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FSI Blowout!!

Here’s good quick read for anyone working on business that deals with FSIs.

Interesting to note that in this age of digital marketing, marketers are spending more and more on freestanding inserts.

The article, from brandweek.com cites that overall spending for the category has doubled from ‘06 to ‘07.

The article mentions a few new offerings that have been drawing interest from clients. Co-marketing programs where retailers and Consumer Package Goods partner to create specific offers....and cross medium promotion on websites like redplum.com.

It’s nice that the author of the article recognizes that the medium isn’t perfect, closing with:“Still, roughly 90% of FSIs are sandwiched in newspapers, which continue to struggle. That’s why, despite the recent surge, Hughes said, “FSIs, in a way, are like S&H green stamps: a great thing that is receding into the past.”

However one point that could have been addressed in my eyes is: if an already cluttered medium is seeing advertiser spending double in just one year, then wouldn't it bode marketers to look elsewhere as this would be a sign that the medium is becoming all that more cluttered?

Peaks and Valleys

A recap of the past 5 weeks:

• iBook crashes hard.  Not a software problem, but hardware problem.  Drive is kuput.  Info lost. 
• Promoted to Account Group Director.  A chance to make some change and lead like never before.
• Communication failures abound inside the agency. 
• Vacation to Australia. Relax like never before.
• Return from Australia to find my two best co-worker friends (interactive director and creative director) resigned the day before to go to competing agency. Regroup like never before.

Looking back over the past five weeks there is much for me to expand upon to meet my goal for this blog (the correlation between work and life).  Alas, I miss that precious and most sought after asset: time.

Another note: I have abandoned my attempt to write in all lower case (see previous posts). Old habits, such as punctuation, are hard to break.