manufacturing customers.
“…the future of business lay in its ability to manufacture customers as well as products.” That’s a quote from an advertising trade publication from the early 1900’s referencing mass production and the shift from scarcity to abundance. It also struck me as what’s often missed about advertising. Advertising has two (simplified) central components: 1) To […]
the reporting business.
Time magazine writes an article this week on “How to Save Your Newspaper.” Their conclusion? Micropayments. Basically, allow people to pay a small fee, like 5-25 cents for every article they read. The dominant platform for this doesn’t really exist since Paypal charges fees too large to make this viable. I used to think that […]
detroit, empathy, and stories.
Detroit. Mitch Albom is a terrific writer. Think Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You’ll Meet in Heaven. Albom has a great way to make characters real, settings come to life, and emotions feel at home within you. He’s a storyteller in the truest sense. Today, I read his latest in Sports Illustrated called […]
what if nike…
What if Nike expanded their definition of “commercials”? I’ve long been a fan of Nike’s commercials. For fans of sport– those who love playing and watching, Nike has always tried to capture the essence of the sport we love, and of the individuals we admire. I remember the Jordan/Mars Blackman ads, the “tag” commercial, and […]
what if pandora…
What if Pandora had more ways of making money? Pandora, a site where you can basically create a radio station that is right for you, has been one of my favorite websites for the past few years. But based on everything I’ve read, more revenue streams would be a good thing for them. So here […]
what if google maps…
I love Google Maps. I have no sense of direction whatsoever, and since the days of Mapquest on my AOL in the late 90’s I’ve been hooked on the category. Google Maps has always been the best for me given how uncluttered it is, the crisp AJAX display, and recently the actual street views! Oh, […]
what if mcdonalds…
What if McDonalds rethought how they looked at marketing? McD’s is a brand that’s fed its customers for nearly 70 years and fed 47 million people daily. Both its reach and longevity can’t be argued, and are impressive. McD’s makes food that people really like and sells it for a price that can’t be beat. […]
nike: courage
Nike’s always been known for their kick-ass advertising. When I was at P&G, we regularly studied Nike’s work because it was among the best out there of embodying a brand’s essence. W+K has done it again with the new Nike spot: Courage. Most of you probably saw it this weekend during the Olympics. When I […]
nails & writing.
I’ve been delinquent with blogging! Life in SF is good. Maybe that’s why. I’ve been running around, have broken my regular blogging routine, so it was easy for that to deteriorate into zero updates. I’ve spent most of my free time working on the book. I’ve got what I feel is a great outline and […]
imagination.
We all want to capture someone else’s interest. Marketers. Managers. Singles. Parents. Children. Pets. Everyone. My rule of thumb for getting people intensely interested is pretty simple: Capture their imagination. I took advantage of living in a major city yesterday. I saw a movie before it opened in wide-release. The Assassination of Jesse James by […]