Age of Conversation 2

by Brian Reich | 29 Oct 2008, 5:48pm

I would like to introduce to you Age of Conversation 2.

AOC2 a collaborative book effort featuring written thoughts on the role of conversation in marketing today from 237 marketing professionals who blog in the United States and 15 other countries.  For the second straight year, I am honored to have been included as one of the bloggers/authors featured in the book (my essay, entitled “Show Me What You’ve Got” appears on page 32).  More information is available online at http://www.ageofconversation.com.

The book went on sale today in three formats – an e-book, softcover and hardcover.  Purchases can be made online at www.lulu.com/ageofconversation.  All proceeds will be donated to Variety, the international children’s charity.

I encourage you to go buy a copy today, and when you do, please let me know what you think.

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A Brave New World?

by Brian Reich | 29 Oct 2008, 1:36pm

David Carr thinks the sky is falling.  I think we are on our way towards discovering the new world.

The recent news out of the news industry — the Christian Science Monitor going web-only, Time Inc laying off 600 people, the Boston Globe cutting back (further) on its local coverage, declining circulation and ad revenues across the board, and similar — seems grim.  For news companies trying to operate under the old models, the news is indeed bad.  However, for those in the news (and more broadly speaking, media) industry who want to truly establish a new, different, and more successful way of operating, this is a sign of good times yet to come.

Newspapers that are operating online are still just newspapers with a different delivery mechanism.  Nobody has really experimented with what the unique qualities of the web and the amazing opportunities that technology provides to facilitate experience mean to our world, at least not in the context of the news.

Do you remember those people who thought the world was flat, and if you sailed too far out towards the horizon line you would fall off the edge of the earth?  That’s the news industry!  They suspect there is a future for their business, but they are afraid to go after it.  What if they are wrong and they fall off the end of the earth?

The news industry has to hit rock bottom before they realize a different approach is required, and truly embrace change.  They have to completely run out of ways to try the same old thing and keep failing.  The media industry has to shed all their existing structures and start fresh.  We are closer than ever to that point.

We have barely scratched the surface of what is possible.  There is a whole new world waiting to be discovered.  Somebody is just going to have to find out.  Anchors away!

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Market(ing) Correction

by Brian Reich | 28 Oct 2008, 4:39pm

This is cross-posted from FastCompany.com.

I am not an economist, so I can’t say for sure whether the US Economy is in a recession.  I do, however, watch television and read the newspaper, talk to friends and clients, and generally live in the real world — so I see that the economy is struggling and people are facing tough times.  If nothing else, the boom times are over (for now) and we are in the midst of a pretty significant market correction.

As I understand it, businesses are suffering because the credit markets are frozen, making it near impossible to secure cash for basic needs, let alone to consider push new products or  opportunities.  Meanwhile, anxious consumers, not sure where their next paycheck might come from or how much less their investments will be worth by the end of the day, simply aren’t buying anything right now.  Non-profit organizations are suffering because corporations don’t have as much money to give away, and those who do still have money aren’t interested in giving what limited funds they have available to support a good cause (as opposed to holding on to it, with the expectation that more tough times are ahead).  And, as the end of the year approaches and the giving season gets into full swing, nobody expects individual donations to charitable groups to be as large as they have been in the recent past either (if they happen at all).

Read the full post at FastCompany.com.

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A little rant about politics

by Brian Reich | 8 Oct 2008, 11:06am

(I cross-posted this on my Fast Company Experts blog)
I just have to rant a little about politics.

It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that if what you are doing isn’t working anymore, you need to make a change.

That’s true in business — if your product isn’t selling, you need consider a different way of marketing it.  That’s true in sports — if your team isn’t winning, you need to consider hiring new personnel or adjusting your style of play.  That is true in media — if nobody is reading the print edition of your newspaper anymore, you need to consider putting more content online.  That is true in life — and there are countless examples you could apply.

Why doesn’t that concept apply to politics?

For years, candidates have been running campaigns that don’t reflect the will of the voters.  The voters ask for a discussion of the issues, the candidates respond with soundbites and rhetoric.  The voters want to understand the candidates’ records, and the campaigns respond by distoring their opponent’s positions and smearing their character.  The campaigns keep doing the same thing, over and over.  How do the voters respond?  They tune out — only a fraction of eligible voters show up at the polls, while nearly everyone who is asked expresses frustration, if not distaste, for the state of politics.

This cycle was supposed to be different.  Barack Obama and John McCain both ran against politics-as-usual.  They vowed to wage a campaign that focused on issues and avoided negative attacks.  They even flirted with the idea of holding town hall meetings, barnstorming the country and listening to voters concerns together.

Then the gloves came off.

Last night, in the second of three Presidential debates, John McCain and Barack Obama went on the attack.  I don’t think either candidate gave an answer (and I use the term ‘answer’ loosely because very few of the statements the candidates made actually responded to the questions that there posed) that didn’t include a reference to the other guy.  They barely made eye contact the whole night.  And in TV and web ads, stump speeches and interviews that follow the debate, and consume our attention for the next 29 days, we’ll see more of the same.

That’s not what voters want.  There are important matters facing our country — the economy, the war, healthcare, and education to name a few — that deserve real debate.  We want to pick a President who we feel confident understands, and has a plan for addressing these critical issues.  But how are we to decide which candidate is best when neither one seems interested (or capable) of putting forward their own views, choosing instead to undermine the credibility and character of their opponent.

Politics is broken.  What the candidates and campaigns are doing simply isn’t working any more.  Something needs to change.  Its not likely to happen this cycle, and there is little prospect that politics will improve in the near future.  But that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve, and shouldn’t demand better.

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