RIP Felix Dennis

June 23, 2014

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I worked for Felix in what for me was one of the most exciting moments of my career. We launched Blender magazine, the American answer to Q magazine. It was a blast. Now Felix Dennis, who had been fighting cancer, has passed. Felix, the publishing world is poorer without your rumbunctious spirit. It was fun to work, drink and laugh with you.

 

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62% of users say they don’t even notice social media ads

June 23, 2014

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This hideous infographic reveals a truth. Brands think social media doesn’t work.

They bought $5billion in social ads in 2013. Yet 62% of customers say they had no influence at all.

“Social media are not the powerful and persuasive marketing force many companies hoped they would be,” concludes Gallup Inc., which on Monday is releasing a report that examines the subject.

In a study last year, Nielsen Holdings NV found that global consumers trusted ads on television, print, radio, billboards and movie trailers more than social-media ads.

More recently, changes in how Facebook manages users’ news feeds have hindered brands’ ability to reach their fans. Rather than a largely chronological stream, Facebook now manages the news feed to feature items it thinks users will want to see.

The result: Brands reached 6.5% of their fans with Facebook posts in March, down from 16% in February 2012, according to EdgeRank Checker, a social-media analytics firm recently acquired by Socialbakers.

“Fans and follower counts are over. Now it’s about what is social doing for you and real business objectives,” says Jan Rezab, chief executive of Socialbakers AS, a social-media metrics company based in Prague.

 

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Here’s what Twitter activity in the US looked like before and after US goal against Ghana

June 17, 2014

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The United States scored its final goal in a tight World Cup game against Ghana in the 86th minute. The goal, scored by John Brooks, was headed in, giving the U.S. a 2-1 lead.

Americans went berserk, as evidenced by the abundance of tweets sent right after the goal.

Here’s a shot of Twitter activity, before the goal:screen shot 2014-06-17 at 10.00.21 am

And here is a shot of Twitter activity after the goal.

screen shot 2014-06-17 at 10.00.00 am

 

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How the theory of “disruptive innovation” gets it wrong

June 17, 2014

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Jill Lepore’s piece for The New Yorker destroys forever the all-too-pervasive idea of “disruptive innovation.” It’s the idea, particularly convenient if you work in Silicon Valley, that says Uber will replace taxis, Air BnB will replace hotels, Google will replace books and if your ideas don’t disrupt an entire industry, they are not worth backing. But in a detailed takedown of “creative destruction” as its become known, Lepore points out most disruptive start ups either fail or actually never make profit. She says:

“Disruptive innovation is a theory about why businesses fail. It’s not more than that.  It’s not a law of nature. Transfixed by change, it’s blind to continuity. It makes a very poor prophet.”

Paul Krugman has pointed out that one of the most successful economies of recent years has been Germany. How do the Germans do it? Not by constantly coming out with revolutionary new products, but by producing very high quality goods for which people are willing to pay premium prices.

“Maybe we need to do less disruption and put more effort into doing whatever we do well,” concludes Krugman.

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