The Jacobs Media Blog

I wish I had thought of that headline, but alas, it was written by Eric Wheeler, CEO of 33Across, a social targeting firm. Appearing in Ad Age Digital, his article has made the rounds on Twitter and in the process, shaking up the room.  As Wheeler observed, “If you told Don Draper that campaigns as he knew them […]

Every PD faces this challenge, usually several times a year.  How do you take a heritage event that many stations celebrate and make it stand out from the pack? That was a challenge that many classic-based stations faced during the Pink Floyd re-issue celebration, “Why Pink Floyd.” Radio got a lesson from Jimmy Fallon.  During […]

At The Radio Show last month, I was fortunate enough to spend a major chunk of a dinner with an Austrian morning show duo, Dani Linzer and Meinrad Knapp.  When I asked Dani about her impressions of the convention, she told me that while it was wonderful to be there, she was surprised by how […]

Just a few weeks ago, we posted our take on Netflix’s decision to essentially divide its company between its movie download division and a new DVD division called Qwikster. At the time, we (along with thousands of folks on Facebook and Twitter) castigated Netflix for making an extremely lame move that otherwise took a brand […]

Our on-staff social media maven, Lori Lewis, is always looking for “best practices.”  She found a great example of corporate communication from none other than one of the world’s global icons.  Enjoy. What a headline. Sir Richard Branson? The Founder and Chairman of Virgin Records who has an empire that is described as “300 companies […]

In our continuing conversation about sales, I was taken by a brief article last week in Radio Info. They reported that Kroger’s ad agency announced that they will not buy time on radio stations that use “commercial-free” as a marketing device to advertise their grocery stores.  There have subsequently been a number of comments – pro […]

During the past several days, we’d had a wide open discussion about the current state of radio sales, and the opportunities that stations have to rethink the “givens.” The Magid infographic from Tuesday provided data that backs up a lot of what Bob Pittman was talking about at The Radio Show – that radio is […]

A lot has been said, and will be said by people more eloquent than me about the passing of Steve Jobs.  There are many perceptions of him that have intensified over the years as he became a cult figure in our culture – genius, control freak, entertainer, hard-driving executive, perfectionist. But perhaps the video below […]

In our continuing theme devoted to redefining and rethinking radio sales, let’s take a look at an area that may lose me a friend or two – the concept of the Director of Sales.  Now I’m not suggesting that all those DOS’s aren’t doing their jobs.  In fact, most are dedicated, hard-working former sales reps and sales […]

This week, we’re looking at the radio sales conundrum, taking off on new Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman’s speech at The Radio Show earlier last month. He noted that radio has not traditionally gotten its fair share of “the revenue pie,” and much of that is due to the industry not telling its story effectively. As […]

I knew today’s post title would grab your attention.  Well, maybe not, because sales isn’t usually regarded as the “entertainment” side of radio.  And as many who got into the programming/performance side of the business will tell you, they never had much of an interest in sales. But I would submit to you that the […]

As the founder of the 140 Characters Conference program, Jeff Pulver (pictured), will tell you that Twitter exemplifies the power and impact of the real-time web.  (Jeff will be one of our featured guests at the Jacobs Media Summit, in partnership with Arbitron’s Client Conference on December 6-8). Over the past couple of years, millions […]

Today’s guest blog comes from resident hockey fan and diehard Buffalo supporter, Ralph Cipolla.  It’s a great lesson in CX – and how anyone and everyone from an organization can roll up their sleeves and get involved.  Let the puck drop… First, full disclosure.  This blue, gold, and white blog is a labor of love.  […]

Our jacAPPS division has grown by leaps and bounds in the past three years, thanks largely to robust interest in the mobile space and a strong staff of hard-working Michiganders who are great at what they do. We get asked a lot about what makes a great app, the questions that brands need to ask […]

Here’s a comment – or better yet, a bitch – taken from Reddit, just one of many forums where Facebook customers are expressing anger and frustration at how their privacy is deteriorating. As they say, that’s an N of 1.  To look at more than 1,000 people who weighed in last Thursday on SodaHead.com, here’s […]

What do you do when you have a new product offering and you want to simply and effectively get the word out to your entire customer base – while not disrupting your everyday business?  You take every opportunity to tell them about it. Google+ is now open to everyone, so the mission is to let […]

What do you do when you have 160-something broadcasts a year, all of which are pretty much the same, and yet you want to do something special that can help you get noticed at a time when attention spans may be waning a bit? Many radio stations go through this problem every week.  Client remotes, […]

I have to confess that I’ve never understood the science (assuming that’s the correct way of looking at it) of managing rates. On the radio station side, it is an incredible juggling act.  When can you raise rates?  Is it driven by ratings, results, available inventory, or a combination of all these things?  When do […]

Yes, the nation’s retailers are once again hoping and praying for a strong end-of-year shopping season.  And in anticipation, a new study from Motista is urging holiday-dependent businesses to not just push the emotional button (friends, family, giving, etc.) but connect with customers in a meaningful way. Thus, there is more value in the emotionally […]