A Prediction Beginning to Come True

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One of my old predictions seems to be coming true, although a lot later than I thought. Check this article out. Looks like satellite iPod may be coming. Of course, it looks as if we're only talking satellite radio reception right now, but as I pointed out in my 2005 predictions column, a lot of really cool shit can happen once iPods start talking to satellites.

Yeah, you could listen to Howard Stern. Big whoop. How about your podcasts updating and downloading as you walked to the office? Ideally, we start to revisit the notion of IP content and interactivity through satellite bandwidth. It would be great to listen to an Internet radio station through one's iPod. It would be even better to be able to send feedback to that independent Internet radio station through the same channel.

Imagine you're sitting in your basement monitoring how your IP radio broadcast is doing. You note that a few hundred people are listening on their computers while a few thousand are listening to you on their satellite iPods. As a bootleg Counting Crows track switches over from a live recording of The Clash, the feedback starts coming in. 326 satellite iPods give the track a thumbs up, while 26 give it a thumbs down.

That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Satellite bandwidth to enable the type of communication and applications we're used to on the Internet, but all over the place. I believe satellite companies have the bandwidth to do it. If not, perhaps they will one day.

Conversational Marketing - Keep it away from the WOMers

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Today's column in iMedia is all about what Conversational Marketing isn't. I'm sure I'll hear from all the companies that belong to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association about how they're different, but truth be told, I don't see too many WOMMA members working with a bottom-up approach. Most of the stuff I've seen allows marketers to continue to sit in their ivory towers while paid agents (PR agencies, incentivized brand advocates, etc.) do the work of connecting with the market on their behalf. This ain't right. The best folks to talk about a product or service are the people who developed it, or who are in the trenches everyday improving, selling and living it. People want to talk to the guy who designed the drivetrain for the Ford Mustang, not some PR hack or agency schmuck who is a few degrees of separation from the authentic story.

It was as I feared - a bunch of companies rushed into the space with the top-down approach, and they'll likely screw it up for the rest of us. Maybe we'll re-learn one of the big lessons of the dot com boom and have to go through a period of "Conversational Marketing doesn't work" before we can pick up the pieces and popularize the model that does work. I hope not. I hope that companies start listening now and realizing that some tough and unpopular choices are going to have to be made.

Crayon Launches

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Joseph Jaffe sent me an e-mail over the weekend, announcing the launch of crayon, a new type of marketing company. The company hopes to launch on Thursday in Second Life, on the island of Crayonville. According to Joseph, here's what crayon is all about:

In short, crayon is a shape-shifter; a mash-up; a company that integrates the best of the consulting, agency, advisory, thought leadership and education worlds. crayon’s goal is to help our clients:

  • Amplify, extend and enhance relevance, experience and value through bold, alternative and non-traditional approaches
  • Join the conversation
  • Create disproportionate positive business impact

I like all of these, but #2 especially. I'm hoping Joseph and his compadres stick to what made Jaffe Juice, Across The Sound and Jaffe's consultancy big in the first place - the notion of playing by the rules and working in a bottom-up fashion rather than a top-down one. If crayon can continue in this vein, I think they'll represent a big win for companies and for Joseph, who has managed to build his reputation for innovative thought by making smart use of the technologies we're all using to connect more meaningfully.

Best of luck to Joseph and crayon.