Insta-billionaires

April 11, 2012
Insta-billionaires

The news that Facebook is acquiring Instagram for an estimated one billion dollars sends out all sorts of messages.  Instagram has amassed 30 million users in under two years.  It’s CEO, Kevin Systrom, is another young entrepreneur (like Mark Zuckerberg) who found a killer app. Here are a few angles and thoughts: Photos rule – People love to forward and share the pictures that frame their lives.  Even dopey stuff like meals you’re about to eat. Mobile rules – Yet another indication that the shift from laptops, desktops, and...

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Pandora, Radio & The New CX

April 10, 2012
Pandora, Radio & The New CX

In today’s post, Paul Jacobs takes a hard look at a recent Radio Ink interview with the owner of a New Jersey car dealership – his views about advertising on radio and why he’s shifted his dollars to Pandora. In 1990, United Airlines ran a memorable TV commercial that featured a CEO convening a meeting with his entire sales staff.  He explained how the company had just been fired by one of its oldest customers, and pointed out that his sellers were relying too much on “a phone call...

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Here Come The Sons?

April 9, 2012
Here Come The Sons?

Don’t blame me for the title of this morning’s post – it actually was written by msnbc.com’s Courtney Garcia.  The story is about how James McCartney has apparently contacted Sean Lennon, Dhani Harrison, and Zak Starkey in an attempt to form the next generation of Beatles. (Thanks for the heads-up, Mr. Prep.) (In the picture below from left to right, Starkey, Harrison, McCartney, Lennon.) Whether you think it is the coolest story of the year so far or the worst idea ever, it typifies the staying power of Classic Rock as...

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Opinions Are Like ***Holes

April 6, 2012
Opinions Are Like ***Holes

That’s right – everyone has one. And one of the true downsides of all this content and all these platforms is that it opens the door to anyone and everyone to sound off. Yes, including me.  I try to use this space wisely as our blog blew past the 7 year milestone in February and is going strong.  As we attract new readership, I am increasingly aware of the responsibility to be fair and not act like a jerk. That’s why when I read Washington Post blogger Paul Farhi’s...

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Survey Says!

April 5, 2012
Survey Says!

One of the downsides of being on the road 40+ weeks a year is that all those hotel, airline, and rental car company encounters simply become a blur.  Unless there’s a really great or a heinous experience, they all run together. But you have to give many of these brands credit – there is no shortage of surveys to fill out to measure my satisfaction. I get one of these at least weekly, asking me about everything concerning the cleanliness of the room to the friendliness of the concierge. ...

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Doing Deals (or Solving Problems?)

April 4, 2012
Doing Deals (or Solving Problems?)

Regular JacoBLOG reader Mike Seltzer recently shared an article devoted to the “Groupon effect.”  The article from Fast Company asked the key question: Do Groupon And Living Social Do More Harm Than Good? The article acknowledges rampant growth in the deal space, but also points to substantial losses for both Groupon and Living Social, as well as deal attrition that raises questions about whether growth is sustainable. One of the key takeaways from the Fast Company analysis points to problems revolving around the low business acumen of many companies that...

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Back To Normal?

April 3, 2012
Back To Normal?

Mad Men is a show that I have historically gone back and forth on.  I watched religiously during the first season, but have come and gone in successive years.  For Season 5, I’m back with a vengeance, very much enjoying how Don Draper and company are navigating the turbulent ‘60s. Without giving anything away, the first three episodes have included heavy doses of the civil rights movement.  And last Sunday, the Rolling Stones were a major theme.  Season 5 is all about change – starting up a new agency...

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Fusions, Foresters & Facebook

April 2, 2012
Fusions, Foresters & Facebook

In past posts, we have talked about the car as the next battleground for radio content.  As we will soon learn in our Techsurvey 8, more and more Americans are buying vehicles with systems like Ford’s SYNC, enabling a wider range of dashboard entertainment and information. Meanwhile in the cubicles, life goes on as always – or does it? Traditionally, the automotive sector has been the top category for radio sales.  Thankfully, product protection in stopsets became a thing of the past, because in the two-stopset world in which...

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Invasion of the Privacy Snatchers

March 30, 2012
Invasion of the Privacy Snatchers

You have to hand it to American business.  As the economy has been roiled by the real estate bubble, the failure of banks, European nations that we never thought about, and other factors, some corporations apparently act like this buyer’s market gives them license to start rifling through the desks and dressers of job applicants. Using social media as a way to find out about future employees is logical – we do it, too.  If you’re open enough to allow anyone to have a glimpse at your Facebook or...

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In Tweets We Trust

March 29, 2012
In Tweets We Trust

We’ve said it here in this space for some time now – radio’s CEOs could help themselves by signing up for Twitter accounts and communicating their thoughts, views, and observations. Now there’s proof that indicates it’s a great idea.  A new survey from BRANDfog comprised of more than 400 consumers and employees of companies shows that CEOs who use social media help themselves perceptually. As the chart shows, half say they’re more likely to believe a socially connected CEO can benefit brand image – and an additional 22% say they are much...

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Through The Radio Lens

March 28, 2012
Through The Radio Lens

Regular readers of this blog know my position that radio has essentially become a visual medium by virtue of the available digital tools.  From websites to social media links to YouTube videos to webcams, the opportunity for radio to “supply pictures” has never been better. But many radio traditionalists fight this idea, thinking that they still have a front row seat in the “theater of the mind.” Antony Young, CEO of Mindshare, recently wrote a piece in AdAge about the importance of the visual culture in the social space. ...

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A Giant Bummer

March 27, 2012
A Giant Bummer

Today, Paul Jacobs takes a look at how a legacy brand is targeting youth because they’re the future rather than standing pat with its existing consumer base. It turns out that MTV has a division called “MTV Scratch,” a group dedicated to helping brands relate to the youth market.  Last week, an article in The New York Times took a look at Scratch, and their initiative to place young, connected marketing specialists at GM headquarters, located in the Renaissance Center here in Detroit. You’ve seen this building complex while watching...

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The 1%

March 26, 2012
The 1%

There’s been a lot of talk about our divided nation.  In an effort to showcase a very different 1%, New York Times writers Peter Funt and Martin Venezky put together a clever infographic that appears below. It’s fun, fascinating at times, and a clever way to talk about true minorities in this country – from dancers to gang members.  But if you read all the way down to the bottom, you’ll see I put a red box around something that is very significant about this infographic: One percent of...

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