The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR
02/20/2006 17:00
On Thursday, I had the chance to read The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, by Al and Laura Ries. Over the last few years, I've had a lot of opportunities to read technology, business and marketing-oriented books, and while most had some great qualities, there tends to either be too much fluffery without specifics, or dry tales that don't seem to relate to today's business world. In stark contrast, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR eloquently and directly stated its hypothesis and purpose, then went out and backed up the comments with detailed examples covering a wide variety of industries, from foods to automotive, through technology and the Internet.Al and Laura, through a series of company-driven stories, explain how while much of companies' marketing budgets are allocated to wide-spread advertising campaigns that are difficult to support by real business growth, more significant results can be seen through deliberate, focused execution on public relations. They argue that public relations needs to be the first move, followed by advertising to sustain the brand, not to create the brand. Yet, advertising firms are lauded for their creativity, even when it can't be tied to business benefits, and woe be to the CEO or marketing executive who proposes unfocused advertising without first claiming success through PR. They give several examples where those who signed off on the big checks weren't there to collect their own in the end.
If you're in the business of promotion, or any business, really, the book is a great kickoff point for strategy and budgeting. Buy it on Amazon.
|
Where Famous Analysts Go to Hide
02/17/2006 22:35
In the late 1990s, not many financial analysts were more prominent than Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker and Merrill Lynch's Henry Blodget. The pair could make or break an Internet stock with a single forecast, and made headlines that were self-fulfilling, on eBay (EBAY), Amazon (AMZN), Yahoo! (YHOO) and many others. But Blodget went down hard, going to trial for conflicts of interest.Now in 2006, Henry is freed to write on basically anything he likes, on his own blog, Internet Outsider, where he gives his honest opinions on tech stocks, just like the old days. In recent weeks, he's covered the latest happenings at Google (GOOG), Amazon's ill-fated idea to launch a music service to compete with Apple's (AAPL) iTunes and iPod combo, and continued issues at Time Warner (TWX) and AOL. While he now lacks the big name of Merrill Lynch as a backer, his comments still ring true and are an interesting take. Whether he should have been banned from the world of financial analysis is a different issue, but it does seem after so many made and lost millions in the market so quickly, a scapegoat was needed.
Check out Internet Outsider. Bookmark it.
Site Endorsement: TV Tattle
02/15/2006 21:19
Several years ago, in what now seems like the dark ages, a friend/former coworker came to me looking for help on how to best create a site logo for a new venture he was pursuing - a Web log devoted to television news and gossip. Only half-heartedly trying, I gave him some feedback and wished him well, but didn't expect the site to do anything, thinking he'd consider it a fad that took too much time and had no money in it. Now more than five years later, with Web logs being hugely popular, it is obvious that Norman was ahead of his time, as the site is thriving and one I consider a must-click.His site, TV Tattle, publishes regularly five days a week and can be counted on each day to offer dozens of links to critics' pieces on tube fare, and offers so much detail about shows I both watch and ignore. What's great about his site is that even though I'd never consider myself a potential TV Guide subscriber, I can't remember the last time I checked his site out and came away without having two or three pieces to read - whether it was learning new plot twists from my favorite shows before they were to air, salary conflicts, or quick hits on what shows were going to be renewed or canceled.
I honestly don't know how Norman finds the time to peruse all these sites and post his daily news, though from what I remember, he was quite the night owl, and it wasn't too uncommon to have my phone ring at 3:30 in the morning with him wanting to share the latest on news, gossip or his efforts. With search engines and news crawlers from Google, Yahoo! and others simplifying things in recent years, I can see how he would benefit, but I don't go anywhere else to find out the news on TV. If it's not on TV Tattle, it's probably not important anyway.
Site Endorsement: LinkedIn
02/12/2006 23:32
I figured if this is my blog, then I should be able to feature those things I like - so I've set up a new category called "Endorsements", effectively sharing sites, movies, books, etc. that have strong qualities you just might like as well. First on this list is the service LinkedIn. LinkedIn functions as half job site, and half online address book. If you join LinkedIn, you can post an online resume, link to other colleagues or partners you know (assumedly they approve of you or your work), and can post or beg for endorsements, to flesh out your information.Once on LinkedIn, you can track colleagues' or partners' comings and goings. As people take new jobs and update their profiles, their information changes in your "Connections" page. Also, if you're a sales or marketing type, and want to find somebody at another company, you can find out how many "degrees" you are away from them, and the right path through which you can gain contact. Taking things a step further, if you are looking for all the people on the LinkedIn network with the same job title or industry as someone you know, it's just a click away. Quickly, you can find all the System Administrators who work in Colorado, for instance, and then perform your own due diligence to contact them, should you choose.
There's some silliness to it, of course. Is it a race to see who can get the most connections, like it was in high school, when you got quasi-friends to sing your yearbook? Probably. But it doesn't take a brain scientist to determine it has some strong potential.
Related Links: LinkedIn | My Web Profile | Full Profile
Best iPod Gadget Yet
01/21/2006 00:29
When I was in junior high, my grandparents got me an alarm clock with AM/FM radio, and that radio made it with me all the way through high school, college, three moves and the first two years of being married. Surely, it was a lot more dingy looking and unimpressive, but when the thing went off - I woke up. That's what it was supposed to do.
This Christmas, when shopping for others at the Apple Store, I picked up something that would immediately obsolete that old thing - the iHome iH5. Forget the name for a second... think of an alarm clock that works with your iPod in the morning, waking you up to any song you have, and then doubles as a soundsystem for the iPod the rest of the day. It's great. And the sound is very good too - Volume 10 is good enough for filling a room, and the sucker goes all the way up to 40 - not that the neighbors would be too happy about that.If you have an iPod already and haven't given much thought to taking your alarm clock into the digital age, it's time. Check it out.