Advertising & Marketing

Konstantin Ernst says it’s no big deal, but the entire world would care to disagree. Ernst, the creative director behind the opening ceremonies in Sochi, flatly dismissed his Olympic-sized mistake — failing to open all five rings at the pinnacle of Russia’s highly-anticipated performance. Plenty of people figured Ernst would pay for his screw-up with an untimely Continue Reading →

Two recently-published academic papers foretell the imminent implosion of Facebook. One review from Princeton employed disease modeling to suggest that Facebook could lose up to 80 percent of users in the next three years. The other was from University College London (UCL), a leading UK university. In UCL’s instance, Professor Daniel Miller wrote a blog Continue Reading →

Leslie Kendall, a consultant/friend who works to identify and eliminate critical problems that limit businesses and not-for-profits success, recently told me “consultants have a shelf life.” I had two reactions: Visceral: That’s not right; and Delayed: There’s a lot of truth to the concept. That’s Not Right I have friends who have been successful consultants for decades. Continue Reading →

This is the third (and final) column that looks at the forecasts I have made on events through 2013. As pointed out in the first two columns, the purpose of these columns is to analyze why forecasts were correct and, if not, what they might mean looking forward. As stated in the first column: “… Continue Reading →

Don’t press “submit” on that job application. Not yet. You’re not done. Even though you’re itching to find a new gig, cool your jets. The market is saturated so you need to be sharp. A recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, found roughly 2.4 million employees are dashing for the exit every month. A “jolt” Continue Reading →

In 2009, Blair Levin was hired by the FCC to help the agency craft a national broadband plan. Way back then, it was clear that FCC chairman Julius Genachowski intended to reclaim a significant amount of television spectrum and repurpose it for broadband. A telling Craig Moffet quote (usually cited as a Julius Genachowski quote) Continue Reading →

This is my second of three columns covering a look back at the forecasts I made about things that might happen through the end of 2013. As I wrote in the first column, this is not an exercise in self-congratulation, but rather an opportunity to look back on forecast accuracy and analyze why or why Continue Reading →

Ian Rappaport had no clue how his night would turn out. All he knew: just say “Yes.” Once Ian agreed to accept a bottle of Bud Light and walk out of the bar, his evening life changed forever. That’s the set-up to what many consider the greatest Super Bowl ad of the year. If you have not seen Continue Reading →

Eight years ago, I first began to write and speak about the future full-time. Then, as always, I was asked about what accurate forecasts I had made. This told me that my legitimacy (to some degree) would be based upon this. I started to make forecasts. The second thing I realized was that most people Continue Reading →

Just saw a great movie? Watched an emotional YouTube video? Heard someone’s emotional life story? There’s only one word to describe all of these experiences: Amazing. Then again, maybe not. In a purely unscientific poll that I conducted by… well, observing the conversations around me, I have concluded that amazing is the most overused word in our collective vocabulary. Even Continue Reading →