Photo by Marian Chinciusan on Unsplash The end of authenticity. And… Will Amazon finally make TV’s smart AND friendly? Plus rants and raves about Ford halting production of most sedans, the phenomenon of micro-merchandising, and how Sherwin-Williams is using augmented reality. It’s episode 82 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re

Photo by Wayne Low on Unsplash The strategy behind Amazon’s Prime Video. And… MoviePass and the magic power of data. Plus rants and raves about Jesus Christ Superstar, the Star Wars theme park, and the new book “The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies.” It’s episode 81 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading thi

Creating your own podcast: A big waste of time? And… NBC/Universal cuts primetime ads by 20% – should you? Plus, rants and raves about Tuxe – the fashion company that has turned its products into services – and Ring’s impressive acquisition by Amazon after being rejected by the Shark Tank crew. It’s episode 80 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button be

Inside the Epic Battle for Media’s Future. And… How Amazon’s New Convenience Store Changes Everything. Plus, rants and raves on the newest blockchain star, Kodak (?), the “shocking” finding that women over 50 don’t believe your ads, and more. It’s episode 78 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this by email, click here

And… Amazon goes private label. Plus, rants and raves on the TV spot that’s a podcast that’s a local restaurant…or something, Facebook’s “fake news” flag that makes content MORE popular, Jack in the Box’s effort to monetize the marijuana munchies, and what happens when Netflix viewers know more about what they should see than movie critics. It’s episode 77 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to

Daniel Craig as James Bond via 007.com Amazon is promising the NFL what nobody else can. And… Apple wants James Bond. Plus, rants and raves about a terrific new promotional app from TV’s The Walking Dead for Mountain Dew, the myth that the radio industry needs less regulation, and the strange phenomenon of “free range trees.” . It’s episode 71 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ug

FX Networks boss John Landgraf has never run a radio station so far as I know. But maybe he should. Faced with a withering onslaught of content from over-the-top providers like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and others, Landgraf is the guy who coined the term “peak TV,” and since then the glut of TV has gotten even peak-ier. Sound familiar, broadcasters? But Landgraf is neither afraid nor intimidated. Addressing the Silicon Valley-bred competitors, he said this: In that world, it’s a

Amazon lands NFL streaming rights…So what? And… Should Twitter be charging? Plus, rants and raves about Netflix’s new ratings system, the value of authenticity (or lack thereof) in Pepsi’s aborted new campaign, and more. It’s episode 61 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. This episode is brought to you by StackAdapt,  an omnichannel digital advertising platform that helps brands accelerate customer acquisition. Sources: htt

I have written extensively about the challenges radio will have in cars with a dashboard which is built to sync with Apple Carplay and Android Auto. I have also written a lot about what happens to radio when cars drive themselves (hint: It gets ugly). But there’s another force out there and it’s a force in the other direction. And that force is your own voice. Ford has announced an integration between their Sync platform and Amazon’s Alexa voice control system: [Starting] thi

What the amazing success of Pokemon Go means for YOUR media brand. And… Amazon wants you to PAY for Podcasts. It’s episode 46 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about the virtual Cheetos museum and how much food gets trashed just because it’s “ugly”, and what happens when a celebrity with a popular social media identity forgets to edit a sponsored post. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly

Have you checked out the Media Unplugged podcast I do with Tom Asacker? If not, the holiday season is a great time to catch up. Just go here for the iTunes link (other links are below). We reveal what’s really happening in media. And so far, the ‘cast has been good enough to be distributed by Media Village, NetNewsCheck, the prestigious American Marketing Association, and more. Maybe you’re missing something! About this new episode (the last of 2015): Meet your new cable comp

Ad-Blocking is About to Go Mainstream, and it’s Ad-Mageddon for Publishers! And… Mashable Teams Up…with Dan Rather?! It’s episode 25 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves for Donald Trump, Amazon’s strange new “Dash” button, the Lexus Hoverboard, and more. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this by email, click here for the audio. For

Was the Taylor Swift / Apple Music dustup nothing more than a premeditated hoax? Maybe! Listen to our argument! And… “I Want My MTV” is out, and “I AM My MTV” is in, but will anybody care? It’s episode 22 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about Amazon’s trend-setting plan to pay some self-published authors based on the number of pages read, and the one irrefutable, universal law of podcasting success

Snapchat introduces Discover and goes from messaging to big media. Also: Amazon’s making their own original movies – here’s why the movie business will never be the same. Plus, Tom raves about Taylor Swift’s move to gobble up trademark protection to many of her phrases, while Mark rants about the utter absence of ideas for season two of the popular podcast, Serial. Mark also raves about the most popular Superbowl commercials – many of which didn’t even exist. It’s episode 12

When I read trade headlines like “who will lead Radio?” the implication is that there is this silo called “radio” which is independent from and not subject to the constraints of every other silo in the media space known by every other label. But radio really is a gift of attention by those who are interested in our brands and in all their marvelous forms across all platforms. And gifts don’t necessarily keep on giving. Tech guru Om Malik put this well: Media companies are tho

It’s called Amazon Echo, and like so many tech gadgets made by Amazon it’s more of an interesting idea than something which is necessarily likely to leap off the virtual shelves. Writes Amazon: Amazon Echo is designed around your voice. It’s always on—just ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Echo begins working as soon as it hears you say the wake word, “Alexa.” It’s also an expertly-tuned speaker that can fill any room with immersive sound. And – more to the

The battle for real estate and attention on mobile devices is even tougher than you think. This past week Techcrunch reported on a study by comScore which indicated… U.S. users are now spending the majority of their time consuming digital media within mobile applications. That means mobile apps, including the number 1 most popular app Facebook, eat up more of our time than desktop usage or mobile web surfing, accounting for 52% of the time spent using digital media. Combined

Today, Pandora (and pretty much every other online radio provider) is famous for its music, not its talk. That’s going to change. Yes, I know Pandora has comedy content driven by the secret sauce of its “genome project.” But I’m talking about much more. Yes, I know there are other platforms out there featuring various flavors of spoken word, most of which is repurposed from terrestrial commercial and public radio. Yes, I know there’s a world of podcasting which is virtually a

If there’s one book this year that best sums up what the radio industry has to do to compete in a world of infinite choice, it’s this one: Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment I talked with Anita to test some of my own theories about radio’s future in the presence of her research. The result is a clear strategy and plan of action. Now the rest is up to you. Click here to listen to my interview: Download Audio Or here for the sharable So

I’ve been writing a lot lately about the tie-breaking value of doing the “unnecessary” – The idea that doing what’s not necessarily “important” (at least not yet) can eventually become the decisive difference making your brand more desirable than all the others. Doing what’s “unnecessary” means doing what you don’t have to do. Or do you? Witness the astounding number of “unnecessaries” in Jeff Bezos’ most recent letter to shareholders, including this: When we’re at our best,