Vintage Filings Business Blog

Despite the fact that 77 percent of business technology decision-makers engage with social media on the job, most B2B marketers are not effectively using social technologies to influence the purchasing decisions of their customers, according to new research from Forrester.

“B2B buying is fertile ground for emerging community sites, social networks, and user-contributed content,” said Laura Ramos, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. “But most B2B marketers miss the nuances of their audience’s preferences by jumping directly to deploying social technology without first profiling the social behavior of their customers. Knowing buyers’ behavior lets marketers set the most effective social media strategy instead of blindly trying every new technology that comes along.”

According to the Forrester survey, technology decision-makers actively participate in social media as it relates to their job. The Social Technographics Profile segments buyers into six categories based on their social activities:

• Creators — 27 percent publish a blog, publish Web pages, create/upload video or music, or write articles and post them online.
• Critics — 37 percent post reviews of products or services, comment on someone else’s blog, or contribute to online forums.
• Collectors — 29 percent use RSS feeds, vote for Web sites online, or add tags to Web pages or photos.
• Joiners — 29 percent maintain a profile on a social networking site or visit social networking sites.
• Spectators — 69 percent read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch video from other users, or read online forums and reviews.
• Inactives — 23 percent do not participate in any social media activities for work purposes.

Despite these activities, social media has yet to effectively influence a large part of the technology buying process. Fifty-one percent of survey respondents feel social media doesn’t play an important role in the purchasing process, and 60 percent of survey respondents don’t find blogs more valuable than editorial content for informing purchase decisions. More than three-fourths of respondents said peers influence their purchase decisions more than any other media or information source.

Nearly half of all online shoppers plan to spend less this year, but a majority of those reluctant to make certain purchases (61%) can be positively influenced by online shopping resources, according to a new study based on a survey of over 800 consumers nationwide. The study shows that consumers are going online earlier when making purchase decisions on products and services and are finding significant value in online content tools that connect them to the opinions and behaviors of other shoppers. These tools are particularly relevant to shoppers who are cutting back, as those affected by economic conditions seek more validation for their purchase decisions.

The study found that online shoppers will be more reluctant to make purchases in the next 12 months primarily in the automotive sector (50%), travel (46%), and consumer electronics (43%). Consumers looking to reduce their spend are particularly diligent about shopping around – 42% visited 3 or more sites to research their last purchase – and nearly all consumers are spending more time online prior to purchase. In their 2008 Retail Consumer survey, JupiterResearch found that only 33% of online shoppers had made up their minds about the price they were willing to pay for their purchase in advance of going online to research. Even fewer began their research having made up their minds on which item or title to choose (31%); which brand to buy (23%); which store they would use (16%); or when to make their purchase (13%).

This shift in behavior provides retailers with an opportunity to engage shoppers through content that connects them to products and builds their confidence in these more carefully researched purchases. Following search, and manufacturer and store sites that connect consumers with products and services, shoppers who research their purchases online look to content sources that help inspire, discover, and confirm their choices, including user ratings and reviews (77%), and recommendations based on other consumers’ purchasing or browsing behavior (66% and 65%, respectively). The study also found that these content sources offer a good opportunity for developing long-term relationships by addressing consumer needs and concerns.

“Shoppers trust and use the opinions of others in making choices about products and brands,” said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “As consumers head to the web to research online and offline purchases, companies have a tremendous opportunity to provide them with the authentic user-generated content that is proven to build confidence, increase satisfaction, and drive sales. The benefits of user-generated content are amplified in a bad economy, and this is why 9 out of 10 of the Internet Retailer Top 50 who outsource reviews choose Bazaarvoice.”

At the GSMA Mobile World Congress this past week, Adobe released the Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 Distributable Player, a new, over-the-air mobile runtime service. The new player enables developers and content providers to create Flash technology-based applications that target the latest version of the runtime, and directly distribute their applications with the runtime installer to millions of open OS devices for a better on-device user experience. Available immediately as a public beta, the Distributable Player initially supports Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile devices and builds on the momentum Adobe Flash technology has experienced in the mobile market.

So what does this mean for business?  Well the availability of Flash on mobile devices could mean that you company could quickly and easily begin marketing on mobile phones throughout the world, this is a very powerful advertising mechanism considering that smartphones have turned into the ‘must have’ device for consumers of all ages around the globe.

The Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 Distributable Player provides new delivery and monetization options for Flash technology-based mobile applications. Using the new runtime, leading aggregators — including GetJar, Thumbplay and Zed — enable content creators to deliver their applications to mobile users via their Web catalogs. Content creators can also choose to distribute their applications via their own promotional vehicles or their existing distribution channels. Brands and content providers already using the Distributable Player include Accuweather, Dolce & Gabbana, Digital Chocolate, Disney, Finetune, Gazzetta dello Sport, Hachette Filipacchi, Il Sole 24 Ore, Il Corriere della Sera, Nespresso, and Uclick.

“The Distributable Player enables a direct distribution of our mobile player similar to the distribution model for Flash Player on the desktop,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “With this new runtime and Adobe’s popular authoring tools, Adobe Flash Platform developers can unleash their creativity, develop new, innovative games and other mobile applications, and reach a much broader audience across screens and different platforms.”

The Distributable Player is the first step toward delivering a runtime that can be updated over the air, a vision set by the Open Screen Project. Announced in May 2008, the Open Screen Project is designed to deliver a consistent runtime environment across televisions, desktops, mobile devices and other consumer electronics. Led by Adobe, the initiative has more than 20 major industry partners working to enable the delivery of Web content and standalone applications across devices taking advantage of Adobe Flash Platform capabilities.

I have a fun Friday business survey for you this morning!  An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but the key to a stress-free lifestyle may be more than just proper diet and exercise. According to a national consumer survey conducted by Staples, 47 percent of respondents felt their stress level diminish after the simple act of shredding. In addition to experiencing “Post-Shredding Stress Reduction,” people felt smarter (85 percent), more organized (83 percent) and in control of their lives (80 percent) after shredding.

With Americans facing an unstable economy, concerns about their financial future and personal security continue to rise – and for good reason. According to recent reports, the number of reported security breaches has increased significantly over years past. The survey revealed that shredding made consumers feel safer (92 percent) and calmer (42 percent), allowing for an emotional release. Emotional release can help reduce stress, and one third of respondents agreed that shredding made them feel they’ve just let go of the past and can start a new chapter of their life. In fact, 86 percent felt shredding would help them get rid of clutter in their life and nearly half (49 percent) believe that shredding helps them maintain a balanced life.

“Staples’ consumer survey confirms what we have found in our research,” said Consumer Psychologist Richard Feinberg of Purdue University. “Consumers use products like a shredder for utilitarian purposes but then these products have very significant and positive emotional and psychological impacts. These psychological impacts may not even be known by the consumer, but they can unconsciously improve their life. In a world where people are time deprived, increasingly stressed, and feeling more and more out of control, shredding may provide positive psychological fuel.”

Other survey findings include:

• One third of Americans surveyed have a strong association the word “stress reliever” when it comes to shredding.
• Almost half of respondents believe there is something very soothing about the act of shredding.
• More than 25 percent of Americans get a huge rush of glee from the sound of utter paper destruction and 39 percent like to stick papers in a shredder just to watch it shred.
• In terms of shredding frequency, two-thirds of people shred as they go and one-third save it all up and have a “shred fest,” on average shredding a whopping 28 items per month (e.g. bank statements, bills, letters, junk mail).
• When asked what they would most like to shred, 51 percent would choose to shred their outstanding credit card balance statement.

This week, the SEC has started requiring that corporate financial filings take the jump into the technology era.  In other words, the SEC is now requiring that the 500 largest public companies in the US begin to file this year’s financial reports using  the XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) protocol. This is the first in the larger step of mandating all publicly traded companies to do the same thing starting in 2011.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone (we’ve been talked about it for months on this blog), and also the rest of the world’s financial markets are also supporting the same measures with China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Spain forcing their public companies to follow suit.

The online technology blog, Internet Evolution, had this to say about the future of technology integration for the financial markets, “The real impact of this law will come in 2011, when mutual fund investors will begin reaping the benefits of interactive data. Mutual funds will be required to begin including data tags in their public filings that supply investors with such information as objectives and strategies, risks, performance, and costs.I hesitate to use the word “transparency,” as it is already a frontrunner for the 2009 buzzword list, but that’s what this regulation will provide.

Think of the possibilities for more effective investment advice and tools when all of this data is available on every mutual fund site in an XBRL format that can easily be grabbed and mashed-up in new ways. While online advice won’t necessarily substitute for live financial advice, there will be the potential for some very creative and effective Web 2.0 tools using all this financial data.”

Let Vintage Filings handle all aspects of your Schedule 13G, Form 13F, and Form 5 filings.  As the deadline (February 17th) is quickly approaching, we wanted to remind you that our team of dedicated operators and managers is available 24/7 with no extra charge for weekend or overnight service. We can also offer you the chance to utilize our online self-filing service for your Form 5 filings. Simply email us and we will coordinate getting you a username and password to enable you to prepare and file a Form 5 on your own. Visit www.vintage16.com to learn more about our online service.

Vintage Filings, as the 3rd most active EDGAR filing agent, continues to service the reporting community based on our values of customer service, quick turnaround time in preparation of your documents, transparent billing practices and competitive rates. We invite you to email your documents and codes to us (no contracts or commitments needed). We look forward to being of service to you.

PLEASE NOTE: The SEC will be closed on Monday, February 16, and will not be accepting filings. Vintage will be open and available as always for document conversion with no expedited or off-hour service charges.

Soon your company will be filing its financial documents into the SEC’s EDGAR system in XBRL. Prepare now, before that mandatory date, so that your first live filing will go smoothly. Vintage Filings, a PR Newswire Company, will work with you and your colleagues to set-up your tagging now and review your taxonomy – dictionary of accounting terms – to make sure it suits your reporting needs. By setting up your taxonomy now, you’ll be able to sail through your mandated start date.

How does XBRL work?
When Vintage manages your XBRL tagging, you will gain the benefits while you work with an experienced professional firm.

• Improve the fl ow of information to the capital markets. The XML-based
• tagging structure creates an “intelligent” bundled description making it easier for analysts and investors to use.
• Increase visibility. XBRL offers companies a cost-effective way to gain greater exposure to the analyst community.
• Establish more efficient, effective dialogue with the markets. Increased
• accuracy with up-to-date and complete information improves access to investors and new sources of capital, boosting awareness and thereby reducing the cost of capital.

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Vintage16 allows you to:

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Global wind energy capacity grew by 28.8% last year, even higher than the average over the past decade, to reach total global installations of more than 120,800 MW (120.8 GW) at the end of 2008. Over 27,000 MW (27 GW) of new wind power generation capacity came online in 2008, 36% more than in 2007.

“These figures speak for themselves: there is huge and growing global demand for emissions-free wind power, which can be installed quickly, virtually everywhere in the world. Wind energy is the only power generation technology that can deliver the necessary cuts in CO2 in the critical period up to 2020, when greenhouse cases must peak and begin to decline to avoid dangerous climate change,”said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of GWEC. “The 120 GW of global wind capacity in place at the end of 2008 will produce 260 TWh and save 158 million tons of CO2 every year.”

Wind energy is now an important player in the world’s energy markets. The global wind market for turbine installations in 2008 was worth about 36.5bn EUR or 47.5bn US$.

“Wind power is often the most attractive option for new power generation in both economic terms and in terms of increasing energy security, not to mention the environmental and economic development benefits. Volatile fossil fuel prices and unreliable supply policies from fossil fuel rich countries increase the risk of relying on conventional sources for power production,” said GWEC’s Chairman, Prof. Arthouros Zervos. “The wind industry also creates many new jobs: over 400,000 people are now employed in this industry, and that number will be in the millions in the near future.”

While 86% of the nation’s largest credit grantors sell contractual charged-off debt, only 14 percent are active sellers of deceased account debt, according to a recent study commissioned by DCM Services. Further, though nearly 75% of those not selling deceased debt were willing to consider it, the prospect of selling deceased debt raised concerns about brand risk and obtaining a fair price. These are among the findings DCM Services examines in a new executive brief on deceased debt sales being released today at the DBA International Annual Conference.

“With the current financial environment and the need many creditors have to raise capital, we wanted to understand the viability and scope of the market for deceased debt sales,” said Steve Farsht, president and COO, DCM Services. “This study clearly highlighted the concerns creditors have about selling deceased debt. These insights, coupled with our expertise in deceased debt resolution, provide the basis for our report that highlights strategies credit grantors can use to mitigate the risks involved in the sale of deceased debt.”

Brand risk and price were the two most common concerns creditors expressed when asked about deceased debt sales. In the executive brief, DCM Services explores the unique brand risks involved in recovering deceased debt and ways in which creditors can improve their brand protection. Additionally, the executive brief identifies and evaluates the five factors that drive the price for deceased debt including portfolio quality, average balance, volume, date-of-death vintage and percentage of estate accounts.

“As a company focused exclusively on decedent debt resolution, we understand the unique risks involved in recovering deceased debt,” said Farsht. “The good news is that by leveraging the latest technology and survivor-sensitive recovery processes, creditors can protect their brand and obtain a fair price on deceased debt accounts.”