Tak Tik Boom

Money Is Their Leverage. Media Is Their Weapon.

Of all the silly, naive marketing notions that have accompanied the growth of the Internet, the most pervasive and foolhardy is the idea that the "consumer is now in charge."

The truth is exactly the opposite. The consumer today has less control than ever.

The web has intensified and consolidated the hold that large media entities and large marketers have on our culture, our economy, and our

Rethinking Our Addictions

I have a little ritual.

Each year, I wait about 10 days after the Super Bowl and then I go back and look at the spots.

The event is still fresh but the hysteria is gone. It gives me a little perspective on what marketers did and what I can glean from it.

Advertising always tends to reflect trends in the larger culture. That's a nice way of saying we steal shamelessly from whatever is popular.

Blogger Math Takes On Facebook

I saw some numbers last week on how the top 10 retail brands are doing on Facebook.

The numbers came from the 4th quarter of 2012 -- the Christmas selling season which is by far the best season for most retailers and, presumably, the season at which Facebook activity would be highest for retailers.

The numbers are startling.

We know that ads on Facebook are alarmingly invisible, with click

Claire Whately's generous Goodreads review of Spirit of Lost Angels.

Return Of The Friday Follies

Yeah, But He Read It Twice
A book entitled "Fire of Francis Xavier" was returned to the Fort Washington branch of the New York Public Library on Monday. It was 55 years overdue.

Trading Dollars For Pennies
Coca-Cola
received 910,000 votes for their online Super Bowl promotion. Sounds
like a great success until you calculate the cost -- 107,000,000 other
people had to sit through a pointless

Advertising Is Like Exercise

Here's what the ROI monkeys don't understand about advertising. They think you can advertise today and measure the results tomorrow. It doesn't work that way.

Advertising is like exercise.

If you're not used to running, and you run 5 miles today, you will not be stronger or healthier or feel better tomorrow. Or next week. As a matter of fact, you'll probably feel like crap.

But if you run 5

A big thank you to Kate Policani of Compulsively Writing Reviews for her lovely review of Spirit of Lost Angels.