Technology is not the Problem // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
You may have seen this New York Times article making the controversial statement that the DVR may be helping, rather than hurting TV ratings. They say this as a great revelation, as if to say that of course we all know that the DVR is in fact killing TV, which makes the proclamation breaking news.
The article asserts that many people record the shows and actually sit through the commercials. In a single paragraph, the venerable Times has solved the advertising industry’s woes.
If only life were that simple.
Let’s forget about the fact that a growing number of us are letting the commercials play because we’re checking email, Twitter, Facebook, AIM, text messages, or any number of other activities on our phones and computers.
The harsher truth is that for an increasingly savvy audience, it doesn’t matter whether we see the commercials or not. We’re not going to be swayed by silly jingles or celebrity shills. We could skip through the shows and watch only the commercials, we still wouldn’t buy your products that have no soul, that are the same as everything else on the shelf next to you. We’re simply smarter than that.
Successful marketers need to think beyond “cutting through the clutter,” and “disruption.” Assume for a minute that you do have our attention. Now what are you going to say?
MySpace // Don’t Believe The Hype
by Josh Levine
Social networks are not brands... A recent TechCrunch article quotes MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta as saying “Our users don’t know if we’re a social portal, ...
The Facebook Problem // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
Wow, Facebook is a force. I was on it pretty early for an old guy (we didn't even have .edu, or .anything, when I was ...
The Internet is Bad // Rebels At Large
by Dennis White
From Josh: Dennis White is one of the most creative people I know. When he's not inventing new names to call himself (Static Revenger, ...
Micro-blogging // Hate It or Love It
by Josh Levine
I've been wondering how long it would take to see various iterations of Twitter's micro-blogging revolution, other than on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, who ...
