Digital media is being pulled in two different directions. Branded content, produced by professionals and distributed by corporations, is increasingly being made available online. At the same time, consumers themselves are producing their own content in astonishing quantity and, sometimes, quality as well.
The two forces seem diametrically opposed, can they be reconciled? For either to survive, they will need to be.
In our web enabled, data driven society, intuition is making a comeback. Paragons of the corporate world such as Jack Welch (who titled his memoir Straight from the Gut) are hailed not just for their success, but their readiness to bet on their instincts. Conversely, politicians are reviled if they are perceived to govern by opinion polls.
The idea that intuition prevails over data is comforting; a triumph of man over machine. However, the reality is more complicated. We certainly don’t admire everybody’s instinct, just those whose decisions pay off. One who makes the leap and fails is not a hero, but a fool.
Digital Media, and especially Social Media, are obsessed by metrics and ROI. While there are few standards, there are lots of ideas and theories.
An immense amount of energy and investment is being expended to develop new and better methods of measurement in order to prove to advertisers that they are getting a return on their investment. However, one model which is often overlooked is that of the billboard industry.
Is it possible to predict the future? Apparently, Richard Feynman could.
He dreamed up some of the today’s most exciting technologies, like nanotech and quantum computing, decades ago. Moreover, these weren’t mere daydreams or flashes of inspiration; he foresaw how they would actually work, what problems would have to be overcome, etc.
Although regarded by many adoring scientists as a ‘magician,” Feynman wasn’t clairvoyant and there was no mystery surrounding his work. He followed clear principles that we can all follow.
Everybody negotiates. Some people like it, others hate it but all agree that the ability to negotiate well is a valuable business skill and therefore it’s something worth doing well.
To be successful in negotiations, you have to be tough, but it also helps to have a strategy. Fortunately, Game Theory provides us with insights that can lead to practical results.
Out with the old and in with the new?
In media and marketing circles today it is fashionable to talk about the trend toward “New Media.” The story is dramatic and exciting: innovative digital entrepreneurs are making old ways obsolete while fat media incumbents sit on their hands. The wave of the future is destroying the overgrown giants of the past.
Despite appearances, the talk doesn’t reflect the evidence. The dominant trend is actually toward greater media diversity.
In the spring of 1995, no one knew what the internet was, the Netscape IPO was still months away and I wasn’t planning on a career in media.
Nevertheless, it was then that I learned precious lessons that have sustained me through a career that has spanned booms and busts, various countries and multiple media platforms.
Some of the most valuable lessons I learned one night in a steakhouse in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Many believe that brands will become less important as digital technology marches onward. They will surely be disappointed.
In fact, it is likely that branding will become more important in the digital age. With more media and more brands, consumers have to more to filter out. In order to cut through the clutter, marketers will have to work harder to build brands that inspire loyalty.
To understand why, let’s start at the beginning…
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Tom Friedman insists that the “The World is Flat.” Richard Florida says that it isn’t; in fact the world is “spiky” with towers of activity and flatlands of obscurity. Both offer compelling, but seemingly polar opposite views of the way our world is changing around us and what we need to do to compete.
Who is right and how should it affect the way we run our businesses?
