Archive for May, 2009

business, usually

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Newspapers are crumbling! In-store retail is floundering! Non-digital music is in its last throes! We’re all going to die! Maybe not but everything is changing. Why hasn’t business as usual?

If that’s all overblown hype, and it is: what’s changing? Access. (more…)

notes from a digital native

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Use of the internet is an intracohort shift. Reliance on the internet is an intercohort shift. Thus, articles like this one are written to try and help those in power understand those that will eventually replace them.

In honor of the observed-habits-of-a-generation-I-don’t-get trend, I thought I’d create my own list. I don’t speak for my generation but here are some notes from a digital native: (more…)

hire facilitators, not managers

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Back in olden times (1984?) one needed to prove their corporate value by standing out. Think of a new product; save the company money; institute an “Air Jordan” day; being unique was the ticket to success. (more…)

advertising’s dead and growing

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

After attending the last CATFOA of the season, “Living in a Post-Advertising World.” The talk was solid and the discussion interesting. I had some time to inner-think on the bus. Was advertising ever “alive”?

Advertising is, by nature, unwelcome and its success (if you can call it that) is based on forced captive audiences. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. An industry’s success shouldn’t be based on some twisted Stockholm’s syndrome. (more…)

journalism at its finest*

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

To prove journalism is in the throes of ineptitude-related shock, please visit this article from the Irish Times. Fully realizing most of you are too busy for links, it’s about a student’s experiment that led to dozens of papers misquoting Maurice Jarre in his obituary.

That’s right. Let that sink in. Because “journalists” are so responsible, thoughtful and generally over-researching fiends, some kid’s fake quote added to Wikipedia can subsequently be quoted multiple times. Even without sources. (more…)

before unscrewing training wheels…

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Jennifer Kane (@JenKaneCo) wrote a smart post this morning about how a business can embrace social media. To inadequately paraphrase (you’re better off reading it), companies should take the risk involved with social tools in order to reap the rewards.

It’s about time to flatten companies and their message. The now-prevalent tools enable just that. To avoid the pitfalls Jennifer mentions, there are some things to consider. (more…)

“conversation”… overused but important

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Among the social media “experts” there are dozens of overused words. “Expert” comes to mind. But probably “conversation” takes the cake. There’s a reason for that. We talk.

The word is irresistible to self-named experts because it’s vaguely ambiguous. Behind the times and desperate in this financial landscape, companies see it as a term they can get behind. (Intoxicating.) (more…)