Ideas, connectivity and community. Those elements are the essence of One Degree.
When Ken me to Five Questions about a year ago, I was honored to be included on the list. I was the eighth person to be interviewed, only four removed from marketing guru Seth Godin . (That’s is likely as close to 15 minutes of fame as I will probably get.) The roster of individuals for Five Questions has become a who’s who of the digital industry – a huge accomplishment in just over a year.
But there is a glaring omission on the list. It dawned on me that no one has interviewed Ken Schafer. So, after becoming a One Degree contributor myself recently, I told Ken that my next contribution would involve rallying up five industry leaders (also One Degree contributors) and turn the table on him – interviewing the brains behind it all.
So, without further adieu, here are Five Questions for Ken Schafer, one each asked in order by Michael Seaton, Kate Trgovac , Sulemaan Ahmed , Mitch Joel Bill Sweetman .
Seaton: “Ken, what are two major changes you have witnessed in the digital world since launching One Degree that you believe will change marketing forever, and why?
Two major changes in the last 18 months, huh? I know online marketing changes fast, but I’m not sure it changes _that_ fast. 🙂
The two things that weren’t on my radar a year ago were the importance of social media sites and video.
18 months ago when we launched I would have cited “LinkedIn”:http://www.linkedin.com/ and “Flickr”:http://www.flickr.com/ as my prime examples of social networking. But the concept has now exploded and we’re seeing community, communication, colloboration, and shared wisdom flowering all over the place. I’ve been expecting this for ages but now that the “hive mind” is starting to emerge it is truly exciting.
Video has been on the Net for ages of course but the ascendence of “YouTube”:http://www.youtube.com/, “Google Video”:http://video.google.com/ and video content via “iTunes”:http://www.itunes.com/ has reshaped the online landscape this year in ways I wouldn’t have expected.
My guess is that we’re seeing an acceleration in adoption of new services and business models that will make business that much harder. How do we keep up when sites go from not existing to the top ten most trafficked on the net in a year or two?
Trgovac: “What is your career-planning advice for a high school grad that comes to you and says “I want to get into marketing.”
Category: Mitch Joel
After being a co-host on Across The Sound – the new marketing podcast of Joseph Jaffe and then hearing a follow-up episode of ATS where CC Chapman co-hosted, I decided to throw my hat into the podcasting ring. With little more than college radio training and the occasional interview on talk radio, I created my own podcast, Six Pixels Of Separation.
Comments closedThis could be the first One Degree Mash-Up. Ken shot me an email asking if Kelly (me, Mitch Joel) would like to interview Regis (Joseph Jaffe) with Five Questions for One Degree (to understand the whole Regis & Kelly thing, you have to listen to Across The Sound #31). I figured this could be a cool One Degree mash-up, so I asked Joseph Jaffe 5 Questions. Enjoy.
One of the most sought-after consultants, speakers and thought leaders on marketing and media, Joseph Jaffe is President and Founder of jaffe, L.L.C. – a “New Marketing” consulting practice.
Jaffe is best known for his breakthrough marketing book, Life After the 30-Second Spot: Energize Your Brand With a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising. Along with the book, Jaffe’s Blog, Jaffe Juice, and his Podcast, Across The Sound, are both highly trafficked and recognized as offering some of the best new marketing concepts.
Prior to consulting, Joseph was Director of Interactive Media at TBWA/Chiat/Day and OMD USA, where he worked on clients including Kmart, ABSOLUT Vodka, Embassy Suites and Samsonite.
Hailing from South Africa, Joseph lives with his wife and two children in Westport, Connecticut.
Mitch Joel: Your book is called Life After The 30-Second Spot and it has been out for a while. So, is there life after the 30-Second spot or are we not learning from any of the lessons you bring forward in the book?
The book has been out for just over a year. Here’s my report back on what’s changed and what hasn’t.
Several ideas, “predictions” and recommendations have either come to pass or are beginning to see some signs of life – most notably the notion of Advertising on Demand (AOD) with respect to TiVo’s Product Watch. Nothing has been refuted and nothing has become redundant or outdated. On the flipside, it’s not what’s in the book, but what’s NOT in the book that astounds me. For example, I can’t believe how little space I devoted to blogs and podcasting, which are both central parts of my professional life (walking AND talking) In terms of the industry’s evolution…it’s still slow and cautious. I’m not overly impressed with the progress, but I guess change takes time.
There are some noticeable cracks in the walls that protect the beleaguered 30-second spot. J&J sat out the “Upfront”, as did Coke to a lesser extent. So for sure, we have witnessed – if not the tipping point – then a peak. To cope with the change and volatility, the networks have seemingly run from one extreme to the other… running around like chickens with their heads cut off preaching the virtues of digital downloads. The problems are twofold: there’s no business model and they’re neglecting their core equity: television. I know this may sound counter-intuitive to the thesis of Life after the 30-second spot, but ultimately the answer is equilibrium and balance.
Mitch Joel: Out of your ten areas that marketers need to pay attention to, which one do you think is the most interesting and why?