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The early buzz around the iPad in publishing circles was fairly positive. Publishers gutted by the flight from print thought the new platform would deliver a high-quality experience that delivered the best part of the print experience to a large digital audience. But the first generation of iPad news and magazine apps left readers disenchanted with the platform, which for the most part lacked a news and subscription option. Worse, Apple’s original terms of service were exceptionally threatening to magazines. Apple’s original terms demanded a 30% share of issue sales, perilously low prices (set by the folks at Cupertino), and … Continue reading →

  “Who shot J.R.?” became a popular catchphrase during the summer of 1980.  This phrase was derived from a cliffhanger at the end of a season finale for the CBS series Dallas.  By leaving the audience guessing, CBS was able to transform a season finale into a cultural phenomenon.  T-Shirts and other apparel inundated stores, emblazoned with “Who shot J.R.?” on the front.  On September 19, 1980, the season debut was aired and audiences were finally given clues to play pseudo detectives and unravel the mystery surrounding J.R.’s attempted murder.  Ultimately, it would be uncovered that Sue Ellen Ewing’s sister, … Continue reading →

Digital advertising is about to see a major transformation driven by the combination of tablet computers and the apps that drive them. People will increasingly use their computing devices less as search facilitators and more as trusted filters. What this means for marketers is that success will be increasingly defined by “padvertising” vs. advertising. “Padvertising” is driven by creating a match between added-value content connected to a product and consumers’ pre-set personal criteria (and personal information) entrusted to their tablets. A good example of this, as we shall see later, is the new PinQ tablet, which uses premium content from … Continue reading →

  For many who know and love all things technology, the month of March has become a geek holiday of sorts. Last spring, the interactive portion of South by Southwest in Austin, TX, hosted nearly 20,000 attendees, after demonstrating monster growth and heightened popularity in the past few years. Despite this success, SXSW has also received extensive criticism that this growth has actually had a deleterious effect on the conference experience. Some say the conference is broken, that it has lost its soul. We know SXSW can grow larger, this question now is can it grow smarter? Fewer People, Better … Continue reading →

Whether you’re talking about Gutenberg’s printing press or color television sets, one fact about media is always true – it is not the delivery technology, but the stories and entertainment that attracts and captures audience’s attention and imagination.  New technology has historically affected the way the media supply chain looks and functions. However, it has not affected the content in it. For example, cable expanded the market for more of the same kind of television that already existed.  The Internet, however, has behaved differently, and has had a negative affect on a key contributor to content creation – the writer. … Continue reading →

Social media is the hottest topic in marketing.  We need only look back at recent issues of Advertising Age to see stories entitled “10 Essential Rules for Brands in Social Media” and “The Seven Stages of Committing Social-Media Sin.”  These articles have significant wisdom to impart.  We learn about the “4X Rule,” which states that visitors driven to sites through social connections are four times more likely to convert.  We also learn that online gaffes, like Kenneth Cole’s use of Middle East unrest to sell promote his Spring Collection, can lead to social media firestorms that unfold—and can be managed—in a … Continue reading →