…I now declare myself Chief Branding Officer at Fixion Media.
What is a CBO? “The CBO forms a human bridge between logic and magic, strategy and design.”
This is my inspiration:
Filed under: The Future, Branding
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…according to a recent study conducted by Ipsos:
“There is a positive and a negative spin regarding the marquee media brands. On one hand we clearly see their superior performance as sources of authoritative, trusted, influential information – linked to their similarly strong profile as providers of insight. On the other hand, one could argue that their strengths in these other areas have not paid off in terms of delivering superior insight.”
Insight, otherwise known as “connecting the dots”, is an essential skill in the business world. Without layering as much info as possible, it becomes impossible to create valuable insight.
Filed under: Case Studies, Branding, Leadership
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This AdAge.com article says it best in its ‘Five Platinum Rules’ for Effective Digital Ads:
5. Optimize creative. Pre-testing is relatively rare outside TV, but it can make a difference in digital, too. Marketing Evolution has found much if not most of the variation in campaign effectiveness comes from the creative, not the media buy.
I concur. While spending $2,500 or $10,000+ for rich media banners, Flash overlays, or other forms of interactive ads may be prohibitive, it is worthwhile perhaps to rely less on volume of ads purchased within your media plan in favour of including some form of advanced creative component.
On the other hand, I’ve seen simple animated GIF ads perform better than their costly interactive counterparts, but in all cases the design/pitches were compelling from the getgo. No matter how big or small your brand, the messaging has to be attractive and effective. Typically, dropping some coin on design helps in that department.
Filed under: Client Side, Media Planning, Branding
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It’s a little known secret that rock stars often have “other jobs” beyond their musical careers. Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson is one such rocker with a pastime as a commercial pilot. He is even flying fans to shows at a reasonable cost. How cool is this:
The best way to go to a Maiden show! This is your chance to fly on ED FORCE ONE - the actual 757 plane currently transporting the band crew and equipment around the world on the first leg of their SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME TOUR - with Captain Bruce Dickinson.
The interior seating will have been reverted back to its original format, but the plane, including the IRON MAIDEN livery (subject to wear and tear) will be exactly as the band and crew have experienced these past months travelling the world.
You too will be flown by Captain Bruce Dickinson, and later witness him on stage with IRON MAIDEN for their amazing two hour show before flying back or staying overnight.
Unfortunately private jets are only typically reserved for uber-rock stars and the uber-wealthy now. While Maiden might fit the former bill, I think the originality of the offering to fans is part of reason why Iron Maiden has such a loyal following.
Where it relates to Bruce Dickinson, he has a serious fetish for transportation-related activities. I’ve seen Your Man on countless TV shows and documentaries about trains and planes. Having seen Iron Maiden’s “Ed Force One”, I can only respect him even more for following his passion and effort to engage fans.
When you have time Bruce, let’s discuss a triangular high speed rail linkup between Montreal, Toronto, and New York City. North America needs your help!
Update! Check out this video. The plane goes beyond PR value according to Bruce:
Hat tip to Blabbermouth.net for the video.
Filed under: Personal Branding, Travels
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The design cycles are growing closer together. It’s clearly (and nearly) time to launch the new site.
Filed under: Announcements, Fixion Media News, The Future
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What happens when I find myself with 5 minutes to burn on a Sunday? This week I started a Facebook group called “Twitter Petition For International Users” which has the following description:
This Facebook group is a lazy effort to bring equality to global Twitter users that cannot at present take advantage and enjoy the same powerful uses of that of U.S. users given the SMS cap of 250 received messages per week. Viewing messages on the web or RSS, albeit useful, is not what Twitter is all about.
Considering that Twitter has been useful for me in a business capacity I thought this to be a useful cause for thousands of other users.
NB. I have not yet consumed any Saint Patties day drinks. This is a lucid experience. 
Filed under: Politics, The Future, Twitter, Leadership
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Mitch Joel’s blog posting titled, “Marketers - I Believe The Children Are Not Our Future”, tackles a tangible issue facing marketing companies at the moment. While I agree with Mitch’s stance on the whole, I likewise must default to the theory that educational institutions shouldn’t cater wholly to the needs of corporations. Rather, the government should generally guide and fund educational programs that cater to new and/or emerging markets without influence. Otherwise, the learning process is tilted off its axis and becomes a forum to learn “answers to the test”–in this case the skills needed for a particular job function–rather than instilling knowledge and passion into vibrant young minds.
There is another layer to this problem and it is the institutional reliance on the almighty resume. I would bet that there are thousands of teenagers pulling computers apart in their basements and building ad-hoc networks. School might not be for them. There are also thousands more editing their own YouTube videos, designing Flash applications, or creating powerful social networking groups. Yet school mightn’t be for them either. Such types of independently-minded workers are all around us–they might simply lack the proper “corporate environment” at present to thrive. This is especially important in that money as a motivating force is less important now than ever. I have excluded people that operate small businesses for the sake of making a point here, but it’s important to note that such workers couldn’t possibly be in contention for such job openings because they perhaps value freedom, time, and creativity more than the average person. This makes them too costly to employ for the average corporation. But I digress.
Building a successful company involves growing its revenues, getting more focussed, hiring staff members in cycles, and aggrandizing the overall apparatus of a given company. The irony is that Web 2.0 and social media are areas in opposition to concepts like “corporation-building”, which involves skilful layering of executives, staff members, investors, and clients required to achieve success. In the new economy, more people are clearly interested in making their personal brands matter within specific corporate climates, which for obvious reasons is often a conflicting ideal vis-a-vis that of corporate prerogative.
At the end of the day, there are only a handful of “types” of people out there: leaders, workers, those in between, those on the outside, and the “owners” who serve to manage the leaders. Since more people want to be leaders or owners than ever before, it’s fairly clear to me that’s it’s going to take far more than pinpoint precision educational programs and goofy 2.0 office settings. We’re in this for the long-haul and corporations need to take responsibility to breed, train, and provide the opportunity for upward mobility based on meritocratic policies.
Perhaps the brand of the future will consist of dozens or hundreds of companies intertwined in a progressive new form of organization of equals. Equality is a rare concept in the business world though. That’s a lot of egos to check at the door.
Filed under: Rants, Economy, Social Media, Politics, The Future, Leadership, HR
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By way of Blender, I’ve listed some of the highlights below. To read the full article, please click here.
#15 MCA’s teen-pop calamity
How sure was MCA that slinky Irish teen Carly Hennessy was going to be a gargantuan pop star? So sure that in 1999 they staked the former Denny’s sausage spokesmodel with a $100,000 advance, $5,000 a month in living expenses and an apartment in Marina Del Rey, California, spending roughly $2.2 million in all on her 2001 debut, Ultimate High. How wrong were they? In its first three months in stores, Ultimate High sold a whopping 378 copies, putting the label’s investment somewhere in the order of $5,820 per copy sold. Last seen, Hennessy had resurfaced—still looking for her big break—on season seven of American Idol.
#12 Geffen pumps millions into (the nonexistent) Chinese Democracy
Ten years ago, Guns N’ Roses still looked like a good investment—they’d gone platinum 32 times. So in 1998, Geffen Records could be forgiven for paying Axl Rose a million bucks to complete GNR’s fifth album, promising a million more if he delivered it soon. (Rose had already spent four years working on the LP, losing every original bandmate in the process.) Beset by perfectionism, lack of focus and plain-old nuttiness, Rose never got that bonus million. But his label kept spending: In 2001, monthly expenses totaled $244,000. Four producers and a gazillion guitar overdubs later, the album is no closer to release. And Geffen’s in the red for $13 million.
#8 Warner junks Interscope
When anti-rap crusaders wanted to deliver a body blow to hip-hop, they took aim at the Warner Music Group, because its corporate parent, Time Warner, was American-owned and publicly traded. When Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” became too hot to handle, Warner Music dropped him, but the label still enjoyed huge rap hits—particularly through Death Row Records, partially owned by their Interscope label. But when Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole attacked Warner Music in his stump speech, Time Warner panicked, ordering the sale of Interscope to rival Universal. Universal soon became the biggest record company in the world—in large measure due to Interscope hits by Tupac, Dr. Dre and Eminem. Warner Music went on a long slide and was finally sold in 2004.
#2 Decca Records A&R exec tells Fab Four, “No, thanks”
Dick Rowe was not the only record-label executive who passed on the Beatles in the early ’60s, but he was the only one who brushed off their manager, Brian Epstein, with the astute prediction that: “Groups with guitars are on their way out.” Epstein begged Rowe to reconsider, so Rowe hopped a train to Liverpool to check out the band live. When he arrived at the Cavern, he found a mob of kids trying to force their way into the club in the pouring rain. Annoyed, he smoked a cigarette, went home and signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.
What’s #1? Check out Blender.com for full details.
Filed under: Funny, Music Industry
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Rob is the President & CEO of the Fixion Media advertising network. We represent the finest in metal, hard rock, and alternative music web sites and by proxy millions of unique monthly visitors.
