I’ve been a fan of Fast Company magazine for a while now, but I think the most recent issue of the magazine may be one of the best single issues of any magazine that I’ve ever read. I highly recommend you pick it up, but if you’d rather do a little online reading, here’s a few of the articles that really grabbed me:
This lengthy feature about the state of the advertising industry is a fantastic overview of where things have been, where they’re headed, and why it’s all become such a mess. It’s packed with great quotes like “Marketing in the future is like sex – only the losers will pay for it,” and revealing stats such as the fact that the average tenure of a company’s Chief Marketing Officer is now down to 22 months.
Another lengthy feature, this one looks behind the scenes at Twitter and in particular at the people responsible for ingratiating the service to the TV business. They try to make the point that Twitter can move the ratings needle (citing MTV’s VMA ratings increases as a primary example), and even though I think there may be a bit of a chicken/egg argument there, it’s still an interesting look at evolving media.
Inside The Wild, Wacky, Profitable World of Boing Boing
I’ve been a fan of Boing Boing for a while, but didn’t really know a whole lot about the blog’s backstory. This piece is a good look at how they’ve managed to create a beloved media business on their own terms.
There’s lots more great stuff in this issue including the story behind Kevin Smith’s new podcast network, a look at how a company helps people choose brand names, and a lot more which you can see here.
