Are smartphones killing websites? And… Facebook is losing its cool among teens. Plus, rants and raves about IHOP (or is it IHOB?), the “Truth Initiative,” and more. It’s episode 84 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 sa

Do influencers really influence anything? And… Adidas unfriends Facebook. Maybe your brand should, too. Plus, rants and raves about the Earth-shattering consequences of Best Buy’s new logo, a newspaper’s wet-look ad that looks too real, and Google’s new AI that’s almost too human. It’s episode 83 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 yo

Long live fake fame! And… Is Facebook killing comedy? Plus, rants and raves on what a famous handbag owes to the back of an airplane sick-bag, the wondrous origin of the most famous Coke jingle in history, and the mystery surrounding the seeming impossibility to recreate Beyonce in wax. It’s episode 79 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

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

Should you buy followers and likes on social media? And… How to profit from the spoils of streaming? Just ask The Weeknd. Plus, rants and raves about the couple who learns to survive without food (?) and a long-overdue update on news from wax museums around the world. It sounds better than it looks, folks. Just like the idea of a wax museum itself. It’s episode 66 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. This episode is brought

YouTube has announced that they will no longer support 30-second ads that viewers can’t skip, starting 2018. No more. Nada. Zip. Why? A YouTube spokesman said… We’re committed to providing a better ads experience for users online. As part of that, we’ve decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers. This change will not affect shorter ads – the 20-second videos and six-second bumpers

Now that Facebook is all but “pay for play,” what’s the best way for you to maximize your time and your investment on the platform as you build out your social media engagement for your radio brand? No longer is it worth wasting time posting for posting’s sake. And no longer is money involved in Facebook advertising so small that it doesn’t matter. So what should you do? And what shouldn’t you do? Those are the questions tackled in a new report based on an analysis of data fr

Cue the panic in the radio streets. Facebook is moving into the audio space by making available a publishing tool called “Live Audio.” “Should you be worried?” asks Radio Ink (which should be in a position to answer that question rather than ask it). First, let’s acknowledge the utter inevitability of this announcement. Facebook’s job is to extract dollars from potential advertisers who value the platform’s virtually infinite and addressable audience and want to reach them in

Deflating fake news hysteria on Facebook. And… Who needs facts when you have belief? A shockingly thoughtful conversation about the role of facts in marketing – and in Presidential elections. Plus, rants and raves about the voter who was determined not to know who the election winner was, the vast time wasted by people looking for something to watch on TV, and the huge number of small businesses that claim to use social media for marketing, yet don’t have their own Facebook p

We all know the folks in the print business are being squeezed by digital. At the New York Times total revenue fell 1% while Gannett Co. reported revenues down almost 9%. And remember, those declines take into account any growth in digital. But this note from MediaPost is particularly telling: It’s worth noting that [circulation] revenues now make up 59.7% of NYTCO’s total, up from 41.3% in the third quarter of 2010. The proportion derived from advertising has fallen from 51.

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

How do radio, online radio, and podcasting fit into the larger pattern of tech trends washing over today’s audiences? What’s the power of audio in the first place? Peter Kafka is a great person to ask. Peter is Senior Editor for Media at Re/code, the digital news platform launched by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg. Peter has been covering media and technology since 1997 for Forbes, forbes.com, and the brand that became Business Insider. He is the host of the “Recode Media wit

“Inspired.” “An engaging read.” The critics gushed over the new book by Robert Galbraith. Imagine the author’s disappointment, then, when after three months, his book had sold only 1,500 hardcover copies. Until one day. That was the day the book shot from #4,709 on Amazon’s bestseller list to #1. What happened to make this dog into a star, and so suddenly? This was the day that Robert Galbraith’s secret identity was revealed. He was also known as J. K. Rowling, author of the

I heard a story recently from a Buzzfeed exec. As part of their never-ending experimentation with new platforms – and as part of their desire to play a joke on the boss – they filled the boss’s office with goats and hay while the boss was temporarily away at a meeting. What would happen when he came back to his office to see…that?! The whole scene ran on Facebook Live and the metrics, as with all things Buzzfeed, were through the roof. But here’s the interesting part of the s

Is podcasting the hot new thing? Maybe. But it is not the hot everything, not even when it comes to audio. Look at Facebook, a platform that was driven primarily by text until recently, when it became driven primarily by images and later by video. Now the big news is that Facebook is pivoting towards LIVE video. Facebook is reportedly tweaking their algorithm so that you’ll see a lot more live video in your newsfeeds. According to a company post, “Facebook Live videos are mor

How the magazine business is winning – that’s right, winning! And… Introducing your new favorite TV network: Facebook! It’s episode 38 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about Tina Fey’s secret to a long life and Chris Rock’s Oscar Girl Scout cookie stunt. 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.

Rush Limbaugh’s contract is up and it’s decision time – not only for Rush but for the industry which awakens to a 2016 where, for better or worse, Rush is the most famous name in radio. And it’s time for Rush Limbaugh to go. Now this is nothing personal. Rush has had an amazing symbiotic relationship with radio over the years he has been behind the mic, and for that a great many listeners, broadcasters, and clients are grateful. And when Rush moves on, obscurity will not be t

Everybody wants to go viral. It’s as if your little corner of fame or infamy is not complete unless you have some tidbit of content achieving the kind of exponential exposure that used to require things like, say, TV or radio. The same goes for those who create audio content and post it online with all the best intentions and hopes for a viral miracle. So the other day I read something that stopped me cold. It was a comment from Jenna Weiss-Berman, director of audio at BuzzFe

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

Yesterday I published a post that detailed how the typical radio station’s Facebook strategy is, at best, off-base, and at worst, non-existent. To coin a phrase, that post “went viral” and generated a bunch of response, most of which came privately (such is the fear of consequences in the radio industry). I’m going to share some of those responses with you along with my answers. All of the feedback I received is thoughtful and sincere, and most of it reflects an inherent fric