The Archives

• 07.14.08
  The Price Is Right but the Process is Wrong
  Social Media Comments

  I have been thinking a lot about the role of price points in web 2.0. Much of the ‘bubble’ we hear about stems from the reluctance of those utilizing products to pay for them. It’s not even that there is a reluctance to pay something – there is a reluctance to pay anything at all. Wired Magazine recently featured a cover story anointing this the free economy. However I believe that the reluctance of consumers to pay for online applications points to much deeper concerns than simply price alone. Intuitively it makes no sense to me that someone wouldn’t pay ...
  
  
• 07.11.08
  Can You Afford Not to Be Funny?
  Brands and Marketing Comments

  In the past when Heights Media Group launched products for ourselves or on behalf of clients, a common debate was whether or not we should use humor as a marketing component. Generally when a client is launching a “serious product” there is misnomer (IMO) that the product or company will not be taken seriously if humor is used. It’s a misnomer because most clients assume that humor-based marketing is an all or nothing affair. It’s my belief that in today’s market, video is a necessary component for any campaign: it’s low cost, viral, engaging and trackable. Because video is necessary, so ...
  
  
• 07.09.08
  What’s Up with the False Advertising?
  Brands and Marketing, Venture Capital Comments

  Update 1: I was contacted by the CEO of WrapMail who gave me a demo of his product. WrapMail's choice of wording may be poor but it is not false advertising. I offered to write a post summarizing the service and will link to it once it's ready to ship. I ran into two falsely advertised products today. While I was initially excited about both, now that I understand that I cannot use the services in the manner they claimed they have lost me as a potential customer. I wonder how many potential customers were also lost by this messaging stupidity? No ...
  
  
• 02.02.08
  Do I Want to Be Friends with a Brand?
  Brands and Marketing, CSR Comments

  The relationship of brands within and among social media communities is still in flux. Facebook is one of the first new media companies to attempt to embrace brands outside the context of paid-advertising with the creation of Facebook’s “brand pages.” These pages essentially allow brands to have profiles and friends just like regular Facebook users. At a breakfast I recently attended several people were outspoken over the “friends-with-brands” concept, believing it absurd that people would choose to be friends with a brand. They questioned what benefits a brand could really extract from a ‘social relationship’ with an individual and ...
  
  
• 01.18.08
  Fake Steve Jobs Accepts ‘Harrington’s’ Monkey Award
  Pop Culture Comments

  Dan Lyons kills me!
  
  
• 07.02.07
  LinkedIn Should Acquire Twitter Now!!
  Social Networking, Venture Capital Comments

  I see nothing but potential between these two companies. If LinkedIn is in fact moving toward an IPO, they could also stand some buzz helping to drive up that long-term potential/valuation. Twitter is in a good acquisition stage from the standpoint of an acquirer because with the looming launch of Pownce (the Kevin Rose brainchild) Twitter’s market share has been threatened. Pownce’s impact is likely to shake-up Twitter’s current dominant market positioning. In other words, Twitter needs to make some moves. Why Twitter? Well the idea behind LinkedIn Answers is cool, but not functional enough. What would REALLY be sharp ...
  
  
• 06.15.07
  Weekend RoundUp
  Pop Culture Comments

  I haven’t been able to do much writing this week but I wanted to point out a few things I have come across that others may enjoy... Rob Webb has a great post about our rival alma matas forays into venture capital endowment investing. Looks like Colby has the upper hand as of now. There is an interesting email from Justin Rosenstein making the rounds with the message that ’Facebook is THAT company.’ Brilliant PR or is this guy onto something? In answer to Noah’s question ’“ I rarely ever check email. Instead’ I listen. The beautiful buzz of my Blackberry has ...
  
  

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