MediaLift

With the unending popularity of HP’s Sprocket printer it’s a wonder that other marketers haven’t already found a way to partner with this fun technology. In short, The Sprocket allows you to print small photos from your phone via Blue Tooth. Photo paper comes with a removable backing so that your photo can become a sticker. It keeps getting better.  The mobile app is loaded with fun editing tools that allow the user to play with the image, add elements like sunglasses etc. It’s the updated version of a 70’s Polaroid camera. Much like its predecessor, the Sprocket is made for group settings, especially parties where it can be set up like a photo booth and guests can create stages photos with props etc. What’s most fascinating is the age group with whom this digital product has most quickly connected. Tweens and teens. My 12 year old daughter received one for Christmas this year and her days since then have been filled with endless printing. She has gifted all of us photos, ...

Most people think that Rolling Stone stopped being relevant around 1980. At that point, rock had become corporate; disco was still in play, and punk rock, a music genre on the rise embodied everything that mainstream wasn’t. For Rolling Stone , mainstream was EXACTLY where they had moved. With no big new rock names to showcase on their covers the magazine shifted to Hollywood and became a promotional platform for studios and networks. Frankly, that’s where their baby boomer readership had moved as well. And so charted their future would then become. Rolling Stone became the written record of a generation. Today, it’s not only the perils of print that have threatened the brand’s relevance. It’s the lost connection to a youth culture. Their efforts to reclaim that bond have been often awkward and ineffective (consider RS Country ). That said, Rolling Stone is only one hit away from becoming a relevant force within the world of music. That’s what Jay Penske is betting on, and ...