Feb 07

Response January: Brandman U., College Sports Marketing and Another Buzzword

RES0115_CV1A day after finalizing our February issue and sending it off to print, I finally have a free moment to take a look back at the January issue of Response. The issue went live online a couple of weeks back, but just in case you haven’t flipped it — either in print or online — I’m back with my regular look at some of the issue’s key stories.

  • My cover feature on Brandman University and Ramendra (Ram) Singh had an interesting genesis. Most refer to it as “seventh grade.” That’s right, a friend I met during junior high school — Steve Quis — pitched the story idea to me last summer in his role as PR director for the non-profit university. He’s since moved on to a similar role at Miramar College (in addition to his sports play-by-play career). The introduction to Ram was a fortuitous one. Ram is one of the most intelligent and thoughtful people I’ve interviewed during my 14 years at Response. His thoughts on omnichannel (yep, that word — and it’ll come up again later in this post) marketing in the education sector are ones that any marketer should consider. I’m very pleased to note that Ram will be part of an educational panel at Response Expo. If you’re one of our attendees, you shouldn’t miss it. So, thanks Steve. Who knew our time back at LVJHS and FUHS would evolve into this story! If you missed the link above, here it is again: Educating at Brandman University
  • Keeping the college theme going, our annual look at marketing in the sports & fitness category takes a deep dive into how major college athletics programs are finding new ways to commune with fans and sell game tickets and merchandise. The passion of sports fans makes them the perfect consumer to target via various direct response marketing methods, especially digital and social media. From coast to coast — quite literally from Oregon to Miami — what are the best marketers doing to reach those fans and make them consumers? If you didn’t click the link above, here’s your chance to find out: Inside the College Playbook
  • The January issue buzzword of the month: omnichannel. After touching on the “programmatic” frenzy in December, we took our questions about “omnichannel” marketing to the Response Advisory Board (RAB) for 2015’s first advisors roundtable feature. Seven of our board members took part in the conversation and — as usual — the online version carries the complete and unabridged answers from each leader (compared to the edited version that runs in the print magazine). Once again, if you missed the link above, click here: Response Advisors Forum: Entering the Omnichannel Era
  • Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings update focuses on third-quarter 2014 long-form DRTV results. Once again, media billings in the half-hour advertising space stumbled, losing $20.3 million compared to the prior third quarter and leaving the total for the first nine months of the year off by more than $61 million. This is the second consecutive year of losses for the long-form space — unless fourth-quarter results are shockingly good. But there is some hope that long-form marketers are starting to understand the trends and restructuring how best to take advantage of long-form DRTV. To take a deeper look at 3Q 2014 long-form DRTV media billings, click here: Long-Form Media Billings Dip $20M … Again
  • A line I removed from January’s Editor’s Note column read (so far as I can recall): “And I am sure my fiancée rues the day she urged me to join Twitter.” If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram or are a Facebook friend, you may agree … wholeheartedly. Nonetheless, to read my take on using social media outlets — both personally and professionally — here’s the link once again: Finding — and Growing — Your Social Voice

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!

Sep 01

#LOTD2013: November Playlist

LOTD Nov 13The latest playlist to (finally) get a work-up in my Lyric-of-the-Day project is from November 2013. Here’s that month’s #LOTD2013 playlist (find the Spotify playlist I’ve created from these lyrics linked at the end of the post or on the clickable image at right), with some brief explanations (in italics) for a number of the lyrics.

Remember, if you want to see the lyrics as they pop up daily, just give me a follow on Twitter!

  • “In your head they’re still fighting/With their tanks and their bombs/And their bombs and their guns” #Cranberries “Zombie” #LOTD2013 11/1
  • “That part of me left yesterday/The heart of me is strong today/No regrets I’m blessed to say” #TI #JT “Dead And Gone” #LOTD2013 11/2
  • “She’s got wonderful eyes/And a risque mouth/And when i ask her before/She said she’s holding out” #TheCars “Let’s Go” #LOTD2013 11/3
  • “Want my opinion? I’d give you 10-to-1/Give me a million, a franchise on fun” #ABC “How To Be A Millionaire” #LOTD2013 11/4
  • “Wanted something better/Wished for something new/Wanted something beautiful/Wished for something true” #FooFighters “Wheels” #LOTD2013 11/5
  • “I’ll be fine/I’ll be waiting patiently/Till you see the signs/And come running to my open arms” #DepecheMode “It’s No Good” #LOTD2013 11/6
  • “Law don’t mean shit if you got the right friends/That’s how the country’s run” #DeadKennedys “I Fought the Law (And I Won)” #LOTD2013 11/7 (The first in a string of Bay Area-tinged lyrics to celebrate the annual USC Bay Area weekender for Saturday’s game at Berkeley.)
  • “Walking down to Market St./Feeling my heart skip a beat/To see someone who looks like you” #ChrisIsaak “San Francisco Days” #LOTD2013 11/8
  • “Living and dying and the stories that are true/Secret to a good life is knowing when you’re through” #Rancid “Time Bomb” #LOTD2013 11/9
  • “Watching the ships roll in/Then I watch them roll away again, yeah” #OtisRedding “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” #LOTD2013 11/10 (Spent some nice time sitting watching boats on the bay near the Embarcadero in San Francisco.)
  • “Put a gun in my hand & you hide from my eyes/You turn and run farther when the fast bullets fly” #BobDylan “Masters Of War” #LOTD2013 11/11 (Happy Veterans’ Day, not necessarily to those who’ve often sent those soldiers rather cynically into questionable battles.)
  • “Changing clothes/Now he’s got ventilated slacks/Bouncing off the walls/Mr. Jones is back” #TalkingHeads “Mr. Jones” #LOTD2013 11/12
  • “Mike D come on and get it on y’all/Talking sh*t about a mile a minute” #BeastieBoys “B-Boys Makin With The Freak Freak” #LOTD2013 11/13
  • “Well you’re dirty and sweet/Clad in black/Don’t look back/And I love you” #TRex “Bang A Gong” #LOTD2013 11/14
  • “There’s a king on a throne with his eyes torn out/There’s a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt” #Police “King Of Pain” #LOTD2013 11/15
  • “I said, ‘Hey, what’s your name?/Maybe we can see things the same?'” #Free “All Right Now” #LOTD2013 11/16 #USC#BeatTheFarm (USC 20, Stanford 17. Best moment of the season for the Trojans. Why not celebrate with a rousing rendition of the Cardinal’s “fight song,” which also stands in as the USC band’s song when the Trojans force a turnover.)
  • “When we bend a new corner/I feel like a sweepstake winner” #BobMarley “Satisfy My Soul” #LOTD2013 11/17
  • “Why don’t you tell it like it is/Why don’t you tell it like it really is/Before you go on home” #Stereophonics “Mr. Writer” #LOTD2013 11/18
  • “Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner/But he knew it wouldn’t last” #TheBeatles “Get Back” #LOTD2013 11/19
  • “I could talk all night/My mind goes sleepwalking/While I’m putting the world to right” #ElvisCostello “Oliver’s Army” #LOTD2013 11/20
  • “So never mind the darkness/We still can find a way/’Cause nothin’ lasts forever/Even cold …” “NovemberRain” #GunsNRoses #LOTD2013 11/21 (Cliche, but I had to wait 2/3 of the month for some rain in order to use it!)
  • “Still I have the warmth of the sun/Within me tonight” #BeachBoys “The Warmth Of The Sun” #LOTD2013 11/22 #JFK #JFK50 (Brian Wilson and Mike Love began writing the song early on the morning of 11/22/63 and finished it that afternoon following the news of JFK’s assassination.)
  • “Had to back up off it & sit my cup down/Tanqueray & chronic yeah I’m f*cked up now” #SnoopDogg “Gin & Juice” #LOTD2013 11/23 #Doggystyle20
  • “You’re still alive she said/Do I deserve to be/Is that the question/And if so/Who answers, who answers” #PearlJam “Alive” #LOTD2013 11/24 (One of my favorite lyrics ever. Special to see it live at the L.A. Sports Arena on this night.)
  • “You don’t have to answer me/You don’t have to call me back” #X “Your Phone’s Off The Hook But You’re Not” #LOTD2013 11/25
  • “Can’t get it outta my head/Miss her, kiss her, love her/Wrong move, you’re dead” #BellBivDevoe “Poison” #LOTD2013 11/26 (Impressive cover by Justin Timberlake at his Staples Center show on this fine evening.)
  • “Your fingers weave quick minarets/Speak in secret alphabets/I light another cigarette/Learn to forget” #Doors “Soul Kitchen” #LOTD2013 11/27
  • “Today my world it smiles/Your hand in mine we walk the miles/Thanks to you it will be done” #LedZeppelin “Thank You” #LOTD2013 11/28 (Happy Thanksgiving!)
  • “All the people/So many people/They all go hand in hand/Hand in hand through their parklife” #Blur “Parklife” #LOTD2013 11/29
  • “Palm trees are candles in the murder wind/So many lives are on the breeze” #BadReligion “Los Angeles Is Burning” #LOTD2013 11/30 (A salute to the annual USC-UCLA football game. And, unfortunately in 2013, its outcome.)

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen along: #LOTD2013: November

Jul 24

#LOTD2013: October Playlist

LOTD Oct 13And with a much quicker turnaround, it’s a recap of the #LOTD2013 project from last October. Some good tracks in here, and many related to the actual goings on in my day-to-day life. Find the Spotify playlist I’ve created from these lyrics linked at the end of the post or on the clickable image at right, with some brief explanations (in italics) for a number of the lyrics. Remember, if you want to see the lyrics as they pop up daily, just give me a follow on Twitter!

  • “But look around/Here go the sound/Of the wreckin’ ball/Boom and pound/When I …” “Shut Em Down” #PublicEnemy #LOTD2013 10/1
  • “Stay cool/And be somebody’s fool this year/Cause they know/Who is righteous, what is bold” #SmashingPumpkins “Cherub Rock” #LOTD2013 10/2
  • “The tougher it gets & the more that I sweat/The harder it fights & the deeper it bites” #TheAlarm “One Step Closer To Home” #LOTD2013 10/3
  • “Out in the crowd/You are one in a million/And I love you so/Let’s watch the flowers grow” #Travis “Flowers In The Window” #LOTD2013 10/4 (Another fantastic show from Travis at the Wiltern, featuring the wonderful acoustic arrangement of this, my favorite Travis song.)
  • “So the conversation turned/Until the sun went down/And many fantasies were learned/On that day” #HumanLeague “Fascination” #LOTD2013 10/5 (This song, appropriately, popped on XM in the car while driving to an 80s-themed 40th birthday party. Sadly, when we arrived at the party, it was not painted completely red like a dot on a map.)
  • “Boom, boom, boom, boom/I’m gonna shoot you right down/Right off’a your feet” #JohnLeeHooker “Boom Boom” #LOTD2013 10/6 (Watched 13 Dodger runs in a bombing of Atlanta in Game 3 of the NLDS.)
  • “Famosa y que llamando/Pues me va a despertar/La noche para decir” #GipsyKings #Eagles “Hotel California” #LOTD2013 10/7 (A little Spanish flavor for Dodger hero Juan Uribe on this evening.)
  • “Thanks for the book/Now my table is ready/Is this a library or bar?” #PaulWesterberg “Dyslexic Heart” #LOTD2013 10/8
  • “Be the magic in the northern lights/Be the river as it rolls along/Be the rain you remember fallin” #NeilYoung “Be The Rain” #LOTD2013 10/9
  • R&H Cover“Lover, I’m on the street/Gonna go where the bright lights/And big city meet” #U2 “Desire” #LOTD2013 10/10 #RattleAndHum #25thAnniversary (25 years ago, I waited in line at midnight at the Tower Records in Brea to buy this CD. The first single, quoted here, had dropped a few weeks prior.)
  • Catch-up time for #LOTD2013. “Long nights allow me to feel/I’m falling/I am falling/The lights go out” #EddieVedder “Long Nights” 10/11
  • “I will be the bird in your straw/But you won’t get far/I will keep you in the corner of my eye” #Audioslave “#1 Zero” #LOTD2013 10/12
  • “Look out here I come again/I’m bringing my friends/OK alright/I know where I’ll be tonight” #Wilco “Outtasite (Outta Mind) #LOTD2013 10/13 (Hopped a flight to Chicago for work. Good enough reason to slip in a Wilco lyric.)
  • “Windows are for cheaters/Chimneys for the poor/Closets are for hangers/Winners use the door” #BruceSpringsteen “Rosalita” #LOTD2013 10/14
  • “We talked and we talked and we lay on the bed/And I can remember every word she said” #ChrisIsaak “Flying” #LOTD2013 10/15
  • “Causin’ confusion/Disturbin tha peace/It’s not an illusion/We runnin’ the streets” #Ludacris “Move Bitch” #LOTD2013 10/16
  • “Jennifer Juniper rides a dappled mare/Jennifer Juniper lilacs in her hair/Is she dreaming?” #Donovan “Jennifer Juniper” #LOTD2013 10/17 (An inspiration for my sister’s name. She was born 40 years ago this very day.)
  • “Everybody’s very happy/Cause the sun is shining all the time/Looks like another perfect day” #RandyNewman “I Love LA” #LOTD2013 10/18 (A salute to my Dodgers, whose thrilling and very fun 2013 season ended in the NLCS on this night.)
  • Donovan 45“Well, back home are no floods or tornadoes, baby/And the sun shines every day” #StevieRayVaughan “Texas Flood” #LOTD2013 10/19
  • “You would like those flowers on the hills/And the sunlight in the fall, even the coyotes call” #RyanAdams “Go Easy” #LOTD2013 10/20
  • “Birdie in the hand for life’s rich demand/The insurgency began and you missed it” #REM “Begin The Begin” #LOTD2013 10/21
  • “Are you really that pure, sir?/Thought I saw you in Vegas/It was not pretty/But she was” #JennyLewis “Rise Up With Fists!!” #LOTD2013 10/22 (As it was again on this night, Jenny Lewis at the Largo has become a very special type of “only in L.A.” experience.)
  • “Soothing/I’ll make you feel pure/Trust me/You can be sure” #Muse “Undisclosed Desires” #LOTD2013 10/23
  • “Picked you from a lineup in downtown Phila/Cigarette hangin out your mouth/#HenryMiller in your back pocket” #Live “Freaks” #LOTD2013 10/24
  • “Everybody has/Their own opinion/Everybody has/Their own opinion/Holding it back/Hurts so bad” #JanesAddiction “Mountain Song” #LOTD2013 10/25
  • “To this day/She glided on/Always home/But so far away/Like a word misplaced/Nothing said/What a waste” #PearlJam “Dissident” #LOTD2013 10/26
  • “Early dawning, Sunday morning/It’s just the wasted years so close behind” #VelvetUnderground “Sunday Morning” #LOTD2013 10/27 #RIPLouReed (With news of Lou Reed’s death on this particular Sunday morning, this one was a no-brainer of nearly cliche level.)
  • “Underneath the arches where the witches are saying/There are ghost towns in the ocean” #Coldplay “Cemeteries Of London” #LOTD2013 10/28 (The next four lyrics/song titles are a somewhat loose tribute to Halloween week.)
  • Boingo Shows“In starlit nights I saw you/So cruelly you kissed me/Your lips a magic world” #EchoAndTheBunnymen “The Killing Moon” #LOTD2013 10/29
  • “I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s/His hair was perfect” #WarrenZevon “Werewolves Of London” #LOTD2013 10/30
  • “I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go/Walkin’ with a dead man over my shoulder” #OingoBoingo “Dead Man’s Party” #LOTD2013 10/31 #Halloween (If you grew up in SoCal in the 1980s, you know.)

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen along: #LOTD2013: October