Doug Simon, President and CEO of D S Simon Productions, shares his 2011 predictions for the economy, politics, entertainment, sports, and the PR industry. This is his third year doing so and even we have to admit, he’s been pretty spot on. To view Doug’s 2010 predictions, go to http://bit.ly/dExdZz. To view his 2009 predictions, go to http://bit.ly/gGWWhH.
Doug’s Predictions:
“Let’s get started on the economy: I think we’re going to see a continued slow improvement in the economy during the course of 2011. Unemployment is also going to be dropping but at a slower level than would be hoped for given the state of the recession that we just experienced. One little bump in the road, gas prices are going to increase. I think the stock market, after correctly predicting it’s rise two consecutive years, is going to stay relatively flat, probably up a little bit but still remain in the 11,000’s. I think toward the end of the year, we’re going to see corporate profits, which had an awesome 2010, take a slight hit as they begin to have to expand their employee to meet with the increasing demand.”
“Here are my predictions for U.S. politics in 2011. President Obama will maintain a stronger approval rating then he had last year before the election, in part because he’ll now have the Republican led House of Representatives to use as a counterpoint. I think because of that, no major Democratic liberal candidate will oppose him in the Democratic primary. Healthcare will continue to be talked about and focused on resolutions, potential legislation, etc. but not a lot is going to change to the law that was passed last year, in 2010. Now I have two predictions that are related to Sarah Palin. One is that a second office holder who is on Sarah Palin’s “hit list” on her website will be targeted for assassination this year. Second, and I think this is because Sarah Palin is a lot smarter than a lot of people think she is, is that she’ll decide not to run for the Presidency in 2012 despite the fact that she could easily win the Republican nomination. She’s going to hold off for 2016 when her chances will be better.”
“Media and Entertainment: We’ll continue to see the trend where an increased number of folks get their news information online compared to TV stations as that gap will be closed even further. However, most of that information online will be coming from traditional news sources. We’ll also see what I call the media bias gap, and an example after the recent assassination attempt on Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the New York Times said many cite extremism on both sides for the uptick in violence. It would be like saying that it was the right that was responsible for the anti-government violence in the 60’s, not true, it was the left. Right now, it’s the right that’s generating this violence not the left, period. In the entertainment world, I think The Social Network is going to win the Oscar for Best Picture and Natalie Portman’s going to take it for Best Actress (for Black Swan). This prediction comes from my two teenage sons who say that Idol’s (American Idol) going to see a drop in ratings and relevance and that this will be it’s second to last year.”
“In the world of sports, the big story is going to be labor problems in both the NBA and the NFL. I think they’re going to play out a bit differently. I think for the NBA there is going to be a lockout and the big reason for that is many of the players have enough money not to take a hit if they sit out, even for an entire season. The NFL, with far more money at stake and more players who don’t make huge salaries and have shorter careers, I think that’s going to get settled more quickly. It will be moving eventually to an 18 game season but not necessarily next year. I also, unfortunately as a Knicks fan, do think that the Heat is going to win the NBA championship. The Mets I’m not holding out any hopes for buying playoff tickets this year.”
“I’m going to wrap up my predictions for 2011 with a look at the Public Relations and communications industry. Here I see five things that I’m pretty confident will be happening. One is a move of senior executives from the Advertising world to the Public Relations world as authentic content has become more important, you can’t just buy your way on anymore. It’s got to be relevant to consumers. That’s something that PR has excelled at and that’s where there is going to be the action. News for agencies will be okay, they’ll continue to grow but increasingly corporate communicators are going to be looking to hire people for project assignments and those assignments increasingly are going to be about creating content and also distributing them via social media. Two services that will grow in popularity in the broadcast PR industry are Internet Media Tours as well as Internet Interview Tours. Finally, for D S Simon Productions specifically, I predict that we’ll be celebrating our 25th anniversary this year and to do that we’re going to be moving to larger headquarter offices as well.”
An acronym binge after an ESPN visit raises the question of whether communicators should be going low quality in distributing video to key publics.
I don’t usually have four HD camera, a jib and an ESPN studio and production team for an SMT, but I did for a tour for our client, the Consumer Electronics Association and it’s 3D Demo Days Promotion, where people can go to local electronics stores and sample 3D TV including the Ohio State vs. Miami game during September 10-12, 2010.
Visiting the technology palace that is ESPN made me recall my works at NBC Sports in 1981 when I was on a phone conference call with the stadiums to get score updates so we would have the latest information for viewers. Needless to say, times have changed.
Flips cams. Phone cams. MP3 player cams. It’s made it easy for PR folds to capture and share content, but are we losing out when we give up quality?
As I head out on vacation and separate from the digital world, I wanted to leave you with some of my favorites and most popular and give you a chance to grade me on how I’m doing on my predictions for 2010. The links to these “pre-owned” posts are below.
Doug’s Vlog Views: 2010 Predictions
I was wrong that Tiger would miss the Masters but right that he didn’t win a major.
Segments with Industry Thought Leaders Sanjay Gupta
Minor plot spoiler alert: In his commentary on the Mad Men season premiere, Douglas Simon, President & CEO, D S Simon Productions looks at the surprising role of PR as portrayed on the hit show for brand building and moving product.
Some of Doug’s Vlog Views:
You don’t see Sterling Cooper Draper Price promoting itself through advertising. They used PR.
The funniest part of the show was when Peggy shared the news that after the success of their “stunt,” the client was increasing its advertising spend. Why?
In episode two, will Don be giving Harold Burson or Howard Rubenstein a call?
Doug Simon Makes His Predictions for 2011
To Link To Post: http://bit.ly/dWgJZP
Doug Simon, President and CEO of D S Simon Productions, shares his 2011 predictions for the economy, politics, entertainment, sports, and the PR industry. This is his third year doing so and even we have to admit, he’s been pretty spot on. To view Doug’s 2010 predictions, go to http://bit.ly/dExdZz. To view his 2009 predictions, go to http://bit.ly/gGWWhH.
Doug’s Predictions:
“Let’s get started on the economy: I think we’re going to see a continued slow improvement in the economy during the course of 2011. Unemployment is also going to be dropping but at a slower level than would be hoped for given the state of the recession that we just experienced. One little bump in the road, gas prices are going to increase. I think the stock market, after correctly predicting it’s rise two consecutive years, is going to stay relatively flat, probably up a little bit but still remain in the 11,000’s. I think toward the end of the year, we’re going to see corporate profits, which had an awesome 2010, take a slight hit as they begin to have to expand their employee to meet with the increasing demand.”
“Here are my predictions for U.S. politics in 2011. President Obama will maintain a stronger approval rating then he had last year before the election, in part because he’ll now have the Republican led House of Representatives to use as a counterpoint. I think because of that, no major Democratic liberal candidate will oppose him in the Democratic primary. Healthcare will continue to be talked about and focused on resolutions, potential legislation, etc. but not a lot is going to change to the law that was passed last year, in 2010. Now I have two predictions that are related to Sarah Palin. One is that a second office holder who is on Sarah Palin’s “hit list” on her website will be targeted for assassination this year. Second, and I think this is because Sarah Palin is a lot smarter than a lot of people think she is, is that she’ll decide not to run for the Presidency in 2012 despite the fact that she could easily win the Republican nomination. She’s going to hold off for 2016 when her chances will be better.”
“Media and Entertainment: We’ll continue to see the trend where an increased number of folks get their news information online compared to TV stations as that gap will be closed even further. However, most of that information online will be coming from traditional news sources. We’ll also see what I call the media bias gap, and an example after the recent assassination attempt on Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the New York Times said many cite extremism on both sides for the uptick in violence. It would be like saying that it was the right that was responsible for the anti-government violence in the 60’s, not true, it was the left. Right now, it’s the right that’s generating this violence not the left, period. In the entertainment world, I think The Social Network is going to win the Oscar for Best Picture and Natalie Portman’s going to take it for Best Actress (for Black Swan). This prediction comes from my two teenage sons who say that Idol’s (American Idol) going to see a drop in ratings and relevance and that this will be it’s second to last year.”
“In the world of sports, the big story is going to be labor problems in both the NBA and the NFL. I think they’re going to play out a bit differently. I think for the NBA there is going to be a lockout and the big reason for that is many of the players have enough money not to take a hit if they sit out, even for an entire season. The NFL, with far more money at stake and more players who don’t make huge salaries and have shorter careers, I think that’s going to get settled more quickly. It will be moving eventually to an 18 game season but not necessarily next year. I also, unfortunately as a Knicks fan, do think that the Heat is going to win the NBA championship. The Mets I’m not holding out any hopes for buying playoff tickets this year.”
“I’m going to wrap up my predictions for 2011 with a look at the Public Relations and communications industry. Here I see five things that I’m pretty confident will be happening. One is a move of senior executives from the Advertising world to the Public Relations world as authentic content has become more important, you can’t just buy your way on anymore. It’s got to be relevant to consumers. That’s something that PR has excelled at and that’s where there is going to be the action. News for agencies will be okay, they’ll continue to grow but increasingly corporate communicators are going to be looking to hire people for project assignments and those assignments increasingly are going to be about creating content and also distributing them via social media. Two services that will grow in popularity in the broadcast PR industry are Internet Media Tours as well as Internet Interview Tours. Finally, for D S Simon Productions specifically, I predict that we’ll be celebrating our 25th anniversary this year and to do that we’re going to be moving to larger headquarter offices as well.”
Links: New York Times Article on the Attempted Assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords
Tags: 25th Anniversary, D S Simon Productions, Democrats, Doug Simon, economy, Entertainment, Gabrielle Giffords, Healthcare, Miami Heat, Natalie Portman, NBA assassination, New York Mets, NFL, Obama, Oscars, Politics, PR Industry, Predictions 2011, Republicans, Sarah Palin, sports, The Social Network, vv
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