Internet advertising expenditure is on the increase again. Some people find pop-up advertisements have become a major source of irritation, but others find them a useful source of information.

Advertising can be continued by other means, with sponsorship of particular events or product placement in films. This latter is where the product's makers negotiate for their products to appear and be used by the film's characters. A related phenomenon is product endorsement, where a celebrity is used in advertising a particular product. This can be dangerous if, for whatever reason, the celebrity falls from favour.

Some very creative minds come up with seductive combinations of sound, image and words, but tests show that we often don't remember the brand being advertised. Quantifying the effect of advertising is very difficult and there has been a backlash against it in favour of other, supposedly more targeted, forms of communication. This usually means direct marketing, otherwise known as direct mail but, as those living in apartments who receive mailshots for gardening products know, the targeting can still be ludicrously imprecise.

Advertising agencies may offer to run direct mail campaigns, but what they are best at is creating traditional advertising campaigns. When a client becomes dissatisfied and the agency loses the account this is major news in the advertising industry and means a big loss of revenue (and self-esteem) for the agency. Agencies develop a creative brief for clients, with proposals on the ideas to be used in the campaign. One key problem is reaching the right target audience (for example, young women between 18 and 30), so the selection of media (the right TV channels, magazines, etc.) is very important. And the advertising must fit into the company's overall marketing strategy - its plans on how it will compete and succeed in particular markets.

All these activities, all this expenditure. But the ultimate in advertising is word-of-mouth: friends and colleagues are often our most reliable sources of information. This form of advertising is usually free. All the advertiser can do is hope that it is positive.

Successful advertising campaigns. At your choice.

Apple has used a variety of advertising campaigns to promote its iPod portable digital media player. The campaigns include television commercials, print ads, posters in public places, and wrap advertising campaigns. These advertising techniques are unified by a distinctive, consistent style that differs from Apple's other ads.

The more notable commercials and print advertising feature dark silhouetted characters against bright-colored backgrounds. The silhouettes are usually dancing, and in television commercials are backed by up-beat music. The silhouettes are also usually holding iPods and listening to them with Apple's supplied earphones. These appear in white, so that they stand out against the colored background and black silhouettes. Apple changes the style of these commercials often depending on the song's theme or genre. Apple is also changing the style of their iPod Touch and now making it more suitable for children.

The original television commercials and posters featured solid black silhouettes against a solid bright color, which usually changed every time the camera angle changed. Some of the television adverts also depict highlights on the silhouettes using darkened shades of the background color, and shadows on the floor.

The 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class will be without question a best seller for Mercedes-Benz. To match the restyled design of the all new C-Class sedan and Estate and to reach its true sales potential, Mercedes launched a huge new ad campaign. The launch from Mercedes-Benz is set to be a major campaign that accompanies the public launch of the new-generation C-Class. With its claim to be “a class ahead”, the integrated marketing campaign coolly and confidently underscores the C-Class’s ambition to lead its segment. Thanks to a newly enhanced interior, which now meets the highest standards of design and comfort, in addition to an extremely comprehensive safety package, the latest generation of the top-selling Mercedes model offers the same high level as the current luxury class vehicles – and will once again set new standards in the compact intermediate premium segment.

“With the new-generation C-Class, Mercedes-Benz is making its latest innovations available to the intermediate class,” says Anders Sundt Jensen, Vice President Brand Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars. “With an approach that is both provocative and charming in style, the campaign turns a spotlight on the car’s innovative safety and comfort features, as well as on the high level of design quality found particularly in the interior.”

Using a broad-reaching mix of communication channels that combines the print media, TV, radio and the Internet, the campaign depicts the new-generation C-Class in dynamic vein. In particular a strong TV presence will guarantee broad visibility over the three-week period. The two 45 and 30-second TV advertisements take a humorous and cinematographic approach to the C-Class Saloon and Estate models, focusing in particular on the innovative ATTENTION ASSIST system, which detects and provides early warning of the onset of driver drowsiness. The 20-second pre-roll entitled “Souvenir” takes a enjoyable approach to the C-Class Estate’s 1,500-litre load capacity.

Whereas the TV ads and pre-roll are filmed in rural surroundings, for the print media the C-Class is photographed against an urban backdrop. The “living city look” highlights in particular the sportiness and dynamic qualities of the new-generation bestseller. In each case the vehicles are depicted in front of a real urban backdrop, which although unidentifiable in detail has been digitally enhanced to heighten the dramatic effect. Each advertisement highlights an outstanding feature of the new C-Class with a succinct message, for example “Never be content with only a little. Except when it comes to emissions.” to promote the car’s outstanding economy.

Energy-saving, eye-catching, thirst-quenching, money-saving, mouth-watering, brain-teasing.

• Cultures. Cultural awareness is important for business people. So many countries, so many customs.

As the world gets smaller, we need to learn more about each others' values, beliefs, habits and expectations. Culture is, in the famous phrase, the way we do things around here. The 'here' in question may be a country, a region, a social class, a company, a university. Clearly, we each live in a set of cultures and subcultures that interlock in complex ways and, to make a generalization, one of the most dangerous things is to generalize about them. Stereotypes are, of course, to be handled with caution. The stereotype may represent the middle of a range of differing behaviors, it may be at one extreme or it may just not be true. And there may be more variety in behavior within a culture than between one culture and another.

Neighboring countries or regions, or two companies in the same industry, tend to see themselves as very different to each other, but that difference may be hard for the outsider to grasp at first glance. A few years working in one of the two places will make it seem more apparent, as one gets 'involved' in one of the cultures.

Here, are some intercultural issues, ('intercultural' is nowadays often preferred to 'cross-cultural') areas where there are variations in behavior across different cultures:

• Religion: Is it expected of people or a matter of individual choice? Does it play a role in business life?

• Roles of men and women: Are women often found at the highest levels of business and society?

• Hierarchy: What is the distance between managers and the people who work for them?

• Levels of formality in language and behavior: Is there an elaborate system of levels of deference in addressing different people?

• Conversation and discussion: Settings (formal and informal meetings, social situations, etc.), turn- taking, proximity, body language, contact, etc.

• Dress for different settings and occasions.

• The relation of work to private life: Are spouses expected to attend certain types of company event? Do businesspeople invite colleagues and contacts to their houses or is everything done in the office and restaurants?

• Time: Timescale of the activity/organization, planning, punctuality, the working day/week/year, meals, recreation, holidays, etc. Do meetings start on time? Is the summer break sacrosanct?

To (be) throw in at the deep end, (not) to see eye to eye about, to get into hot water with, to break the ice, to put one’s foot in it, to get on like a house on fire with, to be like a fish out off the water, to be a real eye-opener.

• Employment.

a) How to retain good staff.

Usually employer advertises a vacancy or a new post. Then, they have received all the applications, they shortlist the candidates, choosing those who appear to their criteria and call them for the interview. Provided the panel are happy, the employer will make a job offer and the successful candidate starts work.

But it’s not enough. If you want to catch and hold high performers you should go an extra mile. Asking for experts from media, academics and commentators is really helpful because this people have an independent point of view about candidates. There are a lot of selection procedures such as psychometric or other kinds of test used by companies. Use your own original methods for identifying candidates and to make cross-references.

Human Resources directors are responsible for introducing these “scientific” methods. They act more as facilitators for other departments: they deal with recruitment in conjunction with departmental managers, they administer payment systems in tandem with accounts, they are perhaps present at performance appraisal reviews when employees discuss with their managers how they are doing, they may be responsible for providing training, in industrial relations they are involved in complaints and disputes procedures, and they often have to break the news when people are dismissed. And they should arrange severance packages for people who are made redundant and offer some outplacement services for them.

High performers are easier to define than to find. They are people with apparently limitless energy and enthusiasm, qualities that shine through even on their bad days. The problem is that people of this quality are very attractive to rival companies and are likely to be headhunted. The financial impact of such people leaving is great. However, not all high performers are stolen, some are lost. So if you want to keep them you should remember that money is not the main factor for high performers. Self-development and freedom are important for them so empowerment and fast-tracking would be great motivators for them.

One of criteria of high performer is age. These people are usually young and ambitious so most of them belong to Generation Y or millennial. These people are born in period from mid-1970 to the mid-1990s and their attitude to work is different from previous one generation. Self-development is their priority but not having lifetime workplace.

The era of lifetime employment is over and millennials are living examples of it. People should be ready to change jobs more often, be prepared to work part-time, should acquire and develop skills to maintain their employability.

b) The recruitment process and headhunting.

Employers who experience a high turnover of staff pay a high price in terms of the time and resources spent interviewing and training new employees. Because of this, many organizations have personnel on staff who are in charge of human resources recruitment, in addition to handling human resources needs for existing staff. Organizations that don’t have HR personnel in-house may turn to human resources outsourcing for their occasional human resources recruitment needs.

In-house staff who are in charge of human resources recruitment, such as a human resources manager or director, often have an existing template for job ads which they customize when recruiting new employees. This template typically includes a brief overview of the organization in addition to information that a potential new recruit might find of interest, such as the position’s salary range and benefits. HR personnel will then consult with the staff member who will be in charge of supervising the new employee to determine the qualifications and responsibilities required of the position. After the job ad has been placed, HR personnel are responsible for screening incoming resumes and arranging interviews with qualified applicants.

HR personnel will sit in on interviews with applicants, along with the supervisor or other employee who will be working closely alongside the new recruit. At this time, HR personnel will draw upon their human resources recruitment training to determine which questions to ask the applicant, as well as how to evaluate the applicant’s answers, body language, and overall demeanor. After the interview, HR personnel will make an assessment of the applicant’s potential with the organization and discuss their recommendations with the supervisor. If a job offer is made to the applicant and he or she accepts, HR personnel will equip the new employee with any keys, uniforms, or passwords required for the job and ensure that the employee completes and returns all paperwork required of new staff.

Organizations that choose to outsource for their human resources recruitment needs will hire an employment agency or “headhunter.” After gathering the specifics of what the organization is looking for, the agency will either select a candidate from their own pool of job seekers on file, or place a job ad on behalf of the organization. Depending on the arrangement between the agency and the organization, employees who are hired through an employment agency are employees of that agency rather than the organization they are matched with, usually for a designated period of time. After the time period is up, the organization may then choose to hire the individual as their own employee.

A headhunting is a job recruiter who specializes in matching highly skilled professionals with corporate clients. A headhunter might be an independent contractor or work through an agency of headhunters where each agent specializes in particular areas of employment and possibly also in geographic areas.

Corporations benefit from using a headhunter or a headhunting service in two ways. Using a headhunter eliminates the need to place an advertisement for the open position and then address the inevitable list of applicants, most of which will be unfit for various reasons. A headhunter does the tedious work of finding good candidates, providing an initial screening mechanism, which saves the corporation valuable time. In turn the headhunter is paid a fee if he or she is able to find the right candidate, typically a small percentage of the annual starting salary of the filled position.

This payment arrangement encourages headhunters to build lasting, tight relationships with corporate clients. The more successful a headhunter is in filling recruitment positions, the more likely the client company will look to the headhunter for other job placement opportunities. Both parties benefit mutually from this relationship, as do those seeking gainful employment.

While half of the headhunter’s job is working for corporate clients, the other half consists of working for those seeking employment. Anyone can call a headhunter or headhunting service to be considered for job opportunities. Typically a resume is submitted to the headhunter followed by a verbal interview, either in person or over the phone. The headhunter gets a feel for the personality, skills, and needs of the recruit. This will include factors like willingness to travel, to relocate or to work extended hours.