commbasics

The trend away from free content is gaining momentum, this time in the area of TV. An Associated Press article today reported that the broadcast industry is thinking seriously about following Rupert Murdoch's lead from last fall and eliminating advertising-supported media altogether. The trend away from free content is gaining momentum, this time in the area of TV.   An Associated Press article  today reported that the broadcast industry is thinking seriously about following Rupert Murdoch's lead from last fall and eliminating advertising-supported media altogether.  ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox are all considering the very real possibility of going dark on public airwaves and broadcasting strictly on private broadband networks.  This will mean higher cable and satellite bills. This would be an earthshaking move for the information industry altogether and there are several possibilities that could arise.  Those who refuse to pay for broadcast will lose access...

Today I posted a simple question on my Facebook page asking if anyone could honestly explain the health care bill to me, without "snarky comments." What I got was a great analysis from a couple of unexpected sources that gave me real insight on what is coming down the pike. What makes this remarkable is that I got this information from sources other than traditional media. It was unbiased, succinctly delivered and understandable. Something I could not find in any newspaper, magazine or broadcast source.

Did a proposal a few weeks ago for a company looking to break into a new geographic market.  They asked for several ideas, wouldn't state what their budget is but they wanted a full, soup-to-nuts agenda.  So that's what we gave them.  Broke it out in nice digestible chunks, but all of it surrounding a social media core designed to build a community around their specific niche. Today they let us know they decided to go with a telemarketing campaign only.  No web, no social media, no research, no collateral development.  Not even PR.  Telemarketing for lead generation. Really?  In the 21st Century their are still companies out there -- companies with maybe 50 potential customers -- that think hiring a third party to do cold calls is still the best way of growing a business.  Boggles the mind.  And they think this is going to get them a 1-2 percent market share of a $6 billion industry in one year. Every research report for the ...

Is anyone paying attention to how horribly AT&T is doing in it's pissing contest with Verizon?  Who the heck is in charge of their marketing? In case you've been ignoring the commercials, Verizon has been dissing AT&T's 3G coverage with map comparisons showing the Verizon coverage beating the crap out of AT&T.  AT&T has come back with pitchman/actor Luke Wilson saying, "nuh uh, we're better."  All typical stuff. But then AT&T is using Facebook pages to build good will by CUTTING OFF people who say their service sucks.  WTH! That's a great example of how not to use social media.  You're supposed to listen to complaints and do something about it. For the record, I don't use either AT&T or Verizon.  I'm a TMobile guy.  Yes, I know it's number 3 in the US and I don't get to have an iPhone.  But the reason I stay with TMobile is how they do customer service through social...

When you boil down attitudes toward and execution of social media practices, it's all about leadership.  Real leadership, not the popular definition that rises from the horrific misinterpretation  of Geoffrey Moore's book, Crossing the Chasm .  Let me explain that reference a bit more in depth first. Moore stated fairly simply that for a technology company to be successful, it must attain the perception of leadership in a market niche.  The misinterpretation of that concept is what screws up the marketing for so many companies.  Moore's statement was an indicator of success and a strategy, not a tactic.  If you are the perceived market niche leader, Moore explains, THEN you know you successfully crossed the chasm.  Therefore your marketing strategy must revolve around developing the perception of leadership.  However, most companies believe that saying you are a leader in your marketing documents, even when you are clearl...

There's a couple of social media gurus I follow not only because I'm interested in the subject, but only a few seem to be able to extol the benefits while recognizing the weaknesses.  In that small group is Brian Solis , CEO of Futureworks PR (their site is on Facebook), and my apologies for saying the name wrong in the intro.  For some time, people who follow me and Brian have been telling me he and I need to hook up and talk concepts and issues and we've been trying to coordinate out calendars for some time.  Finally happened a couple of weeks ago over the phone.  We talked for almost an hour about a variety of things but the primary focus was on Twitter and how they are doing a great job at hampering their own growth .  And, as a side note, how the rest of the social media industry should pay attention and NOT do it the way they are. Anyone out there in the Twitter family should pay attention.  Here's the discussion. Brian._solis

Got a note from Bill Barron about a new venture between Electronikpraxis and Hearst Business Media.  The two publishing companies are joining forces on Embedded Designer , an online publication to be unveiled at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany in March.  This will be the German language equivalent of the US site .   The embedded technology industry is one of the few that is drawing interest of B2B publications, United Business Media, included.  UBM's Embedded Systems Conference (driven to success by Paul Miller ) has become a bicoastal phenomenon with continue year-to-year growth when other conferences are struggling to break even.  And Embedded World continues to draw a great deal of interest worldwide. You can say the reason for this interest is because embedded is such a vibrant industry.  But publishing companies and conference organizers are not in it for altruistic reasons.  The industry is still investing marketing money...