The Death of Newspapers: Poisoned or Suicide?

The evidence of newspapers’ decline as a primary source of information in America is everywhere. My local paper narrowed to a tabloid size yesterday, following USA Today, Arizona Republic, and many, many other papers.  Essentially all newspapers have laid off significant portions of their staff. Some (like East Valley Tribune in suburban Phoenix) are printing [...]

3 Reasons David Lee Roth is a Bad Internet Marketer

I am of a vintage that was shaped by Van Halen’s album (actually a cassette for me) 1984. With Jump, Panama, and Hot for Teacher (a video that joins “Hungry Like the Wolf” in my early teen pantheon), this was a truly epic record – highlighted by David Lee Roth’s bad boy caterwauling.    And [...]

The Alarming Truth About Digital Marketing’s Imperfections

A One Legged Stool There’s no question the Internet has been good to me. The last two jobs I had before getting involved in Internet marketing in 1994 were spokesman for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (prison tours), and marketing director for Waste Management (landfill tours). I prefer this gig as it is smell [...]

How Google Plans to Control TV Advertising and Crush Agencies

AdWeek ran an interesting story a few days ago about Google’s foray into television advertising. As I’ve been saying for years, Google’s ultimate plan is to be the middle-man for all advertising, everywhere.  There are clearly inefficiencies in the buying and selling of traditional media. It requires multiple phone calls and emails and spread sheets. [...]

Agencies Need to Embrace Digital Even If It’s Uncomfortable

Excellent post by Bart Cleveland on the AdAge Small Agency blog recently about Comfort Zones. Bart made the point that if you get too careful and comfortable in your agency, you won’t attract clients that are looking for innovative work. There’s no question this is true. His post used “risky” or groundbreaking creative as the [...]