JournaMarketing

Why you face a communications Emergency!

I've embedded a video of a 1972 episode of Emergency! It's a silly show that I absolutely loved when I was a kid. And it's a small example of why your Web communications can no longer be boring.

This video comes from Hulu, the still-in-beta video site from NBC and other big media players. Hulu's taken a lot of criticism from Web pundits for being a closed system. It doesn't allow full downloading of programs. It's heavily locked up with anti-copying measures. Those things are true. But Hulu is slick. It lets me watch episodes of current and old shows, including shows from my childhood that I thought I'd never see again (like Emergency! and Adam-12). In the next few years, hundreds of old shows will be online and available at Hulu or similar sites -- probably for free, with some short ads inserted. That's why it's more important than ever that you zero in on the information your constituents and customers want to get from you. Talking about your organization's goals, or your company's products, won't cut it anymore. If you don't deliver exactly what people want, they'll just go watch Emergency!

Note: Yes, I admit this might not be my most profound post. But I needed an excuse to embed an episode of Emergency! on this blog.

Age of Conversation Podcast 7: Mack Collier

Mack Collier writes one of the most popular marketing blogs, called The Viral Garden.  He's a contributor to The Age of Conversation.  And he's the latest guest on The Age of Conversation Podcast, where he talked to about how the experience of Harley Davidson can help us all be better marketers and communicators.

Download/Listen (11 min. MP3)        

Show Notes for Episode 7:
1:00  Sharing the customers' mindset
4:30  What will it take for companies to change?
7:30  Businesses are beginning to understand new-media changes
9:00  Lessons for bloggers from The Viral Garden

Thanks to Saurab Bhargava for our theme song, called Conversations.  You can subscribe to the podcast here.

Technorati Tags: Age_of_Conversation, AoC_Podcast

Download/Listen (11 min. MP3)        

Show Notes for Episode 7:
1:00  Sharing the customers' mindset
4:30  What will it take for companies to change?
7:30  Businesses are beginning to understand new-media changes
9:00  Lessons for bloggers from The Viral Garden

What dog bites teach us about online communication

Have you ever wondered what to do if your dog bites someone? Probably not...but if your dog does bite someone, it might put you in a legal pickle that you're clueless about solving. That's why I thought it was pretty cool that our latest podcast for The Missouri Bar was all about the legal options for both sides in dog-bite cases. This is the kind of thing that is obviously a very, very narrow topic. And because of that, the interview we posted is probably one of the best resources anywhere on the Internet for helping people in that particular situation.

What strikes me about this episode is that an organization like The Missouri Bar can dedicate several minutes to a very narrow topic, without worrying about whether the local radio or TV station or newspaper will pick it up and run it. And now, lawyers all over Missouri (and elsewhere, too) can point to that resource when some worried pet owner calls them with questions about what to do in a dog-bite case.