Will the curtain come down on movie theaters? And… The New York Times can’t save the newspaper industry. Plus, rants and raves about why bad movies fail at the box office: It’s the critics’ fault, of course, the NFL’s peculiar standards on what brands can and can’t advertise during games, and why being a ghost writer for a YouTube star is the hot new career choice. It’s episode 65 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. This ep

10 media trends you need to know. And… Niche! It’s the new mainstream! Plus, rants and raves about lying with podcast trend statistics and more. It’s episode 60 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 for the audio. Sample and subscribe to Media Unplugged at iTunes. Or do the same at Stitcher. Or G

How can radio and other media brands do social media right? Why not ask the expert whose clients include NBC Universal, News Corp, and several OTT video players? Todd Beck is CEO & Founder of Beck Media & Marketing, the agency dozens of TV, OTT, and Tech companies look to for potent digital strategies that get results. Beck Media’s areas of focus span content creation and exploitation on TV, web, mobile, and social media, and whatever medium comes next. Todd was one of the fe

Dear advertisers: Our audience numbers are garbage! And… The road to Hell is paved with pageviews. Plus, rants and raves about the iPhone parody gadget which earned one startup 1.5 million visitors a day, the Brangelina wax figure divorce, and more. This is the episode to listen to if you’re a media brand perplexed that greater scale only drives down the value of your reach. It’s episode 51 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramse

Millennials say “out with blogs, in with podcasts!” And… Is TV doomed – thanks to ad blockers? Plus, rants and raves about “lit-bait,” the 4-year-old with the most-viewed YouTube channel in the world, and the final word on whether or not removing naked ladies was a smart move for Playboy magazine. It’s episode 50 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

Here comes the digital media shakeout! And… A recipe to reinvent your legacy media company. Plus, rants and raves about the faux innovations from Staples, Pepsico, and others, and how KFC gets the media to do the marketing for them It’s episode 49 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 for the aud

Kim Kardashian has great talent after all. And… Publishers spanked by Facebook’s changing newsfeed algorithm. It’s episode 45 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about the grand opening of Kelloggs All Day Cereal Cafe, PBS’s Capitol Fourth TV fakery, Lyft’s “Ghost Mode,” and an easy way to put your podcast on YouTube. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: A

Surprise! Distribution is KING! And… Time is running out for Big Media. It’s episode 39 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about an app that allows you to exchange your time for money, the ridiculous idea that movie review ratings should correlate to box office performance, and Neil Patel’s amazing Instagram experiment. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below

7 predictions about the future of media. And… Great advice for musicians – and marketers! It’s episode 34 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves on your chance to own your own movie theater for just $100 – 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 show notes go to the Media Unplugged site

Maybe distribution is king! And… Content is crap. Plus, rants and raves on the ridiculous controversy over Starbucks’ holiday red cup and REI’s Black Friday gimmick. It’s episode 31 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 for the audio. For show notes go to the Media Unplugged site. Sample and subs

5 must-hear trends in media and marketing. Plus… CMO’s say the darnedest things! It’s episode 30 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 for the audio. For show notes go to the Media Unplugged site. Sample and subscribe to Media Unplugged at iTunes. Or do the same at Stitcher. And if you like what

You’ll never guess how much music matters to Millennials! And… What happens when Stars ARE the Network? It’s episode 29 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, Playboy says “goodbye” to nudity, Meryl Streep thinks there aren’t enough female movie critics, and there’s actually something called “Paranormal Date.” Brand authority Tom Asacker and Media Strategist Mark Ramsey go inside what’s really happening in media. Listen

Anyone who knows me or who has been following this blog for a while knows that I am a champion for the primacy of unique and compelling content. You see, media is really about two things: Content and distribution. And distribution channels are inherently dumb conduits that need to be filled with the stuff audiences care about: Great content. That’s true of all dumb conduits, whether they be digital, analog, TV, podcasting, or radio. I have long argued that unique and compelli

Does This American Life’s “Serial” Podcast signal a new “Golden Age” for Podcasting? Nope. And we’re going to explain why. Also: Why is Beats crushing Bose – on YouTube? It’s episode 8 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we take the steam out of some overheated PR. Click the play button here: And if you’re reading this by email, click here for the audio. For show notes go to the Media Unplugged site. Don’t forget

I’ve watched with some bemusement a debate in broadcasting circles: Does it makes sense for broadcasters to embrace an abundance of digital tools – including video – to tell their stories and reach their audiences across platforms? Or should radio folks simply do better radio? After all, can you really compete with Hollywood? With ABC and NBC and CBS? Well of course you can. Indeed, people are doing it every day. And they’re doing it without the benefit of the magnificent sta

It’s episode 4 of Media Unplugged, and Tom Asacker and Mark Ramsey reveal the secret to BuzzFeed’s video success and uncover the real story underlying Netflix’s attack on the movie business. First, we discuss the magical pixie dust that makes BuzzFeed’s viral videos go viral and what that has to do with tapping consumer desire. Second, Netflix fires a bullet to the heart of theatrical distribution with their first-ever original motion picture, a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hid

Quick Summary: How do today’s tech startups launch and scale big and fast? By using a new union of traditional and direct marketing and business development that adds up to one thing: Growth. How can radio and other media brands become “growth hackers”? Ryan Holiday is the former Director of Marketing for American Apparel. He has promoted the works of authors like Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, Marc Ecko and Tucker Max. He is a devious genius when it comes to the art and science of

“If you repeat something often enough, folks will believe it.” That’s one of those old radio maxims that results from years of radio stations repeating positioning messages and years of consumers repeating them back to us. But do they really believe the messages? Or are they just skilled at repeating them back to us? And what if the message they’re repeating isn’t credible? And what if you know it isn’t credible and they know it isn’t credible? Or, worse, what if they don’t c

Is your radio brand just a radio brand? This past holiday season one movie changed what it means to be a “movie,” and there’s a lesson wrapped up in that change for any radio brand, too. The movie was Anchorman 2, and the “change” is outlined in the Slideshare presentation below from Gary Vaynerchuk: Anchorman 2 Changed what it Means to Be a Movie from Gary Vaynerchuk To quote Gary: What makes this different is that they’re not just using pre-existing assets [and repurposing

Before 1960, the drive-in was king. It was ground-zero for a demographic segment Hollywood had forgotten in its obsession to meet head on the challenge that was television, and that demo was teenagers. So a generation of films and filmmakers arose with that segment squarely in their sights. And chief among them was a director and producer who is still working today: The legendary Roger Corman. Even if you don’t know Corman you know the names of the A-listers whose careers Cor