A Practical Hands-On Marketing and Advertising Blog

By 2020, big data technology will turn every person into his/her own mobile health network. Each person will wear a device — a ring, a bracelet, a Google Glass — wirelessly connected to an app that will monitor and transmit vital signs and key indicators of every condition they have.

The stealth cyberwar between the US, Israel and Iran is child’s play compared to the techno-war brewing in virtually every major retail store. Since the physical act of shopping will never disappear, the savvy players are investing in technology to better engage audiences and steadily increase market share. 

Content is the new black. Content is the new media. Content is everything. Content is king. Content is over-hyped. Many of my clients feel compelled to create or curate content as an adjunct to the goods or services they produce. The theory is that content is stickier. Content drives repetitive site visits and purchases. Content provides context. And content differentiates brands one from another.

If I had a dollar every time a client asked about media mix or tried to define which channel accomplishes a particular marketing task or objective, I’d be as rich as Mark Zuckerberg. In spite of an explosion of channels, media and marketing strategies, there are no rules of thumb and there is no consensus on what does what. This gets confusing quickly when you consider the continuously evolving array of digital, social and mobile options. As a result, marketers chase this illusive beast in search of a framework for allocating time, effort and money and for measuring key performance indicators (KPIs).