Tag Archives: Insights

The Future of VOD and How It’s Helped The Interview

The movie industry has long been trying to change the way that movies premiere. Busy theaters have led to costly premieres, and some film patrons simply don’t like the crowds that packed theaters can bring. According to 5WPR CEO Ronn Torossian, the only win-win solution for both movie production companies and film enthusiasts is clear: video on demand (VOD). With the recent success that has followed The Interview’s digital release, VOD may soon be the way that most people see new movies as soon as Read More +

Forget “white” this Christmas was Frozen

Every year it seems there is an “it” toy for the holiday season, but, this year, Ronn Torossian says a brand beat out any particular toy. That brand? No surprise…it’s been a very Frozen Christmas. Disney’s megahit movie brand proved to be the big winner this Christmas. Consumers purchased Frozen costumes, dolls, videos, watches, music, underwear, and even household supplies emblazoned with Elsa and Olaf. Disney, of course, is no stranger to effective mass marketing of its various brands, but with Frozen, Torossian said the Read More +

Professional Lessons from Taylor Swift’s Spotify Departure

We all knew that producers and publicists would make Taylor Swift a star even if we didn’t initially get her music at first. But truthfully, since her aggressive attitude in, I Knew You Were Trouble, mostly everyone can respect the artist whose career is rapidly moving toward. From branding various styles of gold-fronted teeth to her decisions to remove her work from Spotify, one thing is evident about the Taylor Swift team: they absolutely mean business. This complete business mentality continues as the Taylor Swift Read More +

NASA, Orion and the New Age of Space Travel

At NASA, recapturing the magic of the glory days of space exploration means a look that harkens back to the days of Cowboys in Space. Glance at the new Orion craft, well on its way to Mars now, and it’s easy to see echoes of the Apollo craft that took American heroes to the moon a generation ago. Engineers will tell you the choice of a blunt-bottomed, conical capsule will help slow the craft on its descent, protect the craft from massive temperature fluctuations, and Read More +

Ronn Torossian YouTube Updates

Tom Hanks Gives NYC Cab Driver the “Ride of His Life” In the spirit of today’s 24-hour social media news cycle, a Humans of New York post quickly went viral featuring a picture of a cab driver who serendipitously befriended Tom Hanks and ultimately got invited to attend the megastar’s Broadway show. After meeting Hanks in a cab and hitting it off, the driver began coincidentally picking up other passengers that knew the famous actor. After sending his regards to Hanks through mutual acquaintances, the Read More +

Defending the “old” when “new” is all the rage

There’s an old Garfield comic that compares “new and improved” to “old and inferior.” To point, of course, is that, from cat food to airliners, everyone wants “new and improved” … even when they don’t think what they have is necessarily “old and inferior.” When they hit the marketplace, just about everyone agreed that 777’s were an amazing and necessary step in the evolution of commercial aeronautics. But these flying behemoths faced the same sliding scale encountered by all flying machines. New planes are just Read More +

Beyond Blackfish: How SeaWorld recovers

There’s no doubt about it, Blackfish wounded SeaWorld. The combination of skillful propaganda, ignorance, and confirmation bias allowed the producers to present an entirely one-sided conversation as if it were a carefully reasoned and fair assessment of SeaWorld’s history and practice. No matter where you stand on the issue or the tactics used, the movie created a massive PR problem for SeaWorld. Ronn Torossian discusses what the company is doing about it. For decades SeaWorld parks around the world have entertained, educated, and encouraged audiences. Read More +

Virgin in America, how will they compete?

Virgin America celebrated its IPO on November 14 with a major financial splash. The company saw its stock soar 30% on its first day as a publicly traded company, according to Businessweek. Some industry watchdogs are saying this is just one more reason to believe this is a great time to be in the airline business. Hey, if you look at the success of other American-owned airline companies, it’s hard to argue with that assessment. But there’s more to Virgin’s success than a warm and Read More +