Comments for McCarthy Digital

Comment on The Awkward Dance Between Marketing and IT by Future systems needs for publishers to manage marketing becoming clear | The Idea Logical Company

Wed, 21 Feb 2018 20:54:43 +0000

[…] This is a complex technology problem. If it is seen as primarily an IT requirement, publishers might be reluctant to fund a solution. If it is seen as essential for marketing, it might be looked at differently. This is a dichotomy Pete put his finger on, which he calls the awkward dance between marketing and IT. […]

Comment on Can Publishers Scale Verticals? by Peter Turner

Peter Turner — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:02:36 +0000

Great topic, Pete. To my mind, the question is not whether publishers can or should scale verticals. The question is “if ‘yes’ then how?”

Comment on Publisher Strategies and Devastating Opportunity Costs by Kristen McLean

Kristen McLean — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:04:46 +0000

I think Thad’s point is a good one, and I think it’s important to distinguish between large “generalized” houses that feature the roll-up of many different imprints and smaller, more vertically oriented houses that CAN cultivate end-user followings because they have a clear brand and content mission. Think McSweeny’s, Chronicle, and the excellent examples like Tor/Forge mentioned by Peter above. The irony for the big houses is that the conglomeration of the 80’s and 90’s–and the attendant “economies of scale”–were supposed to make them more competitive. Now that undifferentiated mass is their Achilles heel, and I predict we will see a substantial cutting of that legacy overhead as well as some kind of return to niche branding before we’re done. The question is, can those big publishers move as quickly as they have to? My opinion is that publishers should focus on the core editorial work of making great content for the mass market. They serve the mass market very well. They should leave the creation of a disruptive discovery engine or retail mechanism to another player. They lack both the market position and the innovation to create the next big platform on an individual basis, and the DOJ issue prevents them from doing it together. If they don’t develop an understanding that they hold the top of the publishing pyramid (the mass market) so they can consolidate their focus and efforts there, those small presses and disruptive service providers below them are going to eat their lunch one tasty bite at a time.

Comment on Confession: I Almost Never Surf the Web Anymore by Peter McCarthy

Peter McCarthy — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:19:50 +0000

In reply to Andrew Weber. Thank you for the comment and for the reminder of email newsletters. Remarkable how useful they can be when well-constructed. So much so that I just forgot them completely, despite using them. Publishers Lunch is a great example for me.

Comment on Confession: I Almost Never Surf the Web Anymore by Helen Kurukulasuriya

Helen Kurukulasuriya — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 06:29:09 +0000

All I can say is “ditto”!

I lean towards Flipboard and still use Google Reader too. I have a board for the 50 Tech Influencers, and it’s great.

Like Andrew I’m subscribed to Calacanis and Pell, reading the former mostly. Additionnally I read Uncrunched the one by Arrington.

I also still use the Diigo bookmarklet for articles I might want to check again later, and email to evernote to share with colleagues.

The only “surfing” comes from my facebook newsfeed, from the subscriptions/likes that I haphazardly might read if they post an article.

My reading is now 100% mobile, I sadly even stopped reading my Time and New Yorker magazine subscription. Sigh! I’m becoming longform-crippled!