Archive for September, 2010

Double Dip Recession?

September 24th, 2010 by Billy Vassiliadis, CEO of R&R Partners

@SVONTobel asks: Do you think we are entering a double dip recession?

With the caveat that I’m not an economist, from what I can gather, the answer is no. Part of the challenge for the administration and for the nation’s economic leaders is convincing the media that it’s ok to cover some good news along with the bad. Nationally, we’ve had a number of months of job creation, continuing low interest rates, tax relief should and will encourage further investment, and significant parts of the country have seen increases in both tourism and retail sales. So to avoid a double dip, the great challenge is credibly disseminating that information to grow consumer confidence.

 Have a political question and would like to get a direct response from the CEO of R&R Partners? Simply follow @rrpartnersgov on Twitter, then tweet your question using the hash-tag #AskBillyV. Ask your question anytime, answers to the best ones will be posted on the R&R blog on Fridays.

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Ask Billy V — 9/17/2010

September 17th, 2010 by Billy Vassiliadis, CEO of R&R Partners

@bradleywoodward asks: With Tea Party candidates upsetting Republican candidates what kind of divisions are you starting to see in the Republican party?

 Thank you for your question, Bradley. When Karl Rove, the architect of the Republican base campaign efforts of the 2000s, basically calls the Republican nominee from Delaware a “nut,” you’re seeing division.  I’m not without some empathy; the Democrats went through this in the ’80s, when moderate and conservative Democrats were concerned our party was being defined by the left flank.  Clearly, there is going to be a civil war to determine what the Republican Party is in the next decade.  I don’t recall the last time a Senate leader and Senate caucus lost eight candidates in a primary election.

 Have a political question and would like to get a direct response from the CEO of R&R Partners? Simply follow @rrpartnersgov on Twitter, then tweet your question using the hash-tag #AskBillyV. Ask your question anytime, answers to the best ones will be posted on the R&R blog on Fridays.

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With inflation trends, what goes down must come up

September 15th, 2010 by Pam Payne, Media Supervisor

What Goes Up, Must Come Down….except for…. Postage Rates

  •   In 2009, the price of a first class stamp increased from $0.42 to $0.44.
  • Postage rate hikes are proposed for January 2, 2011 (pending approval) with first class stamps increasing to $0.46 – an increase of about 5% (Technically, the law prohibits a price increase that’s greater than the rate of inflation which is at 0.9%.  But under “unusual circumstances” the Postal Service can sidestep the law.)
  • The mailing of periodicals are slated to receive an 8% increase!
  • Media mail (which includes Netflix) is slated to get a 7% increase. (This would end up costing Netflix upwards of $50 million more on shipping costs in 2011.)

Ad Spending Projections: Global Overview

2010:  Global ad growth forecast raised by ZenithOptimedia:

  • 2.2% growth was projected in April
  • Global ad growth projections are now raised to 3.5% driven by upgrades to North America and Western Europe markets (Instead of the 1.5% decline for North America, the forecast is now for 1.3% growth for 2010 to $158.5 billion. This includes 1.1% growth in the U.S. and 5.4% growth in Canada)
  • All regions are now predicted to manage at least some growth this year after a stronger-than-expected first half.
  • Global ad growth should rise steadily over the next three years, with 4.5% gains next year to $467.8 billion and a 5.3% boost to $492.6 billion in 2012.

Ad Spending Projections: U.S. Marketplace

According to ZenithOptimedia, in the U.S. growth should amount to 2.7% in 2011, followed by 3% in 2012.

  • “North America is the region we have upgraded the most,” (Zenith), citing a strong upfront market, strong Super Bowl and Winter Olympics ratings and improvements in consumer spending. 
  • Also highlighted was the “very rapid growth” in Internet ads, which should boost the Internet’s share of ad expenditures from 12.7% in 2009 to 17.1% in 2012.

2010-2011 Upfront:

  • Zenith highlighted 6-10% rate increases for the 2010/2011 network upfront.
  •  Jack Myers reports that the broadcast and cable television market grew 19-20% in this year’s upfront market compared to the depressed 2009 market with $16.1 billion in expenditures – returning to 2008 levels.

2011 brings optimism that the economy is turning the corner towards recovery.

 Sources:

Adweek (5/2/10), PR.com, Ronald D. Geskey 2020: Marketing Communications LLC, genxfinance.com (7/7/10), The Hollywood Reporter (7/19/10), Jack Myers Media Business Report

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Questions, questions

September 7th, 2010 by Neal Levine, Director of Government & Public Affairs

The general election season is now officially upon us, and folks have questions. We were sitting around thinking about how we could use the new @rrpartnersgov Twitter feed to help answer some of those questions, and we kept coming back to one thought: If you have a political question, you might as well ask Billy V.

So with that, we are launching #AskBillyV. The rules are simple, and there are only two. First, you must be a follower of @rrpartnersgov to ask a question. Second, you must use the hashtag #AskBillyV when asking your question. We will accept questions every Monday through the @rrpartnersgov Twitter feed, and post answers every Friday. Keep in mind, Billy knows politics nationwide, so there are no limits.

Happy tweeting!

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