It stands to reason

If you're working for a monolithic, impersonal, quota-driven organization in these tough economic times, you're aware of the extra scrutiny people doing the "real selling" give to those applying the "marketing spin."  Being under the loop makes it all the more important to stay above the fray, far from the madding crowd and be the voice of discreet but genuine candidness.

Seth Godin (All Marketers Are Liars) does this on a regular basis. So does fellow New Yorker and Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Krauthammer, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in person recently.  No matter which candidate you're voting for next week, Charles has a knack for saying it like it is.  He does it again in last Friday's Washington Post. 

The FOX News Legacy

Our family just got back from a whirlwind trip to Washington, DC over the weekend where we got to appreciate some of the uniqueness of the nation's capitol. After living in Berlin and San Francisco and Chicago and visiting some other incredibly beautiful cities like Zurich and Paris, it's always fascinating to notice the contrast in different urban settings.

The primary reason for our trip was to visit my oldest son Axel, who is interning at the only news show mentioned in the presidential debates and the gem of Rupert Murdoch's crown, FOX News.  The team at the station was very gracious and gave us a fantastic tour and even let us sit in on a live panel show covering the "generated crisis" with Bret Baier.  Here are a few FOX facts I found intriguing and highly encouraging:

- The FOX News Channel is twelve years old this month.

- Since January of 2002, FOX has ranked first overall in total day and prime time audience.

- Just last month, FOX had its second-highest rated month ever (the top month was April of 2003)

- Since 1997, FOX has grown from a 3% share of the total day cable news market to its current 39%.

- Special Report with Brit Hume, who came from ABC News in 1997, is the #1 cable news program in the nation.

Another tidbit every baseball fan is aware of this week is that FOX has the exclusive coverage of the World Series, where they've carried 10 of the last 12 matchups.

Moving Toward 1:1 Marketing

How important is your customer relationship management solution to you? Do your customers know that you know them and are working to make their experience as personally relevant as possible? I've gotten two invitations in the last week that were addressed to "Dear Lynda" and "FirstName." Here's an interview I did in TechRepublic today with CRM expert Jon Cline that covers some great insights about the future of CRM. 

Thanks Jon!

How much is your degree worth?

A good percentage of the people I hear from and work with have technology backgrounds - including degrees in information technology of one kind or another.  Here's an interesting survey being done this week by the innovative people over at TechRepublic for all of you who have pursued technology as an academic endeavor (and for managers and recruiters who hire people for IT positions!)  The anonymous results will be the basis for a special report on IT/IS undergrad programs and will include the importance of that piece of paper vs. hands-on work experience.  

(HINT: All of you who were at my presentation yesterday in Chicago should be interested in this!)