What HBO’s ‘Succession’ can teach us about advertising

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 #parent brand #airtight positioning #ridiculous glut #streaming platforms #batting average #deliver non-stop #t-miss products #toughest test #warnermedia umbrella #three-dimensional chess-plotting #adland-relevant lessons #ad guy #hat tip #standout lines #publishing world #news corp

Other Publishing stories related to: ' What HBO’s ‘Succession’ can teach us about advertising '


Cross-Platform Magazine Advertising Up 6 Percent

Magazines saw combined ad units for print and tablet products grow 6 percent in 2013, according to a joint study by Kantar Media and the MPA—The Association for Magazine Media. Measuring 69 publications that have both print and tablet products, the report found tablet unit sales up 16 percent... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kantar media #magazine media


Native Advertising Wasn't Really So Viral in 2013

Are we so sure that all this sponsored content is worth the trouble? Native advertising distribution firm Sharethrough compiled a ranking of the biggest brand-produced sponsored stories from 2013. And what perhaps sticks out the most is that none of these stories seems to have really taken off... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sponsored content #book lovers #single brand #social publishers #include video


Which science fiction classic should be the next HBO box set?

HBO's award-winning adaptations are novelistic in ambition, but TV executives hoping to follow Game of Thrones should look to the starsIt's almost commonplace to suggest that the HBO box set is now television's answer to the novel – witness the wily self-publishers who have started publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Stephen Hawking's first official app teaches the basics of the universe

Stephen Hawking has gone to great lengths to promote science through books and videos, but he has been conspicuously absent in the software world -- until now, that is. The astrophysicist has just teamed up with Random House on Snapshots of the ... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen hawking #random house


Trinity Mirror builds on the success of UsVsTh3m with launch of Ampp3d

Buzzfeed-style site has managed to lure 7 million users – but it still seeks commercial successThis week the Daily Mirror's publisher will make its second foray into socially shared content with the launch of data journalism experiment Ampp3d, as mainstream media companies inspired by the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital literacy #mail online


NAA: FTC Should Give Publications Room on Native Advertising

Newspaper publishers are curious about native advertising and hopeful that the industry — not the government — will develop best practices for its use in the years to come. The Newspaper Association of America is among the man ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #native advertising #newspaper publishers #industry mdash #newspaper association


A transparent market means rethinking the ways brands advertise

In the transparent marketplace it's what you do, not what you say, that makes the difference, and that's good for sustainabilityIn New York's Central Park recently, an old man was selling "Banksy paintings" for $60 apiece. His booth was right next to others selling everything from second-hand... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #google glass


How the FTC Can Solve Native Advertising's Identity Crisis

Online advertising is a tricky game, reliant on continued innovation from publishers and advertisers as they try to capture consumers' attention. The latest effort to move beyond traditional banners is so-called "native advertising" -- advertising that looks and feels like the content of a... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest effort #traditional banners #consumer experience #people talk #print publications


Bible teaches Costco a lesson: genre matters

Booksellers need to be careful when they assign a book a genre – as Costco learned when it categorized the Bible as 'fiction.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Can Latin America’s Music Biz Still Teach Publishing Something?

The print book business in Latin America remains dominant, but digital is rising. Are there lessons to be learned from the music business? Several Argentine music pros weigh in. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latin america #music business


Study: Programmatic Strategies Adopted by 85 Percent of Advertisers and 72 Percent of Publishers

 Programmatic buying is exploding according to a recent IAB and Winterberry Group study. However, the study also shows that some hurdles are slowing adoption rates. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #programmatic buying


IBM Takes Aim at Twitter, Claims to Have Patented Online Advertising

IBM is alleging that Twitter has infringed on its patents, including one that would seem to give the computing giant status as an inventor of online advertising.Revealed in a Twitter filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning, IBM is claiming that Twitter has infringed on at... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online advertising #exchange commission #online companies


Pinterest And Your Personal Brand: 7 Steps To Pinning Your Life, Work, And Way To Success

Whether you're a real estate agent, an advertising executive, or an up–and–coming blogger, now is absolutely the time to start using Pinterest to build your personal brand. Although the image–based social network is still struggling to generate significant revenue, its user base continues to... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big brands #canine companions #business partner #news sites


E&P Publisher of the Year: Dennis Francis, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

As he looks out on spectacular palm tree-lined fairways bordered by crashing waves on any number of golf courses he regularly frequents in his beloved home state of Hawaii, Dennis Francis often thinks about how his favorite pastime is so much like th ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #honolulu star-advertiser


The Roadblocks of Native Advertising

Could native advertising be hitting a wall? Marketers and publishers continue to fall all over themselves to create messaging that doesn’t look like advertising and that doesn’t annoy the reader. But the format is facing growing pains. “Agencies aren’t ready to turn on a dime and do this,” Rey... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #missed opportunities #starcom mediavest #recent survey


Star Tribune Announces New Initiative for Real-Time Management of Digital Advertising Campaigns

As a premium content publisher with unprecedented reach and coverage across the upper Midwest, Star Tribune has attracted the largest online readership of any Minnesota media brand—and the advertisers seeking to connect with that audience. ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #star tribune


Introducing Our New eBook Collection: Advertising Age Essentials

Advertising Age's new eBook collection is informative, practical and easy to read. These guides, available on Amazon's Kindle, expertly cover current marketing topics and are designed to be a resource for marketers at every level, in any business.In "Winning with Facebook Advertising," readers... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ebook collection #advertising age #facebook advertising #media metrics #fan base


Advertising Week Video: How Publishers Can Use Data More Effectively

For digital publishers, effectively harnessing data can turn a large but poorly understood audience into the targets advertisers covet, or help predict when certain consumers will be most likely to buy. The Weather Company has figured this out -- noticing that drops in summer temperatures, for... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital publishers #weather company


What Kinds of Advertising Do Consumers Trust the Most?

Here is some good news for marketers: More consumers trust advertising compared with six years ago, according to a new report from Nielsen that polled people in 58 countries.While word-of-mouth recommendations remain a brand's best friend by far, confidence in various forms of paid advertising... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #newspaper advertising #fell slightly #percentage points


Is having a strong children's section a secret to success for indie bookstores?

An informal survey recently carried out by Publishers Weekly found that most stores where children's books had a strong presence are doing well financially. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #indie bookstores #strong presence