Jatir Janak http://www.jatirjanak.com Sun, 20 May 2012 10:37:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Expectations Running High in Egypt’s Presidential Elections http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/expectations-running-high-in-egypts-presidential-elections/ http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/expectations-running-high-in-egypts-presidential-elections/#comments Sun, 20 May 2012 10:37:08 +0000 Admin http://www.jatirjanak.com/?p=923 Continue Reading »]]> Expectations are high as Egyptian voters look forward to electing a new president next week.

Twelve candidates are competing in the first presidential elections since the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak last year.

[Ahmed Eid Ali, Supermarket Owner]
The first thing we need is security. We need to deal with unemployment and get jobs for the people. Egyptians who have graduated from universities with degrees sit at local coffee shops all day doing nothing. So we need all of these people to work, we need a president to find jobs for them, find them land or factories to work in.

Others see a need for guidance through the transition to democracy.

[Shahira Amin, Egyptian Journalist]
What we need is someone who will realise stability but also listen to the needs of the people which are dignity, bread, social justice, freedom, democracy – real democracy. And of course we need to educate the public because were taking our first, very small steps, towards democracy and its a long process. So we need him to walk us down that road.

The presidential contest, which gets underway on May 23, has become a two-horse race as polls put moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Futouh and liberal-minded Amr Moussa neck and neck.

While Islamist parties surprised many with the extent of their victory in the parliamentary elections, polls suggest that religion may play a less prominent role in winning the hearts and minds of Egyptian voters in the landmark presidential elections.

]]> http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/expectations-running-high-in-egypts-presidential-elections/feed/ 0 GM passes on running TV ads during 2013 Super Bowl http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/gm-passes-on-running-tv-ads-during-2013-super-bowl/ http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/gm-passes-on-running-tv-ads-during-2013-super-bowl/#comments Sun, 20 May 2012 03:37:55 +0000 Admin http://www.jatirjanak.com/?p=921 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) will not advertise in next years Super Bowl because it is too expensive, the top marketing executive for the US automaker said three days …
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]]> n>(Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) will not advertise in next years Super Bowl because it is too expensive, the top marketing executive for the US automaker said three days after the company said it was dropping paid ads on Facebook Inc (FB.O).

The 2013 Super Bowl will be broadcast by CBS Corp (CBS.N), which is selling 30-second ads for as much as $4 million.

Spots on NBCs broadcast of this years National Football League championship game, the most heavily watched annual event on US television, cost about $3.5 million per 30-second spot. NBC is majority-owned by Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O).

We understand the reach the Super Bowl provides, but with the significant increase in price we simply cant justify the expense, GM global marketing chief Joel Ewanick said in a statement.

GM, which ran four ads during this years Super Bowl broadcast, also chose not to advertise during the Super Bowl in 2009, just ahead of its June filing for bankruptcy protection.

CBS spokesman Dana McClintock declined to comment.

When the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots for the Super Bowl title in February, more than 111 million Americans tuned in, making it the most watched TV program in US history.

The NFL championship game annually draws the biggest viewing audience and advertisers jockey for the available TV spots, which makes GMs absence something CBS is not likely to miss, analysts said.

A couple of years ago, GM pulled out of the Super Bowl. I dont think that had too much impact on pricing, said Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at research firm Horizon Media. Its an opportunity for others. I would venture a guess that someone would pick up the slack and see this as an opportunity.

The largest advertisers in Super Bowls every year include automakers, movie studios and beer maker Anheuser Busch.

GM, which ranks behind Procter Gamble Co (PG.N) and ATT Inc (T.N) in advertising spending, spent $1.1 billion on US ads last year, according to ad-tracking firm Kantar Media. Overall, GMs spending on advertising rose 5.2 percent last year to $4.48 billion, according to the automakers annual report.

GM spokesman Pat Morrissey said the 2012 advertising budget will be about even with last year. But GM has been shifting its marketing budget around, announcing on Tuesday that it would stop running paid ads on Facebook.

Ewanick has led a consolidation of GMs ad agencies globally that is expected to save the Detroit company $2 billion over five years.

However, Edmunds.com analyst Michelle Krebs questioned GMs decision.

It feels premature for GM to make such a big decision regarding Super Bowl, especially since GM will be launching a new line of full-size pickup trucks and full-size SUVs around Super Bowl time, she said. The Super Bowl audience is ideal for those vehicles and the timing is right.

Next year, GM will begin selling new versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, which analysts say generate profits of $12,000 to $14,000 per vehicle.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York and Deepa Seetharaman in Detroit; editing by Tim Dobbyn and Andre Grenon)

]]> http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/gm-passes-on-running-tv-ads-during-2013-super-bowl/feed/ 0 The Lesson of the Ricketts Fiasco: Politics Is Business http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/the-lesson-of-the-ricketts-fiasco-politics-is-business/ http://www.jatirjanak.com/2012/05/the-lesson-of-the-ricketts-fiasco-politics-is-business/#comments Sat, 19 May 2012 14:26:19 +0000 Admin http://www.jatirjanak.com/?p=919 Continue Reading »]]> Mitt Romney has already repudiated a proposed independent ad campaign that would have used President Barack Obamas former relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright to attack the president. It wasnt a hard call for Romney.

Obama is no longer a freshman senator from Illinois; he has been president of the United States for more than three years. The kind of ad envisioned by Republican consultant Fred Davis seemed designed to appeal to the emotions of the prospective donor, businessman Joe Ricketts, rather than those of voters. It had the markings of an entrepreneurial venture, not a strategic one.

In the political media business, most consultants still get paid a percentage of the buy. In the golden age of media consulting, 15 percent was a standard take. But clients have wised up over the years. So lets assume that Davis wouldve agreed to accept, say, a 7 percent fee. Thats $700,000 on a $10 million ad buy — the amount Ricketts reportedly intended to spend. From the looks of the ad story boards obtained by the New York Times (most likely from a Republican trying to stop the project) the five-minute ad couldve been slapped together in a studio from stock film and photos.

It might take days.

Davis is a Republican, but hes also a businessman. And a $700,000 fee for not a whole lot of work counts as pretty good business. The effort would probably not have done much for Romney, but it would’ve done fine by Davis.

One of the goals of Karl Roves American Crossroads super-PAC is to funnel the loose change of people like Ricketts to where it will do the most damage to Obama and other Democrats. Crossroads promises to keep fees and expenses low and the strategic quality of its ads and its geographic targeting high.

But politics, for many, is a business. And with ultra-rich guys like Ricketts looking to make their mark, there are plenty of consultants willing to give them what they want — whether it benefits Republicans or not.

(Francis Wilkinson is a member of the Bloomberg View editorial board. Follow him on Twitter.)