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I know what you're probably thinking – how many more iPad posts do you have to read?   Well, on the Monday following the delivery of our iPad, the following email showed up: This is the customer service that companies like Apple, Amazon, and so many other new media companies believe in – and where radio […]

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As many of you know, our company has been fortunate to work with public radio in one capacity or another for more than a decade.  As a bunch of guys raised in rock, it has been a learning experience for us to gain a better understanding of non-commercial radio, and why it continues to work […]

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Venture capitalist and all-round wise person, Guy Kawasaki, has always approached doing business with logic and common sense.  I was fortunate enough to see him speak at last year's Convergence conference – the Radio Ink get-together that brings together lots of tech-savvy thinkers and doers.  In a recent New York Times "Corner Office" piece, Guy […]

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Sometimes the answer is right there in front of us. The economy in the past year and change has redefined the way we think about business, staff, margins, and sales.  Even as the recovery happens in earnest, a "new normal" has set in to radio stations throughout the country, in both small markets and in […]

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Our resident golf fan, Ralph Cipolla, chimes in about Tiger, The Masters, Nike, & marketing strategy.  FORE!! In 1995, Tiger Woods played golf for Stanford and Nike had zero presence in the golf world.  One year later, Nike cut a deal with the 21-year old PGA Rookie, and now the swoosh is the fastest growing […]

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Our resident golf fan, Ralph Cipolla, chimes in about Tiger, The Masters, Nike, & marketing strategy.  FORE!! In 1995, Tiger Woods played golf for Stanford and Nike had zero presence in the golf world.  One year later, Nike cut a deal with the 21-year old PGA Rookie, and now the swoosh is the fastest growing […]

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For the first time in more than 20 years, I am off to Las Vegas next week for the NAB Convention.  Over the years, our company has gravitated to the NAB Radio Show always held in the fall, skipping this spring mega-convention. But this year, we're going back to broadcasting's biggest show, and based on […]

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Over the last couple of days, we have talked about the importance of branding, even in the digital world of search and clicks.  Does it really matter whether you have a great brand when consumers simply looking for the cheapest price online? Brands do matter, and in the radio biz, they are especially important.  In […]

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Over the last couple of days, we have talked about the importance of branding, even in the digital world of search and clicks.  Does it really matter whether you have a great brand when consumers simply looking for the cheapest price online? Brands do matter, and in the radio biz, they are especially important.  In […]

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Yesterday, we talked about how Apple's PR efforts almost always create consumer excitement, while Microsoft – despite it size and heft – almost always fails to generate any positive buzz for its products. It simply comes down to product quality, for the most part, coupled with the consumer's experience over time.  Windows operating systems haven't […]

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The guy who designed the Ford Mustang, Donald N. Frey, died last month.  The New York Times notes that in Mike Mueller's book, Mustang: An American Classic, he talked about the frenzy that original pony car made 46 years ago this month: "Estimates claimed as many as four million people pushed their way into Ford dealerships that weekend alone…The few Mustangs […]

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We test drove our iPad all weekend, and it performed well.  Here's a quick video tour to give you a taste of what the newest gadget from Apple is all about:   If you want to talk iPad strategies for your apps, feel free to give us a call.

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On the eve of what could be a momentous launch of digital gadgetry – the release of the Apple iPad - I received the strangest email from Amazon regarding my Kindle.  It invited me to spend anywhere between $84.99- $119.99 on a sleek Kindle cover by Cole Haan. I'll tell you what – the coolest cover […]

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Some of you may be tired of hearing about Pandora in this blog, but I have a feeling that given its trajectory, I'm not going to be the only one expressing concern.  And as you'll see in the upcoming release of Jacobs Media's Tech Poll VI, your core listeners have discovered Pandora, allowing it to […]

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There is no shortage of articles and think pieces on the Internet about why Google has been successful – and what other organizations and businesses can learn from their ascendancy.  I have aggregated a few of these thoughts as they apply to our industry.    It is interesting to note that Google wasn't first.  We were […]

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There is no shortage of articles and think pieces on the Internet about why Google has been successful – and what other organizations and businesses can learn from their ascendancy.  I have aggregated a few of these thoughts as they apply to our industry.    It is interesting to note that Google wasn't first.  We were […]

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Barnes & Noble's controversial decision to appoint the head of their web division, William Lynch, to CEO of the entire company was surprising and bold. And it should be a message to the executive staffs of broadcasting and newspaper companies about the changing tides of the media business. Barnes & Noble has been getting its […]

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Yesterday, we took a look at how radio's robust spotloads may be conspiring to hurt the medium as the mobile Internet becomes ubiquitous.  But in the Internet world, we have seen the demands for web advertising, which has put pressure on traditional media.  Broadcast radio salespeople have a tough putt on their hands, as more and more advertisers […]

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Recently Sean Ross boldly took on the topic of radio commercial loads in his "Ross on Radio" column.  Sean's point was that given the proliferation and popularity of sites like Pandora and Slacker, consumers are making those inevitable comparisons.  And the results aren't very pretty. As Sean put it, "…Slacker and Pandora will never have […]

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Here we are, in the middle of March Madness, and there are certain things you can count on: upsets, untimely injuries, broken brackets, and …social networking. In an interesting strategic move, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt asked his team to give up their cell phones for the NCAA tournament.  The idea is that these devices […]

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