"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." --Roger 'Verbal' Kint, The Usual Suspects [UPDATED BELOW; THRICE!] Starbucks profited greatly from years of an aggressive and purposeful over-expansion that successfully wiped out many of their independent competitors and established their brand as a counter-intuitive status symbol (it's just coffee, people; get over yourselves!), but … Continue reading Starbucks’ Mixed Messages, Ethical Truthiness, #smfail
Tag: Advertising
Stop Interrupting; Listen, Engage, Earn Attention
You know the stereotype of the guy on the first date who can't stop talking about himself, only to wonder why he doesn't get a kiss at the end of the night, never mind a second date? That guy is like advertising. In the latest flare-up of the "print is dead" debate, Michael Josefowicz' provocative … Continue reading Stop Interrupting; Listen, Engage, Earn Attention
Upcoming Gigs: Panel, Workshop, Evolution
I don't do many events these days beyond the random open mic appearance at louderARTS or Urbana, so I'm very excited about these two gigs this week, the NY Round Table Writers' Conference and Acentos Poetry Workshop, as well as the Conversational Marketing Summit I'll be attending in June. NY Round Table Writers' Conference Friday, … Continue reading Upcoming Gigs: Panel, Workshop, Evolution
Time, Inc.’s “mine” fumbles kickoff
"Oh, I get it. It's very clever. How's that working out for you?" --Tyler Durden, Fight Club Well, it seemed like a good idea. Magazine publishing executives are under a lot of pressure these days after the perfect storm of a wretched economy and the deflating of the emedia bubble have wreaked havoc on their … Continue reading Time, Inc.’s “mine” fumbles kickoff
Attack of the Social Media Gurus
Have you heard, yet? EVERYBODY is on Twitter! It's grown 1,382,000% since last year! Even William Shatner is using it! This may come as a surprise but I don't have a degree in acting. http://tinyurl.com/ct6sut Please subscribe to my YouTube channel 1:54 PM Mar 21st from web Also, Google is dead; Facebook is broken; and … Continue reading Attack of the Social Media Gurus
Advertising is Failure
Digital guru Steve Rubel interviews Jeff Jarvis, author of "What Would Google Do?", who makes an interesting point that I suspect many marketers are going to have in the back of their minds when the economy ultimately turns around and they reassess their marketing strategies and measure the results of their responses to the meltdown. … Continue reading Advertising is Failure
Hitting the Reset Button on emedia
Ultimately, publishers' primary focus should be to curate great content that people are willing to pay for, and to organize and nuture a community around that content and the authors who create it. That community will exist in multiple places and spaces, physical and virtual, and it will flow into whatever container suits it best.
When the Internet Flapped its Wings
While preparing for a series of meetings on emedia strategy over the weekend, one thought kept nagging at me: What the hell is emedia anyway? Online and email advertising, webcasts, virtual trade shows, ebooks, ecommerce...oh, my! In the publishing world, it is the holy grail that will save us all thanks to high profit margins and easy … Continue reading When the Internet Flapped its Wings
How the Internet (and Advertisers) Killed Journalism
The Atlantic has a must-read essay from James Warren, "When No News Is Bad News" (h/t @guykawasaki), that does an excellent job of putting into perspective how the Internet played a role in the death spiral of newspapers. Most interestingly, he makes it crystal clear how precarious the road ahead is for real journalism's survival as a result, while … Continue reading How the Internet (and Advertisers) Killed Journalism
Is the Future of Publishing…GOOD?
The bad news in the publishing industry didn't let up last week as reports of cutbacks and layoffs and dramatically decreased revenues continued to pour in, and TheMediaIsDying tweeted every depressing bit of it, from major publications to small local radio stations, the rare bit of positive news they offered up paling in comparison. One … Continue reading Is the Future of Publishing…GOOD?