Maktoob Business Blog

Via [Twenty Four] Tags: Kodan EasyShare, Twenty Four, Sandeep Makam, Extreme Close Up

Are advertisers in the Middle East concerned about DVR use? If not, then they should be. First it was Showtime’s Digibox which gave their 400,000 subscriber base a choice to skip TV commercials. Now, LG has launched a new 42” Plasma TV with built-in DVR that brings this technology to the mass market. A press release issued by LG’s distributors, Al Sayegh Brothers reads: 

“The DV recorder built into the Plasma has an 80GB recording capacity, enough to store 30 hours of TV programmes, so you can watch them later. With a 1-hour automatic time shift, you can pause running TV programmes and even fast forward sections of the programming you do not wish to watch, such as commercials.” 

Although the hefty price tag of Dhs 8999, could be a deterrent to many consumers who would love to lay their hands on its DVR features, it won’t be too long before other similar offerings are launched at lower p

المزيد

Everybody knows that word of mouth is the most effective marketing tool ever. After all a rave review from a friend or a colleague can tilt the scales in favor of a particular brand or product. So shouldn’t marketers be paying more attention to it? Apparently, they do not. A recent survey conducted by BOLDMOUTH, reveals that 65% of marketers do not have a formal W-O-M marketing plan. In fact, most organizations spend little on W-O-M campaigns and do not have clear cut guidelines o

المزيد

Most people tend to speak a lot or too little during a job interview. It’s better to err on the safer side though, as a recent recruitment survey conducted by Korn/Ferry International would suggest. Around 36 percent of the recruiters polled believed that "talking too much" is the most common interview mistake that job candidates make. Other turn-offs cited by recruiters included lack of knowledge about the company or position (22 percent), over-inf

المزيد

Would you buy a TV that doesn’t allow you to skip ads? That’s a no-brainer isn’t it? So in these days of PVRs, DVRs (and other assorted acronyms), why would Philips develop a technology that would prevent viewers from fast-forwarding through commercials or even changing the channel during an ad?

The Netherlands-based consumer giant plans to implement this by inserting broadcast flags into

Young consumers are slowly moving away from traditional advertising vehicles such as TV and print as they spend more and more time in front of the computer playing games or surfing the web. In such a scenario marketers have to explore alternative advertising mediums to reach these fickle yet extremely valuable consumers. In-game advertising provides one such option, through which marketers can engage their audience using permission rather than intrusion. 

In fact, a recent study conducted by Activision, Inc. and Nielsen Entertainment revealed that that when the product is relevant to the game, gamers felt that adve

المزيد

A new survey has confirmed what we all knew for a very long time - businesses don’t understand their customers very well and don’t deserve their loyalty.

But surprisingly, this is not the opinion of a bunch of disgruntled consumers, this enlightening piece of information comes from, hold your breath…senior executives themselves!

According to the annual global Customer Experience Management 2005 study, conducted by the Strativity Group, 54 percent of senior executives admit they do not deserve consumers’ loyalty. In more shocking, but not entirely unexpected, revelations, 67 percent state that their company’s executives do not meet often with customers and only 33 percent say they have the tools and authority they need to serve their customers.

Accord

المزيد

Bill Gates has hinted that Microsoft could challenge iPod’s dominance by continuing to develop new digital media devices with its partners.
 
While responding to a question at the Microsoft Minority Student Day, the chairman of Microsoft had this to say:
 
Q:  Is Microsoft going to develop a handheld like MP3 player to combat iPod, Apple’s dominance of the last year?

BILL GATES: Yeah, Apple has done a fantastic job with the iPod. How many of you have iPods? OK, some.

Well, we are talking with partners about how we working with those partners can make even better music players. We’ve got some in the market today. I’d say in total they may have about 20 percent market share, which is lower than we like and so we’re seeing where we could come together to make a device that’s less expensive and connects in better ways, does photos and videos in better ways.

And so I don’t think what’s out in the market today is the final answer, but again it just shows the magic of software; Apple did a very good job on iTunes, did the user interface design right, and so that means we’ll have to match all that good work and do something even better.

So between us a

المزيد

Toshiba has come out on top in a three-pronged race to become the Midde East’s leading notebook vendor, according to a press release issued today.

Toshiba led the sales within the notebook segment across the Middle East according to data revealed by IDC for the last three months of 2005. The report confirms Toshiba’s sales growth of 104 per cent over the same period last year, and for the first time places the company on top of the chart with

المزيد