â–¶ Green Infighting: According to a survey on green marketing sponsored by Environmental Leader, there’s a control issue at stake between PR and marketing over green initiatives. “Green Marketing: What Works & What Doesn’t” reveals that while 50% of marketers indicate they have complete or consultative control of green marketing, 57% of PR practitioners say that have control of sustainability programs. Sales and operations, on the other hand, are skeptical that marketers have so much control of sustainability programs, with just 41% and 21%, respectively, saying control lies in the hands of marketers. Other findings include:
• 82% of the 370 marketing executives polled say they planned to use more green messaging in their marketing;
• 28% of respondents say they thought green marketing was more effective than other marketing messages, compared to just 6% who see it as less effective;
• 74% say they are conducting green marketing messages on the Internet, which proved the most popular medium. About half are using print and another 40% are relying on direct mail, among other methods; and,
• Companies with smaller marketing budgets tend to spend more on green marketing. Firms with a marketing budget of under $250,000 spend just over 26% on green marketing, while those with budgets of more than $50 million spend 6% on green marketing.
Source: Environmental Leader
â–¶ Altered Media State: Media relations specialists have fewer newspapers to target, as approximately 293 papers folded in 2009, with nearly 100 of them closing up shop in the first quarter alone, says the “2010 State of the Media” report from Vocus, which analyzes the changing media landscape. Other findings:
• Eight magazines with a circulation of 1 million readers or more ceased publication last year;
• 600 staff members were laid off from top-tier publications in 2009;
• 1,126 magazines, including print and online, were shuttered in 2009;
• More than 10,000 jobs were lost in the broadcast sector last year; and,
• In television, bankruptcies were common as more than 100 TV stations were affected by their parent companies filing Chapter 11.
Source: Vocus
â–¶ How News Happens: A study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism exploring the news ecosystem in Baltimore suggests that while the news landscape has rapidly expanded, most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional media—particularly newspapers.
The study examined all the outlets that produced local news in the city for one week, surveyed their output and then did a closer examination of six major narratives during the week. Additional findings:
• 95% of stories came from traditional media—most of them newspapers. Those stories tended to set the narrative agenda for most other media outlets;
• Eight out of 10 stories studied simply repeated or repackaged previously published information;
• Among the six major news threads studied in depth—which included stories about budgets, crime and the sale of a local theater—fully 83% of stories were essentially repetitive, conveying no new information. Of the 17% that did contain new information, nearly all came from traditional media either in their legacy platforms or in new digital ones; and,
• Local papers offer fewer stories than ever before. In 2009, for instance, the Baltimore Sun produced 32% fewer stories on any subject than it did in 1999, and 73% fewer stories than in 1991, when the company still published an evening and morning paper with competing newsrooms.
Source: Pew Research Center
â–¶ Minority Web Disconnect: While they overwhelmingly agree that Internet access is critical to success, just 42% of African-Americans and Hispanics polled regularly use the Web, says a study by Brilliant Corners Research. Other key statistics include:
• 43% of respondents cite not knowing how to use the Internet or not seeing the need for it as the reason why they weren’t online; and
• 44% said they would be more likely to get Web access at home if they were given tutorials on how to use the Web.
Source: Brilliant Corners Research