with a lifetime of low-value status
updates. The root of this issue is a
lack of planning when setting up
the success metrics prior to launch.
ROI is not that hard to measure; suitable tracking systems already exist.
The real issue is that marketers have
not been challenged on why and
how they want to participate.
SCOTENNIS
Sydney
Novel Ideas
Angela James failed the editor’s
test? They must have been asking
the wrong questions (“Happily Ever
After”). Her career in e-publishing
doesn’t just parallel the industry’s
rapid growth; she is also a major
innovator, instigator, and accelerator.
DELLEJACOBS
Vancouver, Washington
This is such an inaccurate view of
how mainstream brands consider
social media, social commerce,
marketing, and ROI. Talk to
1-800-FLOWERS, Banana Republic,
or The New York Times, and ask if
they care about seeing numbers.
The answer will be a cold, hard yes.
They want metrics, data, intelligence, performance, and actionable
insights. Marketing channels may
change, but the fundamentals of
marketing have not.
KATELYN FRIEDSON
New York
Hot Ticket
As a longtime hater of Ticketmaster,
I’m impressed with Nathan Hubbard’s rap (“Rocking the Most Hated
Brand in America”). I’d much rather
see dynamic pricing that allows me
to pay a market rate for preferred
seats and know the money is going
to the industry creating the product
and the guys up on stage. There is
a very efficient marketplace for live
concert experiences; it just happens
in a very poorly organized secondary market. If Ticketmaster can
rationalize the market so I can buy
a ticket in advance—and without
wasting my time with Craigslist or
some scalper outside of Fenway
Park—it’ll have earned its money.
For the first time ever.
ADAMCAPER
Boston
Changing Minds
I applaud Cathy Davidson’s work
on change and distraction (Life in
Beta). I look forward to what her
HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced
Collaboratory) network can accomplish. My greatest hope is that it
can help academic programs shift
from answer-based to question-based; this would generate real
innovation and technological
breakthrough.
JOHN OLESNAVAGE
Marquette, Michigan
Bank Credit
Congratulations, BankSimple.
Somebody finally got around to creating a better banking experience
(“A Bank That Doesn’t Suck”) Forrester and its ilk can keep finding
arguments for why it won’t work,
but I hope the BankSimple team
will wake up every morning, look
into the mirror, and kiss their faces,
saying they are happy to be creating
a new world. Way to go, guys!
SUBBU I YER
Bangalore, India
BURGER HEAVEN
Given Wall Street’s tightened purse strings, perhaps it’s
no surprise that the Wall Street Burger Shoppe and its
$175 Richard Nouveau burger couldn’t survive the recession, bailout, and fallout. The restaurant, owned by chef
Kevin O’Connell, filed for bankruptcy in July, ending
three years of serving tourists and bankers alike moderately priced bar food alongside the gilded sandwich,
which we featured in our July/August issue (“The Burger
King”). We succumbed to the Richard Nouveau, drawn
in by the gold flakes, Kobe beef, and Gruyère cheese—not
to mention O’Connell’s goal to one-up chef Daniel Boulud
by making his $150 burger seem like a (relative) deal.
O’Connell tells us he hopes to revive the Burger Shoppe
with a new location in the “not-too-distant future,” but
for now we can only look back and remember all the
delicious beef and burger accoutrements $175 could buy.
—RACHEL Z. ARNDT
Fast Fix
The images of Matt Damon featured in the
July/August issue were taken by photographer Damon Winter.
