MTV, HuffPo Founders Share Thoughts On Digital Media

Minneapolis advertising agency Olson on Wednesday hosted its North By Midwest VIP Marketer Summit, an all-day, clients-only event featuring high-profile speakers such as Clear Channel Communications CEO Bob Pittman and Huffington Post founder and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington.

According to bizjournals.com, the summit focused on trends in emerging media, entrepreneurship and digital innovation.

Pittman, perhaps best known as the founder of MTV, kicked off the event as the early-morning keynote speaker. Here's a quick overview of some of his remarks, most of which are paraphrased:

• TV is America's hobby. The Internet is your manage-my-life box. Radio is America's companion.
• Clear Channel has radio & billboards. "We're the only company in America that loves traffic jams."
• On rise of digital radio: "We're not locked in to a transmitter and a tower."
• "This social stuff isn't doing anything new. It's doing something more efficiently, which is why it's so popular."
• Even Spotify and Pandora users still discover new music via broadcast radio. That's where they go to find out what's new. Their digital playlists are where they turn to escape the world.
• Various media channels should be seamless, not viewed as separate marketing buckets.
• The biggest challenge for innovation at a big company is that one person can say no to an idea, but no one person can say yes. That keeps companies from taking chances.
• Half of all new things we try will fail. We just have to be ready for that and able to make quick decisions.
• I don't see myself as the general. I'm the team leader. My opinions aren't more important than anyone else's opinions.

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