Daniel Burrus' Strategic Insights Blog

Can Blackberry Ever Be the Mobility Leader?

We are living in game-changing times, and the playing field for business is being leveled. In fact, it’s more than rapid evolution; we’re really in the midst of a revolution.

When we have major revolutions taking place (like the cloud, iPhones, iPads, smart tablets, Androids, Blackberries, etc.), most business people tend to think about the device. In other words, they see all the smart phones and smart tablets and notice that their customers are using them, so they ask, “How can we take advantage of that?”

That’s the wrong question. What they really need to do is step back and come up with an enterprise-wide mobility strategy to accelerate growth that includes apps, tablets, and smart phones, rather than focus on the apps, tablets, and smart phones themselves. 

Is the World Ready for a Facebook Phone?

Is the World Ready for a Facebook Phone?

I’ve heard a lot of speculations recently that there might be a Facebook phone coming soon. I highly doubt this because, quite frankly, most people already have a Facebook phone. In other words, if you have a Facebook app on your smart phone, then Facebook has already accomplished what they needed to accomplish.

Why would Facebook want to get in the hardware business anyway? There are already numerous companies doing that. Why would Facebook want to compete against the Samsungs or the iPhones or all the different models that are already in existence?

The Future of Advertising Sales – It’s all About Integration

One of the reasons ad dollars are falling for newspapers, as well as traditional media, is that they don’t fully understand the new realities of marketing. Two key shifts are taking place that media companies can no longer ignore.

First, media and marketing have always been about storytelling. Advertisers have a story to tell, and the media is there to help tell it. Today, however, media and marketing go beyond mere storytelling; now it’s about storytelling and dialogue. That’s why social media’s so popular. It’s not about the word “media”; it’s about the word “social.”

Unfortunately, we have community newspapers, television, radio, and news programs that are failing to build community through activity, engagement, and dialogue. Yes, they have a website, but for the most part they are static sites that are not engaging.

Announcing the NEW Burrus.com

Hello,

Today I’m very proud to announce my brand new website. If you have a moment, I invite you to visit it at www.Burrus.com. We’ve strived to build this website on the most current and innovative of technologies. You will be happy to find that this website is adaptive, meaning it can automatically adjust to any screen size. It’s a new and powerful design for websites given the explosive growth in mobile.

Take a look and while you’re there, you can:

Lastly, I invite you to connect with me on any of my social media profiles. I look forward to connecting with you soon!

All the best,
Daniel Burrus
      

Is Big Media Dying…or Is It Reinventing?

It seems that almost daily we hear another report that big media is dying thanks to the internet. Radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and even local television stations are struggling, and many are predicting their demise. If you were to look at the balance sheets of these companies, you might even agree.

But before we order the tombstone, let’s answer this: In this world of smart phones and tablets becoming our primary computer, are mainframe computers dead? The answer is no. We’re still using mainframes. Of course, we’re not using them the same way that we did in the 1980s or even in early 2000. The mainframes of today are more like super-servers. But they certainly didn’t go away.

The point is that when new technology emerges, we tend to think that the old technology is completely dead, but that usually isn’t the case. Rather, the old technology gets repurposed and integrated to add value to the future.

Let’s look at radio as an example. Many people call radio “old media,” but I would challenge that and say it’s timeless media. Today, a radio station can have a website, which allows them to have video, interactivity, contests, and all sorts of things they couldn’t have done in the past.

Not only that, but in the past you needed to buy a radio. Not so anymore. Your TV, computer, and even smart phone can be a radio. It’s no longer a physical device; rather, it’s audio-sponsored content that can be delivered anywhere, at any time.

So is radio dead? No. It’s simply being reinvented. One of the keys to reinventing—whether it’s radio, print, television, or local news—is to not deny where the future is going, but to embrace it. At the same time, you need to look at how to bring the best of the past forward.

Therefore, a good question big media needs to ask is, “What are the elements of the past that are vital for us to bring into the future?” But remember, you can’t take everything—just the things that are essential for success. Then it’s about looking at how you can take those essential elements from the past and leverage them in new ways.

Remember, the old doesn’t always go away; often, it gets repurposed into the new. So let’s forget the concept of big media versus the internet. It’s really big media and the internet. It’s not an either/or world; it’s a both/and world.  With both/and thinking you have real reinvention, which is key to staying relevant and thriving in the future.

Don’t Just Reach Your Customers

Marketing used to be about consumer reach—about how many people you could get to see or hear your ad. As such, many companies would do national ads so they could reach more people, knowing that a certain percent will be interested in the product or service.

Today, I don’t just want consumer reach. What I want, and what is even more important, is consumer engagement. In other words, it’s about getting people to take immediate action. How can I get them to take part in the ad? How can I get them to become the ad? We saw this done with Super Bowl ads, where companies got customers to create the ad they aired during the Super Bowl. That’s just one way to get engagement. Engagement can happen in many different ways, over and over again.

Additionally, companies used to have unknown customers. Advertisers would place multiple ads with the hopes of increasing sales. But today we can actually know who is clicking on our ads, buying our products, and even talking about us online.

The Real Way to Avoid a Student Loan Debt Crisis

The recent recession forced many people out of jobs and back to the classroom to learn new skills. As a result, we now have an impending student loan debt crisis. Current reports show that U.S. student loan debt is surging above one trillion dollars, surpassing credit card and auto loan debt. Additionally, the majority (80 percent) of student loans are government-guaranteed, with 30 percent of these government-backed loans past due 30 days or more. That means the taxpayers are on the hook should the loans default.

But the real problem is not the student loan debt itself. Rather, the real problem is that even with their shiny new degrees, graduates (both young and old) are not finding jobs. What’s the solution?

First, we have to retrain the high school and college counselors who give students advice about which major and career to pursue. Students aren’t getting jobs when they graduate; yet, there is a great need in the U.S. right now in the areas of science, math, and engineering, as well as in areas that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, such as fiber installers, electricians, and mechanics.

How to Make Your Company More Like Apple

How to Make Your Company More Like AppleThe most recent CNBC All-America Economic Survey revealed that at least half of all U.S. households own at least one Apple product. In other words, there are more than 55 million American homes with at least one iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac computer.

The actual breakdown is interesting: Just as many Americans between ages 18 and 34 count themselves among Apple users as those ages 35 to 49 (63 percent). The number drops to 50 percent when you get into the 50 to 64 age group, and down to just 26 percent among those 65 and older.

How has Apple managed to make their product so appealing to a broad demographic… and how can you do the same? The answer is simple: Apple has a long-term strategy. 

Stop the Presses: The Future of Newspapers

Stop the Presses: The Future of NewspapersAccording to the Newspaper Association of America, 2011 was not a good year for newspaper advertising, with total revenue down 7.3%—almost $2 billion, and a percentage point more than the previous year’s loss.

To be blunt, that’s not surprising. In fact, what is surprising is that it was only down that much. Let’s face it, the newspaper publishers still haven’t quite understood how to maximize and leverage the digital world, and thus increase their advertising revenue.

The newspaper business is, unfortunately, focused on the second word, “paper,” instead of the first word, “news.” As a result, they are still making their online news static rather than dynamic, meaning that it is still one-dimensional. The online versions of most newspapers are nothing more than a piece of paper online.

Where’s the Web Heading? A Prediction

Internet dependence on electricityWhen the Worldwide Web first started—what we call Web 1.0—it was all about search and having access to information. It’s when we used the web as an Information Age tool, for our Information Age world.

Today, it’s all about Web 2.0, where the key activities are sharing and communicating, rather than just informing. I wrote about this in my 1993 book Technotrends, where I talked about how the information age would shift to the communication age. I said that when our devices become true communication age devices—when we could use them for informing and communicating—then we’d have another revolution.

Well, look where we are today. Apple helped to spur this revolution, when they came out with the iPhone and gave us a true communication/information age device. In other words, it combined the information age and communication age.