You better hurry up and start promoting your brand on LinkedIn, says LinkedIn. The professional networking site is urging advertisers and marketers to jump on its company-follow feature to attract more followers now that the site has gone public.
Mike Gamson, LinkedIn's senior vice president of sales, told Adweek that it plans to make a major push with advertising now that the site has achieved "brand-friendly scale" with 120 million professional members around the world.
Gamson's reasoning for the push: Attracting more enthusiasts now, while the follow feature is still relatively new, will cost you less than courting them down the road after your rivals have already won them over.
The not-so-subtle spin here is in making it seem like the eight-year-old company has only begun to grow and its 120 million users are just the beginning of what's to come. It also sounds like an obvious push to get investors excited about future growth.
LinkedIn's stock is down almost 20% from $94 a share to $76 a share since the company's May 19 initial public offering.
The company will publicize more details about its new advertising features next week.
Sales Buzz
Family Dollar Stores Adds Trian Founder to its Board (FINS via Dow Jones)
Family Dollar Stores named Trian Partners's founding partner, Edward P. Garden, to its board as part of an agreement limiting the investment firm's stake in the discount retailer. It comes seven months after Trian launched a bid to acquire the company.
Nokia Cuts 3,500 Workers (Reuters)
The Finnish cellphone vendor is cutting 3,500 jobs in its second major restructuring in the past six months as it grapples with declining sales and profits. Those layoffs include 1,300 jobs in the company's Location & Commerce unit.
Kindle Fire to Kill More Retailers (Forbes)
The Kindle Fire won't necessarily put Apple's iPad out of business, but it will make Amazon's blow to retailers even worse, Forbes argues.
Business Leaders Lose Faith (MarketWatch)
Business leaders have lost confidence in the economy since the beginning of the summer, The Business Roundtable reported. According to the association's latest survey, only 36% of CEOs say that they plan to increase their payrolls. That's down from 51% at the start of the summer.
Consumer Confidence Hits Near-Record Low (Bloomberg)
More bad news for retailers: Consumer confidence fell to the second-lowest level on record last week as the outlook among shoppers further deteriorated.
Marketing Buzz
HBO's Marketing Chief Steps Down (Ad Age)
HBO's Marketing Chief Courteney Monroe, known for helping launch "The Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones", is stepping down by the end of the year for personal reasons. The news comes as Viacom continues to restructure its divisions and ax jobs.
More Executive Departures at Rodale (Adweek)
Two top executives, Gregg Michaelson and Karen Rinaldi, are leaving the health and fitness publisher in the next week. In an email to her staff, Rodale CEO Maria Rodale said a new reporting structure for Michaelson's group would be outlined at the next board meeting.
Exercise for a Creative Brain (Fast Company)
Put your right-brain thinking caps on. Fast Company offers some useful insight on keeping the creative side of the mind healthy and active.
Buzz Around the Office
It's the 90s! (Vimeo)
Long live Generation Y!
List of the Day: Four Signs of a Job Posting Scam
With so many job sites out there, it's easy for scammers to act as employers in order to get your personal information. Here are some of the warning signs:
1. The job posting contains no details
2. The job requires you to invest
3. The job does not show up elsewhere in an online search
(Source: AOL Jobs)
