Advertising lessons learned and reaffirmed by HBO’s ‘Succession’

As an abashed former News Corp employee (thankfully at HarperCollins, one of the Murdoch portfolio’s least-offensive holdings), HBO’s "Succession" is my straight shot of Sunday-night dopamine. The show’s great even if you aren’t attuned to the devastating, thinly veiled media and publishing world portrayals—but it’s a lot more fun for those of us who are. And watching through the eyes of a current ad guy, there are still a lot of professional lessons to take away from the savage, but often insightful, Roy family and their various hangers-on. In anticipation of the season coming to a close this Sunday, when we bid adieu to our favorite deliciously dysfunctional and unscrupulous family of one-percenters until next year, I bring you my favorite ad-world lessons learned and reaffirmed in the first two seasons of HBO’s latest tentpole show. What's the protein? Roy family patriarch Logan’s go-to phrase, “What’s the protein?” is quickly becoming my internal mantra in all sorts of daily situations. Logan’s a busy guy who shoots from the hip, so he needs a quick phrase that helps get to the meat of the matter at hand—or points out the lack of substance in a given proposition (like his daughter Shiv’s much-mocked family memo). “What’s the protein?” is great shorthand for stripping the BS out of the equation and weighing whether there’s real substance at the core of an idea or it’s just carbohydrate filler. I’ve toyed with “What’s the protein?” becoming my new go-to filter in... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-11 11:22:17 UTC ]
News tagged with: #nice reminder #streaming platforms #hat tip #publishing world #news corp

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Mobile ad success helps Facebook deliver stunning Q2 results

Facebook has smashed all estimates in its earnings and revenue report this week, largely thanks to its robust mobile ad business. The results slapped down any niggling doubts among critics about the social network's ability to transform itself from a simple communication website to a... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2014-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fox tried to buy Time Warner -- and HBO -- for $80 billion

Could Fox News and CNN have the same owner? No, but close. 21 Century Fox has confirmed reports (first published by the New York Times) that it made an $80 billion bid for fellow media conglomerate Time Warner -- and was turned down, for now.... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chicago Indie Bookstore Day A Huge Success

Despite torrential rains, the first Chicago Independent Bookstore Day on July 12 was a huge success that exceeded all expectations, participating indie booksellers told PW. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bragelonne: Fighting France’s Book Snobs with Success

Publisher Bragelonne has found extraordinary success selling what others in France might deign to be untouchable, including fantasy, romance, and ebooks. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Native Advertising Comes to E-Commerce

If digital publishers thought they had native advertising all to themselves, they may want to think again.Some of the world's biggest ecommerce sites are getting in the native game, courtesy of a partnership between native ad-tech company TripleLift, and BazaarVoice, a technology company that... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Conde Nast Drops Longstanding Policy Affecting Beauty Advertisers

A change to a policy at Conde Nast that affects major beauty advertisers is sending waves of anxiety through some of its largest magazines, including Vogue and Glamour.Referred to internally as the "beauty rotation," the policy long dictated the order in which ads from Revlon, Estee Lauder,... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ray Tindle reaffirms his faith in the future of local weekly newspapers

Ray Tindle, the grand old man of local newspaper publishing who remained bullish throughout the dark days of recession, is positively bubbling now. Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Hearst learned to play with emotions to drive Facebook traffic game

The publisher, which has seen its Facebook traffic grow more than 500 percent in the past year, shares the secrets to its success. The post How Hearst learned to play with emotions to drive Facebook traffic game appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Surprise, Doubt as US Publishers Learn of Perseus Sale to Hachette

A publishing dinner party in Berlin went glum as six independent publishers learned they would suddenly have a new distributor, a result of Hachette's acquisition of Perseus. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google's Acquisition Shows It's Hungry for More Digital Video Advertising

Google is buying a mDialog, a small player in the digital video ad space to add to the search giant's DoubleClick collection. Canada-based mDialog provides technology to major media companies such as broadcasters, who use it to serve ads against their shows wherever they run digitally—across... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Netflix Looking To Pursue More Native Advertising

Online audiences are oohing and ahhing over Netflix's New York Times branded content on women inmates, tied to the hit series Orange Is the New Black.  While this is one of the first pieces created out of the Grey Lady's T Brand Studio, Netflix isn't new to the native advertising. And a source... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zoe Sugg's YouTube success wins her two-book deal for novels

Known as Zoella to millions of viewers, her first book Girl Online will be a 'modern-day Notting Hill for teens' according to publisherZoe Sugg, a 24-year-old from Brighton whose YouTube videos are watched by more than 12 million people every month, has been signed up by Penguin to begin a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hillary Clinton's memoir excerpt: What can we learn from it? (+video)

A second preview of Clinton's book 'Hard Choices' was recently released and the excerpt details her 'partnership and friendship' with President Obama and her wish to 'revisit certain choices.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Learn a Fictional Language from Game of Thrones

Living Language has partnered with HBO Global Licensing to offer a course in Dothraki, a language from George R.R. Martin's popular series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Successful Longevity

In November of 2012 Herman Wouk, at age 97, spoke to Brooks Barnes of the New York Times about his newest book, The Law Giver, which had just been published by Simon & Schuster. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Conde Nast Drafts an Internal 'Magna Carta' for Native Advertising

Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue and The New Yorker, has asked its editors and publishers to review a roughly 4,000-word document that lays out how the company will handle native advertising online, according to several Conde Nast executives.The document's aim is to give publishers and editors who... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Learn to Leverage Your Niche Media Brand at FOLIO:’s Growth Summit

FOLIO: has organized a one-day event in Chicago this summer to help niche media publishers leverage the newest strategies to help build stronger brands via techniques for boosting revenue growth, controlling costs and transforming a business without losing the core vision. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Knewton, Sanoma Partner to Offer Adaptive Learning in Europe

Knewton, a company that produces adaptive learning software, has an agreement with European educational publisher Sonoma Learning to use the Knewton API in digital content produced by Malmberg, its Dutch publishing division. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Multi-million-pound digital learning launch for Blackwell's

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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