Michael Arrington created a major media brand with TechCrunch, built it into a profitable business, sold it and now is witnessing its demise at the hands of its new owners. All this in a few short years. Naturally, he has something to say about it. Other than dial up, TechCrunch is/was the most profitable and fastest growing business unit inside of AOL. That, ultimately, is why everything fell apart. …
Not All Social Media Solutions Are Social, Or Solutions
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines isn't just delivering you to Europe's finest destinations, the airline wants to hook you up in the sky, as well. According to USA Today, KLM is launching a "meet and seat" service early next year that will let passengers tap their social media accounts and pick seatmates based on similar interests. Travelers will be able to link Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to their check-in …
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Front Range Creatives Reflect On Lessons Learned In 2011
The Denver Egotist asked advertising pros in Colorado what they learned this year. Naturally, they've uncovered some interesting results. I particularly like Evan Fry's response. Sure, I learned a shit-ton about clients, business realities, finance, revenue models, leadership, empowerment, allowing folks to succeed on their own (or fail, and thereby succeed), fearlessness, change, pushing, allowing, etc. But …
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Fans Will Gladly Pay $5 Directly To The Artist For A DRM-free Download
"Remember all that stuff people were saying 15 years ago about the Internet's capacity for disintermediation? It's all coming true now," argues Fortune contributor Dan Mitchell. Case in point, comedian Louis C.K. is selling his latest standup special directly to the public at $5 a pop. In the first three days on the market, C.K. brought in $500,000 in revenue. Mitchell believes "the fact that no big …
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McDonald’s Is Now Farmer Endorsed
According to Ad Age, McDonald's will launch a campaign featuring four of its U.S. beef and produce suppliers in the new year. "We thought putting a face on the quality of the food story would be a unique way to approach this," said U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Neil Golden. "We acknowledge that there are questions about where our food comes from. I believe we've got an opportunity to accentuate that part of our …
Advertising Is Not The Place for Playing It Safe
First Lowe's, now KAYAK. The online travel site also pulled its ads from TLC's new show, "All-American Muslim." Which is bad enough on its own, but the situation is made worse by company executives trying to explain the decision away like it's no big thing. Steve Hafner, CEO and Cofounder writes on the company's blog: Our decision regarding advertising on All-American Muslim was in no way influenced by …
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Appealing To Knife Enthusiasts Is A Real Knife Fight
KA-BAR, whose famed Fighting Utility Knife was carried by the US Marine Corps in WWII, has released its first ad campaign in the company’s 125 year-old history. Directed by Joshua Frankel through Charleston-based Rawle Murdy the three-spot campaign features testimonials brought to life in the form of animated tattoos. KA-BAR approached Rawle Murdy to expand the brand beyond its core military base …
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Mitch Joel Takes The Measure of A Modern Brand
Mitch Joel of Twist Image, a Canadian firm that "connects brands to people and people to brands," has a pretty good bead on what the job of building brands has become today. To achieve ROI in Digital Marketing, Joel says there's no room for laziness. Are you willing to do the long, hard and disruptive work or creating a brand ecosystem that you can truly measure? You see, the tools, technology and …
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