[ KNOW™ Magazine Spring/Summer 2004 ]
FROM THE EDITOR'S BLACKBERRY™
Life was very different when I was a kid. Our one-and-only family TV (a black-and-white) received just seven channels; the preferred recipe for improved reception was little bits of aluminum foil strung or wadded up on the ends of the rabbitear antennas. And to get particularly reluctant channels, we all had to be sitting in particular seats without moving—allowing the signal to bounce off our bodies and finally hit the television (or so I imagined).
Of course, we had no personal computers, Internet, or e-mail. To create an important document, you used a Smith-Corona or a Selectric— not a Dell or Apple. "Touch-tone" phones were a luxury—and when you called someone, they would actually answer; answering machines and caller ID might as well have been props on Star Trek for all we knew.
If a company wanted your opinion, it was often the case that a nicely dressed lady would ring your doorbell and come into your house so you could fill out her survey. You actually let her in and diligently answered her questions. Her survey data would then be transferred onto punch cards and processed by a tabulating machine back at headquarters.
These "ancient times" that I am describing were the early 1970s, a mere thirty years from where we currently stand. In contrast, today we all live and work in a world that is literally drowning in information and technologies, where life and business move faster and faster. There is just no slowing down. We not only live in the Age of Acceleration, we have evolved as a species to the point where many of us can now type rapidly with our thumbs on a device no bigger than a napkin!
In this and every issue of KNOW, we will answer your need to understand and adapt to the accelerating world around us—how to market in an age of exploding choice; how to get messages to distracted, media-saturated consumers; and how to recognize and exploit fast-moving trends that have profound business impacts.
Knowledge Networks' President and CEO John J. Lewis helps us all get up to speed with today's breakneck marketplace, discussing the steps companies must take to make quality decisions when your clock's hands move that much faster around the dial.
Gale Metzger, one of the media world's most respected research experts, helps us figure out what's really going on with young people and media. Larry Kaagan and Patricia Graham get to the real meaning of the "do it yourself " revolution and its implications for marketing plans. And, from the fairways of the PGA to your local NASCAR track, Darren Marshall helps us maximize the return on our sports sponsorship spending.
We also check in with Justin Edge, the new head of our New York office, for a one-on-one conversation about the marketing issues that matter most today. And Daniel Slotwiner, our Vice President of Panel Management, provides clear evidence of the real-world value you get from topquality research.
Thank you for taking part in this first issue of KNOW. When you get around to it, let us know what you think. We welcome your ideas on how we can ensure that KNOW is providing the knowledge you want and need in your business.
David Stanton
Editor in Chief
