Bill Would Turn Down Volume On TV Ads

Congress soon might mute screaming TV-ad announcers who press viewers to “buy now!”—if broadcasters don’t beat the lawmakers to the volume button.

Under a proposal to be taken up today, the Federal Communications Commission would limit ad volumes to the average decibels of the TV show during which they appear.

Currently, TV ads can’t be louder than the loudest peak in a show, said David Perry, the chairman of the broadcast production committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies in New York. Ads often seem louder to viewers, he added, because a program’s volume peak rarely comes just before an ad.

Walmart, Gap, Barnes & Noble Tops In Corporate Image

Sales, earnings and stock prices of retailers may be down in the dumps, but the economic impact of brand is quite high, according to a new report from CoreBrand. “While the pure dollar value of these brands has declined, matching pace with the market,” reports CoreBrand, which ranks the corporate images of leading companies, “the influence that the brand has on total market cap is increasing, while the market as a whole is in decline.”

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Among the brands that tumbled sharply from their Brandpower ranking the prior year: Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy’s, and Tiffany & Co. Among those that gained the most: Foot Locker, Zale Corp., and Limited Brands.

The Gap, Tiffany—despite its slide—and Saks were ranked highest among specialty retailers, in the same ranking as last year. Among discounters, Wal-Mart Stores again came in highest — with Bed, Bath & Beyond moving into second place, pushing Target Corp. down into the No. 3 spot. “Target is a great brand and great company,” said Timothy Robinson, CoreBrand’s managing director. “Little bounces are less important than consistency over time.” Other highly ranked brands included Barnes & Noble, Lowe’s, and the Home Depot.

Tweeting Men Buck Female SocNet Dominance Trend

Though recent studies have documented women’s dominance on Facebook, MySpace and other popular social media, a new Harvard Business School study reveals that men may actually be the driving force on Twitter.

Despite the fact that women comprise a slight majority of Twitter users (55% of women vs. 45% of men), and men and women follow a similar number of tweeters overall, men have 15% more followers than women, and have more reciprocated relationships, according to Bill Heil and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, who conducted the study.

The research also found that—despite the fact that men and women tweet at the same rate—an average man is almost twice more likely to follow another man on Twitter than to follow a woman, an average woman is 25% more likely to follow a man than a woman and an average man is 40% more likely to be followed by another man than by a woman.

91% of US Consumers Will Stick with Private Labels Post-Recession

A new study on consumer shopping habits provides further evidence that private label brands are becoming increasingly popular, and their popularity will remain even after the economy turns around, writes Retailer Daily.

“Store Brands and the Recession,” an ongoing study conducted by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) and GfK Custom Research North America, indicates that 91% of respondents will keep buying store brand products after the recession ends, while only 8% saythey will stop buying these products once the economy turns around.

In addition, 90% of respondents said private label products are just as good as, or better than, national brand products and 90% purchase them either frequently or occasionally, the study found.