In
a new AdAge article about what "media pros" read and watch on TV and in movie theaters, Gannett Chief Marketing Officer
Maryam Banikarim is featured in a "sponsored" tip -- presumably because
USA Today is the story's lead sponsor.
 |
| Banikarim |
"I love TV," she tells the industry trade site. "Always have. Always will. I have a penchant for mysteries --
Wallander, Homeland and the one I just finished binge watching on a five-hour plane ride:
Broadchurch. If we're watching TV as a family it's either
Modern Family,
The Voice or
The X Factor. With the holidays nearing, one of my favorite things to do is go to the movies -- the newest
Hunger Games and
August Osage County are already on my list. I've been having a good deal of plane time of late, and I just finished
Amy Hatvany's
Safe with Me. I couldn't put it down. That book is a movie waiting to happen. Wait, did I just come full circle?"
The Voice and X-factor- the ultimate in banality. And you don't have to pay those pesky writers and actors, (content providers) How very, very Gannett. It's not surprising.
ReplyDeleteWhat's sad: None of the pros -- including Banikarim -- mention any TV news programs, newspapers, news magazines, news sites or news apps.
ReplyDeleteBanikarim doesn't even give so much as a gratuitous shout-out to USAT's tablet or smartphone apps.
Outstanding point Jim.
DeleteThose are good points but from Day One Benikarim's agenda has been about promoting Benikarim. Gannett's interests take a back seat to hers.
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DeleteGreat observation, Jim. Shows you what she thinks of our product as well.
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ReplyDelete"I love TV. Always have and always will."
ReplyDeleteIn other words....message to TV companies: "Please hire me back."
Apparently it didn't take "TV companies" more than a couple of years to figure her out. Not sure what is taking Gracia so long?
DeleteIs her agenda not clear by now?
8:35,
DeleteVery true. When you consider TV is exploding and print is in a rapid death spiral, you would think she'd have been hired by now. Guess word is out.
By USA Today paying to run this "sponsored story", it reveals Banikarim and Micek's apparent support of selling edit to advertisers.
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ReplyDeleteAn ego on parade.
ReplyDeleteWith all that TV watching she's doing, she's certainly not watching the Gannett and USA TODAY's sales revenue numbers. Gracia will soon see how stupid of a hire she was.
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ReplyDeleteI worked in entry level marketing and we never wasted a chance to promote the products. This seemed like a good one that a professional marketer would have seized.
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ReplyDeleteWait, have we come full circle? Maybe she's almost right about that.
ReplyDeleteWhen the company and its ill-fated board replaced journalists in high places with marketing execs, advertising salespeople, and others with public relations passions, they got a lot more sizzle and a lot less steak. They moved stuff around, put on a coat of paint, added some new gadgets and did little to support or defend the journalism enterprise. Now they don't want anyone to second-guess them, so critical thinking be damned. We don't want journalists, we want pitch-men and ad copy writers. Quit asking questions and stirring up trouble or we'll call you whiners and yesterday's news. Just drink the juice and smile, please.
The baffling thing is they either don't recognize that they are swallowing their own drool, their own vacuous marketing strategies, or they think no one will notice that the house of cards is collapsing.
Here's hoping the communities who have lost their best newsers ( or soon will lose them) find another way to get informed. Or acquire a taste for snake oil.
10:46 well-said. Marketers are getting sleezier by the day. Even twitter knows that news is its future. Gannett will just roll over and hand it to them.
ReplyDeleteDesperate times. Banikarim had to use USA Today marketing funds to get promotion for herself? New bottom low. Is Kramer even paying attention? Probably could have saved a job with that money.
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