The New York Post is reporting that Downtown Records and Internet entrepreneur Peter Rojas plan to launch an online-only record label that will offer its music for free and generate revenue only through advertising and sponsorships. One source familiar with the project described it as a "curated YouTube or MySpace for music with an editorially driven filter." This source said RCRD LBL would feature a central …
Now Entering The Post-Web 2.0 Space
Netscape founder and serial entrepreneur Marc Andreessen started a blog recently. One of his early entries claims there's no such thing as Web 2.0 and cautions against the use of such vague terms. Before the "Web 2.0 space", you had the "dot com space", the "intranet space", the "B2B space", the "B2C space", the "security space", the "mobile space" (still going strong!)... and before that, the "pen computing" space, …
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tiny gigantic’s Authentic Brand Voice
I like what Josh Kamler at tiny gigantic has to say about authenticity. Authenticity is a basic requirement for any healthy relationship, but it’s nothing more than that. That’s why it rubs me so wrong to see decks and brand guidelines that trumpet authenticity as a value: We are authentic, they say. But here’s the thing: authentically what? That’s the real question. That’s what people really need to know. It’s what …
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The Socializr
I wanted to read about what NOT to do as an entrepreneur, so I picked up the latest Inc. Magazine from the newsstand. Jonathan Abrams, the founder of Friendster and the man credited with launching the social networking concept, is on the cover. Abrams took a beating at Friendster, but he's only 37 and he looks fit for the ring again. Which is good, since he has a new social service currently in gamma. I'd like to …
JPG Magazine Dirt
Derek Powazek, the founder of JPG Magazine and long time member of the technorati has been forced out by his business partners. Believing as he does in radical transparency, he chose to detail some of the sordid details on his blog. Unfortunately, issue 10 will be the last one that Heather and I will have a hand in. We are no longer working for JPG Magazine or 8020 Publishing. Why? The reasons are complicated, and …
Models Eat Up—Anorexia Is Off The Shelf
Following the fashion industry's inner turmoil over the use of wafer-thin models, a major packaged goods company is now calling for heftier models in its advertising. According to The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.), Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer-products company is joining the global fight against eating disorders. "Unilever has adopted a new global guideline that will require that all its future marketing …
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Finding Purpose Harder Than Finding Money
Last December Jennifer Rice probed the depths and asked the kind of pertinent questions one asks on a long hike, or fireside with a particularly good pinot noir. One thing I haven’t thought about until recently is whether I could make a difference in my own profession. Seems a bit odd in hindsight, but I’ve finally recognized that I’ve been suffering from cognitive dissonance: I believe that over-commercialization is …
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McCracken Soaks It Up In Mexico
Ethnographer and brand consultant Grant McCracken is in Mexico trying to "save marketing" by asking more of research. I am here to advance my clients interests not by finding a hot button, but looking for a match between all of the cultural complexities of the consumers' life and all the things the brand and the product are or can become. McCracken also provides an historical context for a deep understanding of …
