Posts from July, 2010

Nope, not talking about the rock band. Not talking about an intimate act, either.

Just talking about how much better life is when we keep it simple. In our world it has become commonplace for people to forego straightforward communications and give way to acronyms and buzz words. Why? Hopefully, to impress someone with what they know.

The fact is technology is changing so rapidly that keeping up with the latest terminology is becoming an impossible task. That’s why speaking in plain English is still the best way to communicate.

What amazes me is how many people refuse to do it and go on to sound like some wiki-dictionary for the technologically impaired.

I was in a meeting of a board on which I serve recently when several web development firms were making their presentations. Mind you this board is not composed solely of marketers, but a broad cross section of successful business people. Two of the firms decided that they needed to impress us with how much they knew. The shower of jargon and acronyms was endless. During their presentations I noticed the eyes of my fellow board members were simply glazed over.

However, the final group was smart enough to understand the audience was not necessarily tech-savvy, but were people who appreciated good communication. At the end of the meeting when the group had departed, the consensus in the room was, WOW!

Their secret?

They made the complex task of building a huge website simple. The board unanimously voted to award them the business. And the results were outstanding.

The lesson here is simple:

Being smart isn’t about dazzling people with the latest techno-babble.

It’s about communication. Pure and simple.

Thursday, June 24, 2010…..Arbitron activated more than 700 Portable People Meters around the Triangle.  This day officially launched the era of electronic radio measurement in North Carolina.  It is a day that will live forever in the minds of media buyers throughout the area.  Really?

PPM is a system developed by Arbitron to measure how many people are listening (or at least being exposed) to individual radio and television stations as well as cable TV.  The PPM is worn like a pager and picks up on hidden audio tones within a station or networks audio stream, logging each time it finds a signal.  The system was designed to replace those antiquated written diaries that many in the industry had issues with.  Issues such as sample size and response fluctuations that led to ratings wobble, certain demo and ethnic groups were over- and under-represented, reported listening was exaggerated in certain dayparts, and a good deal of cumulative listening was not reported at all.  Still, this was what we, as media buyers, had to “trust” when putting radio buys together.

I for one am excited about this way of measurement.  I hope that it truly makes a difference in how radio is bought in this market.  While I believe that a lot of buying is based on gut instinct and knowing the market, numbers have to play a part in it.  I have always marveled at how every radio station can position themselves as #1….we are #1 in reaching boys 12+ after midnight….we are #1 in reaching adults 65+ on the weekends.  I want to know who is #1 in reaching my demo, whatever it happens to be, during the dayparts when they are listening.  I hope that this new PPM will help me decipher that a little better.

I wonder what will be next?  Perhaps we will all wear some type of tracking device that will pick up on every message that is sent to us.  I have read that the average American is exposed to between 850-5,000 messages on any given day.  There doesn’t seem to be an exact number that I can quote.  Either way, there are a lot of messages being drilled into our brains constantly.  How many do we actually remember?  Well, at least with the PPM not only will Big Brother be watching us he will be listening to us as well.



I’m not a fan of the NBA.  I’d rather watch college basketball any day.  And I’m certainly not a fan of LeBron James.

Do I care where he decides to play next season?  Absolutely not.

Have I been following the media blitz surrounding his “big decision”?  Who hasn’t.

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that his publicist should be applauded for a job well done.  The LeBron James brand is currently one of the most widely discussed topics in the world, in great part due to social media.

In the past 2 minutes alone, 199 people have tweeted the name LeBron and he continues to top the trending topics.

“KingJames” as his twitter moniker says, already has more than 300,000 followers after less than 48 hours as a member of twitter.  And he already has his own hash tag (#lebrondecision) which is averaging about 40 tweets a minute.

I won’t even try to keep tabs on the number of blog posts penned about tonight’s press conference (I guess this one adds to that tally).  The bottom line:  LeBron’s publicist did something that any good public relations specialist should do.  He used social media in calculated and deliberate way to promote his client and create an ongoing conversation about his upcoming press conference.  And not just a conversation, but genuine suspense and anticipation.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be interested to find out not where LeBron’s going, but how many people tuned in to see.

As social media continues to play a bigger role in the world of advertising and PR, I have a feeling this story will find itself on the pages of a textbook one day soon.

On my way to work I heard a song on the local country radio station by Tim McGraw called “I’m Already Home”.  The song is a letter written by fallen soldier to his wife before he died.  The lyrics were emotional and moving in that particular way country songs can sometimes do:

‘If you’re reading this halfway around the world
I won’t be there to see the birth of our little girl
I hope she looks like you
I hope she fights like me
And stands up for the innocent and the weak
I’m layin down my gun and hanging up my boots
Tell dad I don’t regret that I followed in his shoes’

Hearing that song, and with the Fourth of July coming up, I got to thinking.  War is no beautiful thing and it must be hard convincing the masses to go and enlist.  With the war our country is fighting these days, it’s no easy or simple decision for a young man to decide to leave his family, friends, loved ones, comforts, and conveniences to go and fight.  I also wondered, what is the military’s strategy when trying to recruit?  How do they position their advertising knowing that many of those they are trying to reach through their TV ads and online ads will end up dead?

All those questions are hard and not easily answered.  I’ve seen recruitment campaigns ranging from video game type stimulation to heart-moving pieces all with the goal of persuading individuals to selflessly fight for their country.

One thing is certain, however, there is something to be said for the unsolicited advertising received through songs like the one above.  The patriotic songs written by many artists over the years move listeners and frame the job of giving your life to your country as one that is heroic and to be coveted.  The lyrics move the heart and may even move some towards a decision to enlist.

Happy Fourth of July and thanks to all our brave soldiers who fight to keep us free!