol.com, a Spanish-language version of the company's Web site.

While it has not specifically developed any products for the Hispanic market, the company's "bottom-up" culture--in which its sales agents suggest product ideas to management--means the 65,000-strong domestic sales force can get to know the Hispanic demographic and brainstorm solutions specific to it.

From the "top-down," the company is taking a civic-minded approach to developing a relationship with the Hispanic community. Aflac forged an alliance with the Latino Coalition to create the Aflac Civic Awards, which this week honored Hispanic small business leaders.

Emily Burg can be reached via email at emily@mediapost.com

George Clooney wants to appear in a Bollywood film, report says

December 07, 2006

NEW DELHI (AP) - George Clooney says he'd like to appear in one of India's spectacular song-and-dance movies.

"I'd love to. There are some filmmakers whose films when you see (them) you say, 'That could be an interesting story to tell,"' the 45-year-old actor said in an interview Thursday on the private CNN-IBN channel.

Clooney said he's a fan of Bollywood, India's prolific Hindi film industry, and is impressed by the way it has expanded.

"I was watching a film the other day and the music was just amazing. It's become such a huge industry," he said.

"There is a small market in the (United) States as of now, but it will be fun if it catches on because it is such a positive way of looking at filmmaking and I really love that. I truly think it's fun," he said.

Clooney, a favourite among India's English-speaking middle and upper classes, won a best supporting actor Oscar for 2005's "Syriana."

"It seems like the Indian filmmakers are pushing boundaries in terms of pushing the censors. I think it's (Bollywood) an interesting place for filmmakers to go," he said.

Clooney's upcoming movie, "The Good German," will be released by Warner Bros. in the United States later this month. It will be released in India next year.

Hispanic Ad Agencies See Impressive 2006 Growth

HISPANIC AGENCIES SAW DOUBLE-DIGIT growth in 2006, reports Ad Age, with top shops, like Miami-based LaComunidad,which handles Remy Martin, seeing a 60% boost. More rises in the marketplace: The biggest Hispanic agency, Publicis Groupe's 49%-owned Bromley Communications, San Antonio, grew 11%, so did No. 4, Omnicom Group's Dieste Harmel & Partners, Dallas. Also, business is expanding for both bilingual English-speaking Hispanics.

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Coke Taps YouTube For Video Card Campaign

COCA-COLA IS TEAMING UP WITH YouTube for a new joint marketing effort--one that doesn't involve Mentos or exploding Diet Coke bottles. Instead, Coke is sponsoring a page on YouTube that enables users to select or create their own holiday video "cards" to send to friends and family.

YouTube's "Holiday Wishcast" site features a collection of holiday-themed video clips from some of its most popular contributors including Geriatric1927, TerraNaomi, TheWineKone and LisaNova. Users can choose from one of the videos in the Wishcast catalog or upload one of their own after registering on YouTube.

READ THE ARTICLE AT MEDIAPOST.COM

Google begins limited test of radio advertising

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. said on Thursday it has completed the development of its widely anticipated radio advertising system and begun a limited test allowing customers to buy ads via its online ad-buying system.

In a statement on the Web search leader's site, the company said it had begun testing a system it acquired by purchasing dMarc Broadcasting in early 2006 for $102 million and which it subsequently built into its existing AdWords online ad system.
Google Audio Ads is working with more than 700 radio stations covering more than 200 metropolitan U.S. markets, Google spokesman Mike Mayzel said.

READ THE ARTICLE AT YAHOO.COM

Marketers' Websites Outdraw Those of Major Media Players

P&G and Unilever Attract 9 Million Unique Visitors Monthly

By Jack Neff
Published: December 04, 2006

CINCINNATI (AdAge.com) -- Believe it or not, those boring corporate websites are pulling in more eyeballs -- and more influencers -- than the flashy prime time TV shows, print magazines and general interest sites on which marketers advertise. And part of what's driving the traffic is old-fashioned web display advertising and e-mail pushes.
Brand websites
Corporate and brand websites -- once derided as "brochureware" in a digital marketing world that quickly moved to sexier applications -- are getting a rehabilitation of sorts as their traffic numbers vie with those of many consumer sites in the web's long tail.

READ THE ARTICLE AT ADVERTISING AGE

Technorati Profile

Smashing the Clock

No schedules. No mandatory meetings. Inside Best Buy's radical reshaping of the workplace

By Michelle Conlin
BusinessWeek Online

One afternoon last year, Chap Achen, who oversees online orders at Best Buy Co., shut down his computer, stood up from his desk, and announced that he was leaving for the day. It was around 2 p.m., and most of Achen's staff were slumped over their keyboards, deep in a post-lunch, LCD-lit trance. "See you tomorrow," said Achen. "I'm going to a matinee."

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT BUSINESS WEEK ONLINE

New Real Estate Expert on Channel M Mandarin News

Sunnus Properties Real Estate Report Channel M Dec 3 on Vimeo

Annie Zhang from Sunnus Properties is now the Real Estate Expert for Channel M Mandarin News. Sundays at 9:27pm and Monday at 8:27am each week.

www.SUNNUS.ca