Category Archives: PR & Marketing

Kill the Click: Digital is All About the Clock

IT’S TIME TO KILL the click. This isn’t something the traditional digital advertising industry wants to hear (and yes, there is such a thing as “traditional” digital advertising.) Clicks equal cash goes the maxim, though those selling clicks are the ones who make the real cash – not necessarily the companies trying to get customersContinue reading “Kill the Click: Digital is All About the Clock”

Journalists to Brands: Don’t Give Us “Content,” Tell Us Stories

ALTHOUGH I CAN’T TRACE THE ORIGIN with any certainty, I’m nevertheless pretty sure that the word “content” was first used by a marketer, not a by a journalist. Journalists are in the business of stories. Always have been – and despite the 24/7 streams of info-snacks and feeds forced through ever-congested virtual pipes, they alwaysContinue reading “Journalists to Brands: Don’t Give Us “Content,” Tell Us Stories”

Communities of Intent: The New Bing Tries to Resuscitate the Web

THE WEB IS BACK. Or at least Bing, with its new social-focused interface, is trying to make the Web relevant again – while making Google less relevant in the process. Over the coming weeks, Bing users will not only get search results, but social recommendations from multiple sources including Facebook and Twitter (and yes, GoogleContinue reading “Communities of Intent: The New Bing Tries to Resuscitate the Web”

Why Most Brands Will Suck at Storytelling

“STORY” IS THE NEW “CONTENT.” As buzzwords go, story isn’t entirely bad — for years I’ve pushed clients to be storytellers. I’ve berated the descent of story into a furtive sea of “content,” stripping all emotion from human pursuits. So I’m good with story. But let’s be honest, success lies not in the idea butContinue reading “Why Most Brands Will Suck at Storytelling”

Why the New Facebook Matters for Marketers – and Why it Shouldn’t

(The following post originally appeared on the Velocidi.com blog.) Remember the days when Facebook would launch new features and then announce them? What a difference an impending IPO makes. Now Facebook not only tells us what’s going happen, it has day-long events to educate and court marketers, as evidenced by last week’s Facebook Marketing ConferenceContinue reading “Why the New Facebook Matters for Marketers – and Why it Shouldn’t”

Social Media Won’t Kill Listening, But It’s Getting Harder to Hear

Not all that long ago – albeit longer than we may care to admit – families gathered around large living room radios and listened to news, dramas, comedies and live music. People read newspapers and heard the words spring to life in their heads. We watched and listened to television. Along came the Internet andContinue reading “Social Media Won’t Kill Listening, But It’s Getting Harder to Hear”

From Search Engine to Super App: Getting Stuck in Google’s Web

Google’s mission is simple, bold, and in the annals of silicon culture, tantamount to sacred gospel: “Organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Today, however, there is a New Testament being written: “Organize Google’s information about the world and make it selectively accessible and mostly useful.” Okay, not as sexy. ButContinue reading “From Search Engine to Super App: Getting Stuck in Google’s Web”

Social Media, Super Bowl Edition: Be a Community Quarterback

Now is the time of year when thoughts turn to matters of the heart – and no, I’m not talking about Valentine’s Day. I’m talking about the Super Bowl, where we see the heart of a champion. And Super Bowl parties, where we see lots of heartburn from eating foods even Paula Dean would considerContinue reading “Social Media, Super Bowl Edition: Be a Community Quarterback”

2012 Prediction: Paper Will Be the Next Disruptive Technology

There’s a little-known scene in the movie “Star Trek: First Contact,” where Lt. Commander Data, an android, observes Captain Jean-Luc Picard touching the hull of an historic spacecraft. The captain smiles and taps the ship with his bare fingers, to which Data asks, “Sir, does tactile contact alter your perception of (the ship)?” “Oh yes,”Continue reading “2012 Prediction: Paper Will Be the Next Disruptive Technology”

2012 Prediction: Stop the Bullshit and Do Marketing That Matters

It’s just about time for all of the 2012 marketing and social media trend predictions, that annual rite of passage for seasoned and budding gurus, ninjas or whatever the hell the latest term is for people who tend to say more than they know. But next year is different. Next year, after all, may beContinue reading “2012 Prediction: Stop the Bullshit and Do Marketing That Matters”