Me talking about marketing?
Jay Small pointed me to this long but excellent article on the future of media and marketing. I firmly believe that technology *can* make advertising valid again — both for consumers and advertisers. But if that will ever happen, it will take a huge shakeup in the current advertising philosophies of most corporations. Advertising that is “aimed” at a consumer is good; advertising that is continually and mindlessly lobbed at a consumer is a total waste of money.
One thing that this article doesn’t touch upon is the value of viral marketing. A great product can grow its market share simply by being a great product — and adding incentive to get consumers to tell people how great a product it is. When I got annoyed that I was paying Verizon $60 a month for 15 minutes of usage (and couldn’t get anyone on the phone in Verizon sales to explain to me how I could make that bill cheaper), Dan told me about the great service he had with Vonage. Then when I signed up, Vonage gave Dan 2 months of free service — and me 1 month of free service to thank me for being a new customer. Sites like epinions.com and all the various other online retailers with good product comment systems give you a global pool of consumers from which you can get your opinions.
- Speaking of advertising, Len Dresslar, the voice of the Jolly Green Giant, has died.
- Strong Bad is not your freakin’ babysitter. And, I missed it earlier, but the 10th Teen Girl Squad was the funniest one yet.
- Neat tricks with poker chips.