Yikes, just three days to go before we close the books on the year. We need to finish off our look back at 2011 predictions. Here’s what Lairig Marketing predicted in December 2010 for October and November 2011:
October: “Associated Content announces it has published its one-millionth article that begins with the words ‘Five Reasons You Should...’ Demand Media immediately publishes a story ‘Five Reasons You Should Know We Reached a Million Five Reasons Stories First!’ ”
November: “The business press can’t keep up with the rash of stories about CEOs being dismissed, including one sweaty bald guy out west. Only one reporter discovers that not a single CMO was named as a CEO replacement.”
The first item was in jest, of course. Both of these garbage mills changed their form over 2011. Yahoo absorbed Associated Content into something it now calls Yahoo Voices. New name, same junk, however.
Here are three headlines from Yahoo Voices current top five Marketing articles:
- 31 Ways To Establish Yourself As An Expert
- 5 (!!!) Secrets of SEO Writing
- Choosing A Font For Your Blog
Hmmm. I wonder if Lairig Marketing’s font choice is where we went wrong.
Meanwhile, Demand Media continues to pull its junk together under sexy sounding brands such as LIVESTRONG (ALL CAPS !!!) and the ever-USELESS eHow. Even if DMD were to improve all this content, its craptastic navigation will prevent you from finding it.
As for our November prediction, we got it half right. The next Reality TV subgenre should focus on CEOs being shown the door – Yahoo, HP, BNY Mellon, Standard & Poor’s, Mercedes-Benz, Reader’s Digest, et al. But dammit to hell – how is Steve Ballmer still CEO of Microsoft?!?!?
Losses continue in MSFT’s “Online Services” division (as we’ve reported three times over the years) to the tune of TWO BILLION a year. The latest survey on Windows tablets says no one wants one. The Nokia smartphone partnership is a circus.
And Microsoft’s new ad campaign – “It’s a great time to be a family” – is light years out of touch with reality. Let’s start with the fact that less than half of U.S. households are now led by married couples. Then add the gluttonous portrayal in the TV spots of families buried under E-devices of every type. Tin ear.
How much longer will shareholders let this data point ride: stock price in 2003 = $25; stock price today = $25. Talk about money under a mattress.
When will Microsoft shareholders finally catch a little of that Monkey Boy Energy?
