Captain Digital

Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.

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Marketing

Avoiding the Obvious.

3000 lb. gorilla
What happens when your worldview clashes with reality? For most people, it seems they will go to almost any length to ignore the obvious.

Case in point, Sony. They maintain that there’s nothing wrong with their DRM software – people just misunderstand it. Uh huh. As if we all fail to grasp that Sony is using their goal to prevent (mis)use of their copyrighted IP and just happen to endanger every computer by installing a back door for hackers. They think they are justified in doing whatever it takes to protect their property – even putting customer’s property (their PCs) at risk. When confronted by the folly of their actions, they first ignore, then spin it, then back down but refuse to acknowledge the obvious – they were wrong. [Read more…] about Avoiding the Obvious.

Talking Tech (Books).

Books.
I’ll admit it. I’m a writer. While I haven’t yet written (or even started writing) the Great American Novel, I have penned two tech books. Of course, my timing being what it is, they were published just as the Dot-Coms were all becoming Dot-Bombs, and the bottom fell out of the tech book market. It’s just now coming back. Lest you think this is sour grapes on my part, I offer up this factoid: In 2001, technical books was the number two category in sales at Barnes & Nobel, nationwide. Just one year later, it was 6th. That’s a huge drop, but it reflects economic conditions more than anything. When you get laid off, the last thing you think about is buying more tech books. [Read more…] about Talking Tech (Books).

The Five Nines.

phone
Back when you could get any kind of phone you liked, as long as it was connected to a wall and was provided by Ma Bell, phone service was simple. It just always worked. The industry calls it “the 5 nines,” meaning your POTS (Plain Old Phone System) line is expected to work 99.999% of the time. Through power outages. Through storms. Through just about anything. And if it DID go down, you could be sure that it would be working again ASAP. Those boys didn’t fool around. [Read more…] about The Five Nines.

Spin.

What is spin, exactly?

At one level, “spin” is nothing more than perspective – it’s the writer’s take on the subject. So why is spin so controversial? Simple. Because the real difference between spin and perspective is that spinning is an attempt to cloak the writer’s bias (or perspective) with a veneer of impartiality.

We presume that certain kinds of communication are supposed to be devoid of spin. In a newspaper, the editorial (and op-ed) pages are reserved for opinion. The rest of the paper is supposed to offer news that is straight reporting – and devoid of spin. While that is virtually an impossible standard, few media outlets seem interested in doing anything more than to pretend to be without bias. [Read more…] about Spin.

MarketingSpeak.

Tag Body SprayDo you ever analyze an ad, and think through why an advertiser presents their message in the way they do?

I think about this a lot.

Partly, I do this because it’s my job. Partly because it’s the way I was raised – to be analytical about marketing. (Thanks, Dad!) Partly, because I find marketing techniques to be a fascinating microcosm of how to successfully motivate people.

[Read more…] about MarketingSpeak.

WHAT was Jeep thinking?

Jeep® Commander

Full disclaimer: I’m a Jeep guy. I drive a Wrangler. Don’t want to drive anything else. Between my wife and I, we’ve owned four Jeeps. I also used to work for an in-house ad agency that had several DCX dealerships – two of them sold Jeeps. I love ’em. So it is with a degree of puzzlement, chagrin, and concern that I ask, what were they thinking with this latest TV ad? [Read more…] about WHAT was Jeep thinking?

Who is Captain Digital?

What is this all about? Simple. I’m a marketing guy/graphic designer/copywriter/animator/whatever. As you might expect with all those “/” in my vocations, I have a lot of opinions on a lot of things. Mostly marketing and advertising, but we may wander ocasionally. Check back here for random thoughts on the state of marketing, advertising, politics, pop culture, and (un)common sense.