• by John Gaffney , May 1, 2002

Greetings. As a media professional you get enough thrown at you on a daily basis. Can't even get in an elevator anymore without the latest stock market numbers nagging you from the corner of the screen. This column will riff on what's happening in the world of the integrated media business. It will equally riff on what's not happening and what should happen in this business. I hope it unsettles your day a little bit, and starts you thinking about new possibilities for advertising and marketing.

.........Rolling Stone Riffs: I'm not surprised by the editorial changes out of Rolling Stone magazine. To me the problems there have nothing to do with paranoia about competition from Maxim's Blender musiczine, as I've read elsewhere. The problem is how Jann Wenner has walked the audience tightrope for years. If a magazine of any kind is successful it gets that way because the content and presentation attracts an audience. The strength of the content and presentation (we hope) will directly relate to the size and loyalty of the audience. Rolling Stone made its mark with the late-60s audience. I think the magazine should have grown with them. The first cover was John Lennon. As Lennon's fans grew they listened to Dylan, the Stones, Springsteen and now Bonnie Raitt and John Meyer. They don't care about Britney or The Backstreet Boys. Rolling Stone wants to play well among the young. Tough territory. I'd put Paul McCartney on my next cover and try to reconnect with the audience that the magazine started with. Then I'd go start a Rolling Stone for Teens. Stepping Stone maybe?.........Upfront riffs: Cable will have a better year than the bigtime networks will because media buyers want to target specific audience segments now, instead of digging deep for mass marketing dollars. I think the onus is on the networks now to come up with innovative programming that will deliver the prime time audience. Different spins on reality TV are not the answer.........Brand riffs: I like the new Star Wars commercials, which position the movie as more action-oriented and a little less magical. This is after all, the fifth movie in the franchise. It was time for something different. Give Fox and Lucasfilm credit for taking a little risk in a risk averse industry.

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