http://www.sharpe-tangent.com Sharpe Partners interactive agency blog Thu, 08 May 2008 15:38:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Yahoo, Yang and company have escaped their unwanted suitor. Analysts are still trying to force the marriage. But now the only possible thing that could make this union attractive to Microsoft/Balmer is the time it would save them in seeking new alternatives. A task they have probably already begun anyway, ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2008/the-queen-stands-alone/ CBS announced their March Madness results and it seems that at least in this contest, the underdog has triumphed. CBS made more per their online viewer than per their offline viewer (let’s say it together, NETWORK TV). Specifically CBS made a $44 CPM online and $42 offline. A slim margin; but ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2008/looks-sane-to-me/ Bad news: newspaper circulation is down 9% for the 1st Quarter of 2008. Good news: the papers report online readership is up. Problem: online readers don’t have to pay for their online editions. Where will the money come from? I should be sympathetic to the plight of the newspapers. I grew ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2008/the-sad-fate-of-the-dinosaur-blogs/ Throughout my youth, I distinctively remember Wendy ads. They stood out from all the many fast food commercials I saw. I always had faith that Dave Thomas was going to edify me with his good burger making know-how, as dependable as a sunrise. But when he died, a black-hole began ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2008/i-miss-dave-thomas/ The Yahoo!/Microsoft saga will no doubt drag on through Yahoo’s 1st Quarter Earnings Report, and then some. When it ends, it will be neither pleasant nor as profitable as it could have been for Yang and company. Balmer will prevail without mercy. If only Jerry or at least Sue had read ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2008/jerry-bodice-ripper-101/ Yesterday Siliconalleyinsider.com reported that MediaVest is going to be moving $100 million of some Client(s) money into Cinema Advertising. Their answer to the lower TV viewership. I don't know what kind of butter they are putting on their popcorn or what else could make them think this a good way to ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2008/were-goin-to-the-movies/ Comparing the positions of Jerry Yang (today) versus Steve Jobs (a decade ago) is poignant. Then... Jobs took control (again) of a rotting Apple. Now... it’s an iWorld and Jerry is back at the reins of a limping Yahoo without the results that Jobs has been able to pull off. Initially ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2007/2008-match-of-the-year-steve-and-jerry/ It is that time of year that is most politically correctly and succinctly called THE HOLIDAYS. Lists of the past year’s best/worst and predictions of the future abound. The lists and predictions are unavoidable and the politically correct thing has gotten tiresome along with the current fashion for an ironic, emotionally ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2007/the-old-grinch-blog/ From this vantage point it looks like 2008 is going to be a tough one. It is a US election year: critical, stressful and tiring. At best the economy isn’t where we’d like it, at worst it is a disaster edging precariously close to Depression. We are at war. Seriously ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2007/happy-new-year-really/ So I went to mahalo.com with every expectation of being disappointed and then inspired to write something snarky. Wrong again. If you haven’t heard about Mahalo the “first human powered search engine,” founded by Jason Calacanis you’ve been paying too much attention to the Facebook belly flop and not enough to ... http://www.sharpe-tangent.com/2007/mahalo-the-humans-strike-back/