Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone provider, has made a deal with MySpace.com that will allow MySpace users to access their profiles through Cingular phones. Under the agreement, cellphone users will be able to go to their MySpace.com page to edit it, post photos and get messages. For example, a MySpace.com user could take a picture with their cellphone and then immediately post the image to their Web …
Simmons Says, Ice Is Nice
The New York Times looks at Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons' involvement with the diamond trade--an industry now under scrutiny thanks to a critical Hollywood film. “Blood Diamond,” directed by Harvard graduate Edward Zwick, depicts the violence surrounding the diamond trade in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. Simmons entered the diamond trade in 2003 with the opening of his Simmons Jewelry Company, which is supplied by De …
Major Newspaper Company Absorbs Community Journalism Sites
Poynter's E-Media Tidbits looks at McClatchy's purchase of local citizen media sites, Fresno Famous and Modesto Famous. Fresno Famous was founded in 2004 by now 26-year-old Jarah Euston. The site is a community portal, with blogs, podcasts, Flickr photo galleries, and forums. "Purchasing a strong franchise such as Fresno Famous gives The Bee another way in which to reach younger readers with information they seek," …
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That Was Easy
Staples has sold 1.5 million Easy Buttons--an artifact from the brand's advertising--to date. How does this happen in a culture where people skillfully avoid advertising in all of its hideous forms? Rob Walker of The New York Times Magazine explores the topic. One ad executive speculated in Brandweek that the gizmo’s success comes from its being an “elegant metaphor,” speaking to a yearning for solutions to the …
Big Media Wants One Of Those You Tube Things
Wall Street Journal is reporting that four major media companies--News Corp.'s Fox, Viacom Inc., CBS Corp. and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal--might join to create a video web site able to compete with Google Inc.'s YouTube. Nate Anderson wonders if the Big Guys can properly design such a site. In their own attempts at creating Internet delivery services for their TV shows, the networks have often done a nice …
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Contrary Media Models United By Profitability
Reflecting on recent turmoil in the executive suites at AOL, Newscorp and CBS Interactive, John Battelle sees an industry grappling to find itself in the brave "New Media" world. Here's what he believes the big guys are thinking: 1. Interactive is now a very important, profitable, and growing business. 2. We can't afford to not view this as strategic to our future. 3. We need someone running theses sites who is not …
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Don’t Stop Believin’
Kansas City sheep hater, John January, wants ad guys and ad gals of this land to remember why they got into the ad game. That's right, for the love. I think we can't help but love it. I think we ended up in advertising because we have always loved it. Didn't you like commercials when you were a kid? Don't stop loving advertising. Don't stop believing that good work is best for client and audience. Don't stop taking …
Another Spin For CBS Records
According to Los Angeles Times, the legendary label that once featured A-list recording artists like Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen is rising from the ashes. CBS Corp. plans to revive CBS Records — a vestige of the glory days of the now-troubled music industry — with an eye toward the Internet age. In contrast to the lavish excesses of the music business of the …