We'll be opening this year's Web 2 Summit with an interview of Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast. I've asked Brian to come for the past three years, and he's always had a conflict. In those last few years Comcast has continued to grow, in particular when it comes to…
We’ll be opening this year’s Web 2 Summit with an interview of Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast. I’ve asked Brian to come for the past three years, and he’s always had a conflict. In those last few years Comcast has continued to grow, in particular when it comes to its footprint in the digital world.
Read MoreToday my company Federated Media announced a new ad format for a group of our publishing partners. We call this beta program "Ad Stamp", and those of you who've been watching the space closely, and reading my thoughts on marketing here, won't be too surprised by what you see. However,…
However, with Ad Stamp there is more than meets the eye, and I wanted to think out loud a bit about why I believe this format works, and how it might reflect some of the trends I’ve been watching and commenting upon in this space for years.
Read MoreMy second post (of two) is up over at the BingTweets site, part of an FM partnership with Microsoft. In it I describe my frustration with search as it relates to helping me make a complicated decision: How to possibly buy a classic car. From it: So first, how would…
So first, how would I like to decide about my quest to buy a classic car? Well, ideally, I’d have a search application that could automate and process the tedious back and forth required to truly understand what the market looks like. After all, if I’m looking for classic Camaro or Porsche convertibles from the mid to late 1960s, there are only so many of them for sale, and they can be categorized by any number of important variables – price, model, region, color, features, etc. And while a number of sites do a fair job with a portion of the market, I don’t trust any of them to give me a general overview of what’s really out there. That’s where an intelligent search agent can really help.
But the next step is the harder one. I am not “smart” about how to buy a classic car. I don’t know enough to buy one with confidence. I don’t know what to ask about. I don’t know if it’s good or bad that an engine, electrical system, or transmission is original or rebuilt. I don’t know how one model does versus another in resale value, or insurance cost or…well, you get the picture. There’s a lot to consider, and I don’t know how to value everything. The world of classic cars is complex, like most major decisions. In short, there’s no easy way to decide in this case (unless, of course, I could just buy the most expensive one. That usually guarantees you’ve gotten what the market thinks you paid for it. Not an option for most of us).
Read MoreI may have been "on vacation" over much of the past month, but as usual, I was working, and part of my work was framing out and filling in the program for the sixth annual Web 2 Summit. Tim O'Reilly and I had a very hard job trying to top…
I may have been “on vacation” over much of the past month, but as usual, I was working, and part of my work was framing out and filling in the program for the sixth annual Web 2 Summit. Tim O’Reilly and I had a very hard job trying to top last year’s program, given it featured Lance Armstrong, Al Gore, Edgar Bronfman, John Doerr, Jerry Yang, and so many more.
But I think we’ve managed to top it. Pasted below is a note we sent out recently with an overview of the program. But even since then, we’ve had a couple of pretty major new additions, both from the world of government and policy:
– Aneesh Chopra – America’s first ever appointed CTO will join us this year, in conversation with Tim O’Reilly (for Tim’s take and a video of Chopra, click here). A charasmatic figure and proven leader, Chopra is charged with developing national strategies for technology investments – overseeing the U.S. Government’s $150 billion R&D budget.
Read MoreI like to do this exercise from time to time – asking how my predictions for the year are holding up given six months have passed since I posted them. Well, let’s see, shall we? 1. We’ll see an end to the recession, taken literally, by Q4 09. I think…
I like to do this exercise from time to time – asking how my predictions for the year are holding up given six months have passed since I posted them.
Well, let’s see, shall we?
1. We’ll see an end to the recession, taken literally, by Q4 09.
Read MoreMany folks have asked me when CM Summit videos would be posted, several are up now. They include the opener, above, in which I give a short overview of the state of online marketing from my perspective – start at about 6 mins in if you want to miss the…
Many folks have asked me when CM Summit videos would be posted, several are up now. They include the opener, above, in which I give a short overview of the state of online marketing from my perspective – start at about 6 mins in if you want to miss the throat clearing of setting up the show and thanking folks I’ve worked with. Perhaps the key thoughts: People Don’t Join Ad Networks, and Publishers Are Communities of Mind.
I'm in the air on the way to the CM Summit, which FM hosts in New York Monday and Tuesday. The conference is sold out, but you can follow it via the #cmsummit search on Twitter. From my opening notes: – Extraordinary content. Five conversations: A leader thinker in the…
I’m in the air on the way to the CM Summit, which FM hosts in New York Monday and Tuesday. The conference is sold out, but you can follow it via the #cmsummit search on Twitter. From my opening notes:
– Extraordinary content. Five conversations: A leader thinker in the VC world and investor in Twitter, the man responsible for Microsoft’s advertising strategy, the woman who faced the press on behalf of the White House as the entire media world shifted to digital, a chief marketer at Intel charged with moving billions to digital, and the founder and CEO of one of the largest social networks in the world.
– A focus on case studies, as promised. Cases from some of the biggest brands and most interesting thinkers in media, from GE, P&G, Amex, Microsoft, Google, and many more.
Read MoreJust wrote a long-ish post on FM over at the FM blog….from it: One of the greatest challenges we face here at FM is answering a very simple question: What kind of a business are you? When a reporter, partner, or colleague asks me this question, it's usually followed by…
One of the greatest challenges we face here at FM is answering a very simple question: What kind of a business are you?
When a reporter, partner, or colleague asks me this question, it’s usually followed by a deep intake of breath on my part, because my answer often runs for quite some time. Federated Media wasn’t built to answer easy questions, and our business isn’t easy to define. Quite purposefully, we have built our business in the center of some swiftly changing currents at the nexus of media, marketing, and technology.
But if you don’t take the time to define your brand publicly, others will. Over the past few months FM has been called a social media network, a blog network, a vertical ad network, an advertising rep firm, a media services firm, and even a new kind of advertising agency.
The truth is, FM incorporates aspects of all these businesses. What we are not, however, is any one of them alone.
Hence, our problem (I prefer opportunity, being eternally an optimist…)
So for the record, let me state what we believe FM *is*: FM is a media company, founded on an evolving definition of the word “media.”
Well that took a long time. I've had something of a week, to be honest. I hope to be writing again soon. Not only did I lose my hard drive, I also has some family issues arise which distracted me from writing. I'm finally pulling out of it, thanks to…
I’m finally pulling out of it, thanks to many folks. My blog software is reinstalled, and I’m almost there with the rest of my digital life.
Missing a week of writing (and normal work flow) made me realize how much I like to think out loud in this space. When I don’t, it feels rather like when I miss a few days of exercise – I get edgy and irritable.
Read MoreOver at the HP SMB marketing site, my second post is up. Now, for most of you, this stuff will not be particularly new, but it's good to recall that just 42% of all SMBs have websites, and most of those are not particularly social in nature. From my post:…
Most small business websites are not very good. That means you have a chance to really stand out. And that’s a huge competitive advantage.
At this point you’re probably rolling your eyes and saying “Yeah, right. Now I have to spend thousands of dollars making something that’s just going to break in a few months, and then I’ll have to pay another grand to fix it.”
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