The times may be changing in the advertising world but the most trusted resource for consumers is still fairly simple: people trust recommendations from friends and consumer opinions posted online far more than traditional advertising resources. According to a 2011 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising survey, 92 percent of consumers responded that they trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. 70 percent said they trust consumer opinions posted online above other advertising methods. More traditional methods of advertising such as website, magazine, radio and TV ads ranked in the 40 – 50 percent range. See the graph below for figures on other forms of advertising:

This means there’s big potential with social commerce and advertising – social venues and sites lend themselves to a word of mouth approach that offers more authentic and transparent communication that consumers value. If consumers like a product, they will spread their recommendations through venues like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and online review boards. Nielsen analyzed 79 social ad campaigns on Facebook over six months – these campaigns targeted users with friends that are fans of or have interacted with the brand – and found a 55 percent greater lift in ad recall through these social ads than non-social ads.

This Nielsen survey was conducted in August/September 2011 and polled more than 28,000 consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

Those of us in the digital media world here were eagerly tuned in to this recent announcement from Colorado Mountain College: the college announced it will be forming the Isaacson School for New Media, a cutting-edge New Media program based in the Roaring Fork Valley.

I had the privilege of attending the announcement at CMC’s Aspen campus and appropriately, I was posting updates to their Facebook page (you can see me in action here). As a recent Journalism graduate, the importance of learning digital skills in college hits close to home.

The Isaacson School will offer a digital journalism program, a digital marketing and design program and a digital media production program. The classes will incorporate New Media skills including internet media, social networking and mobile technologies.

This has really spurred the idea of the Roaring Fork Valley as ” the new digital valley” and you can see why. The school is really a partnership between some major players: Walter Isaacson is president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and past chairman and CEO of CNN and editor of TIME magazine; Colorado Mountain College is an expansive community college operating in eleven different locations in the Rocky Mountains; the decision to base the school in the Roaring Fork Valley offers not only a strong cultural and progressive backdrop but opportunities for partnerships between local businesses and ventures in the valley.

And there is a definite emphasis on making this a leading educational program. Rick Johnson, instructional chair at CMC Aspen, spoke at the announcement and said the goal for the new school is “not just to create a program but a leading program.”

“This will be a very different kind of program than what we’ve seen in the past,” he said.

Isaacson also spoke, via video, about the cutting-edge program: “I’m really thrilled to be a partner with Colorado Mountain College and everybody who supports it in this great endeavor for new media, new technology and the future of the Roaring Fork Valley.”

“I’m convinced by being part of a community college where people really understand how new media gets applied in the real world, we’ll be finding all sorts of new ways of looking at new media two, three, 10, 20 years down the road.”

Read the Isaacson School for New Media’s Prospectus here.

See more local coverage here:

The Post Independent: CMC and CEO of Aspen Institute join together to launch School for New Media
Real Aspen: CMC Launches Isaacson School for New Media
Aspen Daily News Online: CMC, Isaacson partner for new media program
The Aspen Business Journal: CMC launches Issacson School for New Media
The Aspen Times: Aspen Institute’s Isaacson joins with CMC to launch new school

This is the last webinar in an excellent series from Retailer Edge on helping your business succeed. We’re always striving to provide you with the latest industry news and trends to help your business grow and succeed.

The Resurg Group and Retailer Edge will be presenting a free webinar on understanding the business sustainability rating this Thursday, March 29 at 1 p.m. PST. The hour-long webinar will focus on:

• Understanding the Business Sustainability Rating (BSR) and how it is calculated
• Using the BSR to identify opportunities for performance improvement in your business
• How applying the BSR in your business today will make you more money

The webinar will be lead by Mike Aylen, Australia’s leading authority on inventory management, and Meredith Wharton, General Manager of the Resurg Group.

To learn more about this webinar and to register, click here.

The webinar is sponsored by:

Our team at Footsteps Marketing is really impressed with Retailer Edge’s work in the business industry and that’s why we’ll continue to update you on their free webinar series. We’re always striving to provide you with the latest industry news and trends to help your business grow and succeed.

The Resurg Group and Retailer Edge will be presenting a free webinar on optimizing the inventory cycle through better inventory management this Thursday, March 15 at 1 p.m. PST. The hour-long webinar will focus on:

• The significance of poor inventory management on cash-flow and what can be done to improve it.
• Ways in which you can easily identify under and overstocking challenges, before they become issues that impact your bottom line.
• How inventory can be controlled better throughout your whole store, and the benefits that will bring to your bottom line.

The webinar will be lead by Mike Aylen, Australia’s leading authority on inventory management, and Meredith Wharton, General Manager of the Resurg Group.

To learn more about this webinar and to register, click here.

The webinar is sponsored by:

The Resurg Group and Retailer Edge will be presenting a free webinar on increasing your bottom line this Thursday, March 1 at 1 p.m. PST. The hour-long webinar will focus on:

• The significance of poor inventory management on cash-flow and what can be done to improve it
• Ways in which you can easily identify under and overstocking challenges, before they become issues that impact your bottom line
• How inventory can be controlled better throughout your whole store, and the benefits that will bring to your bottom line.

The webinar will be lead by Mike Aylen, Australia’s leading authority on inventory management, and Mark Jenkins, Managing Partner of the Resurg Group.

To learn more about this webinar and to register, click here.

The webinar is sponsored by:

Allston, MA: Model Ace Hardware, Allston, MA, in the city of Boston, has just gone live with their interactive new website – www.modelacehardware.com.  Situated in the Allston-Brighton district of Boston, right in the heart of student living, Model Ace has a great section on apartment living – a wonderful resource for students and young professionals seeking out advice on their first homes.

Model Ace Hardware was founded in 1918, and has been run by the Webber family since 1958, when Ike Webber took over the store.  Today, Ike’s son Bob is the owner.  Model Ace Hardware is a valuable asset to the Allston-Brighton community and has consistently supported local church groups, various non-profits, the West End House Boys and Girls Club, and Bob has been a long time Director and served as President of the Allston Board of Trade.

Bob Webber said of his new website: “Our store serves customers who live on the Internet, and this is our opportunity to connect directly with this demographic.”

For more information on this website, contact Pat Curry.  FootSteps Marketing specializes in interactive/digital marketing for independent retailers.