a thought-provoking ramble on the state of life, clients and the universe at large
There was a time when Brands were like trusted family members. They lived in our homes, partnered in our lives, and were a fully intimate part of our daily routines. They sat on our breakfast tables, guarded our bathrooms, drove us to school and work, and protected us from illness. We trusted these Brands to…
It’s likely to be the biggest lottery win any of us will ever see…like breaking the bank at Monte Carlo, or the Holy Grail. Think of it as a pot of gold–or Bitcoins, or whatever’s trending today–at the end of the rainbow. Haven’t guessed yet? Then I need to know where you are placing bets….
Back in the day, when the Viking longships with their fearsome prows were seen on a coastline, local residents ran and hid. They knew what was coming. Typically, carnage and pillage. When a delegation arrived in your country sporting a standard with S.P.Q.R., boldly displayed, you knew you were about to be conquered and subsumed….
At the recent Golden Globes Awards in Hollywood, the women in attendance mostly wore black as a sign of protest, in solidarity with the #MeToo movement that has roiled the entertainment industry. Many men also wore black…although not to be cynical, but most tuxedo-wearing men are usually in black anyway. To be clear: Fashion, in…
It’s no wonder that so many companies are swirling around in their results when you take into account the following: – Record numbers of CMOs are losing their jobs because they are unable to demonstrate the true business impact of huge marketing budgets. – Over 50% of top advertisers will be reviewing their marketing/media agency…
My crystal ball is as cloudy as ever…maybe even more so as we head into 2018. Yet, I do believe we gained insight in all directions last year, as we watched media in turmoil and the changing narrative around TV and Programmatic. As our tools dramatically advanced and drones and wearables faded into the background,…
As 2018 fast approaches, I like to look back to predictions I made at the start of last year and judge my powers of prescience. Unlike many analysts who prophesize like Nostradamus, being broadly vague so they don’t get caught, I admit upfront that my crystal ball is very cloudy. Nevertheless, I do my best…
How confused are you by the notion of Net Neutrality? Would you have voted “yay” or “nay”? Last week’s United States FCC (Federal Communications Commission) vote ended Net Neutrality. It went 3-to-2 along obvious political party partisanships, just as the vote in 2015 went the same way to establish the principal, except with a different political…
Are you following the ups (and occasional downs) of Bitcoin? Do you kick yourself for not ‘investing’ in Bitcoins when they started showing up back in 2008? What about kicking yourself over Google, Amazon and Facebook too? (Sorry for the little dig!) Check the price of Bitcoin today. See what it was yesterday. It goes…
Loose lips sink ships. So went one of the first iconic public service campaigns of what is known today as the Ad Council, in a campaign to educate and remind Americans to be, “discreet in their communication to prevent information from being leaked to the enemy during World War II.” Today, the mission of the…
The term Black Friday as we know it was coined back in 1966, to describe the terrible traffic and jammed stores that confronted people trying to shop on the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving weekend. It seems that as motivation for retail buyers, Black Friday is not an inspired choice of words, nor was the…
Socrates (or Sokrat in his starring movie role) challenged the conventional wisdom of his time with what we now call the Socratic method. But asking questions and engaging his audience to answer them ultimately got him killed. The leaders of Athens were angry because Socrates seemingly forced the questioned to follow through to a logical…
It seems the digital world has caught up with the sweatshops my late grandmother toiled in on New York’s Lower East Side in the early part of the last century. The only difference being that the consequences are more immediate… though just as harsh. This week, DNAinfo and Gothamist closed their doors after a vote…
Eight people were murdered by a terrorist in New York City, who in a choreographed attack copied from online forums, used a truck to mow down pedestrians at a time and place chosen to maximize destruction. At the same time, in Washington, DC, the so-called Tech Giants were testifying before a committee of the United…
Alexa, write my Ramble. Lol…didn’t even get an answer, just the ‘kerplunk’ sound. But Alexa did turn on my lights, give me news headlines, and is now playing my favorite background music for writing. Plus, we use the Echo Show in the kitchen to watch cooking videos and our 2-year-old granddaughter, Goldy, calls up her…
How do I transfer money or make payments? Let me count the ways: Venmo, PayPal, Google Wallet, Amazon Pay, and Skrill, not to mention credit cards and direct bank transactions. And occasionally even cash… remember that? Frankly, I am fascinated by the ever-growing variety of options. Yet I’m even more fascinated that many people don’t…
Every time I read yet another story about how the Russians managed to “throw” the U.S. Presidential Election with a $100,000 advertising budget on Facebook, I honestly burn with jealousy. In fact, I’d bet many marketers feel the same. I can only imagine the discussion in meetings, conference calls, and in confrontations at conferences: ‘Why…
Fake news, in all its glory, is once again permeating our social discourse. It inundates popular culture and confuses the hell out of all of us as we struggle to understand: What is fake, and can we stop it once we know? A thousand years from now, assuming humanity manages to hang on for another…
One by one, they disappear. High-profile lives and their many followers… suddenly gone. It could be the pilot for the latest mystery-infused TV series (in the all-screen, any platform or distribution sense). Perhaps it’s the plot of a star-studded summer movie blockbuster, or even a bestselling novel. Any guesses? And no, for a change, the…
“Facebook and Google have become unvarnished reflections of how humans behave on the internet.” So says Nick Statt in an insightful article I recommend, written for The Verge. The article deals with the latest PR hit to the social platforms: the ease by which anti-Semites and haters of all races, colors and creeds can be…
Question: What is a tech company? No doubt, if I asked you to name three tech companies, most of us, or even all of us, would include Amazon, Facebook and Google…not to mention Uber and Airbnb somewhere in the mix. Certainly, the financial analysts and industry pundits would—and do—include all of the above. As do…
What isn’t Branded? We Brand market segments, demographic identifiers, and, of course, generations. It’s hard to find blank space anywhere, isn’t it? Needless to say, the very mention of a Brand name conjures up images and associations that enable us to visualize, to value, to aspire, and to imagine experientially. Or—in the case of Brands…