*Professional Attire Gets the Edge: Dressing the part at the office is more important than ever, according to a CareerBuilder.com report, which found that 41% of surveyed
employers believe that people who dress better/more professionally tend to be promoted more often than others in their organization.
The survey of 2,800 executives also revealed that:
-
Financial services is one of the industries that places the most emphasis on professional dress, with 55% of these execs stating that people who dress more
professionally tend to be promoted more often;
-
IT and manufacturing employers place the least amount of emphasis on professional dress, with 37% and 34%, respectively, agreeing that dress affects the chance of a
promotion;
-
64% of surveyed employers have banned flip-flops;
-
49% have banned miniskirts;
-
28% have banned jeans;
-
35% report having sent an employee home to change clothes because they were dressed inappropriately; and,
-
54% give greater consideration to job candidates who show up to interviews wearing a business suit than to those who do not.
Source: CareerBuilder.com
*Chain Reaction: Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are becoming increasingly integral to consumers' everyday lives. According to a Consumer Internet
Barometer, produced by The Conference Board and TNS, one in four Internet users visits social networking sites. Additional findings include:
-
More than 80% of polled Web users cited connecting with friends the top reason for visiting social networking sites;
-
Approximately 50% use social networks to update and maintain their online profiles, e-mail and connect with family;
- About half of all social networkers visit these sites at least once a day;
-
At least one in five social network users logs on to blog or meet new people;
-
Social networking sites' ability to facilitate new dimensions of interaction--such as reconnecting with lost relationships or obtaining information about others--is the
most positive experience noted by the majority of consumers; and,
-
Less than half of visitors have had a negative experience on a social network. Exposure of information to strangers, lack of privacy and lack of manners have been
identified as common pet peeves.
Source: Consumer Internet Barometer
*Increasing Agency Performance: Charisse Tabak, VP of client services at Acceleration, writes on iMediaConnection.com that "Full-service ad agencies have a lot they're
accountable for--from concept to execution to reporting." Because of this, an agency's performance is a key indicator for success. With this in mind, she offers the following
checklist that agency execs should use to ensure success:
1. A digital marketing evangelist--"a visionary who has knowledge of the role digital plays in the overall communication mix, as well as an A-Z understanding of online campaign
management."
2. A formalized workflow management process
3. Team development
4. Technology implementation
5. Reporting/analysis
Source: iMediaConnection.com
*Internet's Give and Take: New data from Mediamark Research and Intelligence (MRI) supports the idea that more consumers of all ages are using the Internet to connect with one
another. The story found that nearly one-quarter of adults in the United States shared photos via a Web site in the last 30 days, while baby boomers made the most use of digital
greeting cards. Other findings include:
-
In the last 30 days, 24.4% of the U.S. adult population (46.5 million people) shared photos via an Internet Web site;
-
Of those people, 58.8% were female versus 41.2% male;
-
Millennials and boomers were fairly evenly represented among photo sharers;
-
Slightly less than 10% of the adult population (9.2%, or 17.6 million adults) sent an electronic greeting card in the last 30 days; and,
-
The senders were overwhelmingly female (70.3%), and baby boomers, at 44.5%, were far and away the largest group of electronic greeting card senders among the generational
segments.
Source: Mediamark REsearch and Intelligence PRN