Friday 7 August 2015

What we're listening to this week. Bob Marley 'Legend'.


We know, we know, you're saying, 'what? a compilation?' rather than 'Exodus', 'Catch a fire', 'Babylon by Bus' or 'Burnin' and we hear you....sort of.

But if you want to hear what's best of Bob Marley, it's all on 'Legend'. Released in 1984 (after he died in Miami in 1981), it is the best selling reggae album of all time. It still sells up to 5,000 copies a week.

'Stir it up', 'Buffalo Soldier', 'One love', 'I shot the sheriff' (which was written by Marley but Clapton made famous), 'Could you be loved', 'Jamming', of course 'No Woman No cry' (live), 'Get up stand up'....there all here but....without any doubt, the real outstanding Marley track is 'Waiting in vain'. None better.

It's over 30 years old but what Marley did was bring reggae into the mainstream and 11 children. It still sounds fresh, different and summertime. The joy in his music stems from his religious beliefs (which ultimately cost him his life in declining treatments).

They all loved it in Streamabout anyway. Ye man.

Here's 'Waiting in Vain'. Stunner.



And here's the complete Album.


Thursday 6 August 2015

Numbers support the move away from traditional media and notably, TV to Online.




The switch from traditional media, especially TV, to Digital is well underway as we know. Common sense.....because rather than be told differently, we all know that we are spending more time online.

Whether that's web browsing, youtube or Social Media, we see it all around us and especially if you've young kids where their 'devices' are all that matters, rather than say, traditional TV. 

How many of us now, get our news online for free rather than physically buying a newspaper? How many of us watch Ad-free Netflix or Amazon more than before?

If traditional media is not being consumed as much, less people are watching the Ads. In the case of TV, less people are watching the Ad breaks and when they are, they're watching via fast forward on record or, with their laptop open (second screen). So the Ads are getting less and less attention not just, less and less viewers.

So we know it's happening.

A really interesting piece from Social Week Blog, now supports that with numbers.

Flurry (owned by Yahoo!) show mobile is watched in the US (and that'll be no different to other countries with high mobile penetration) for 2 hours, 57 minutes. Traditional TV is behind at 2 hours, 48 minutes.

18-24's according to Nielsen, watch 18 hours a week of TV. Only. A decline of nearly 4 hours viewing in a year.

Yet 41% of them are active on Snapchat and undoubtedly, Facebook (with 4 Billion video views a day).

And these are a key demographic for brands.

As Social Week points out, it has momentum in the switch away notably, from TV. And if that audience is moving to online (and it is), then that's where the Ad money will go. Although the Ad budgets are shifting, far more slowly than the audience is moving.

The fact is that advertisers need to sit up and take notice and be conscious of the advice of their Agency who may, through a lack of skill sets in this changing world, want to maintain the status quo. It's easier to keep doing what you've always done.

"Beliefs are hard to change" says the Social week blog and they are.....but the growth in online digital video (Video Ads) which Streamabout alone have experienced, illustrates that change is coming.

Quickly. But perhaps, not at the pace it deserves.

You can read the Social Week Blog here;


http://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2015/08/the-end-of-advertising/