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In this video, the CEO of TV-over-the-internet firm Joost explains why TV over the internet is going to work this time. It's worth noting that the founders of Joost have an exceptional track record of success- Skype and Kazaa. Thus, it's no surprise that peer-to-peer technology figures prominently in their plans. Given their past, I wouldn't bet against them...at least not this time.
David Greising of the Chicago Tribune has an excellent article on the sometimes bitter battle for supremacy between Google and local favorite Baidu in the Chinese internet market. With a reported 62% of market share, Baidu is currently beating the pants off of the men from Mountain View. And though Baidu's better performance can be attributed to many factors, two which are mentioned in the article are especially noteworthy primarily because Google seems unable or unwilling to imitate them. The first, the one Google can not imitate, is Baidu's strategy of using nationalism as a basis of differentiation:
Baidu has built a dominant position. It has astutely designed features that appeal to Chinese users, beat its competitors to market and cast its most lethal opponent, Google, as a foreigner with suspicious ambitions. Baidu's none-too-subtle use of nationalism was on display in a recent online advertising campaign. It didn't slam Google by name, but it featured a group of villagers accosting a foreign couple. "You don't understand us, you don't understand us," one village elder scolded the outsiders. In a country with an ingrained distrust of outsiders, the message resonated. Li, who was educated in the U.S. and helped design the pioneering search engine InfoSeek, has no qualms about playing the nationalism card. "We think search is not just about technology," Li said. "It's also about language. It's also about culture."
The second pertains to another element of Baidu's business model- its pricing structure, particularly its practice of allowing advertisers to buy their way to the top of search engine rankings:
According to the AP, officials from the Philip Morris company, the nation's largest cigarette maker, have been meeting recently with representatives of the entertainment industry. The ostensible reason is to devise a campaign to curb youth tobacco use.
Richmond-based Philip Morris USA said Wednesday that it will run advertisements in Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and other trade publications imploring moviemakers: "Please Don't Give Our Cigarette Brands a Part in Your Movie." The ad campaign begins this week and will last several months, Philip Morris spokesman David Sutton said.
Critics are nonplussed:
Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said the industry has been unmoved by previous appeals to shield children from smoking scenes. "Hollywood has ignored the very serious problem that smoking in the movies contributes to youth tobacco use," said Myers, adding that "the problem goes beyond which brands are shown."
Indeed it does go beyond that. Although Philip Morris denies permission for its brands to be shown in movies intended for general audiences, film makers are not required to ask permission. If PM really wanted them to stop then it could, as another critic suggests, threated to sue. But they wouldn't dare do that. These are not stupid men and they are not pick a fight with an industry that provides them with billions of dollars of free advertising:
Continue reading "Product Placements & Silver Smoke Screens" »
I open up a web browser and search for free sunglasses and I find lots of sites offering them. Why? What am I missing about this business model? Some of these sites claim that they have overstock sunglasses that they would rather give away than pay to destroy. But I keep thinking that if I was a sunglass manufacturer, and year after year I was overproducing sunglasses that I had to give away for free, I would cut back on production. My best guess is that either: 1. Sunglasses really are dirt cheap to make. or 2. Once you get your free sunglasses you get a bunch of other junk mail. Does anyone see something I'm missing, or know anything about this strange business model?
Continue reading "(Get Yourself a Pair of) Cheap Sunglasses" »
