Robert McKee is a teacher of Story and author of the classic book Story. Style, Structure, Substance and the Principles of Screenwriting. Past students of Mr. McKee’s include people like Peter Jackson, Russell Brand, Jimmy Fallon, Julia Roberts, Geoffrey Rush, Kirk Douglas, David Bowie, Meg Ryan, John Cleese, and many more. McKee is hosting an event on how to use story in business called Storynomics on March 19 in LA. I’ll be there. So should you. Click below to watch our Q&A

How the media got the Brian Williams story all wrong. And… Hey newspapers! Want a younger video audience? Try a sock puppet! It’s episode 13 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, Tom rants about Cindy Crawford’s face and so much more, while Mark rants about HLN’s pathetic “News and a Movie” 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

How do you make a news story go viral? Also: Marriott – it’s a hotel chain; no, it’s a film studio! And what that means for all brands. It’s episode 11 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, Tom rants about the Pope who pulls no punches and Mark rants about TV’s Celebrity Apprentice, which is setting back the practice of marketing by 50 years. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button b

Disney chief Bob Iger is on the cover of the new issue of Fortune, pictured in front of Star Wars’ legendary Millennium Falcon. I can’t imagine a picture that could speak more loudly about content and branding and distribution and the role of fan passion in powering a media behemoth. Highlights of the piece in The Wrap indicate three lessons that should be heard loud and clear by radio broadcasters: 1. Iger focuses on both content and technology “There are a lot of companies

Nobu Matsuhisa is a celebrity chef and restaurateur. So how could he possibly know what your audio brand is about? Well, creating audio is like cooking in more ways than one. Matsuhisa: For me, cooking is about giving my customers little surprises that lead them to make discoveries about their own latent desires. Little surprises to make discoveries about what they desire that they don’t even necessarily know they desire. As Bob Deutsch artfully writes in Fastcocreate: Whatev

If your brand is a story, then how can you best bring that story to life? Who knows more about story that the artists who work at Pixar – past, present, and future? In this conversation from hivio 2014, the audio future festival, Mark Ramsey talks with former Pixar story artist Emma Coats. Emma got her start in story at Pixar Animation Studios in 2007 on the feature film Brave. While at Pixar she also worked on such films as Monsters University and Inside Out. Since leaving P

Sometimes I just want to scream. Like when I read a piece in Radio Ink titled “Consumers do not know about the Power of Radio.” That’s right. With five radios in every household and radio presumably being a part of virtually everyone’s daily habit, we consumers “do not know about the power of radio.” We consumers must be stupid or something. As a result, say Radio Ink’s 40 “Power Players,” “Radio needs to tell a better story.” Yes, the clichés are flying like monkey dung. Wat

“Will you talk to me?” I mean, one-on-one? It’s my observation that most program directors spend infinitely more time talking to the ratings reports than talking to actual listeners.  Needless to say, this confuses input (listeners) and outcome (ratings). As a practitioner of consumer research, I’m not foolish enough to believe that one conversation with one listener represents a fact, but it does represent a story.  And the sum total of all listener behavior is the sum total

Recently I was interviewed by a reporter for a major advertising trade, and she asked me whether broadcasters “see the light” that shines on future opportunities, or are they stuck in the past, defending an industry structure that will never be what it once was. Many do see that light, I explained.  And there are two stories broadcasters can tell, one of which is unfortunately favored over the other. The first story is one of decline. It’s one where radio reacts reflexively t

Imagine you're around a campfire on a dark and cold night. Is it time to tell a scary tale?  You bet it is. And if it's a tale of ratings horror, what could be scarier? And if you prefer your horror in audio form, click here. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Is it too early for Arbitron to go "Boo!"? Nope, it's never too early for