Every spring and fall, skeins of geese fly over our house as they migrate. I always wonder how the lead bird gets to be the lead bird. Is it the one with the best sense of direction, the one that knows best how to use the prevailing winds, or simply the dominant male? It turns out that Twitter followers flock around specific people in the same way that birds follow their leaders. So what makes a lead Tweeter?

We live in interesting times. That statement could be taken either at face value, or, if you work for a TV network or cable company, as a reference to an old Chinese curse. Either way, it’s true. Life is interesting—not least because, as TV viewing morphs into online viewing and goes mobile, it is becoming really difficult to predict the implications for advertising.

Last week I commented on the fundamental challenge facing marketers today. Fragmentation of media is driving reach down and costs up. Intriguingly, however, this may offer an opportunity for big brands with big media budgets, because in spite of the prevailing opinion that TV’s days are numbered, new evidence suggests that today TV advertising may be gaining effectiveness, not losing it.

But before I outline those opportunities, let’s go back in time, to a simpler, easier marketing world in which TV reigned supreme among a limited number of media choices. In this world, people still paid attention to the banal blandishments inserted into episodes of MacGyver; in 1985, the average U.S. household spent an amazing seven hours and 10 minutes in front of the tube. (Click here to review annual figures from Nielsen.)

Blogging can be a very frustrating experience. Sometimes you sit there, driven by the imperative to publish, desperately trying to find something worthwhile to say. At other times, too many things clamor for attention and interesting ideas get left on the shelf. That’s what Twitter is for, right? To throw out an idea, an argument, a question, whether it’s complete or not.  So with that in mind I want to revisit an article I read a couple of weeks ago because it addresses a fundamentally important topic.

It has taken me a while to download any games to my iPod touch, but “SpaceX” and Audi’s “Truth in 24″ now sit alongside Facebook and Brushes.

I could have sworn I knew how to drive until I set off in my Audi R10 on the Le Mans track. Two seconds after starting, I bounced off the barrier. Days later, I have not yet graduated beyond the practice mode. Last week, however, I downloaded an app that is much easier to use: BrandZ 100.