The Jacobs Media Blog

This morning’s blog has been guest written by resident video game player/fan, Eric Holmes: Kanye West and 50 Cent are the two biggest names in music right now and each had their new albums released on the same day Tuesday, September 11th.  Between the two of them, 1.6 million albums were sold in a week. […]

That’s the headline on this quarter’s Verizon Wireless magazine/catalogue and also a major focus of one of their TV spots.  It’s another reminder about how critically important mobile phones and Classic Rock are in the new media scheme of things. Of all the gadgets that respondents discussed in "The Bedroom Project," the mobile phone stood […]

I was driving through San Francisco a few weeks ago, and couldn’t help but notice the incessant iPod billboards all over their major freeways.  They were spectacularly large, and there were a lot of them.  It got me thinking – here’s a product that is simply hotter than hot (as of April, over 100 million […]

Jacobs Media’s Dave Beasing offer his thoughts on Mt. Dew’s marketing strategy: No, they haven’t see it, but they’re clearly learning a lot about their consumers’ attitudes in their own research.  In the Arbitron/Jacobs "Bedroom Project," one of the many revelations is the motivation for playing videogames.  The folks at ad agency BBDO and Mountain […]

Jacobs Media’s Dave Beasing offer his thoughts on Mt. Dew’s marketing strategy: No, they haven’t see it, but they’re clearly learning a lot about their consumers’ attitudes in their own research.  In the Arbitron/Jacobs "Bedroom Project," one of the many revelations is the motivation for playing videogames.  The folks at ad agency BBDO and Mountain […]

There’s been a great deal of controversy about the upcoming reality show, "Kid Nation." The show purportedly puts kids ranging from 8-15 years of age in an abandoned New Mexico town.  The concept behind this one is whether the kids are able to build a successful society without the aid of their "helicopter parents." Of […]

The next time you’re sitting in a sales meeting with Classic Rock account executives, and you hear someone talk about how the music is stale, or that no one’s listening, or that if they hear "Stairway to Heaven" one more time they’re going to puke, ask them to consider this: As of this past weekend, […]

The next time you’re sitting in a sales meeting with Classic Rock account executives, and you hear someone talk about how the music is stale, or that no one’s listening, or that if they hear "Stairway to Heaven" one more time they’re going to puke, ask them to consider this: As of this past weekend, […]

If you’re the NFL, you’re getting a little worried.  (Of course, there’s MLB’s steroid issue and the NBA’s gambling referees, but that’s for another blog!).  After the Michael Vick mess, how do you go about re-selling the perception that all NFL players aren’t dog killers?  You run great PSAs (see sidebar with links below). That’s […]

An article earlier this week in USA Today may have surprised some people who work in radio and music – but not anyone who’s been involved in the Classic Rock format.  It reports that once you dig beyond the big hits of the day, some of the best selling digital downloads are Classic Rock standards, […]

The margin of success… and failure is ever narrowing.  A case in point is Fox’s "Anchorwoman" debut and demise.  After just one poorly rated episode, the network canned the show.  With the benefit of overnight ratings and Fox’s internal metrics, the decision was apparently a no-brainer. While the speed in which this call was made […]

The margin of success… and failure is ever narrowing.  A case in point is Fox’s "Anchorwoman" debut and demise.  After just one poorly rated episode, the network canned the show.  With the benefit of overnight ratings and Fox’s internal metrics, the decision was apparently a no-brainer. While the speed in which this call was made […]

Sometimes jumping on the bandwagon makes sense, but to a point.  When it comes to media buyers (and many clients), moving the majority of ad dollars to the hot new media avenues is just nuts. At the Arbitron Consultant Fly-In recently, Joe Lenski’s "Infinite Dial" presentation showed that most people don’t even know what a […]

Sometimes jumping on the bandwagon makes sense, but to a point.  When it comes to media buyers (and many clients), moving the majority of ad dollars to the hot new media avenues is just nuts. At the Arbitron Consultant Fly-In recently, Joe Lenski’s "Infinite Dial" presentation showed that most people don’t even know what a […]

Paul Jacobs weighs in with his take on media fragmentation: It’s no secret that fragmentation has impacted all media as well as iconic programs and events.  Gone are the days when the final episode of "M*A*S*H" reaches 3/4ths of the country, or the Super Bowl or Academy Awards captivates the nation.  The highest rated prime […]

…you’re hot.  And when you’re not, people stop buying your stuff. That’s what’s happening to President Bush "logo ware" in Crawford, Texas.  The Wall Street Journal reports that sales of Bush "swag" and souvenirs have precipitously dropped as tourists to the President’s home away from home have greatly diminished.  And even Cindy Sheehan has left […]

…you’re hot.  And when you’re not, people stop buying your stuff. That’s what’s happening to President Bush "logo ware" in Crawford, Texas.  The Wall Street Journal reports that sales of Bush "swag" and souvenirs have precipitously dropped as tourists to the President’s home away from home have greatly diminished.  And even Cindy Sheehan has left […]

While everyone may be talking about the new video playing Nanos, as well as the new iPod Touch (in essence an iPhone without the phone), our eye was drawn to the new iPod Classic.  Back in ’85, Coca Cola used the "classic" moniker to rescue the company from the New Coke debacle. At that same […]

At the recent Arbitron Consultant Fly-In, the fur was flying as broadcasters wanted to know what the Houston numbers and related issues were all about.  Not surprisingly, Arbitron is experiencing some growing pains with PPM.  It’s all new to an operation that has been cranking out diary-based ratings for decades.  To shift to a platform […]

As I traveled around London and Paris a few weeks back, I couldn’t help but notice the incredible number of European cars and trucks everywhere you look.  Of course, there are very few Fords or Buicks (none of the latter, not surprisingly).  But also sparse totals on Japanese cars, too.  Despite the huge numbers of […]