MySpace & The Media Revolution

You know Tom, from MySpace? He's the annoying guy who's automatically your friend when you started your profile. Well, his name is Tom Anderson, and he and his partner Chris DeWolfe are now $580 million richer than you are.

MySpace.com was purchased by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., a global media monster. News Corp. is MASSIVE, owning $23.8 billion in every media channel there is, from TV, cable stations and movie studios to radio stations, publishing and on-line business.

Viacom, MTV's parent company, had been haggling with MySpace at $50 million before News Corp. offered a whopping $580 million for the site. Google could have paid half that 3 months before, but according to Mr. Murdoch himself, were arrogant and didn't see the site as anything so special they couldn't build themselves.

Media companies traditionally create content to attract viewers, and then advertisers. The special thing about MySpace is that it is run by its users, each page unique to the individual it represents. News Corp has invested $20 million to prevent the technology hiccups that crippled Friendster before it.

News Corp. hopes to use the site as a youth marketing company that gives them the "ability to look inside and understand how hits get created, spot hot niches and identify trends at their beginnings. MySpace grows at 280,000 news users per day. MySpace reaches more kids each day that MTV sees in a week.

This is critical to keeping up with the changing market. All date shows that Internet has signaled the end of the mega-hit. Unlike all other forms of media, which are one-way (viewer reads/watches content with no immediate feedback mechanism), the Internet is peer-to-peer, with "as many senders as receivers...spread out across geography and time."

This means that more of the market will be segmented to meet the specific needs to independent groups, with fewer big hits reaching a mass audience. In 1953, 72% of TV households watched I Love Lucy on Mondays. Today, only 18% watch American Idol. (Of course, AI is probably bigger at 18% than Lucy ever was at 72%.) "It will take decades for our entertainment industries to internalize the lessons of this shift."

But this is the same for all revolutionary media formats. "Before the Industrial Revolution, culture was mostly local, with the distances dividing people giving rise to regional diversity." Railroads, then mass-produced newspapers, radio, and TV changed the world. Suddenly, there entire country knew what was going on. Today, Seattle gets the same news as Miami with London sharing the same Associated Press articles.

This is a powerful change in human culture that we all take for granted. The Internet has continued to facilitate the global village. Is this leading to increased isolation in America? Maybe, but that's another blog. (Shout out to Mom for that article.)

For further reading, see these 2 articles in the July 2006 Wired Magazine: "His Space" & "The Rise and Fall of the Hit." The second article was written by editor-in-chief Chris Anderson, who has an amazing blog and a soon-to-be-released book "The Long Tail" detailing the fall of the mega-hit and the rise of niche marketing.

The Universe in Scale

Hakan's Space Balls

Happy & (un)Healthy

I’m looking for a way to eat bachelor food while still eating somewhat healthy. I’ve been dying for Buffalo wings recently but thought I’d try something different.

Last night, I pan-seared a chicken breast (using minimal oil) that I had marinated in wing sauce overnight. I then sautéed some garlic with celery & carrots as a side dish to the chicken and served it all with a ranch dipping sauce. It was healthier than wings, had the same flavors but a fraction of the fat. I felt pretty proud of myself.

But... it didn’t work. There’s no substitution for the real thing. I want fried foods now more than ever. And my homemade lunch of sautéed broccoli & white beans in pesto sauce isn't helping satisfy that craving. I don't know why I'm drawn to these foods. Maybe fried food stimulates a chemical release in the brain that gives me some kind of emotional high?

Soon, I will be getting wings. I may go to the gym to help offset the effects of eating such a fat-filled meal, but I may be too “tired” for that.

The Desktop of the Future

Check out this video demonstration of Bumptop 3D Desktop, the latest in computer interface design. It's really cool looking, turning all desktop items into dimensionalized objects that can be tossed aside or neatly stacked.

Personally, I don't like it. Sure, it looks cool, but it doesn't help me organize my files any more efficiently than I already do. Seems like this will only mimick the clutter most people already have on their desks instead of facilitating and maintaining a more orderly system on its own. For these reasons, I don't think it will catch on. Give me "Sort by Name" or give me death.

The Strongest Brand in America is…

Reynolds Wrap? According to a Harris Interactive survey, Reynold’s aluminum foil has the strongest brand equity in the U.S. The top 10 was filled with unsexy package-goods staples in commodity categories, like Ziploc Bags, Windex, and Clorox Bleach.

Reynolds was able to top the list with only $7.5 million in media support last year. Compare that to $27.9 million on Clorox Bleach, $413,800 for Heinz, and $25,400 for WD-40 (the lowest spender of all).

Icons like Coke, Pepsi, McDonald's, Nike, even the ultra-cool iPod couldn’t crack the top 10, listed here:
1. Reynolds Wrap
2. Ziploc Food Bags
3. Hershey's Candy Bars
4. Kleenex Tissues
5. Clorox Bleach
6. WD-40
7. Heinz Ketchup
8. Ziploc Containers
9. Windex Glass Cleaner
10. Campbell's Soup

I have no idea how much Coke spent on marketing last year, but it must be astronomical in comparison. Still, transferring brand equity into profit is a hard challenge. Brands that didn’t make the top 10 are probably raking in huge amounts of cash compared to the smaller players that did.

Why do the brands with the strongest equity seem to spend the smallest amount in advertising? Does their heritage to pull them to the top, or do they just have very little competition from other products? I don't know, but it’s time for me to go get lunch.

Ben & Jerry's in Israel

I did not make these up (but wish I had).

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream is now available in Israel in the following flavors:

Wailing Walnut
Moishmellow
Mazel Toffee
Chazalnut
Oy Ge-malt
Mi Ka-_mocha
Soda & Gamorra
Bernard Malamint
Berry Pr'i Hagafen
Choc-Eilat Chip
and finally... Simchas T'oreo

All these flavors come in a Cohen.

Soccer vs. Football: Field Size

How big is a soccer field compared to US football field? Both are about the same length, though soccer is about 20 yards wider. And there's a lot more running in soccer.

Soccer is played by two teams of 11 players each. The field for international matches is in the range of 110-120 yards long and 70-80 yards wide. The length must always be greater than the width.

American football has 11 players per side. The field is 120 yards long (100 yards of playing field with two 10 yard end zones) and 53 1/3 yards wide.

I would love to play soccer, but I'm still trying to break the 10-minute barrier on the treadmill. 90 minutes would kill me.