Convergence, is it finally here? Google TV and Apple TV battle to transform the living room.

Back in the 90s I was on a list serve (remember those?) on the convergence of media. The thinking back then was that sooner or later television would no longer be bound to the living room and that the Web wouldn't be bound to the desktop. They would converge. If…

Are “digital” creatives the future for traditional shops?

There's been a lot of discussion lately about what the future's creative department should look like and who it should be headed by. Do traditional shops need to get rid of their old guard and make way for leaders and practitioners steeped in the traditions of the digital shops? Surely…

Why your advertising sucks part 4: You want it to do everything.

Image via Wikipedia Quick, how many copy points can you fit into a 60 second radio spot? The answer should be one. But many ads that really suck the big one are about two or three things – maybe even more. This is real easy to observe in a print…

Learning can be painful. But should’t we welcome the pain?

Image by debcll via Flickr Watching my two and four-year-old daughters learn about life can be a little disconcerting at times. They fall down trying to do something new, cry because they're frustrated with a difficult task, or they try to get mommy to do it because it's hard. As…

Is your brand a community?

Image by Meer via Flickr A community is a place where people come to gather, do things for each other and organize around common ideals and goals. In communities, people build trust and create relationships that hopefully last lifetimes and maybe even generations. Does this sound like your business? Maybe…

The love spectrum. Or I love Illy Coffee but I don’t want to marry it.

This series begins here. I really love my Illy Coffee. Really,  I do. But I'm not a fan of it on Facebook and I don't even know if I could follow it on Twitter – and I follow a lot of people. Heck, if I could get a coupon or…

27 tips for business tweeters. Or a Twitter cheat sheet.

Image via CrunchBase A few months ago a client asked for a cheat sheet on how to uses social media tools. Here's more or less what I gave them on Twitter. See something important missing, let me know and I'll add it. Note: This list isn't a substitute for a…

Fat guys now just fat guys online. Or where did all the hot-nerdy-online-women-with-male-personalities go?

Image by Jonathan Harford via Flickr Not so long ago, back when Second Life was the next coming, the common belief was people didn't want to be themselves online. They wanted to be someone better, someone a different sex, someone with a better job and more money or all of…

Look Pa, the Internets all grown up. Or if you’re an traditional ad agency, you just might be f’d.

Image via Wikipedia 70% of your target audience uses the mobile web %50 is on FB %60 reads blogs %50 watch online video regularly 30% is on Twitter Only 12% watch American Idol Ed. Note: This is not a far fetched Are you really going to run another television campaign…

Brands in social media don’t need to be too friendly. But they better damn sell me.

Image by cromacom via Flickr So much of what is discussed in social media revolves around engagement in terms of interacting with the brand as one would a friend. What we forget is there have been offline models for decades, and even centuries, of how business relationships should work -…