a thought-provoking ramble on the state of life, clients and the universe at large
So who’s in charge, as in who’s really in charge? For way too long we have been caving into Google and Facebook, lamenting the loss of control that advertisers and advertising has. The Digibabble narrative went like this: Digital media has killed all else because of their vast and magical powers controlling pricing, access, supposed…
“Charity begins at home.” An old adage with layers of meaning, depending on your message’s intent, but perhaps never before as relevant as it is today. Based on a recent analysis by Y&R’s BAV Group (BrandAsset Valuator), “Purposeful Brands” (that is, brands that have attached social action to their DNA) in the US resonate more…
No doubt, no matter where you are in the world, you have followed the debate in the United States around online privacy and the ability (or not) to sell your personal data. “What privacy?” you might rightly ask. Google and Facebook already track our every click and swipe and sell our information to anyone with…
A sponsor is lost at a major media outlet after an offensive comment about rape. Trojan condoms pulled their ads: “The Trojan brand is committed to advancing the sexual health of those who choose to be sexually active,” James Daniels, vice president of marketing for Trojan condoms, a division of the Church & Dwight Company,…
Maybe it’s the Trump effect and the focus on job creation or it’s the resurrection of jobs (once lost to technology) and the obvious cynicism that predicates a return in mass numbers to an old state. Perhaps it’s the financial analysts touting AI (artificial intelligence) as the new frontier in order to create the next…
Radio is dead! Cinema is dead! Television is dead! Restaurants are dead! Retail is dead! And, of course, we know that PCs and desktops are as dead as a doorknob! I leave most of the obituaries to you to decide on. Sadly, the knee-jerkers will jump in to prove that all are in fact dead……
“If we can keep our competitors focused on us while we stay focused on the customer, ultimately we’ll turn out all right.” So says Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame. Think about it. From one-click shopping onwards, the focus of Amazon has been on making the buying experience simpler. As I have written before, Amazon is…
WMDs. Remember that term? Weapons of mass destruction…a catalyzing fear of the Bush US Presidency and the driving force behind the Iraq War. The fear of WMDs was so deep and primal that an almost unprecedented bi-partisan group of US politicians supported the war to find them. “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam…
Imagine if the torrent of tweets we have become inured to disappeared after 10 seconds. One can only wonder what the political climate of the United States might be like today… Or, say you were a mega-diva like Madonna and you chose to launch your latest collection of songs with a video that was ephemeral……
I admit it. Full confession. I have become obsessed with the cover of a song. Not just any song, mind you…an old song, an old famous song, an old famous song written and sung originally by legends and recently covered by a band and singer whose musical ethos is 180 degrees in the opposite direction….
Amazon is opening a book store at The Shops at Columbus Circle, right across from my office. I see the banner from our windows every day and I smile. Jeff Bezos gets it, he understands the time is ripe…but more on that later. Warby Parker continues to build out its physical presence, as does Bonobos….
“[What information consumes is] the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” -Herbert Simon, Nobel winner, Economics (1978) Think about that for a moment. Since the advent of movable type heralded the evolution of readily accessible information, our senses have been assaulted with ever-growing, ever-changing sources of information…
“I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.” —December 11, 1936, King Edward VIII abdicates the Crown of the British Monarchy in an address directly to the British…
Oscar Wilde, ever one of my favorite sources for inspiration, once said: “In America the President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs forever and ever.” Now, while I hate to be partisan in my writing, I do believe that while I will be primarily quoting US sources and focusing on recent events in “Lower…
In response to consumer pressure, some companies such as Kellogg’s, BMW, Warby Parker and Allstate have issued guidelines not to allow their digital advertising to appear on Breitbart News. The site, famous for its invective-filled headlines like “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy,”is the largest and therefore the symbolic epicenter of controversy over inflammatory…
2017 and my first big post. Number one, and most importantly, welcome to a new year and a fresh set of possibilities and opportunities that could help us change the world. Clearly, we have all followed the overwhelmingly expressed social media view that 2016 was a bust with fear expressed for what 2017 might bring….
We overuse the word “share” and undermine its most powerful meaning. Sharing has always been about giving something up that belongs to you, taking a piece from your whole and distributing it to others. When we were young, being a good sharer meant letting the other kid play with your toys. As we got older…
The debate over false and fake news continues, as it has for millennia. It will no doubt flare up as the means of information distribution get ever more efficient. And who knows? One day the Pinocchio effect might actually be realized, as embedded chips in our brains cause physical changes to our bodies if we…
“Providing relevant answers has been the cornerstone of Google’s approach to search from the very beginning. It would undermine the people’s trust in our results and company if we were to change course.”- Google, in response to SEME research. SEME, in this context, is for those who Googled and found links to Japanese culture: “The…
How impactful do you think social media was during the recent US presidential campaign? I’m not referring to the tweets or posts of either candidate. I’m more interested in the celebrity endorsements, the influencer factor if you will. A quick search and count will tell you that Clinton out celeb’d Trump by an exponential factor….
“Politics is just like show business.” – Ronald Reagan It’s hard to argue with that sentiment after the recent US election. However, my interest is more on the side of how the show-business effect impacted Millennial voter turnout than in the antics and theater of any particular candidate. To that end, it is important to note…
“A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes.” -Mark Twain (no one knows for sure if he said it) Even if he didn’t say it (and if you know—one way or another—please tell), it is prescient in its meaning today. Fake news is all the rage these days,…