BevLog

I laughed when i saw this story from Washington Business Journal today online "Daily Update" - in Upstart. Sanjay Raman says, "Even if you're in front of a computer you're going to go to your phone. We think of mobile as the remote control for your life."

"Instead of the desktop-published blog or website, though, the new media company will be delivered via mobile, and advertising will be different. We fundamentally believe you'll be able to build a large ad-supported on mobile." But he doesn't say how?

This sounds a lot like what I'm reading about in a book recommended by friend Pat, "Social Media is B.S." by B. J. Mindelson. "Most of the b.s. involving things like 'social media,' 'big data,' 'The Cloud,' and 'Web 2.0' spreads in a pattern...how marketers make up b.s. and use it to position themselves as experts on it."

So how does advertising revenue support this "latest trend?" Stay tuned - or should I say, "Stay on your iPhone?"

The Washington Post ran a story in Education, "Cursive handwriting disappearing from public schools." As a copywriter, that really caught my eye. I hadn't thought about writing vs. handwriting. "For many students, cursive is becoming as foreign as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. In college lecture halls, more students take notes on laptops and tablet computers than with pens and notepads."

"It's seeing the writing on the wall," said Patricia Granada, princpal at Eagle View Elementary in Fairfax County (VA). The story went on, "Computer-reliant curricula squeeze out cursive." One teacher who is "for" teaching cursive pointed out one reason why: "If you're going to be a famous soccer player, you need a signature for autographs.

Then I found out that the Wall Street Journal ran a story back in January reporting "what once would have been heresy: They (teachers) are writing off cursive script." What are students saying? "NO! OMG, 4get cursive. It's dead." Right. Write?

I was reading MediaPost update today and this story caught my eye: "Are mobile shoppers about to hear from their phones as they shop?" I thought it was an April Fools' Day joke. But...maybe not.

"Voice pioneer Nuance Communications today introduced a new mobile advertising format that lets people have two-way conversations with brands. Nuance says the new Voice Ads are designed to 'transform traditional mobile advertising into an engaging and entertaining conversational experience.'"

"If consumers can verbally interact with brands through ads, they just as easily could interact with them at the product level (locally) as they pass the items in a store...do you think shoppers are quite ready for the products to talk back to them?"

I think this is taking "branding" to a whole new level of hyper-local, "out-loud interactive." Question: Would you want someone in a store to hear you talking with a can of soup?

Hello...that was news to me. I saw the story in Business Journals "Upstart" online today. "Is print really dying, or just getting nichier?" "Don't let stories about the imminent death of print - especially magazines - fool you," says Samir Husni, founder and director of The Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi.

On his website, Husni tracks the number and names of magazines that have launched every month. In his latest post about launches, he reports that "66 new titles debuted on newsstands in the first month of the year."

MediaFindedr.com reports "195 print magazines launched in the United States in 2012...that's up from 181 total print magazines launched in 2011. There's a lot of money to be made with new magazine products." Let's keep an eye out on that trend - and audiences.

Last Friday I attended Sally Strackbein's Breakfast & Business Book Exchange here in Reston. The guest speaker ("storyteller") was Gwen Kinsey. She shared stories about being a leader (president and general manager) of four local TV stations in Rockville (IL), Sioux Falls (SD), Knoxville and Nashville (TN). She helped staff overcome overwhelming challenges and increase ranking from #4 to #2 and win regional journalism awards. Gwen is now coaching leaders beyond short term success.

Gwen's storytelling generated lots of energy in the room. Sally encouraged us to pair up and share a story of our own with the person sitting next to us. Lots of fun - and that reminded me of how powerful storytelling can be.

It was also a great showcase for Sally (Defining Story(R) - Speaking & Storytelling for Busness Success) because Gwen is a client. And it motivated us all to do more storytelling. Don't forget that valuable marketing tool you can use at your next networking event.