17 March 2014

Native Advertising is having a bad week.

What You Think You Know About the Web Is Wrong
by Tony Haile
imageMyth 3: Native advertising is the savior of publishing
On a typical article two-thirds of people exhibit more than 15 seconds of engagement, on native ad content that plummets to around one-third.

Native Ads Aren’t Engaging Readers
by Greg Sterling
imageNative ads are the “it format” of digital media right now. Perceived to be less visually disruptive and able to command premium pricing, publishers are widely embracing them.

No One’s Looking at Your Native Ads, Either
by  Peter Kafka
imagePeople who look at this stuff can’t wait to stop
reading it.

This all sounds vaguely familiar…

07 December 2012
What is Digital Advertising?
image… The newest buzz-phrase has me completely baffled: Native Advertising.  One social media guru described it as advertising that is ‘baked into’ the content. I guess it’s sort of like the old Burns & Allen Show where one episode had Gracie baking a cake using Betty Crocker Cake Mix, a sponsor.

Or was that product placement?  Madison & Vine?  I’m still confused.  Whatever it was, I know it doesn’t work anymore, is old school, and nowadays native advertising is the future, and all advertisers should be all over it or their businesses will fail.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

06 March 2014

The Déjà Vu No New News News

It’s always a treat to get up, make some coffee, open the newspaper (pixels or pulp) and read nothing new:

Why Boomers Are More Likely To Succeed as Entrepreneurs
imageA study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reported that the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity over the last few years is not Gen-Y upstarts, but Baby Boomers in the 55-64 year age group. In fact, Boomers are actually driving a new entrepreneurship boom as they retire from their traditional corporate jobs and seek more meaningful sources of work.

How far back do you want to go?

March 25, 2005
CVRCompADVERTISING TO BABY BOOMERS Targets Clients and Entrepreneurs
A large section of the book is dedicated to helping Baby Boomer entrepreneurs get their marketing and advertising up and running. The author as well gives advice and guidance to the small businessperson on how to fashion a handmade campaign.

27 August 2005
Baby Boomers Conquer Self-Employment Market
imageThe interesting thing is this boom, which is said will resemble the dot. com boom of the late ‘90’s, will be led by baby boomers and would-be retirees and tend to be better educated, healthier, and more tech-savvy than their 20-something predecessors.

Or check out all of these posts from the past:

Entrepreneurs & Baby Boomers
All of a sudden every other news article about Baby Boomers is focused on business and entrepreneurs.

Part II of The Déjà Vu No New News News next déjà vu.

28 February 2014

Creative Alliances

I’m tired. No real post here. 

imageI have an excuse. Shingles. What a treat to be a member of a non-exclusive Over-Sixty Club of Post-Chicken Pox Martyrs.

It’s waning, almost over, so don’t feel too bad for me. You could’ve felt bad for me two or three weeks ago if you’d known about it.

So nothing really about advertising this time. I’ve been blogging on HuffPost and you’ll be sent over there (I think this is called repurposing):

Creative Alliances Post-50
growingupbProductivity in later stages of life is nothing new … Lately, it's become the zeitgeist of all generations over 50. Creative alliances are blossoming.

Check out the two-minute trailer for Growing Up Bonobo.

If the HuffPost piece were here, I’d stuff it in somewhere on this page:

Human Resources/Brain Power

That’s it.  I’m taking a nap.

13 February 2014

Events

Mary Furlong and a slew of impressive sponsors present:

The What’s Next Boomer Business Summit
http://boomersummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BoomerBusiness_Logo.pngFor more than a decade, MFA has collaborated with the American Society on Aging (ASA) to present the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit in conjunction with ASA’s annual Aging in America national conference. Scheduled this year for March 11–15 in San Diego, California, Aging in America is the nation’s largest multidisciplinary conference on aging issues…

I’ve been to a few:

14 March 2006
What's Next? Boomer Business Summit
I'll be hopping off the blogging merry-go-round for a week or so to participate in Mary Furlong & Associates/BFA's Third Annual What's Next? Boomer Business Summit in Anaheim.

Sydney, Australia in April:

The Mature Market
Engaging Australia’s Most Astute and Affluent Demographic
One-day connected forum with two half day post-forum workshops.

image    image
Kevin Lavery
(The New Millennium Tales) and Gill Walker (Evergreen Marketing) will speak and conduct workshops.  

Toronto, Canada in June:

imageAge Aware Summit 2014
SERC is hosting The Age Aware Summit, an interactive conference for business leaders, marketers and marketing communication professionals.

The Keynote Speaker:

dicksDick Stroud is quickly achieving worldwide recognition as a leading expert in understanding the implications of physical aging on the way older people behave and the products they buy.

_____

Just for fun – my HuffPost Blog:

The Funny Thermometer
Ever use one of those newfangled temperature-takers?

31 January 2014

Brains

I’ve already declared this The Year of Fashion, so that’s that. Too late to drape the annum in a new cloak.

In January 2010 I declared it to be:

The Year of The Baby Boomer Brain 
… For many years, scientists thought that the human brain simply decayed over time and its dying cells led to memory slips, fuzzy logic, negative thinking, and even depression. But new research from neuroscien­tists and psychologists suggests that, in fact, the brain reorganizes, improves in important functions, and even helps us adopt a more optimistic outlook in middle age.

I had to do some searching to find the above, wasn’t sure which year was the year of the baby boomer brain. I guess my cranial hard drive needs to be cleaned and defragmented:

Older People's Brains May Be Slower, But Only Because They Know So Much, Study Says
The Huffington Post|By Emily Thomas
imageA new study from Germany has likened the memory abilities of older people to full hard drives: They don’t lose cognitive power over time; they just function slower because of an increasing amount of information.

"The human brain works slower in old age but only because we have stored more information over time," lead researcher Dr. Michael Ramscar said in a written statement…

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSdx3ZSii4vQSTh2jXBk_lP2wHIHfgRRe4b1ejJZO63jKZKVonOuMwYRmFJStx8H9qO-PvgYQpM&usqp=CAYWhew.  I don’t need a new C:Drive.  The one I have is plenty big, a terabyte or two.  It’s just slow. 

I could use a new monitor, however.  And maybe a Google Chromecast to stick in my ear.

Of course, Ronni Bennett has something to say about it all – along with a bunch of good links:

Senior Moments: A Feature, Not a Bug

Slog through posts about brains and some other stuff:

Human Resources/Brain Power
(2006-2012)

My question is …

What happens when hard drives become obsolete and everything ends up in The Cloud?