The Marketing Muse

Broken Record: Fixing The Music Business

Rick Oppedisano — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:00:03 PDT

Five years ago, Kyle Murdock's MySpace-fueled rise to major label status was the stuff of dreams. Today, he runs solo. But Murdock has fans, funding and enduring credibility- everything the majors promised but couldn’t deliver. How did he do what an established, prestigious major label couldn’t? A peek into the fall of the record business and what's coming next.

Marketing’s Role In Preparing A Business For Sale

Rick Oppedisano — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:59:42 PDT

It is a myth that ostrich stick their heads in the sand when they sense adversity. The truth is that they use their long necks and very large eyes to spot predators early, and then either lay down to hide or run away. Like the ostrich, marketers need to look far ahead to see an approaching exit and craft a position to deliver the best outcome. Here's how.

Apple Unveils iCloud, Changes Music Business- Again

Rick Oppedisano — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:06:42 PDT

Apple unveiled the iCloud, its new internet-based file storage service. A quick look at what it is, why you'll love it and how it could change everything.

Making Sense of the LinkedIn IPO

Rick Oppedisano — Fri, 20 May 2011 12:20:35 PDT

Yesterday, the LinkedIn IPO became the hottest to hit the market since Google. But is it real? In light of the LinkedIn IPO runoff, let's call out some business fundamentals and see how LinkedIn stacks up.

Flipped Off: Dead At Cisco, How The Flip Cam Could Be Saved

Rick Oppedisano — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:28:27 PDT

I’m trying something new to keep my writing fresh. The next few entries I write are intended to be read in 60 seconds or less. The first is a quick eulogy of the Flip cam and a thought on how it could’ve been saved.

Corporations Trying To Ride The Sheen Machine

Rick Oppedisano — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:50:10 PST

Comedy is often defined as "tragedy plus time", but in the world of social media, hours are condensed to minutes and minutes to seconds. A week ago, most of us thought Charlie Sheen was crazy, myself included. Today companies are trying to take advantage of Sheen's Twitter phenomenon without taking on the risk of hiring him as a sponsor.

New Gap Logo Creates Stir

Rick Oppedisano — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:06:51 PDT

The Gap rolls out a new logo, people hate it, "crowdsourcing" debate ensues. Whaaat?

Best Social Media Screwups

Rick Oppedisano — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:57:37 PDT

Props to AdAge for sharing this slide deck highlighting the biggest social media misfires of the last 7 years. When the history of social-media marketing is written, it's a fair bet that there'll be a chapter or two devoted to the disastrous campaigns detailed in this slideshow.

A New Job, A New Challenge

Rick Oppedisano — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:34:02 PDT

In a growth business, it's never to early to plan for what's next. Our executive team took a look at the business and identified building out a high-performing partner channel as a priority for 2011. I was picked to lead this effort, so as of August 1, I left my comfort zone in marketing. Now what?

Marketing Lessons from Miles Davis

Rick Oppedisano — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:23:37 PDT

Miles Davis’ natural talent and artistic intuition was undisputable. But behind those gifts was a man with a plan, focused on establishing a solid working foundation for each new direction, knowing how, where and when to introduce change. Good marketing works the same way.