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What We Do: Drive Safe Los Angeles

Just finished a few days at the Los Angeles Auto Show, exhibiting for The National Road Safety Foundation.  

We had a chance to speak with hundreds of parents and teens about driving safety and gave them good info about safe driving behavior.  We also debuted the winner of the Drive Safe L.A. PSA contest.  Click here to see the 30-second spot.

Looking forward to coming back next November.  Our next auto show project will be at the Chicago Auto Show in February.  Brrr!

 

Who's Listening?

 

Americans spend nearly four hours a day listening to some form of audio, according to a study reported recently in The Wall Street Journal.

The bulk of audio time – 50 percent -- comes from traditional broadcast radio stations, both AM and FM.  Nearly tied as the second and third most popular sources are streaming (16 percent) and personally-owned music (14 percent), from CDs, downloaded music and even records. 

Following distantly is satellite radio – SiriusXM – at eight percent despite the fact that virtually every new car these days comes with a 3-month free trial.  SiriusXM is costly, so they probably lose many listeners once the free trial period expires.

And then there’s podcasts, today accounting for about four percent of listening.   But the relatively small portion of total listening time doesn’t give the full podcast picture.  About 26 percent of Americans listen to a podcast at least once a month – twice what it was only five years ago.  That’s about 73 million people ages 12 and up. 

What I find interesting is which podcast publishers today have the biggest audience.  Not the networks.  Not Spotify or Pandora.  NPR (National Public Radio) has the biggest podcast audience, with almost 19 million unique listeners every month.  iHeart Radio is second, with 14 million monthly listeners.  Two public radio programmers -  This American Life and PRX – have 9.9 and 7.2 million listeners.

The New York Times is at #6, with 7 million listeners for its daily news and analysis podcasts, followed by New York’s public radio station WNYC, with 6.6 million.

Podcasts often are supported, in part at least, by ads.  Podcast ad revenue this year is expected to hit $400 million, up from about $260 million last year.   Analysts expect it to exceed $600 million by 2020.

The big streamers Spotify and Pandora do carry podcasts, but they haven’t yet been a significant revenue stream for them.  Spotify carries about 150,000 podcasts and Pandora has a few hundred.  They say listening time for podcasts on their platforms represents less than one percent of their total listening time.

But that will likely change in the next few years, as the big streaming services see the potential and want a big piece of the anticipated growth in podcast ad revenues.  Their goal, says The Wall Street Journal, is to take more listeners – and more revenues – from broadcast radio.  The radio broadcasters don’t want to lose any share, but with total annual ad revenues of $14 billion, they’re hardly panicking.   

 

Going to Pot

TV news this morning showed long lines of people in the rain as they waited for the first legal recreational marijuana shops to open in Massachusetts, the latest state to make recreational pot legal.  It's the first state east of the Mississippi that's gone legal, although several more are expected to follow in the coming years.

As a child of the '60s, I sometimes wonder why it's taken so long.  Back in the day, it seemed like the majority of young people smoked pot.  Many of us thought as our generation became adults and took the reigns of power in business and in politics, pot would eventually become legal.  We knew it wouldn't be overnight, but nearly 50 years?

In grad school, I wrote a paper on how the big tobacco companies would market pot once it became legal, and I recall some research that showed Big Tobacco already had taken copyrights on brand names like Acapulco Gold.  Back then, experts were saying pot would be legal in about ten years.

Two years ago, while in Seattle on business, I walked past a pot store.  Curious, I went inside, expecting to walk into a dark and smoky den.  Instead, it was brightly lit with beautiful displays and counter and after counter of cannabis products and related paraphernalia.  The saleswoman, nicely dressed, could tell I was overwhelmed and asked what kind of high I was looking for.

What kind of high?  Huh?

She explained there were products that would relax me, make me feel wide awake, give me the munchies and lots of other types of effects.  I bought a chocolate bar that was supposed to make me feel mellow.  I ate it and... nothing.

But that shopping experience was a far cry from the days when your retailer was a friend of a friend, and you never knew what to expect when you took a toke.

Adweek recently devoted an entire issue to what it called "Flower Power."  The cannabis industry is expected to grow to some $200 billion.  I'm not sure if R.J. Reynolds or whatever else remains of the big tobacco companies have any holdings in cannabis companies, but Constellation Brands, which has Corona and Modello among the beer brands it imports, recently offered $4 billion to buy Canopy Growth, a Canadian cannabis producer that is the world's largest, producing mainly medical marijuana at this point. Clearly, Constellation sees some real potential in the marketplace. 

I did some publicity about two years ago for a guy who wrote a book called Pot Luck that explained and extolled the benefits of medical marijuana.  It was a good read and did a good job explaining how herbal alternatives including cannabis often -- but not always -- offered relief or cures where traditional medicine didn't.

As someone who works in the traffic safety field, I am also seeing evidence of more crashes in states where pot has become legal.  Unlike when you're drunk, you can be high and still manage -- or think you're managing -- to drive safely.  But reaction time is slowed and if something happens quickly on the road, a high driver -- an impaired driver -- may have a problem.

So I think that, along with legalization, should come a public education campaign to make drivers aware of the dangers of driving while high.  We've done it for alcohol over he years, so why not help people understand the risks of driving while high.  It can help those who want to indulge do it safely, without putting everyone else on the road at risk.

 

 

What We Do: Traffic Safety

Here's the latest issue of "Road Buzz," the newsletter I write for The National Road Safety Foundation.

 

It highlights many of the projects I work on for the Foundation, including a new partnership we developed with the NY State PTA for a poster contest for grade-school kids to focus on pedestrian safety.  Our winner, Hannah Jung, will be introduced tomorrow night at the school board meeting in Jericho, Long Island, where I'll present a $1,500 check in her name to her school's PTA.

We also just launched the eighth annual Drive2Life PSA Contest, which invites teens nationwide to submit their ideas for a 30-second TV spot about the dangers of drowsy driving, which is a factor in 328,000 crashes every year that kill more than 5,000 people.  We run this contest in partnership with Scholastic.

For more, check out the Foundation's site at www.nrsf.org 

Maybe it's time for the real news media to focus on real news

 

We have a president who continues to be out of control when it comes to the media.

What politician wouldn’t hope for the media to report only good news about what he’s doing?  But any politician who has an adult’s understanding of how the media work in a democracy and why they seek to find what’s behind a politician’s words and actions knows – and must accept – the fact that what the media say may not always be what you’d like them to say.

But the current president continues to slam the media and use the phrase “enemy of the people” to try to convince people not to believe what they report.  In his view, the only media outlet worth listening to is what’s become the White House organ -- FOX News, which to any viewer with their eyes and minds open can plainly see is just a shill for the president.  It's what, in a dictatorship, would be State News.

The dust-up in yesterday’s White House news conference is yet another example of a president off the rails and trying to use the bully pulpit of his office to control or censor the free press.  Name-calling some reporters, including calling a black reporter a racist, and then trying to shut up CNN’s Jim Acosta by having an aide physically try to pull the microphone out of his hands is simply going too far.  The subsequent banning of Acosta from the White House because he accosted the White House aide is bogus.  If you look at the video, the aide is clearly seen trying to grab the mic out of Acosta’s hand and, without touching her, he pulled the mic out of her reach.  If anything, she physically attacked him.

Here’s what I’d love to see.  The major media should agree, as a group, to not cover presidential news conferences. Have one pool reporter there to represent them all, just in case some real news comes out.  And if there is no real news to report that day, then there’s no coverage of the president that day.  No reporting about whatever crazy things he says on Twitter, no coverage of whatever name-calling he sink to.  We’ve seen too many times how his words are meaningless, contradictory or outright lies, so why cover it?

Instead, a presidential news blackout, for at least a day.

Leave coverage of the childish name-calling and unwanted presidential opinions on irrelevant things ranging from a TV show's ratings to whether or not he likes a particular singer or sports team or celebrity who may have been critical of him to FOX and the gossip media.  Let the real news media get back to covering real news, which often legitimately does not and should not include the president’s take on things.  We’ve seen too many times how his words are meaningless, contradictory or outright lies.

It’s time to focus back on the real news of the day.

What We Do: Vision Zero Cites Conference

 

Some 350 leading traffic safety experts, advocates, elected officials and members of the public from across the nation and around the world are meeting at Columbia University’s Lerner Hall today, Nov. 7, to share best practices for preventing traffic deaths and injuries.  It's the fourth Vision Zero Cities conference, presented by Transportation Alternatives. 

 

I'm proud to say I've been invited to be part of a panel, talking about ways to get young people involved in traffic safety messaging.  I'll be talking about our work for The National Road Safety Foundation, which sponsors several contests that encourage young people to create messages about teen driving issues like distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding and drowsy driving.  We'll explain how we've developed partnerships with youth advocacy groups, schools and media to get kids involved in the important work of saving lives on our roads.

 

Vision Zero is a multi-national traffic safety project that aims to achieve a highway system with no fatalities or serious injuries.  It started in Sweden 20 years ago and is now in dozens of American cities including New York.

'Nuf said....

"Failing" NY Times hardly failing

 

The New York Times is not failing, but in fact is doing quite well in terms of both readership and finances.

The paper the president calls an” enemy of the people” is succeeding and prosperous because it is serving the people with factual reporting and correcting the constant stream of lies coming from the White House.

Yesterday the Times company reported its quarterly earnings and profits are up by 30 percent – that’s hardly “failing” in anybody’s book.  The subscriber base has risen again, now topping 4 million.  That includes an increase of 203,000 in digital subscriptions.

The “enemy of the people” says 70 percent of the new digital subscriptions were for news, and the rest for special features like cooking and crosswords.

Revenue from print advertising dropped again, but it was a slight decrease – less than one percent – and it was offset by increases in digital ads.  Overall, ad revenues increased by seven percent. 

The company said they're investing some of the profits in the newsroom, which we hope will bring us more hard news and investigative stories.

I’m happy to see The Times company is thriving, especially since its main product – The New York Times – continues to be a vital part of keeping Americans apprised of what’s really happening in D.C. and elsewhere during these tricky times.   

Trick or Treat

 

Americans will spend $9 billion on Halloween this year, says the National Retail Federation.

The group’s annual Halloween spending survey found 70 percent of us will celebrate, whether partying, attending parades or hayrides, trick-or-treating or just staying be at home handing out candies and goodies to goblins who come to the front door.

For kids, the favorite costumes will again be princesses for girls and super-heroes for boys.  Adults who dress up will favor witches, vampires, zombies and, of course, sexy nurses.  Even pets get in the act, with bumble bees, hot dogs and pumpkins expected to be the most popular doggie outfits.

The average store-bought costume runs about $45, the National Retail Federation says.

When I was a trick-or-treater, back in medievel times, most kids made their costumes -- usually helped by their moms.  I remember going as a ghost (in an old bed sheet), a hobo (in dirty tattered clothes and smudged makeup on my face), a witch (with a mop head for hair and a homemade cone hat).  The only store-bought item might have been a mask.

 

                                                             My grandpup Martin in costume

One year I went as a robot.  I had rescued a big cardboard carton, maybe from a refrigerator, and Mom  helped me cut out holes for my arms and head.  Dials and gauges were made from tin foil and my face was covered with silver-colored makeup.  It was pretty impressive.

But as I tried to get through the front door, I got stuck.  Although we had been able to squeeze the carton through when it was empty, once I was in it with my arms sticking out, it was too wide. 

It definitely hampered my candy collecting, but it was a Halloween I still remember.

It should be interesting to see how many, if any, homemade costumes I see in my doorway tonight.

 

A cautionary note: NHTSA says kids are twice as likely to get hit by a car on Halloween, so drive carefully and stay alert.

 

 

Words Do Matter

This post is personal, not political.

I am an American Jew.  Not a Jewish-American, but an American Jew. 

I am a 2^nd-generation American.  This country welcomed my grandparents more than 100 years ago when they came to Ellis Island in New York Harbor, fleeing pogroms and terrorism against Jews in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.   

This country enabled my grandparents and my parents to raise their families in peace, with each generation moving up the financial and education ladder.  I was the first in my family to graduate from college.

As a kid, I sometimes felt isolated because of my religion – mostly around Christmastime when so many friends and neighbors put up decorations and trees and we sang Christmas carols in school.   Outside of the house or synagogue, I rarely heard any mention or acknowledgement of Chanukah.

By the time my children were in school, things were very different and people – at least here in the New York area – acknowledged that some of us held beliefs other than Christianity, and the shared values as well as the differences were celebrated.

I’ve been fortunate that, except for some stupid incidents when I was about 10 or 11, I haven’t faced anti-Semitism directly.  And even at 10 when I and some mostly Jewish friends were chased off a neighborhood ballfield by some Catholic school kids who threw rocks at us and called us Christ-killers, I held no grudge, since I had so many Catholic friends and neighbors who I knew would never condone such behavior and who always treated me and my family with affection and respect.

Despite feeling a part of this great nation, I’ve always had a nagging fear – way down deep – that what happened in Germany in the 1930s could happen here.  The Jews in Germany were assimilated, like Jews are here, and they were a vital part of that nation’s cultural and economic life.  Most of them felt what eventually happened there could never happen to them.

That’s how many of us Jews here in America feel.  We love this country and we cherish the freedoms it affords.  But we can’t ignore history and as much as I couldn’t imagine discrimination or worse for Jews here in America, deep down is the knowledge that to some, we are different and perhaps viewed with suspicion or even hatred.  Usually, I feel secure because civility and the law will protect me and my loved ones from anti-Semitism that might turn violent.

Now here’s the part that may look political, but I’m just speaking honestly…  The rhetoric that we’ve seen from the president over the past 3+ years has alarmed me.  If he talks hatred against Latinos and Blacks, we know what eventually follows… the Jews.  And in his rallies, he has made some statements that could be seen as dog-whistles for anti-Semites. 

The Anti-Defamation League has documented a startling increase in hate crimes against Jews in America over the past 2 years  -- up almost 60 percent in 2017.  Part of it is attributed to the tenor of the president’s talk. Words do matter.

Many people in public life and in government, including many Republicans, have called him out for talk that might encourage prejudice.  The nut-job who shot up a synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday didn’t take direction from the president, but he may have been emboldened to act by the hateful rhetoric, just as we’ve seen an alarming increase in violence against black people brought on by the rhetoric about “taking our country back.”  Back from who? 

I’m pretty sure we’ll feel comforted by an outpouring of sympathy and support from most Americans over these next few days.  The vast majority of Americans are horrified by prejudice and violence toward minorities.  (And yes, we Jews are a minority.)  But the sympathy and support and brotherhood must also come from our nation’s top leaders, and it must be honest support rather than hollow words mandated by the situation.

I’m an American Jew.  I would hope I and my loved ones will never be made to feel isolated from the mainstream because of our religious beliefs.  I would like to think it could never ever happen here in America.  But that’s something we all have to continuously work toward – all of us, from the top down.

 

Shorter is Better - For TV Ads

Shorter TV ads get more viewer attention than longer ones.  That's what research recently reported by Television News Daily says.

Ten-second ads get about ten percent more attention than 30-second spots, and 20 percent more than 60-second ads.

This doesn't seem like earth-shaking news.  To me, it sort of stands to reason.  A shorter ad is less of an intrusion. 

The challenge, though, for a shorter ad is you have less time to draw and hold the viewer's attention, and less time to get across a convincing marketing message.  Shorter ads might be used in combination with the more traditional 30s or 60s, which have the time to get across the marketing pitch, while the short 10-second spots can serve to keep the brand name out there and possibly remind viewers of the longer ads that have the full marketing info.

We've been seeing short ads -- some even less than 10 seconds -- on the internet for years as pre-roll for online content.  But for those online ads to be seen, marketers need to hook the viewer in the first few seconds so he or she will want to keep watching, rather than click on "Skip Ad."  That's where real creativity comes in... or not.