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| Sony Confirms 10,000 Layoffs In Major Reorganization | |  Confirming the report from earlier this week, Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai said the company will cut 10,000 jobs globally as part of a big "One Sony" reorganization. The company has five immediate goals: it wants to strengthen its core businesses -- digital imaging, gaming and mobile -- turn around its TV business, expand into emerging markets, create new businesses and fuel innovation and, finally, realign the business portfolio and optimize its resources. The 10,000 layoffs and the management shuffling (Kazuo Hirai replaced Howard Stringer as president and CEO in February 2012) pretty much cover that last bit. The details on strengthening its core businesses include a lot of consolidation -- for example, Sony will integrate its smartphone, tablet and VAIO businesses, and reduce the number of product models in its TV business. As for innovation, Sony is entering medical technology and life science industry, and it plans to "aggressively promote" 4K technology, which brings four times the resolution of Full HD. We'll see 4K-enabled products in pro equipment, but Sony also promises to bring the technology into the high-end consumer product segment, which means our brand new Full HD TVs might look obsolete in a couple of years. All of these will cost around $926 million, and Sony projects it will result in net sales of 6 trillion yen ($74 billion) and an operating income margin of 5% in its electronics business by 2014. |
| Sony Confirms 10,000 Layoffs In Major Reorganization | |  Confirming the report from earlier this week, Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai said the company will cut 10,000 jobs globally as part of a big "One Sony" reorganization. The company has five immediate goals: it wants to strengthen its core businesses -- digital imaging, gaming and mobile -- turn around its TV business, expand into emerging markets, create new businesses and fuel innovation and, finally, realign the business portfolio and optimize its resources. The 10,000 layoffs and the management shuffling (Kazuo Hirai replaced Howard Stringer as president and CEO in February 2012) pretty much cover that last bit. The details on strengthening its core businesses include a lot of consolidation -- for example, Sony will integrate its smartphone, tablet and VAIO businesses, and reduce the number of product models in its TV business. As for innovation, Sony is entering medical technology and life science industry, and it plans to "aggressively promote" 4K technology, which brings four times the resolution of Full HD. We'll see 4K-enabled products in pro equipment, but Sony also promises to bring the technology into the high-end consumer product segment, which means our brand new Full HD TVs might look obsolete in a couple of years. All of these will cost around $926 million, and Sony projects it will result in net sales of 6 trillion yen ($74 billion) and an operating income margin of 5% in its electronics business by 2014. |
| Find The Necessary Paperwork For Your Small Business With One Site | |  The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: License123. Quick Pitch: License 123 connects business owners with applications, forms and other paperwork they need, based on their city and business type. Genius Idea: Small business owners can find legal forms all in one place. Starting a business is exciting, but notoriously stressful. In addition to thinking about your bottom line, you also have to complete boatloads of dreaded paperwork to ensure that, legally, all your ducks are in a row. License 123 is a one-stop shop where small business owners can figure out what paperwork they needed to file based on where they live and what type of business they operate. A personalized report costs $9.95. "Overall, we believe License 123 is a giant time-saver that will give entrepreneurs and those considering a new business information critical to their success," License 123 Project Manager Eric Feigenbaum said in an email. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., License 123 was founded by Jason Nazar and Alon Shwartz. Nazar and Shwartz are also co-founders of Docstoc.com, a site that contains a document library available to the public with special emphasis on small business. License 123 makes use of Docstoc and lets users access, download and print applications, forms and other paperwork. Business owners can also find links to government sites and contact information for each government agency involved in the business licensing process. At this time, License 123 doesn't help with the filing process. "We're always looking for new ways to better serve the small business community and we received a lot of feedback from customers that business licensing was one of their biggest headaches," Feigenbaum said. "License 123 was a response to the fact that there is no other resource that provides licensing and permitting information instantly and cheaply," he added. "We believe this will make it easier for entrepreneurs to get critical information, come into regulatory compliance and has the side benefit of helping cities, counties and states increase their revenues." License 123 launched Feb. 14 and is currently in beta while it adds cities around the country as well as additional features. Feigenbaum said they're aiming to have the 100 most populated cities included on their site by the end of the second quarter. They're also collecting customer feedback and making adjustments, such as adding additional business types. The site offers a 100% money-back guarantee and features customer support representatives to help guide people having trouble deciding which report is right for them. The approximately $10 fee gives users instant access to the report detailing forms they'll need, plus an email with a link that allows the purchasers to revisit the report anytime. "The coolest feature of this site is that it gives the user a complete answer of all levels of government," Feigenbaum said. "Someone who buys a License 123 report can rest assured that he or she knows the entire set of operational permits required for a business - which could take days of researching and calling various government agencies to achieve. And that's if a person does it right and succeeds, which can be challenging." What do you think about License 123? Do you own a small business and would you use it? Tell us in the comments. Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, RichPhotographics Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. |
| 7 Lessons From Content Marketing's Greatest Hits | | Wednesday, April 11, 2012 10:23 PM | Gilad de Vries |
|  Gilad de Vries is vice president, brands and agencies at Outbrain. Before joining Outbrain he served as VP of Digital Media and Principal at Carmel Ventures, one of Israel's top venture capital firms. Lately, it's impossible to open a newsletter, check Google alerts, or visit any news sites without reading something on the benefits of content marketing. It seems as though the entire marketing industry is out to convince the world that this is the wave of the future. While that may be true, there is a real shortage of practical, how-to advice for brands that want to dip their toes in the content marketing pool. Yes, advances in technology and the rise of social media as a marketing channel have eliminated the need for traditional modes of distribution. But at the end of the day, creating great content and getting it in front of the right audience still demands creativity and skill. Luckily, there are already a handful of companies who have really nailed down the art of content marketing, and their efforts serve as great examples. Here's a closer look at some of the do's and don'ts from content marketing's greatest hits. 1. Don't Skimp on Design This may seem obvious, but if you want to be taken seriously by consumers, it's important to make your content visually compelling. The folks at the General Electric Company have this down. There, issues of innovation and environment have been brought to life with the thoughtful design of their Ecomagination site. Sure, it's the quality of the content that will keep your visitors coming back, but don't underestimate the power of a slick, eye-catching site. Using a 16:9 ratio predispositions viewers to think of your site as premium, as does using high-quality images that take up the entire frame. In general the ratio of text to images has slowly been shifting in favor of the latter, with no more than five to six paragraphs of text per page. Magazine-quality content and photography from sale site, Mr. Porter, adheres to this rule nicely. 2. Do Make it Multimedia This goes hand in hand with investing in design. Varying the type of content you use is essential to providing an engaging, well-rounded user experience that sucks people in and keeps them clicking for more. Fashion maven, Tory Burch, combines videos, slideshows, photos, and even playlists on her blog, which draws nearly 200,000 unique visitors per month. 3. Don't Go for the Hard Sell Although the ultimate purpose of all marketing is to drive sales, content marketing employs a more nuanced, indirect approach. The focus is on educating, entertaining, and delivering value to the consumer, rather than giving a hard pitch for your products or services. For a great example of this, look no further than Unilever's The Adrenalist. The site's content includes news and information on adventure, extreme sports, gear, and travel. It basically provides adrenaline junkies and adventurers with a place to convene online. Visitors will see plenty of Bear Grylls, former host of Man vs. Wild, but Degree for Men only makes a handful of appearances. 4. Do Strike a Balance That balance should be between content that is professional and content that is generated by users. Now, there's no doubt that enlisting professionals is key to any good content strategy, but incorporating the consumer voice is equally important. Both Kraft and General Mills have done a commendable job of getting readers involved by soliciting user recipes for their respective sites, KraftRecipes.com and Tablespoon.com. Productivity app maker, Evernote, also blends professional with community content through user-submitted tips and tricks on their blog. 5. Don't Leave Any Dead Ends When it comes to content marketing, the old adage about "leave 'em wanting more" most definitely does not apply. The best time to engage your audience is when they're already in content consumption mode, which is why every page on your site should offer plenty of links to further content. L'Oreal, which many folks don't realize is behind beauty how-to site Makeup.com, is a master at this. A recent article on sunscreen featured links to videos, a "tip of the day" and trending stories along the left-hand navigation, as well as suggestions for further reading. 6. Do Make Sharing Easy If you create great content, there's a good chance that you'll garner some fans along the way, which is why it's so important to give them mechanisms to share that content with their friends. Check out a great example from the marketing automation experts at Marketo. Their blog puts Event Information
Our annual destination conference, Mashable Connect, brings our community together for three days to connect offline in an intimate setting at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World®. Registration is now open. Held in a unique location away from everyday distractions, Mashable Connect is a rare and valuable opportunity to be surrounded by digital leaders across industries. You'll spend time with Mashable's passionate and influential community, hear from top speakers who will provide insight into the the technologies and trends that are shaping the next era of digital innovation, and get to spend time with the Mashable team. To keep Mashable Connect as intimate as possible, only a limited amount of tickets are available. A Look Back at Last Year's Mashable Connect Supporting Sponsors Sponsorship Opportunities A limited number of sponsor opportunities are available for Mashable Connect. This is an excellent opportunity to get in front of Mashable's passionate and influential audience. Contact sponsorships@mashable.com for opportunities. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, skynesher |
| Why CEOs Should Allow Facebook in the Workplace [INFOGRAPHIC] | | Wednesday, April 11, 2012 9:55 PM | Zoe Fox |
|  Many CEOs forbid use of social media at work, but recent research shows that web surfing leads to increased productivity. This Keas infographic explores the benefits of social media in the workplace, showing that social connections make people happier and a brief recess involving Internet-browsing increases productivity. An Academy of Management experiment gave three groups of people -- a control group bundling sticks, a group taking an Internet-free break and a group browsing the Internet for 10 minutes -- the simple task of highlighting as many letter A's as they could among 2,000 words of text. The three groups then had their mental exhaustion measured. Those browsing the Internet were 16% more productive than the Internet-free break group and 39% more productive than the control group. SEE ALSO: 37 Productivity Tips for Working From Anywhere The study concludes that taking a break, particularly one spent browsing the Internet, should be encouraged by employers hoping to increase productivity. Do you use Facebook at work? Does it negatively or positively affect your concentration? Sound off in the comments. |
| Disconnect: 5 Business Benefits of Working Out | | Wednesday, April 11, 2012 5:56 PM | Eric Siu |
|  Eric Siu is the Vice President of SEO at Evergreen Search Marketing. He also writes about SEO topics such as the 10 Immutable Laws of SEO. Follow him @ericosiu Disconnecting in the digital age seems like a virtue and a sin. The reality is, it's hard to unplug. So much of daily life, particularly work, is tied to the web. But temporarily disconnecting can actually help us be better on the job. And one of the best ways to do it is by hitting the gym. As it turns out, there are actual business perks to working up a sweat. Below are five that will get you pumped up. SEE ALSO: 13 Ways to Get in Shape With Digital Fitness Tools 1. Focus We live in a world where every two days we generate as much information as we did up to 2003. With that constant influx of data, it's easy to become distracted. One second you're checking your e-mail. The next second, you're texting someone back. Then you have instant messages to read. Oh, and what about getting in some Pinterest and Facebook before you go to lunch? The bottom line is, in this age, we need to learn to focus better. Working out teaches us to focus on one main goal: completing a work out. Focusing at the gym will allow you to carry that behavior over to your work. You'll realize how much more productive you can be when you truly lock in and do one thing at a time. 2. New Ideas Working out not only allows you to focus and think of different ways to solve current problems, but it also creates room to come up with new ideas. Take advantage of the clarity you can only get while you're in the zone. Who knows? You might come up with your next big idea. 3. Confidence You already know that working out helps people look great. The added benefit of looking great is confidence. And confidence will lead you to: Close more deals: When you're confident, you get the feeling you can accomplish anything you want. It's going to become tougher for you to accept no for an answer. In fact, each "no" might inspire you to push harder. Meet new people : Confidence will also help you realize that there isn't a reason to be shy, and that it's more beneficial to you to build as many quality relationships as you can. Speak more confidently: Talking confidently goes a long way in the business world. People want to talk to someone who's sure of themselves. 4. Discipline The first step to being successful is starting. The second step is discipline. If you've had trouble committing to any project for an extended period of time, try working out. Developing a habit of consistently working out will make it easier for you to apply the same dogged discipline to other aspects of your life, including business. 5. Stress Relief Stress saps your energy and decreases your productivity. If you're stressing, then your anxiety levels are probably high. There's a good chance you're brooding about things so you aren't fun to be around either. A great way to blow off this steam is to channel those feelings into your work out. You'll clear your mind, and you'll feel better. That will make your work life a lot easier to address. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, svariophoto |
| Model Will Strip for Facebook Likes [VIDEO] | | Wednesday, April 11, 2012 4:50 PM | Joann Pan |
|  Stüssy -- retailer of mens and womens sportswear -- is trading up Facebook Likes for a strip tease on the social network. The campaign's promise: "The more likes, the more clothes come off." The "Strip for Likes" campaign debuted on April 10 for the re-launch of their Amsterdam Facebook Page. The model wears all of the clothing pieces from the mens Spring/Summer 2012 lookbook. Her outfit includes numerous pairs of pants, shirts, outerwear and hats. Black-and-white photos of a model wearing a gargantuan stack of clothes slides by on the campaign's homepage. After liking the "Strip for Likes" Facebook page, users are urged to Facebook share or Facebook Like the separate "Strip for Likes" page, to "undress" the model. The campaign pushes people to the Stüssy Facebook page and displays the brand's signature hoodies, tees and jackets. a fun and engaging way to showcase Stussy's new collection by having a cute model taking off layers of clothing according to the number of likes she gets," said Lauren Ince, European Client Managing Director at Arnold Worldwide. Facebook was the best platform for the interactive ad because that's where customers spend their time, Ince told Mashable. "As a contemporary brand you need to be wherever your fans live, shop or play," Ince said. "Because Facebook plays a big part of their lives, Stüssy Ams' Facebook is therefore an important platform to engage with them, inform them or just share the fun." SEE ALSO: 5 Innovative Facebook Campaigns to Learn From The company behind the ad, Arnold Amsterdam, boasts a client list that includes Volvo and Dell. "Modern consumers are time poor, have short attention spans and a plethora of brand choice," the company says. "Which means they are less informed about brands than ever before." The campaign is effective so far -- catching the attention of numerous media outlets that are wondering how far the company will go. On Facebook, more than 1,000 people have Liked the brand. You can follow reports of the model's piece-by-piece disrobing on the advertising company's blog. Do you think this is an effective ad campaign to garner Facebook likes? Is the company going too far? Sound off in the comments. |
| Announcing a Live Chat With IWearYourShirt.com Founder Jason Sadler | | Wednesday, April 11, 2012 4:40 PM | Scott Gerber |
|  IWearYourShirt.com founder Jason Sadler will be answering questions from readers live at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) tomorrow, April 12 exclusively on Mashable. As part of the Young Entrepreneur Council's program, YEC Global, Sadler will be answering questions live via video chat, broadcast exclusively on this site. IWearYourShirt.com's chief t-shirt wearer Jason Sadler first decided to he wanted to get paid to wear t-shirts for a living in the fall of 2008. With zero followers on social media, no video experience and a small Rolodex of contacts, Jason dove head first into becoming a virtual billboard for any company that wanted to be on his t-shirt. Every day in 2009 Jason wore a different t-shirt, made an accompanying YouTube video, hosted a live video show, tweeted, Facebooked and blogged about the companies on his chest. Fast forward four years and IWearYourShirt.com has been mentioned by many news outlets, including the Today Show, CBS Evening News, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and of course Mashable. Jason and his team of t-shirt wearers have worn shirts for over 1,200 companies, ranging from small mom and pop businesses to Fortune 500 companies. In the ever growing social media landscape, Jason has built a highly engaged community that actively consumes advertisements every day of the year.? Outside of daily t-shirt wearing in his hometown of Jacksonville, FL, Jason is an avid sports fan, enjoys playing Scrabble, loves movies and frequently travels to speak publicly about monetizing social media and creating community. YEC Global is an international mentorship program of the Young Entrepreneur Council, an invite-only non-profit comprised of promising young entrepreneurs. Its goal is to promote and support young entrepreneurs around the world, as well as foster the thriving global entrepreneurial ecosystem by sending delegations to various countries around the world to lead in-person, peer-to-peer mentorship programs, creative sessions, panel discussions and business competitions. The program also offers one- to two-week internships at YEC member-owned companies. Check Mashable tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT), when Sadler will be answering questions from the audience live via video chat. You can also sign up for an email reminder of the chat by visiting this registration page. |
| How the #BullyMovie Twitter Campaign Triumphed Over the MPAA | | Wednesday, April 11, 2012 1:51 PM | Lauren Hockenson |
|  The Behind the Social Media Campaign Series is supported by Oneupweb, a relentless digital marketing agency focused on search, social, and design for mid-to-enterprise level brands. Download Oneupweb's free paper, Social Media: The Guide to Creating a Kick-A$ Company Policy. How do you promote a movie that attempts to give a voice to the voiceless? This is the challenge that fell upon the makers and distributors of Bully, a documentary on childhood bullying that will hit theaters nationwide on Friday. The film's path to theaters is a rocky one. Initially released for a limited audience on March 30, the documentary was slapped with an R-rating for strong language by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The appeal was denied, effectively blocking the film's opportunity to reach its true audience of middle and high schoolers. Filmmaker Lee Hirsch says he was devastated at the possibility that his film couldn't have the impact he hoped it would. "We knew we had to fight it, but we didn't know how," says Hirsch of his film's struggles. "It was a done deal." It was, at least, until a massive multi-platform campaign to bring awareness to the movie was launched by myriad sources, with Twitter entering as a main theater of activity. Mashable spoke with Hirsch, The Weinstein Company's Senior Vice President of Marketing Bladimiar Norman and 17-year-old Change.org petition leader Katy Butler about the documentary's massive Twitter campaign. Do you think this campaign has changed ways to gain awareness through Twitter? Let us know in the comments. The Strategy: Mega Awareness For Norman, who led the campaign for Bully distributor The Weinstein Co., the strategy for Twitter boiled down to two words: Twitter Tuesday. "The goal was to create an organic trending of #BullyMovie by activating a massive grassroots campaign, securing one million tweets within one day in a 24-hour period," Norman says of the March 27 campaign. If it sounds like a lofty goal, and that's because it is: Norman says he spent a while researching just how to grow a campaign large enough to make a worldwide trending topic on the platform before realizing that there's no way to force a phenomenon. Instead, awareness of the desired scale would require rallying around the message of the movie: 13 million kids in America will be bullied this year, and 3 million of those kids will be absent from school due to the bullying they endure. Norman says that while he wasn't bullied as a child, he felt very sympathetic to and motivated by the cause. "After hours of research, I quickly realized the alarming level of bullying that occurs every second, every minute and every hour in our schools," Norman says. "It was extremely important for us to uncover the severity of the problem for the country as a whole" It was this emotional resonance that also hit 17-year-old Michigan high school student Katy Butler, who says she'd seen the trailer and knew it had the potential to change the bullying she herself experienced. "Bullying is such a personal issue for me that I was so excited for the movie to come out so kids could see it," Butler explains. "But then I saw that it was rated R." Butler began her campaign on Change.org in early March, and hopped aboard the "Anti-Bullying Twitter Tuesday" idea she read about on the film's website. She encouraged her petitioners, whom by late March had swelled to nearly 500,000, to stand alongside the film and provide a voice for bullied kids. These two missions, separate in their origins, converged on March 27th. Norman says that all hands were on deck at The Weinstein Co. to help encourage everyone to retweet messages about Bully through a custom-made toolkit that made it simple to promote the movie. He adds that he spent much of his time looping celebrities into the cause and leveraging their influence to fuel awareness. "We live in a world where pop culture is the center of our entertainment world," Norman explains. "Seizing on this opportunity, we partnered with pop culture phenoms to get the message out to as many people as possible to build awareness for this important cause." The Result Hirsch says on March 27th, he was surprised at how much the campaign had gained steam. "I woke up to 'Have you seen this?' More and more high-profile folks joined the call," Hirsch explains. "It really took off and helped raise the profile of the film." On Twitter, dozens of celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, Anderson Cooper and Kim Kardashian joined major organizations, such as GLAAD and Take Part to tweet awareness about bullying. As a teen and someone who had been bullied in her own life, Butler says the campaign was empowering. "Just to know -- as a 17-year-old -- how much a difference I can make gives me so much hope for my future," Butler says. "It showed me that if you truly believe in something, you can get it done." Back at The Weinstein Co., Norman says that he was overwhelmed not only by the celebrities' support of the cause, but also the willingness from Twitter itself to take part in perpetuating the anti-bullying message of the day. "I can't tell you how impressed I am that people came together on this day," Norman explains. "It was absolutely incredible, the support that we got. It blew me away, and it's been kind of a whirlwind since then." The day before the campaign, The Weinstein Co. had said it would release the film unrated. After March 27, Bully went back to the MPAA for another rating round. This time, it was a success: The film was able to secure a PG-13 rating, while still retaining the strong language found in one of the documentary's most powerful scenes. Hirsch says he's pleased the campaign helped the film reach its wider audience, and added that the bullying awareness itself is a joy. "We had a real victory, we did," Hirsch says. "It was not just about beating the MPAA -- it started the conversation about bullying and gave people a way to talk about it." Series supported by Oneupweb
The Behind the Social Media Campaign Series is supported by Oneupweb, a relentless digital marketing agency focused on search, social, and design for mid-to-enterprise level brands. Have you considered the goals of your social media strategy and how employees engage in social media on the job? Download Oneupweb's free paper, Social Media: The Guide to Creating a Kick-A$ Company Policy. |
| Apple and Major Publishers Face Antitrust Lawsuit Over Ebook Pricing | | Wednesday, April 11, 2012 12:26 PM | Sarah Kessler |
|  The United States has filed an antitrust lawsuit against five major book publishers and Apple, claiming they colluded to raise ebook pricing. Reports as early as March suggested the Department of Justice had opened an investigation into an alleged 2010 deal between Apple and the five publishers -- Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster -- that forced Amazon to raise ebook prices. Amazon initially sold ebooks for $10 or less, but raised prices under pressure from publishers and the introduction of the iPad. The Kindle maker had been buying books from publishers and then setting prices at a discount. Apple instead let publishers set their own prices for ebooks on the iPad -- as long as those prices were the lowest offered on any platform -- and then took a 30% cut of revenue. Almost all major publishers moved toward Apple's model, and Amazon was forced to raise prices in order to keep books on its platform. "The legal concern relates to the possibility of collusion among nearly all the major publishers, which would introduce an monopoly effect on the retail cost of books," explains Wired's John Abell. "Publishing is made up of legally sanctioned mini monopolies anyway, since a given title is available only from one and, unlike cars, there are no equivalents per se from another. But if the major publishers were to collude, then any semblance of competition would disappear, and the market would have little say in the pricing of books at all." Apple and Macmillan deny they colluded to raise ebook prices, according to a Bloomberg report that cites sources familiar with the matter. The same report says Simon & Schuster, Hachette SA and HarperCollins may settle with the Department of Justice as soon as today. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mikkelwilliam |
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