Rick Oppedisano
Broken Record: Fixing The Music Business
Five years ago, Kyle Murdock’s MySpace-fueled rise to major label status was the stuff of dreams. Today, he runs solo. But Murdock has fans, funding and enduring credibility- everything the majors promised but couldn’t deliver. How did he do what an established, prestigious major label couldn’t? A peek into the fall of the record business and what’s coming next.
Marketing’s Role In Preparing A Business For Sale
It is a myth that ostrich stick their heads in the sand when they sense adversity. The truth is that they use their long necks and very large eyes to spot predators early, and then either lay down to hide or run away. Like the ostrich, marketers need to look far ahead to see an approaching exit and craft a position to deliver the best outcome. Here’s how.
Apple Unveils iCloud, Changes Music Business- Again
Apple unveiled the iCloud, its new internet-based file storage service. A quick look at what it is, why you’ll love it and how it could change everything.
Making Sense of the LinkedIn IPO
Yesterday, the LinkedIn IPO became the hottest to hit the market since Google. But is it real? In light of the LinkedIn IPO runoff, let’s call out some business fundamentals and see how LinkedIn stacks up.
Flipped Off: Dead At Cisco, How The Flip Cam Could Be Saved
I’m trying something new to keep my writing fresh. The next few entries I write are intended to be read in 60 seconds or less. The first is a quick eulogy of the Flip cam and a thought on how it could’ve been saved.
Corporations Trying To Ride The Sheen Machine
Comedy is often defined as “tragedy plus time”, but in the world of social media, hours are condensed to minutes and minutes to seconds. A week ago, most of us thought Charlie Sheen was crazy, myself included. Today companies are trying to take advantage of Sheen’s Twitter phenomenon without taking on the risk of hiring him as a sponsor.
New Gap Logo Creates Stir
The Gap rolls out a new logo, people hate it, “crowdsourcing” debate ensues. Whaaat?
Best Social Media Screwups
Props to AdAge for sharing this slide deck highlighting the biggest social media misfires of the last 7 years. When the history of social-media marketing is written, it’s a fair bet that there’ll be a chapter or two devoted to the disastrous campaigns detailed in this slideshow.
A New Job, A New Challenge
In a growth business, it’s never to early to plan for what’s next. Our executive team took a look at the business and identified building out a high-performing partner channel as a priority for 2011. I was picked to lead this effort, so as of August 1, I left my comfort zone in marketing. Now what?
Marketing Lessons from Miles Davis
Miles Davis’ natural talent and artistic intuition was undisputable. But behind those gifts was a man with a plan, focused on establishing a solid working foundation for each new direction, knowing how, where and when to introduce change. Good marketing works the same way.
TMM Recommends: Panacea’s 12-Step Program
Authenticity refers to the truthfulness of origins, commitments, sincerity and intentions. 12 Step Program from Washington, DC’s Panacea is a welcome step back to a time when hip-hop was the most authentic art form out there.
Small Words, Big Gamble?
The most important tenets of content and positioning are simple: make it relevant, make it compelling, make it FAST. But on the web, is less really more?
TMM Recommends: BRMC
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s sixth album, Beat The Devil’s Tattoo, is partially inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Devil In The Belfry. In that tale, a methodical, boring and quiet little borough is devastated by the arrival of a devilish figure playing a big fiddle. This figure comes straight down from a hill, goes into the belltower, brutally attacks the belfry-man and rings thirteen o’clock, to the horror of the town’s inhabitants.
Hip To Be Square?
“Where are you right now?” might end up being the question of the year 2010 among marketers as location- specific services such as Foursquare become more popular. This post examines Foursquare and why it’s important, featuring industry expert Ira Bass.
Partnering Techniques: A Rep’s Point Of View
A previous TMM post touched on best practices for successful business partnering from a marketing perspective. Guest columnist Andy Blevins contributes some serious insight on how these concepts translate into tactics in the field.
TMM Recommends: Surfer Blood
Right now, as you read this, I am in the process of joining the Mile High Club. Not the one you may have joked about with your friends. I’m talking about the NEW Mile High Club, where the intimacy you share with strangers doesn’t happen in a cramped bathroom, it happens right there in your seat!
Make Marketing Matter To The Board
Your company’s Board of Directors should care about marketing. But the truth is, they probably don’t. Here are 4 ways to drive revenue and create real shareholder value around the marketing function.
2010: The Death of Marketing, The 4 P’s and Branding As You Know It
It’s been a good run, marketing. You taught us how to be a Pepper, showed us where the Beef was. But it’s all over now. The numbers don’t lie. 2010 will be the year marketing- as we know it- dies.
Building Sales Pipeline with Twitter
Marketers everywhere are talking about Twitter, but how are they using it to drive pipeline? Can it be done without becoming a spammer, or worse, leaving a bad impression?
5 Tips for Successful Business Partnering
Any good business partnership starts with one goal in mind- to increase shareholder value for both organizations involved, leveraging the partnership to provide highly differentiated services faster and at a greater value. Here are 5 tips for building rock-solid business partnerships.
