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by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Avid Reader; photo by Micaela Parente on Unsplash… In this hive of scum and villainy we call the Internet, you’ve likely met all shades of dubious characters: trolls, stalkers, spies, Republicans. Here’s one group that’s not nearly as harmful but just as annoying…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango, Long-Time Listener, First-Time Podcaster; Photo by Jonathan Velasquez on Unsplash… So I decided to take the audio plunge and launch my own podcast… Atomic Tango · The Atomic Tango Marketing, Media, and Mischief Podcast, Episode 1 Like this website, the Atomic Tango podcast explores marketing, media, and other mischief. This first episode features my thoughts on the infamous Pepsi Kendall Jenner commercial, the trouble with Twitter, and the challenges facing American retailers. So why podcast? Several reasons: Blog readership appears to be declining.Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Professor Who Likes Giving Multiple-Choice Quizzes (so much easier to grade)… Despite all the research and analysis showing that most social media marketing is a waste of time, the hope persists among well-meaning business folk that somehow, someday, a well-timed Tweet or an unstoppable hashtag will obviate the need for (gasp!) advertising. Nowhere is this optimism more persistent than on Facebook, where I’m still receiving invitations to like someone’s brand new Facebook Page, even though Facebook marketing (not counting theRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Fairy Tale Weaver; image by DonkeyHotey / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)… Once upon a time there lived an evil princeling named Zuckerella. Although he had more wealth than he could possibly ever spend, he craved much, much more. Specifically, Princeling Zuckerella wanted to be legendary – the brightest star of his very own fairy tale. So the young princeling started writing out his fantastical story. He called it the Book O’ Faces, since it contained everyone he knew, plus lots and lotsRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Facebook Old Timer… I should have iced my Facebook Page three years ago. In 2012, Facebook tweaked its algorithm (called EdgeRank) to essentially screw over commercial Pages. Sure, I understand why Facebook doesn’t want to give corporations a free ride. It’s their snake oil sales pitch pitch that makes me hiss. Facebook claimed the tweak was simply to improve our user-experience by showing us posts only from the friends and Pages we interact with most. Yet we all still see aRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Diehard Wired Reader… Back in the indie days of Wired magazine — when it was psychedelically colored, chopping-block thick, and as rebellious as James Dean on a Harley crying “MORE MORE MORE” — they wouldn’t have done this. Yes, they ran ads — early Wired was capitalist to a fault, with a libertarian streak wider than Rand Paul’s ego. They started up to make money and they loved to feature others making money. But they would never have been fake aboutRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Was Taught Early On To Not Take Candy Or Facebook Posts From Strangers… So you’re killing time on Facebook, hoping to chance upon some juicy updates about your ex, or at least a cat video or three, but there, in the middle of your personal news feed, you come face-to-face with THE LEAST INTERESTING POST IN THE WORLD… “I just remembered that I made plans to see a movie tomorrow night, so I won’t be able to make itRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Communication Professor… Add another voice to the growing chorus of marketers stating the inconvenient truth — a truth that social media cheerleaders still refuse to acknowledge: When it comes to marketing brands, organic social media is a colossal waste of time.Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Member of Too Many Social Networks… Apparently, the leading social networks have given up on innovation. Now they just gaze covetously at each other’s “best practices.”Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who’s Extremely Allergic To Snake Oil; featured photo by Mister Serum via Wikimedia Commons… “Snake oil” originally described the fake medicine that con men sold across 19th century America. The worthless ointments and lotions supposedly cured everything from basic pains to baldness, when the only thing they consistently cured was “heavy wallet syndrome.” Scientific American describes how these faux experts worked:  “…the ‘doctor’ was aided by a shill in the crowd who would, at the appropriate moment, call out thatRead More