Yes. The return of a storytelling indeed.

Yes. The return of a storytelling indeed.

So delighted to read this in the New York Times today. Audio books rock, and are not just for old people. But be sure to pick the ‘voice’ very, very carefully. Listen to the entire sample. You’re going to be ‘living’ with that voice for hours on end, so you’d better not find it in the least bit grating. Personally, I’m working through the slightly more dense members of the Guardian’s 1,000 “Must Read” books as audio books. Last weekend’s hikes allowed me to finish A Passage to India, narrated by Sam Dastor. Joyfully done. Bring it on, Audible.com!

I’m starting to get TV on my own terms

Back in 2009, I wrote about how I wanted ‘movies on my own terms.’ I came across that blog recently.  I was pleased that things have got better, but I realize that we still have a way to go.

An update on the ‘hardware’ sitch… I still have TiVo and Amazon hooked up together. But now, purchasing is vastly improved, and I can instantly download from my Amazon account to the TiVo and have it appear in the list of shows to watch. Check.

I still have a Mac Mini attached to my TV via a video cable. I control that Mac Mini through screen share.  Yes, I realize I could buy AppleTV to do this, but actually having a ‘full’ Macintosh available is cool. I can stream photo slideshows in a screensaver while listening to Spotify music.  I can easily play DVDs of old family videos. It’s fun.

I used to have a Logitech Universal Remote that controlled the whole shebang, but that collapsed, mysteriously, right around the time they launched a new remote. But the price tag was just too steep — around $250.  I can get up off the sofa for a bit longer.

But here’s where we have a long way to go: global entertainment.

I am one of many members of a diaspora. I still love to watch English TV, news, even weather. (Especially weather!) I remain as massively disappointed in the dreck that passes for programming on BBC America as I was back in March 2009.  I can’t be the only one. In fact I know I’m not.  Almost anyone living in the States from anywhere else in the world still wants to stay in touch with entertainment and news from back home.

So why filter it? Why make us jump through hoops to get it unfiltered? Just give it to us. Unchanged. Just like we’re there. That’s what we want. Not filtered through the lens of some American programming team that thinks we want endless episodes of that idiot cook who says ‘fuck’ a lot… whose name I refuse to even remember at this moment.

Which brings me onto Netflix.

Last September, while out in my garden, I was listening to podcasts of the BBC show “Front Row.” The wonderful Mark Lawson talked to Ted Sarandos, head of content for the video on demand service, about the change in how we consume entertainment. The moment the show ended I bought (just a little bit– wish I’d bought more) of Netflix stock.  Here was someone (Ted Sarandos) who talked about the world as an audience for content. Good content. I got the hint (just a hint mind you) that Netflix had its eye on original programming that would work for audiences all over the world. Bring it on.

Indeed in Netflix’s recent earnings reports, Hastings specifically stated:

We haven’t been specific about what country or countries we’re going to expand to. So there’s a number of players in all the major markets and in the smaller markets. They’re all doing good work. I think what we’ve seen with our success in the UK is that there can be very strong players like the BBC iPlayer and LOVEFiLM and Sky and we can still build a very successful business. And so I think the key is having unique content, a great reputation, a good value proposition. And we can succeed and in many cases the competitors can also. So we mostly focus on finding good markets that love content and that will steadily expand in Europe.

Global programming with good content. Yes, the company has made some dumb moves. (Remember Qwikster?) But like Amazon, they’re willing to experiment. And they’re brave.  I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.

G.K. Chesterton “Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.”

Today in The Guardian I read this excellent synopsis of a lecture recently given by the author Neil Gaiman “Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming.”

Everyone should read it.

I am the proud owner of not one, but five Kindles (I think — I’ve lost count). I have bought every version since they first arrived at Amazon. My Kindle has over 150 books (I think — I’ve also lost count). Reading is an integral part of my life. I literally cannot remember a night that I haven’t read before sleep. It would be unthinkable. I experience a mild sense of panic as a good book ends, if I realize I don’t have something perfect queued up.

More recently, I’ve been listening to Audible.com audio books too — a far more palatable way to re-visit the classics. As Mr Gaiman says, you can ‘kill’ a child’s love of books by pressing ‘the classics’ on them. They’ll hate them. Unless they are truly unusual.

So when someone begs you read Austen or Thomas Hardy, be cautious. Wonderful though they are, they can be indigestible to readers who aren’t quite as classics-fit as they once were, when their minds were supple at college or high school. (If indeed they even were back then.)

Listening to them read well is, however, a joy. This past week, I listened to A Passage to India by EM Forster, read by Sam Dastor. Mr Dastor separated the voices beautifully, though I did find the voice of Miss Quested a little grating. Listening to the book again reminded me of the confused and mixed up relationships between India and Britain, and the utter arrogance and stupidity of the Anglo-Indian communities. Beautifully and gently written. I fell in love with Dr Aziz all over again.

Now I’m well into remembering the courage and sadness of the beautiful Tess in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and read by Simon Vance, who does a pretty decent west country lilt.

Listening to books while you’re walking, exercising, or just doing boring housework is a gift indeed.

Reading is a luxury that everyone should have access to. Reading is like dreaming. It allows our minds to go on journeys to places our bodies are unable to go. So with that in mind, here are few more dreams I’ve read since Christmas that I really enjoyed:

Keep on reading!

Who won the #hashtag Super Bowl this year?

I’m not much of a football fan. Not anything of a football fan for that matter. But I do like brand watching. So it was “shut up, I have to listen to the ads” this year, with a furious post-game analysis of my latest interest: hashtag marketing.

The result? Front page billing for a hashtag marketing infographic for my buddies at Friend2Friend.  Read about it “Almost twice as many TV ads featured #hashtags at this year’s 2014 Super Bowl.”

An interesting endeavor in trend-riding that was preceded by a lead-up article written for ClickZ last week: “How brands with Super Bowl TV commercials could stay relevant after the game.”

Since the Super Bowl, we have tracked the hashtag activity for all 38 brands, and looked at who was able to keep the social conversation going past the Super Bowl. In all cases, there’s a huge spike when the ad runs, and then a precipitous decline. This dropoff illustrates some of the challenges brands face when using hashtags for high-ticket marketing campaigns: first, the content created is extremely ephemeral; and second, there hasn’t been an easy way for brands to surface the best hashtagged content created by fans. Brands and agencies have been required to monitor multiple hashtag-compatible social platforms and then sift through that content to pick the best quality for showcasing.

What a lost opportunity. In scanning through the #BestBuds content, yes there were plenty of images of fat weed buds sitting atop Budweiser beer caps, but there were also adorable #BestBuds puppies, kittens, kids and more .. all shouting out for Budweiser. But can you find that now? Nope. Same goes for #HugFest, #GoodToBeBad, #AmericaIsBeautiful and more.

Increasingly, brands are embracing the hashtag as a means to coordinate conversations, execute campaigns, and call out for fan content. Hashtags

Next up is a follow-up infographic with the ‘one week later’ story in AdWeek, a press release for related product from Friend2Friend, and articles for iMedia and MarketingProfs. Busy week!