Broadcast Bootcamp: The education of Robert Kessler

Smelling the roses

Robert Kessler — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:11:35 +0000

When you have a major as bizarre as broadcast journalism, it’s sometimes tough to fully appreciate the college experience. I long ago gave up football game Saturdays for work and have missed birthdays for breaking news.

I was discussing this with some of my good friends (and colleagues) Nina Moini and Stephanie Zepelin when we came up with a crazy idea. What if we set time out to have fun? It sounds so simple, but the goal, we thought, was to have fun experiencing things we’d never done before.

So that was it. We decided that between 4 a.m. work shifts and resume tapes, we’re going to make a conscious effort to enjoy what little college life there is left. I’ve never been a very spontaneous person and I hope that I can take this opportunity to take hold of college life while I’m here. Columbia has a lot to offer me, and there are so many things I’ve never done here.

This town isn’t done with me yet.

Going viral

Robert Kessler — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:52:33 +0000

In our modern, wifi world internet exposure is everything. We talk about “personal branding” and make sure that we can make ourselves searchable on Google, but every once in a while something blows up. We’ve all seen it before, one day a friend tells you about a funny video on YouTube and then suddenly it’s everywhere.

Even M.I.A. got in on the action putting the YouTube play bar on the front of her album. Unfortunately naming it "^^^Y^" made it beyond un-Google searchable.

Frequently the media has a lot to do with something going viral. America’s latest cyberspace sweetheart Antoine Dodson got his start as the secondary source in a piece on WAFF-TV in Huntsville, Alabama. He is now a brand, with shirts and a hit single.

Obviously it wasn’t long until the marketing world wanted a way in. With the advent of TiVo finding ways to get people to want to watch commercials is an extremely lucrative measure and several have been pretty successful at doing so. Toyota had a hit with the “Swagger Wagon,” Dove had a hit too with its real beauty campaign.

"#Eatem like you didn't make the cheerleading squad."

Which leads me to my favorite new viral marketing campaign. Carrot farmers, led by Bolthouse Farms, are set to launch a full fledged attack on junk with a new ad campaign. The first step is a Twitter account (and a hilarious one at that). The next is an iTunes app (coming soon). There will also be television commercials, in the style of junk food ads. What I love about the baby carrots campaign is that it’s just kitschy enough to be funny. Yeah, sure, it’s an advertisement, but it’s also really random and weird. The ads are set for a test roll out in Syracuse and Cincinnati, I can’t wait to see them.

Have you seen any other baby carrot marketing techniques? Let me know!

The beginning of the end

Robert Kessler — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:29:40 +0000

The beginning of my last year of college seems like as good a time as ever to really get serious about some kind of online presence. I’ve learned so much in the past three years and this coming year looks to be full of growth as well, both as a journalist and a person.

Dave, Angie, Jim and Chris at the desk, yours truly in their ears

I’ve been balancing my life as a student and as a newscast producer at KOMU all summer and now as classes start my act will get that much more complicated. Riding the bus home from class, changing out of my Homecoming t-shirt and into slacks has become a regular thing for me.

I’m going to use this blog as a partial lifecast, partial professional blog. I’m learning so much everyday and I’m going to use this space as a place to reflect on some of the things I’ve learned, both about the industry and about life.

I have just 9 months until I graduate and get a job. I’m excited for the future, but I know that I’m not quite ready. I hope you have fun watching me grow.

You can take a look at some of my producing samples on Vimeo. You can also follow me on Twitter.