American Idol – the Death Star?
As millions of people laugh at Ian , riducule Paula and debate whether Chris Sligh should go to Hollywood, whether he looks like Jack Osbourne, and if he can really make David Hasselhoff cry - there’s a few folks not laughing.
Rival television executives are now referring to Fox’s “American Idol” as the death star as their programs wilt by comparison. Have a look at last weeks Neilson Ratings;
FOX: American Idol : 33.87 million viewers
NBC: Friday Night Lights : 5.7 million
CBS: Armed & Famous : 4.2 million
ABC: Knights of Prosperity : 3.6 million viewers
There’s a marketing lesson there. If you do #1 well – really well – #2 is really, really far away. You get to #1 by giving people what they respond to… which is not necessarily the same as what they ask for.
So… who do you think is better… Chris Sligh or Sundance Head?
Crusader Rabbits & a lesson on Google. Bonus!
I logged into my blog dashboard this morning to find that the top search (so far) today is: Crusader Rabbits, hole
Curious, I checked Google. And, I laughed. All because of a rather whimsical post. See?
Trotting a little farther down the rabbit hole, I typed in a boolean search. For those not in the know, a boolean search uses additional characters, like quotation marks around a specific phrase to find an exact match. Which yielded this…
Curious and curioser, I wondered what would happen if I ventured farther into the boolean rabbit hole. So I used quotation marks AND a plus sign to indicate that I want information about “Crusader Rabbits” and hole. See the red box around my search phrase? See the results?
Now, I’m not just the top search result, I’m the top TWO search results.
Which, in itself, teaches a lesson about Google – and any search engine, for that matter. They aren’t infallible. They are, after all, bots. Without a brain. When complicated searches fail, try the KISS method. For example, a search for (drumroll) – crusader rabbit – will yield lots of links… none of which are my blog.
If you own a website that’s not ranking well in Google, reverse engineer the whole concept. Check to see whether Google gives better results with boolean or simple search. The rabbit hole you find yourself running down when you pretend to be a potential customer is the same rabbit hole that your potential customers are wandering around in as they’re trying to find you. See?
Sex, drugs & celebrities; (101 Dumbest Moments ) Paris Hilton puts the “duh” in double-double
I just read Business 2.0’s ”101 Dumbest Moments in Business: Sex, drugs & celebrities”
Paris Hilton puts the “duh” in double-double and Jessica Simpson gets sued (for $100 million) for… well… being stupid, really. From pussycat dolls for 8 year olds to that “waaayy too sultry” voice on the Honda Help line (oops), it’s hilarious. Go, read. Then tell me which one you liked best. Who says big companies don’t mess up?
It’s here: 101 Dumbest Moments in Business: Sex, drugs & celebrities
Oprah’s new reality tv show needs contestants.
“I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who, from an early age, knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.” [Oprah Winfrey]
Oprah is launching a new reality show called “Oprah Winfrey’s The Big Give” – and they need contestants.
To quote the news clip;
“It will challenge 10 people to take the money and resources they are given and multiply them to create the most powerful and emotional way to help others. Producers said they looking for competitive, passionate creative and adventurous people who are ready to jump into action.”
Deadline for entering is Feb 7, 2007. Details are: at this link
So… are you feeling competitive, passionate creative and adventurous today? Thoughts on the show?
