A report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that employment growth through 2018 will be concentrated in the service-providing sector, with the largest growth in professional and business services and health care and social assistance. The BLS projects that the service-providing sectors will add a total of 14.6 million jobs (96% of the increase in total employment) between 2008 and 2018. The top 10… Continue

The sixth annual “Decision Dynamics” study found that, at 20% more important this year, advertising and marketing providers topped the list of other types of providers in terms of their growing significance in companies’ business strategy. Furthermore, suppliers who offer solutions have an advantage. Respondents say the provider who is “most proactive about helping” will get their business, in good times and in bad. These… Continue

Social networks are taking China by storm, where Renren.com -- a Facebook-style site -- is expanding from college students to the larger population. The site had 100 million users at the end of October, a large fraction of the 360 million Chinese online. Part of RenRen's success is due to Twitter's and Facebook's being banned by the government, noted in this Advertising Age article by Normandy Madden. A campaign… Continue

With all the talk about mining conversations about your brand on Twitter and other social networks, it's easy to overlook the conversations that are going on right under your nose: calls to your customer service center.



An article on AdAge.com details what Rogers Wireless, one of Canada's largest wireless providers, is doing to study calls to identify cost and operating efficiencies, re-shape marketing efforts… Continue