Brand Marketing Tips by Steve Poppe » blogging

Where the Geezers At?

Steve Poppe — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:47:17 +0000

I’m part of a demographic group that indexes very low for blogging. Only 7% of people over the age of 50 blog. So where my people at? What are they doing? A bunch are finding there way onto Facebook. And they’re using the web for search and commerce. They are “liking” the Jefferson Airplane and “Grateful Dead,” using the ether to remember the good old days. I suspect a handful are being social commentators on politics and morality, but probably limited to commenting rather than real Posting.

I’m just not feeling any high octane communications from the older guard. Where’s the mentoring? It not like Millennials don’t need it? Hell, they are listening to our music. (Disclosure, I like rap.) And just because the geezers don’t “check in” or “tweet” or “text” doesn’t mean they are out of it.

I want to hear first-hand from those who landed on the beaches of Normandy. I want to read stories about Woodstock. I want to hear from a real Mad Man. WordPress or some other blogging platform needs a campaign to gray up the web. Make it easier to set up sites and post. Plumb the depths of the blogging underserved. We need to hear from the 93% of those who are silent. This is a big commercial opportunity! It will make the web more exciting. And timeless. Peace.

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Some of My Favorite Bloggers.

Steve Poppe — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:05:44 +0000

I follow lots of people but a couple of my favorites are Charlene Li, Jeremiah Owyang, Peter Kim and Noah Brier. Charlene is just smart. She has morphed from a tech analyst to a social media expert to a management consultant, all within 3 years. She’s a media darling who reinvents herself almost annually. Jeremiah Owyang, who works with Charlene at the Altimeter Group is also another schmarty pants. He loves grids and quadrants, he loves to write, share and listen – and he loves to use technology. Analytical with a capital A.

Peter Kim is cut from the same cloth as Charlene and Jeremiah (all three are Forrester Research alums) but landed at the Dachis Group – a company filled with doers. Dachis will crack the code on bringing Web 2.0 to the enterprise and make a banana boat of bucks doing so. Peter likes to mix it up a bit. A proud man. Then there’s Noah Brier — chief strategist at the Barbarian Group. Like a racehorse in the paddock who you know will win the Derby someday, he’s exciting to watch. The beauty about Noah is you just don’t know what’s next. He’s random, brilliant, a doer and he loves bounding about in that paddock.

I wish these four blogged every day. If they would just give me a 100-150 words (no more Jeremiah), I’d be satisfied and so, so nourished. Please hit those keys. Peace!

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Blogging for Serious.

Steve Poppe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:07:37 +0000

Back in the day, most great writers went to work at a newspaper, magazine or ad agencies if they didn’t write books. This is still pretty much the case but today they have a new outlet for their craft the “blog.”

Blogs can be an entrée to jobs at print properties and ad agencies but they can also be an exit. The latter route – the exit – is growing and will continue to grow. Take A.O. Scott, the film reviewer for the New York Times. Mr. Scott is a wonderful writer and movie critic. Many believe his words and spend their hard-earned based upon his reviews. But he is one lone voice in the ink and digits that is The New York Times. A.O. Scott’s content is of value…he is an important brand. Were he to focus his craft on his own blog he could make some serious (cash). Today, Mr. Scott can choose to become a personal publishing brand and do things he couldn’t think of doing while at the NYT. (Not saying he will, it’s just an example.)

Today, a percent of great writers with mass appeal are getting out of the journalism business and get into the blogging business. In the blogosphere there will be lots of dreck… but there will also be a great deal of commercial successes. Blogging is a powerful, powerful medium (my blog aside, hee hee.) Peace!

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Nick Denton is a seer.

Steve Poppe — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Gawker Media sales are up 27% compared to the same quarter last year. Those are some pretty serious numbers in a normal economy, but today? Nick Denton, CEO, has been dinged by bloggers who used to write for him for tying pay to traffic. If a Gawker writer posts a story that gets lots of readership, s/he get lots of money. Turns out this American way fee enterprise stuff works. This dude is make some “right” calls.

I’ve always loved Gawker and the way it has helped transform media – just read a mainstream newspaper columnist five years ago and compare the story to that columnist’s style today – but today Mr. Denton’s approach is hitting pay dirt. Advertisers are following. This blogger-portal journalism space is not only viable, there are signs it’s thriving.

Denton is hiring big time writers, ad agency media chiefs are making qualitative recommendations (without reams of syndicated research) and the stuff is pulling. There area couple of reasons why, but the most obvious is that Gawker readers are Posters. 33% of its readers have their own blogs and media that indexes high for Posters is valuable media. A couple of days ago I wrote about the “influence factor,” a concept of Charles Buchwalter, svp at Nielsen. This is a perfect example of influence factor at work and why good Posters should command higher CPMs and rates. Nick Denton is a seer. (Are you listening Newsday?) Peace!

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Arenas and Adidas

Steve Poppe — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:55:00 +0000

Gilbert Arenas a nasty-good basketball player for the Washington Wizards has been blogging for Adidas. But in a recent post he let loose that the second Gilbert Arenas Signature Shoe is a major dud. In fact, he stated it looks like a ballerina slipper and he wouldn’t wear it.

What a mistake! Or not?

Sure it would have made great sense to have Mr. Arenas on board before the shoe went into production. Duh. By a strange twist of fate though, this approach may actually work for Adidas, but only if they recognize their folly and redesign the shoe to Mr. Arenas’s specification. It could become another New Coke debacle that turns into a positive. The player vs. corporation. If Adidas puts the power in the hands of the player, to really design a cool shoe, how much is that worth? Like a basketball game that has its ebbs and flows, Adidas need to go with this.

Stay tuned.

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