Double Down on Digital. It's a mantra we are playing out at Nstein with our four-part webinar series that advises media companies on how to play the odds with digital -- for lucrative payouts. And whether it be coincidence, alliteration or we've done a helluva job getting the message out there -- everyone seems to be working "double down" into conversations. NYT technology writer Chris Lohr quipped at SIIA's Information Industry Summit last month, that the Times was doubling down -- selling off the building to invest in digital.
And disgraced financier now turned digital-everything-pundit Henry Blodget was heard to say "doubling down" quite a few times at the DealMakers Summit hosted by DeSilva & Phillips, which then prompted subsequent speakers to pepper their talks with the betting phrase; (to mix a metaphor.)
So alliteration aside, why is this metaphor so popular -- and how is it apropos?
In Blackjack, one doubles the bet with one card down when one has a favorable advantage over the House (usually a 10 or an 11). The payout is high and a knowledgeable play can mitigate (but never eliminate) risk.
Scribes use double down when scoffing at individuals who have dug themselves a hole (and seemingly keep digging to get out of it). In German, the military phrase flucht nach vorn translates to keep moving forward -- ostensibly despite the danger, and however doomed the mission seems. It is a strategy to salvage but the odds are not great.
Speaking of the homonym selvage, research turned up that one doubles down the edge of a hem - to give it strength and keep it from unraveling.
For a metaphor to work it must be non-literal -- and yet provide a resemblance to the situation at hand. In this case, we have doubled down on the non-literal references. With media owners shmushed between shareholders and bankers each demanding that their investments be shored up, they need to strategically double down, while mitigating risks, to help their companies salvage their fraying edges -- and keep their empires from unraveling.
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Newspapers can be jerks
1 week ago
1 comment:
I think the Blackjack version of doubling down is a good analogy of what newspapers are doing when investing in digital. Doubling down is the optimal strategy when you have a strong card against a dealer's weak card. Investing in digital means you are investing in the area with the highest projected (but still uncertain) return.
I like 'flucht nach vorn' as another analogy. It reminds me of offensive-minded spirit of French general Ferdinand Foch who said "My right is driven in, my center is giving way, the situation is excellent, I attack!"
That sounds a bit like today's media world!
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