You Are a Publisher

I recently attended MinneWebCon at the University of Minnesota as part of Minnov8’s coverage and live blogging of the event.

One of the real highlights was the morning keynote from Brain Traffic’s CEO, Kristina Halvorson. In her relaxed and lively presentation she was able to convey the importance of content on your company, or even personal, website. In this clip from her presentation she talks about who the content publishers are (everyone who has anything to do with the site) and how they should approach creating and maintaining a site.

Her views on an uncluttered and focused content strategy, as well as who is responsible for it, emphasizes the need for attention to that strategy early on in the process.

I’d love to know your thoughts!

Dave Does Digital: A Morning Show and Social Media

How a Twin Cities morning mainstay, The Dave Ryan Show, is using social media.

I admit it, I listen to commercial radio quite a bit…yes, even Top 40. I know this is hard for many to admit. There is this pressure that if you don’t listen to NPR all the time you’re some how less of a person. I have my public radio favorites and still love to dig for new and more independent music, but I like hearing the “hits”. It’s the way I was brought up. Whether they be current or more from my formative years, I listen to rock, alternative, country and pop stations and the “hit” music they play. Besides, with a pre-teen and teen in the house and car it’s pretty much a given that I’ll be hearing my fair share of Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift.

It’s for that reason that I noted and was impressed with how one of Minneapolis’ local shows was using interactive and social media tools. What was also impressive was how they were integrating it into their on-air presentation. They often noted that more and sometimes exclusive content could be had online…a practice all too often avoided by stations and personalities.

As I have commented here on RemainComm, commercial radio as a whole has  been slow in adopting and investing in the new forms of media that allow the growth of relationships with their listeners. OK, some just plain suck at it. KDWB’s Dave Ryan Show is an exception. Dave and his cast have done some interesting things and I had a chance to chat with him about his interactive pursuits. [Read more…]

Mel Reveals the “Magic”

Mel Karmazin. Mention that name to a broadcaster or business pundit and you’ll trigger a vast array of words, phrases, and emotions, many I won’t say here (mostly to avoid triggering of any parental controls on your browser). Brilliant, bastard, visionary, cheapskate, anger, respect, love, hate…are just a few of the words that might be associated with Mel. I myself arrived at CBS Radio just after Mel left and the “burn the furniture” era (supposedly) ended. The phrase that is probably the most consistent across the board would probably be “outspoken”.

In this December 30, 2009 interview with Charlie Rose, the former CEO of CBS and current CEO of XM Sirius Satellite Radio, as well as the man responsible for making Howard Stern (second only to Howard himself) insanely wealthy, commented on many issues that face the media business today. But, in his outspoken style, he also reveals the “magic” ingredient of the business model for what is now known as “traditional” media and why it no longer works.

You can see the full interview by clicking here and entering the word “Karmazin” in the search box. Sorry, but Charlie hasn’t made this video shareable as of this writing.) You can also get a copy of the transcript. [Read more…]

Apple iS late?

I guess it’s for sure. In a matter of weeks we will see the Apple Tablet. What isn’t for sure is the name, but the iSlate? Um…I think not. Really…Apple iS late. Nope not gonna happen. Apple is never late for anything…or at least they have always managed to position it that way.

Apple has been responsible for a lot of game-changing. The launch of so many of their products have gone on to alter the way we use technology though they haven’t really been first to the party. The Macintosh set a standard in the PC biz…well after the PC existed. The iPod made MP3 listening sexy and altered the music industry…while there were already plenty of MP3 players on the market. And, most recently, the iPhone forever changed the smartphone industry and remains the gold standard…after the Treo and Blackberry blazed the trail. But I’m not quite so sure the launch of the tablet will be as big a game changer.

I love Apple “stuff”. I prefer my Mac over my PC every time. I also think it’s great to see the anticipation build when a new product is imminent. My Apple fanboy friends are downright giddy when things are cookin’ at Apple. To see their expressions, to listen to them wax poetic, to get caught up in it all…it’s fun.

The earmarks are there, I guess. The small netbook thing is kinda “meh” with most consumers being cool with either a small screen that a smartphone provides or the larger screen that the laptop provides. And portable is where it’s at and we all know iPod Touch has been a huge success. In fact, this could easily be the next “stuff already exists to do everything this does…but it’s much cooler” product in Apple’s stable. But this time around, for some reason, I’m not as moved. Why is that?

Is it that this time, one of the biggest claims made by the industry is that the tablet could save the publishing industry? Will it do that?

I doubt the problem facing the newspaper and magazine business, figuring out how to make money from online content, is going to be magically fixed.

Perhaps the iTunes and iPhone app concept of delivering content to the tablet, allowing some sort of “micro payment” model, will emerge. But the producers/publishers of this content would be nuts not to offer that same content to the desktop or even mobile platforms.

The same thing goes for other obvious audio and video offerings online that will find themselves available
to the tablet. I can get it all the videos and music I want on my
laptop or phone.

Maybe the tablet will make it cooler to
watch and use…especially when other people see me doing it. And perhaps that’s the more likely outcome. The tablet will make viewing this stuff more sexy (and Apple knows sexy) and that might be cool enough.

Maybe that’s why I’m not as caught up in the excitement. I’m use to the good looking, easy to use, innovative Apple product, so it’s a bit anti-climatic. Maybe I need something more than a really big iPod touch. In addition, I may be harboring some deeper media concerns. I’d hate to think those in the print and broadcast media are waiting around for Apple to save their keisters.

We’ll find out what impact such a device will have in the months to come. In the meantime I’ll be impressed with how Apple can inspire all the hoopla…as well as innovation and raise awareness of technology, without ever seeming to be late.

Image courtesy of Disney

Here’s a Suprise…New Year Predictions!

 

It’s not really a surprise, but it is always fun to start off a new year looking into the crystal ball. I’m gearing up for the annual “prognostication podcast” with my colleagues at Minnov8 this Saturday and I thought I’d just share five that I’m offering.

Mobile, baby, mobile…laptop sales will remain high and though small screen netbook sales will hold steady in the short -term, they will begin to decline as the adoption of mobile platforms like Android proliferate. The mobile industry will see growth and opportunity in devising new ways of charging for services that are internet data driven not voice driven. Mobile providers may very well wake up and make it easier to switch devices, though I’m not sure how they will be able to address the subsidizing of handsets without a “minimum contract period”. The bottom line is that portable is where it’s at and consumers will be more open to accepting the screen size of a mobile device rather than purchasing a small netbook.

Twitter use by the masses will decline…though much of it wasn’t there to begin with. The amount of activity on accounts that aren’t associated with, and used by social media enthusiasts, online professionals, and junkies will fall even more dramatically as other services like Facebook, and mobile applications offer similar advantages. This is not to say that Twitter is over. It isn’t. Twitters core users, audience, and niche will become more defined. Twitter as an aggregation and sharing tool will continue to grow…perhaps endangering the future of services such as Digg and Delicious.

Marketers will (hopefully) begin to understand the difference between selling via social media and communicating with customers…Okay, maybe that won’t kick in completely in 2010 (in general, marketers tend to be bit slow in understanding intangibles), but we will see progress.  In addition, the future of more and more services (Foursquare, GoWalla, etc) is based on the need to deliver real value…not just ads…quickly to users. It’s too easy to drop a service, block an application, or ignore a campaign for marketers not to understand value to consumer. (Note: The heavy use of GPS and revealing one’s current location to the world will give mainstream users the heebie jeebies and hamper some adoption of this part of the service.) One more thing on this topic…Social Media and Social Media Marketing/Advertising are not the same thing. Ads are less effective than content that provides value. Those that provide value also gain trust and that confidence, both of which can be monetized if done effectively. [Read more…]

If Video Seems Daunting…

…relax. In fact, remain calm. As promised in my post on who’s using video (what I called the wind-up), I wanted to share a second interview, the pitch, with Steven Rosenbaum from Magnify.net.

In this discussion I asked Steven to review his presentation and outline ways to overcome the “three boogeymen” also known as the reasons many avoid using video in our personal or business brand online strategy.

  • Video is too expensive
  • Raw user generated content isn’t brand safe.
  • Filtering the web is too much work.

 

News Takes a Holiday

The cool thing about the “new journalism” appears to be…the hours don’t suck.

If you spend any time using, watching, or participating in “news” you are aware of the ongoing discussion of “the future of news”. Here in the lovely Twin Cities of Minnesota (Sunny and -6 as of this writing) the topic has even lead to more than our fair share of conferences addressing it. One hosted by Minnesota Public Radio and one of a more independent nature (that I regrettably had to miss at the last minute) organized by many and spear-headed by David Brauer of MinnPost.

The topics addressed by these gatherings and discussions include the death of newspapers, the state of broadcast news, credibility of citizen journalists, monetization and overall interest by news consumers. From blogs to video, online to mobile, the proliferation of “new” ways of covering current events is the centerpiece of the “future of news.”

One thing not discussed about this new form of news, at least that I’m aware of, is that the hours seem to be pretty sweet for those that produce it.

Today, December 29th, 2009, the middle of the infamous “holiday break” during which much slows to a crawl, I took a quick check of some of my favorite “new journalism” sites. Judging by them you would have to assume that news is taking time off as well.

On MinnPost I was greeted with a note at the top of the page. “Happy Holidays from MinnPost.com! We’ll be posting limited new content (including several end-of-year lists and Jim Klobuchar) until Jan. 4.” The most recent content, other than a story about the Vikings-Bears game appears to be from December 23rd.

Over at the UpTake, though there was no formal note, I found streaming video from past UpTake radio shows and events. In addition, there were plenty of links to their incredible coverage of the Climate Conference in Copenhagen…but nothing posted with today’s date.

Before I go any further, this is not meant to be merely a critique of these two sites and endeavors. In my eyes they have both been pioneers in new journalism. In fact, both clearly state, once you dig into the “about” sections of their site, that their scope is not necessarily daily news. MInnPost notes Monday-Friday coverage and the Uptake stressing a more broad scope emphasizing the training of citizen journalists. I know and have huge respect for many of the people involved at both. I also understand the concept of throwing stones. Hey, I’m not exactly Mr. Consistent Content myself.

But, I’m surprised. Perhaps I’m thinking old school, but my expectations weren’t met. I chose to look to these “new journalism” outlets for information and found less than timely, if not downright old news. Consider my expectations adjusted. But it does provide appoint of discussion doesn’t it?

I learned early on, and was reminded repeatedly, during my career in broadcast that news is a 24/7/365 deal. As much as I wanted to tell my staff that they could call it quits each weekend or on a holiday (during which real people got time off) that just wasn’t the gig. No doubt there is a slow down in many areas of our life over the holidays but does that mean journalists and news itself gets to slow down too?

The way we get news is changing. How we make it success in the future should include delivering it at least as often and as well as traditional outlets. Don’t you think that if the new journalism is to succeed, in all those areas that we discuss so intently, then these sites need to be there…all the time. Or is it just me?

When YouTube Just Isn’t Enough

The past weekend was chocked full of a media coverage of America’s “Balloon Boy”. The past four days saw a story turn from a two hour chase of a runaway balloon and the finding of a six year old safe at home to a hoax hatched to land a family on a TV reality show. Whatever the story, it does beg the question, “When is YouTube not enough?”

It’s obvious that the free and easy access to user generated content, whether that be blogs, photos, audio or video, serves the narcissism in all of us. But for some who want to be “on TV” the small screen of on line video just isn’t enough to satisfy the need to be in the spotlight. It also should say a lot to those in television that they are the still the big leagues, or bigger screen, of public display. Good news for a medium that worries about it’s future.

Take the case of Richard Heene (and I’m just supposin’ here since as of this writing there are officially no charges filed against the Heene family. Though the odd history of Mr. Heene’s media exploits does make it quite easy to assume his guilt…I know I have.) Here is a guy who has posted plenty of YouTube videos. Everything from “science programs” to rants about Hilary Clinton or Britney to his kids rap video.

That exposure on line doesn’t appear to have been enough. No, he wanted to be on the “bigger screen”. He managed to get himself and his wife on Wife Swap, a show that really is YouTube on TV.

That appears to have only whet his appetite for video infamy. One episode of public embarrassment is nothing compared to continuous coverage by every cable or news network with easy access to a feed from a helicopter. The key to secure such video creamy goodness? A child. And Mr. Heene had three. We’re all aware of the success of that strategy. It was success after all, with entire chunks of TV programming still being devoted to the Heenes.

In reality we are all responsible for this rather pitiful display, but don’t beat yourself up. We have the perfect structure for enabling the video narcissist in all of us. A media landscape that includes multiple 24 hour cable outlets and networks that struggle to draw viewers from a myriad of new outlets that are hungry for content that can help them do that. In fact, many of these outlets are more often looking to YouTube for content. Rarely does the the Today show let a day go by without featuring some sort of on line viral phenomenon, the Wedding Dance and Lion Reunion are just a sample, and we eat it up.

We watch it so much that we guarantee that there will be plenty more to come. Add to that all those companies that are asking, “How can we make a viral video?” and there’s a good chance it will be well staged, manufactured, and distributed while making money for somebody.

Speaking of money, it seems that the reason behind the “Balloon Boy” incident was to secure a reality show deal for the Heene family, something one would assume carried a chance to earn Jon and Kate type money. To bad Mr. Heene didn’t think this through a bit more. A well-placed logo on his balloon would have netted him tidy bit of dough.

Then again, I don’t think that’s what he’s in it for. Do you?

 

The Rise of Interruption. Marketing?

It’s been quite a week for those that seek to get attention by interrupting hasn’t it?

Of course, last week it was the clear break with decorum and most likely Congressional rules when Representative Joe Wilson (no relation…phew!) saw fit to interrupt the President during a speech to Congress. His “You lie!” is still echoing in Washington and across all types of media.

More recently, a well marinated Kanye West decided that Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMA’s was a good time to profess his love for Beyonce’s latest video and proceeded to take the stage and the mic. This alone tested Twitter’s limits.

Both participants in these rude interruptions have addressed their behavior in varying ways. Wilson apologized to the President, but as of this writing, not to Congress. He has used it as a rallying cry for his stand on health care and seems to be quite comfortable being interviewed about it, though he admits that it was not the right way to act.

Kanye on the other hand, after being escorted from the MTV awards show, first posted a rambling and confusing blog post of an apology. He then took the opportunity to be even more apologetic and sincere during The Jay Leno Show premiere. (Jay stepped up with a great question about how Kanye’s late mother would have felt about it. Let’s talk dramatic pause.)

The reaction of the masses has varied for each incident. Joe Wilson, as well as his 2010 political opponent have seen huge increases in fund-raising. On the other hand Kanye has seen a huge backlash from fans and non-fans alike and I’m sure recognizes the potential harm to his career and sales.

But is this indicative of what it takes to cut through the clutter of so many messages and the 24/7, always on, always connected environment we find ourselves in? For better or worse, this exemplifies the phrase “Any publicity is good publicity.” So, if we are constantly being exposed to “messages” then perhaps we will see a rise in thought out tactical use of the “interruption” and a redefinition of interruption marketing. This form of marketing that really is an interruption unlike say, commercials that are now expected and pop-ups that are commonplace. If so, then beware the backlash.

What about the buzz? Yes, we are talking about these interruptions so they are creating buzz. But at the same time, in varying degrees, they are taking a toll. That toll is being exacted in many ways. Beyond the concept of “That’s not the way we do things in a civil society.”, which does have incredible validity, marketers run the risk of biting the hand that feeds them should interruption be the marketing of tactic of the day.

Now that social media is prevalent and the ability to share your feelings, especially negative ones, is so easy, the window of mea culpa is incredibly small. Time does not allow for the repair of a bad tactic. In the past the practice of airing too many commercials may have caused some problems for listeners but the ability to complain to friends about it was much more contained. Now, one ‘tweet’ will reach thousands…if not hundreds of thousands in mere seconds.

Interruption can get people talking about you…but it can also get them talking badly about you.

Expectations: DENIED!

My 11 year-old daughter asked me to “hurry up a little” as we drove home from her 3 on 3 basketball game where, I might add, she totally rocked on defense! But I digress… The reason she wanted to get home was to watch a new show she likes on the ABC Family network. If you have a tween or pre-tween you may know of the show of which I speak…Ruby and the Rockits. Yes it’s another ‘ordinary girl with incredible vocal talent living life where madcap situations arise each day with plenty of chances to sing a song’ premise.  Anyway my daughter liked it and wanted to see it.

I‘ve seen the show once or twice. Hey, who of my generation isn’t curious what David Cassidy is up to these days. In fact, Ruby and the Rockits gives you an update on all the “Cassidy boys” with brother Shaun producing and half-brother Patirck co-starring. (In the ‘old’ days, that would have been a lot of hair and hip-huggers…now, not so much.) Together with my expectations of a network with the name ABC ‘Family’, my impressions of the one episode I had seen, and the fact that the show rating was well within the parameters to avoid being block by the parental controls, I figured it a go for 11 year-old viewing. Um, yeah.

As I sat working on my laptop I was startled to hear a scene in which one of the younger characters voiced the line “ass-kisser” disguised in a sneeze. Huh? Not five minutes later another young character looked at the sneezing character and promptly shot a “bitch” across his bow. What the…? Hey this wasn’t what I had signed on for. Expectation: DENIED!

We’ve all come across these contradictions in brand on plenty of occasions. Remember the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction”. That brief bit of exposed portion of breast was extremely tame by today’s television standards. That it happened in the middle of a sporting event..the most watched sporting event…was what caused such a fuss. Expectation: DENIED!

Right now, in my town, an FM Talk Station that has positioned itself as the conservative talker, with a line up that includes Rush Limbaugh, has decided that it will not be a talk station on the weekends. Instead they will play classic rock instead. Again I say, what the…? If I were a conservative looking for a little solace while perhaps I’m out burying ammo on the weekend and I tuned to my stations and heard the rock band Rush instead of the right-wing Rush, I would be scratching my head and wondering what happened. And no letter from the Program Director posted on the website would make it clear to me. Expectation: DENIED!

These lapses in delivering on expectations by these media brands are sometimes mistakes but sometimes are purely driven by the hope of short term gain. ABC Family to appear to be hip and KTLK to maybe steal a rating point or two from the other rock stations…if only for the weekend.

This is what those that come up with these ideas like to position as “out of the box” thinking. This is more like short-term thinking.

Real brand pros look well past the next week, or the next quarter, or even the next year and remember that without the brand they have nothing that can sustain them for long periods of time. A brand will continue to pay dividends well beyond a tactic or a stunt. So every tactic or stunt must reflect the brand not contradict it.

What’s your brand? What are the expectations of your customer? Are you fulfilling them every single time your customer comes in contact with your brand? They should!

Incommunicado vs Communicado(?)

My week is offering me two extremes in communication. Monday I spent the day with my family at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine here in the Twin Cities. Today I’m at Blogwell, a social media gathering at General Mills, on behalf of Minnov8. The difference? I was “kicking it old school” on Monday with no electronics (except my camera) allowed on the course. Today, I’m live blogging, uploading video and taking photos for the entire event….Laptop, phone, Flip camera all in tow.

Monday would have been a great opportunity to go nuts with photos, video, and tweets galore (Yes, I’m one of those guys.) But sorry, “no cellphones please”. I’m sure this is to cut down on the talking and cellphone alerts that would inevitably interrupt play. Remember, this is a place where you don’t even clap out loud. 

I have to tell you it was a bit refreshing to not worry about ‘sharing’ my experiences with my followers and friends. I felt absolutely zero ‘social media’ guilt. That is until I saw some guy in the bathroom (a rather elegant outhouse I must admit) texting on his contraband phone. For a brief moment I thought I was letting my peeps down by not smuggling in my phone. Then I thought, “Hey wait a second. Get with the program guy.” Follow the rules! Golf is all about rules. Imagine if Davis Love stepped in Tiger’s line because he didn’t feel like following the rules. Anarchy!

Today on the other hand, is another story. The folks at GasPedal have invited Minnov8 to cover the Blogwell event at General Mills this afternoon. As I mentioned above, we’ll be bringing all of our social media geekery to bear…and we’ll be doing it live via a rather cool service called ScribbleLive. It’s a great service where we can set up an event via our Twitter login info. Not only can we enter comments in real time, we can format the look and feel, upload video (though I found embedding via YouTube was faster and more reliable at this point), add photos, post to Twitter, and more. We can also embed the whole shootin’ match on a page at Minnov8. Check it out.

What a week of exploring both ends of the always on, always connected world. You still can choose not to be. BTW, I did choose to upload some photos from the PGA to my photostream on Flickr. (Yeah, I know, I’m what people outside of the social media biz…the real world…call “one of those.”)

 

Gary Koelling Gets Personal With Radio

I’ve written before about my involvement with the Conclave , an organization that seeks to educate radio broadcasters. This year I had the pleasure of heading up the planning of the Tech/Interactive Track at this year’s Learning Conference (#clave09), underway right now in Minneapolis. I’m thrilled that I have been able to include many of Minnesota’s tech, interactive and social media “stars” as part of the agenda.

One of those “stars” is Gary Koelling, Best Buy’s Social Media guru and founder of Blueshirt Nation, Giftag and IdeaX. I asked Gary to talk with my broadcast brethren about increasing radio’s ‘signal strength’, a phrase Gary coined during a conversation we had some time back that refers to reaching customers through social media.

I met with Gary about an hour before his presentation because he wanted to show me what he came up with. I trust Gary implicitly to put together a great presentation on this topic…and he did. No surprise! I had expected to politely preview his slides, say “Cool!” and move on.

What I experienced, and what the attendees saw was a deeply personal story reflecting Gary’s passion for this medium and what it has meant to him over the years. He told me that every time he sat down to build his presentation he found himself “yelling” at radio for what it has become. He told me, “That’s not helpful to anyone.” So what he did was take everyone through the emotional relationship he has, and I bet all of have had, with radio.

“Other stations can steal your listeners, they can’t steal your friends.”

What Gary did at the Conclave Learning Conference was remind broadcasters about the personal connection that they must maintain with their listener’s to survive. A connection, or as Gary noted, a “friendship” that has become less important in a world where making their quarterly numbers.

Gary, thank you for taking an hour of your day to empower broadcasters by sharing your knowledge in such a personal and emotional way. They’re still talking about it…the next steps is to act.

Here is Gary’s opening “story”. See the slide deck (though I think the picture you see in your mind will be better) on Gary’s blog.

I remember as a kid growing up in the 70’s in the middle of a corn field in Iowa feeling radio was the one thing that reliably connected me to the broader world. Locally as in the world ‘in town’ but also the world beyond. Listening during the long summer breaks to KWAY and the daily “Swap and Shop” and lives coming together, lives falling apart. Revealed to me in the items that people needed or needed to get rid of. The stories of lives beginning and lives ending and unexpected twists and detours in otherwise normal, boring lives were told in elaborate and veiled detail from eleven to one every day.

Later, as a car-less young teenager, I got around on tractors and bicycles and dirt bikes up and down gravel roads and through the fields of corn and corn and soybeans listening to radios, discovering popular music, music that was not my parents’ and feeling connected to that agitated, rebellious, horny angst of 38 Special, and Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers and Steve Miller. Then feeling so desperate to be part of it and for it to be part of what I was trying to be. I called the KFMW request line – long distance. A human answered the phone. Older. Male. Deep and busy sounding. I stepped up and said could you play ‘Refugee’ for Christie. What song you want played? Uh, Refugee by Tom Petty and the – . Refugee. Alright I’ll get it right on kid. Click. And my chest felt full of hot blood and breath and my face was hot red and I got on my ten speed and pedaled hard up the road with a radio hanging over the ram horn handle bar of my bike. I prayed I could get to Christie before the DJ played the song.

I wanted to see her face. Take credit. Get laid. But Christie wasn’t home. I hung out under the tree across from her driveway, heart beating frantically, hoping that the song wouldn’t come on. Then her mom’s car crawled up the road and slowed as it passed me and pulled into the driveway. I played it cool as her mom squinted over the wheel at me, the radio playing as it hung from my handle bars. I practiced in my mind how I would tell her that I requested the song for her. Her favorite. That I thought I was falling in love with her. And we’d kiss. That afternoon we talked for hours and hours feeling half drunk from the smell of sun and pool water and sweat and faint cigarette smoke that only a fifteen year old girl can twirl together into the sweetest perfume a fifteen year old boy would ever smell.

Then as the fireflies came out and the sun got low she had to go in for dinner. I rode home slow. And the song came on. And that heavy, hot blood and breath came back into my chest. And then I was a teenager. A teenager as free and angry and in deep and desperate as any had ever been and protected only by a transistor FM radio.