Last week marked a milestone event as reported in the New York Times - the death of the mega retail music outlet, one of the last giants. Virgin Megastore closed its doors for good on Sunday. It's an example of another channel concept heading off to the channel graveyard, and iTunes has been the killer in this category. One brand has single handedly changed the way the purchase of music is being played out today.
It's tough to find any category that has undergone more change in the past decade than personal insurance. Evolution is the operative word as carriers struggle to maintain and grow share. At one time the category was owned lock, stock and barrel by insurance agents - the trusted resource you turned to for quotes, claims and anything else that had to do with an insurance-based brand. Agents ruled the day. Insurance carriers worried about making sure that they were in close conversation with their selling partners. It was all about managing their brand in channel so that the channel didn't manage the brand. The insurance agents made big money and made sure that insurance carriers were beholden to them. The ultimate position of strength. That's surely not the case today.
Today's btobonline newsletter brought some sobering news to anyone in the business to business world. According to the latest Business Information Network figures released by American Business Media, ad pages declined 33.06% in March 2009 compared with March 2008. Pages are off 29.70% for the first quarter of 09 vs. 08.
