Darkness in Tokyo, China’s Capitalism, and Global Economics
Story Worldwide CEO Kirk Cheyfitz is one of few Americans who boarded an American Airlines flight headed to Tokyo on March 13th, 2011, just two days after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck off the northeastern shore of Japan. At Post Advertising we have already chronicled the efforts of Google Crisis Response and Quakebook in Japan. Now, in this six minute interview with Small Business Expert Jim Blasingame, Kirk gives a first-hand account of his experience only 150 miles from ground zero and the changes he saw to this resilient nation.
The Three Most Important Words in Advertising
"There is angst in ad land over the complexity of media," writes Story Worldwide CEO Kirk Cheyfitz in his latest article for the Huffington Post. You can say that again! Luckily, everything that follows this introductory sentence serves to unravel the complexity in this "how-to and how-come piece" about Paid, Owned, and Earned media. There's been a lot of talk about those three categories lately, and yet, they're still pretty confusing. What follows is the ultimate demystifier.
Google: News Industry Savior, or Stubborn Ad-o-holic?
The Atlantic's June cover story lavishes praise on Google, pointing to the search giant as the woeful news industry’s surefire ticket back to profitability. This is a nice idea—one that helps us all sleep a little better at night—but in reality, Google doesn't have any concrete solutions yet. Rather, author's optimism springs from a general feeling he got from interviewing Google execs. They seems to really care about the news. According to a piece by our very own Kirk Cheyfitz (CEO here at Story) published over at Huffington Post, Google has actually done little to help foster the meaningful, dynamic, and entertaining ad content that can support quality journalism. With a monopoly on search, they're engorged by stale, old-world web advertising. Is Google here to help?
Who’s In Charge, Sources or News Directors?
The home page of Huffington Post carried another media report Wednesday by Story Worldwide’s CEO and Chief Editorial Officer Kirk Cheyfitz. “For Tiger Photos, NBC Caves in to Annie Lebovitz” discusses the restrictions the photographer demanded and got from TV networks that wanted to use her images. Kirk's not happy with what this might say about the media’s volatile climate.
Social Beach Media: Soggy Origins
I have a long memory that can be short on details. For example, I have this bizarre idea that social media didn’t just APPEAR on the planet in September 2003 or March 2006. For the longest time, I couldn’t imagine why I entertained such an unfounded (and potentially unpopular) theory. Then, a couple weeks ago, I recalled this weird tradition that people have been practicing on a tiny, tropical island in the Caribbean for nearly 40 years. Let me tell you about it:
A long, long time ago—maybe 20-some years—I was wandering the Caribbean in a boat when some friends on St. John directed me to a steep little rock in the British Virgins called Jost van Dyke. “Go to the Soggy Dollar Bar in White Bay,” they said. So I went.
