Archive for August 12th, 2011

Proud to be a Marketer …

August 12, 2011

From Prof. Mark Perry’s blog …

“Britain’s female beach volleyball champions are renting out their rears in an advertising deal that encourages spectators to photograph their behinds.

Zara Dampney, 24, and Shauna Mullin, 26, have turned their bottoms into their bottom line by wearing bikini briefs with a Quick Response (QR) code printed on the back where it will catch the eye of spectators.

When photographed on a smartphone, the code takes the user to a specific website – in this case, for bookmakers Betfair.”

image

…>> Latest Posts

Posted in Mktg - Promotion, Mobile Marketing | Leave a Comment »

My, oh my … How Jay Carney’s views on vacations have changed.

August 12, 2011

Great archival find by Drudge …

This week, Carney (Obama’s press secretary said: “No one begrudges the President some time off now.”

Back in 2001, Carney had a different view of Presidential vacations.

A Vacationing Bush Works Hard for His Photo-Ops
By Jay Carney Thursday, Aug. 16, 2001 

Back in July, when they were planning what the President should do during his month-long vacation (as part of their effort to persuade the public that he wasn’t actually on vacation in the generally accepted sense of what vacation means — i.e., having fun and not working), the image-makers hit upon a clever idea. 

Make it seem as though the President were engaged in some concentrated activity of presidential purpose, they would name the entire series of trips — together with his down time at his ranch in Crawford, Texas — the "Home to the Heartland" tour. 

Classic examples of that much maligned but ever-reliable staple of political activity: the "photo-op."

The President’s most glaring weakness is the public’s perception that he is pro-business.

Given the high marks he’s getting for his overall job performance , some might even say it’s his only weakness.

The question now is whether a few photo-ops will fix the problem — or just make it worse.

The Bigger Point: Drudge placed emphasis on the hypocrisy re: Presidential vacations.

I think the bigger point is that President Obama’s press secretary thinks that being pro-business is a weakness.

Oh, really.

>> Latest Posts

Posted in Obama | Leave a Comment »

Apparently the Feds don’t read the HomaFiles …

August 12, 2011

A couple of years late, the WSJ reports that …

The Obama administration will announce plans to seek investors’ ideas for turning thousands of foreclosed properties owned by government-backed entities into rental homes, .

The move is intended to put a floor under declining home prices by creating a way to deal with hundreds of thousands of potential foreclosures in coming years.

No kidding …

Loyal readers know that the HomaFiles has been all over this issue for a couple of years,  Original post

Ken’s Plan:

Some simple tax code changes can unleash private capital to suck up bargain priced residential real estate and induce investors rent it out.

Specifically, eliminate future capital gains taxes on any residential property bought in the next 2 years, allow investors (i.e. landlords) who rent the properties to depreciate the properties on an aggressively accelerated basis (i.e. say, 5 years), and allow any excess tax losses from renting to be applied to ordinary income.

The likely outcome: a massive inflow of private capital to buy residential properties, housing prices would be bid up, folks would have access to affordable rentals, and the economy would be stimulated … REALLY stimulated.

The downsides?

The higher prices would be somewhat artificial, unless the model becomes a new paradigm – replacing the American Dream of home ownership.

And for sure, the tax benefits would accrue to “fat cats”.

So what, let’s get the economy rolling …

>> Latest Posts

Posted in Housing - Mortgages, Real Estate | 1 Comment »