QVIews

Rock radio seems to have reached a tipping point off the side of a cliff as listeners and station owners have begun abandoning it. A few years ago I realized that I had retreated to classic rock and ended up listening to the same 16 songs over and over again. So I started experimenting with…

Over at MediaPost, Jeff Einstein has a good column (link below) on how recent improvements in our ability to measure "return on investment" of media dollars has NOT led to lots better advertising, but to lots more advertising and measuring and frantic flailing attempts to shout louder. (Remind you of Tom Davenport’s Attenion Economy?) Although…

This month the email newsletter Trendwatching has pulled together dozens of examples of greater customer involvement in the producing and marketing of the products they use. Many of their examples were previously sighted here, but pulled together with so many pictures and parallel examples, the trend is just stunning–and stimulating. Link: TRENDWATCHING.COM Newsletter | May…

I’ve written previously about Eric von Hippel’s new book, Democratizing Innovation. Now Virginia Postrel has pulled some juicier quotes for her NY Times column on the book. Professor von Hippel not only has evidence that user-led innovation is more valuable, he also has a concrete suggestion for making it easier to do. Innovation is rapidly…

Over at ClickZ, Rob Graham comments on the new consumer-generated video ads and contrasts the success of George Masters ad for the Apple iPod Mini with the Volkswagen Polo ad where the car blows up. (I’m not linking because these ads are easy to find and most readers have already seen them.) As my colleague…

As a marketing manager using direct marketing techniques, I’m very sensitive to respecting how my prospects and customers want to be contacted. But it’s not possible for me to ‘leave them alone’ as much as they say they prefer. As respectfully as possible, I have to intrude into their activities, or my business would grow…

I never know quite what to make of Global Province. It doesn’t look like a blog, but it feels like a blog. Its wide reaching observations aren’t always news, but I still check in every now and then. Today I learned that innovation is flourishing in Turkey. The leader of one of its leading business…

I always want to reward marketers who "get it," who show real authenticity by identifying with their customers. So I want to call your attention to a new wine called White Lie, originally reported by Jerry Shriver in USA Today. (You may have to pay for access to the original article.) Tim Manners has his…

I’m not sure if this originates with Jon Carroll…time will tell. But it’s very funny and worth reading all the way through. I excerpted the part that made me laugh the hardest. Link: JON CARROLL’s April 8 column in the San Francisco Chronicle We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough."…

I’d heard about the Long Bets foundation, but I had never visited the web site until today. It’s a lot of fun. Some famous people have made predictions about the future, such as "At least one person alive in 2000 will still be alive in 2150." (Peter Schwartz) and someone enjoys going on record against…