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Facebook Doesn’t Work

May 17, 2012
Facebook Doesn’t Work

You couldn’t have missed the big announcement from General Motors the other day that it plans to stop advertising on Facebook.  The timing was especially interesting with Facebook’s IPO around the corner, and many advertisers currently debating the effectiveness of the social network on its marketing efforts. The announcement was a déjà vu for me, because it reminded me of an encounter I had with a broadcaster very early in my career while an analyst for Frank Magid.  As we were planning a research study for a new client, I...

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In The Hood(ie)

May 16, 2012
In The Hood(ie)

For some reasons, hoodies are in the news.  The Trayvon Martin case put hoodies in the spotlight, causing Geraldo Rivera to make a major faux pas about the symbolism of the hoodie as he urged parents not to let their kids wear them.  (He since apologized and retracted the...

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Gone Mobile

May 15, 2012
Gone Mobile

When we designed and conducted the “Goin’ Mobile” ethnographic study with Arbitron back in 2010, we saw some amazing “stupid human smartphone tricks” that were precursors to major behavioral changes that have become societal in scope. While speaking with a friend the other day who has an iPad but...

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But Where’s The Proof?

May 14, 2012
But Where’s The Proof?

During the past 12 months, I’ve joined Lori Lewis on a new kind of world tour, visiting radio stations, clusters, and companies – helping them unravel their digital mysteries.  We’ve had some frank conversations about social strategies, and we’ve led numerous brainstorm and staff sessions in an effort to...

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BlackBerry & The Power Pig

May 11, 2012
BlackBerry & The Power Pig

Did Samsung hire Randy Michaels?  Or was it BlackBerry?  Somehow the “Smartphone Wars” have devolved into tactical warfare that has “’80s radio” written all over it. After reading a story about how a mysterious black bus pulled up in front of an Apple Store in Sydney, Australia, to stage...

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Turn Facts Into Feelings

May 10, 2012
Turn Facts Into Feelings

Last weekend turned out to be a very special one for me.  I received a great honor from my alma mater, Michigan State University – an Outstanding Alumni Award from their College of Communications Arts and Sciences. It was truly a memorable occasion that I shared with other amazing...

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The Death of Facebook?

May 9, 2012
The Death of Facebook?

So on Monday, we posted a blog about how Facebook’s IPO could be really big.  Today, Lori Lewis imagines a scenario where Facebook may disappear – or at least wane in importance.  Here’s an interesting viewpoint about how to make the most out of Facebook while the iron is hot.  As...

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The Best Job Ever

May 8, 2012
The Best Job Ever

You may have seen it in Forbes.  One of those best/worst jobs lists recently came out, and yup, “broadcaster” made the list you don’t want to be on. The “research” was conducted by the job guidance site CareerCast.com and evaluated 200 professions.  Along with one of the worse jobs being a traditional...

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Things You Know

May 7, 2012
Things You Know

The coming Facebook IPO is all you’re going to hear about during the next few weeks whether you watch CNBC or not.  This is the biggest tech offering since Google (no, not Pandora), and all the “experts” will be chiming in about whether you should invest in Mark Zuckerberg’s stock...

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Hold The Phone

May 4, 2012
Hold The Phone

While checking out my Twitter feed a couple weeks ago, someone offered up a great Seth Godin line that actually comes from a blog post that’s four years old.  It hasn’t lost an ounce of importance during that time: “The only reason to answer the phone when a customer calls...

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NPR R&D

May 3, 2012
NPR R&D

Public radio fan, Paul Jacobs, takes a look at program development at NPR and how it differs from traditional efforts.  Thanks to Larry Rosin for bringing the story to his attention. In the decade just concluded, we were fortunate to work closely with NPR on their overall strategy, programming, digital, and...

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Inside Techsurvey8

May 2, 2012
Inside Techsurvey8

We tried something very different for this year’s tech survey… and it worked. Thanks to some pushing from Joel Denver, we opened our annual tech study to everyone in radio.  And 170 stations and more than 57,300 respondents later, we have something very special. There’s data on everything from...

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“The Answer”

May 1, 2012
“The Answer”

You know that when a blog post is titled like this one, something amazing could happen. Actually, the chances of that are poor here because sadly, no one seems to have “the answer.”  That’s what makes navigating radio in 2012 a combination of exhilarating and frustrating. When I first started...

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