Soon you’ll have to choose. As digits continue their march into our lives, some of them are going to feel much more like the old paper media. And paper does have it’s advantages.
We’re familiar with Kindle and the other new media readers, but now plastic is getting even closer to paper. Check out these videos on the future of paper. Thank you YouTube. Don’t miss the last one in this posting.
Boris Kachka probes the ailing publishing business model in an in-depth New York Magazine article titled, of all things,‘The End.’
The situation seems to be that writers no longer have a problem reaching an audience. And the audience has so many new options other than books. Which means that the publishers, and their chosen authors, aren’t making as much money these days.
Then there’s Magnus Berger, a graphic designer at Baron & Baron, who is publishing ‘The Last Magazine.’ Funny how the website and blog came first. But then the magazine does need to acquire an audience. It’s to arrive somewhere, biannually.
Fabien Baron is a very talented designer, who gained fame for his magazine design. There is only one Baron. However, some call the firm Baron & Baron & Baron & Baron & Baron & Baron.
There are a few who don’t have much interest in a Facebook page, a Twitter account, writing a blog, or hanging out in myspace. And then there’s everyone else. Many of whom can’t seem to exist without the new social media.
One concern for those who don’t participate in Web 2.0 is the awareness that the future will hold much more permanent, and public, information about each of us. And those who participate in the new social media will be forever searchable. The younger you are, the less likely you are to care, and the more interested you are in fame, popularity, and being connected 24/7.
“When Jonathan Fields spotted William Shatner waiting to board a JetBlue flight at New York’s JFK in May, he did what any other self-respecting blogger would do. He popped open his Apple (AAPL) Mac, connected to the Web using the free Wi-Fi provided by JetBlue, and used Twitter to share the sighting with pals. “JetBlue terminal,” Fields wrote on the blog service that lets users send short messages of 140 characters with status updates to groups of friends. “William Shatner waiting in pinstripe suit and shades to board flight to Burbank. Why’s he flying JetBlue? Free, maybe?”
But he was caught off guard by what happened next. Within 10 seconds he got an e-mail informing him that JetBlue (JBLU) was following him on Twitter.
“It totally startled me,” says the 42-year-old author, who initially worried that JetBlue might be monitoring his use of the Wi-Fi connection. JetBlue employee Morgan Johnston quickly explained that wasn’t the case. JetBlue keeps tabs on what Twitter users say about it, using a scanning tool, to find customers who might need information, say, on flight delays or cancellations, Johnston said.”
Businesses can instantly respond to negative chat about their brands and correct any problem they perceive. The goal is to establish an ongoing positive relationship with their customers.
Those who use Twitter, and other social media, are more likely to view this as a positive, and not a creepy event. And businesses can benefit.
Richard Herstek, a very talented writer I used to work with has sent me a link to his terrific new short film. Not surprisingly, it has been well received in several prestigious film festivals. Congratulations Richard!
In the old media, lines were clear, commercials and ads were just that. They were separate. As you know, many lines have either disappeared or are blurred. And ‘product placement’ is becoming much more common.
It also raises a question or two. Is this film art? Is it advertising? Can companies ‘control’ their ‘image’ or ‘brand’ in new media? Should they?
As a former creative director and copywriter, he knows the advertising format well. Richard was not hired by the company to do this. It’s his idea. And now with YouTube, he can ‘broadcast’ it without client approval, since it’s considered art. Pretty cool. The ‘Creatives’ have now also escaped the broadcast prison. And Richard is using the commercial format to make a social comment. Or is it the other way around?
Companies no longer have to guess, or research, what the consumers ‘want’ and think. As consumers instantly communicate with each other, through emails, text messages, blogs, tweets, and even, shockingly, face to face. Through various means they can tell companies much more than some companies might like. There’s no place to hide.
Sitting in a big corporate meeting several years ago, it was crystal clear to me that since the broadcast model has fallen apart, the best thing that a company can do is simply make a fantastic product, and just stand back. The consumer can take care of a good part of the marketing. Imagine the benefits if the efficiencies were passed along.
After all, with the new media, consumers are creating the research, the advertising and the ‘broadcast’ media all by themselves. The audience is now the marketing engine. And the resources that used to be allotted to marketing can be put to use in product development. The interaction between the consumer and the product, or service, defines the personality of the company.
But $2.5 million is most certainly not garbage and just think of the possibilities for political campaigns!
And the sad news is that The Sun may close at the end of this month. Even it’s competitors are sad at the possibility of losing it. Not sure if there are plans to keep the digital version going.
A few months agoCBS bought CNET. And now it appears that CBS has evaporated CNET. Look at these screen grabs –
Go to the sites and see for yourself.
CNET wasn’t perfect, but it had a certain warm ‘yellow’ personality that came along with it’s relevant content. It added a bit of the flavor of the historic SF techie scene. Especially for it’s readers that have been reading it for a very long time.
Now it feels like a silvery highrise in Manhattan. Wonder if the content will absorb that same metalic taste. To be fair, as you go through the site, it’s clear that more work is to be done in the integration. I just thought that CBS would want to bask in that golden glow for a bit longer.
It’s apparent that CBS didn’t pay $1.8 billion for the ‘brand’s personality.’ Let’s see if they continue to like the content.
It’s puzzling that anyone would buy an online company (new media) for it’s online audience, etc. and then quickly transform it into broadcast (old media) format and image? Again, that was $1.8 billion they paid. The answer must lie deep in the deck of research that was most certainly conducted.
Has anyone else noticed how many sites are starting to look like these two? Is it the influence of Flex, Ajax, etc.?
(So sorry this blog’s been out of the loop, but hopefully will be back on track soon.)
Google is actively trying to connect with agencies and the agencies are listening, so far.
In this New York Times article, Google makes nice with Leo Burnett. These two forces are after the same prey — the consumer. But they are different species, with very different dna and now they are trying to get along. Could it be that the old model has something that the new model is missing? Or . . .
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos dedicated his most recent shareholder letter to explaining his cultural ambitions for the Kindle. Laptops, BlackBerrys and mobile phones have “shifted us more toward information snacking, and I would argue toward shorter attention spans.” He hopes that “Kindle and its successors may gradually and incrementally move us over years into a world with longer spans of attention, providing a counterbalance to the recent proliferation of info-snacking tools.”
Observing the decline of the old, and the birth of the new media, as the formerly trapped audience recks havoc on busniess models. The audience itself is now 'broadcast.'
