Two Swedish Eyes on Media and Public Relations
Even in professional services you can find low end alternatives that won’t take a big chunk out of your budget. Now here is a low low low end offering. A company offers to make you a custom logo for 15 bucks, yep $15.00. Corporate identity consultants rejoice…?
Via Fast Company.
According to IRM, ad spending in Swedish media increased by 1.8% the second quarter of 2004, compared to the same period last year. Total ad spending was 880 million USD. Highest growth figures:
> Search engine advertising increased with 211.8%
> Free papers: 34,2%.
> Evening press 28.8%
> Online advertising 24.6%
> Radio 13.5%
The Euro 2004 (football) in June, sparked a 5% increase in TV ad spending.
The big loser this quarter is cinema advertising which decreased by 42.6%. Other media types in trouble are trade press (down 8.4%) and big-city press (down 9.4%)
Interesting stats: A Pew Internet & American Life survey reveals that more than four in ten online Americans use instant messaging. In total that adds up to 53 million adult Americans.
In my Timbro=Svenska Dagbladet series, today we can read in the blog “PJ Just nu” about Pro Veritas and their attempts to debunk Fahrenheit 9/11. PJ Anders Linder writes:
“A few happy lads have started the network Pro Veritas, with the purpose of spreading knowledge about all the factual errors and fabrications in Michael Moore’s propagandafilm Fahrenheit 9/11. Today there are Pro Veritas-people available with information at a dozen cinemas around the country. It is praiseworthy that at least someone cares.”
Well, I wrote a few days ago about the people behind Pro Veritas and they’re not just happy lads. Anton Andreasson points out that one of the founders is employed at, you got it, Timbro. Pro Veritas is also supported by Timbro’s Johan Norberg who you by now realize is pretty much everywhere when the libertarian cause is debated.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Happy lads with a libertarian agenda and great connections with Svenska Dagbladet.
Svenska Dagbladet’s editorial blog PJ Just Nu, is turning out to be a sandbox for liberal think-tank Timbro. Yesterday I mentioned the Timbro connections between PJ Anders Linder and the first three blogs he recommends. In today’s paper Svenska Dagbladet comments on yesterday’s succesful blog launch and quotes two people. Who? Timbro thinkers Dick Erixon and Johan Norberg of course.
On the blog today Linder “debunks” Morgan Spurlocks film Supersize me and gets support from Waldemar Ingdahl, president of Swedish think-tank Eudoxa. Ingdahl who by coincidence also has published a book at Timbro.
Both Eudoxa and Timbro are part of International Policy Network. IPN’s main mission is to “support and help establish international, rightwing thinktanks, to organise conferences and campaigns, and to write articles promoting its agenda.”
Also, read this review of Eudoxa’s political connections by Michael H. Chung, Senior Fellow at Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington.
According to an article dated Sept 1 (!) by CorpWatch, corporate donations to the Republican National Convention will reach $160 million this year, “making it the most expensive political convention in history. It will dwarf the record $95 million spent by Democrats on their 2004 convention.”
The article describes in detail how corporate interests sponsor both parties’ conventions in order to pave the ground for lobbying initiatives. Says AGA spokeswoman Peggy Laramie:
“We want to raise the visibility of natural gas issues in a fun atmosphere (!).”