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October 16, 2013
I admire Michael O’Leary’s ruthless focus and single-mindedness. In the days before social media was invented, he figured out that there was a market in treating people like cattle, charging peanuts and then taking the flack (not to mention the money). But, recent sales figures at Ryanair suggest that this strategy is running out of steam. As cleverer people (like Easyjet) have figured out that you can be cheap and...
Read MoreSeptember 17, 2013
I have just been in Berlin, meeting with some very clever people who have come up with a cunning type of retail offer that is so clever that I can’t tell you about it. Let’s just say that in the future, the stuff you buy will be able to tell you where it’s come from, and (if it’s second hand) all about its previous owners. You knew about this already...
Read MoreAugust 15, 2013
So you have probably seen the new Honda Viral. It’s a very clever use of everything that Social Media and real-life Community Marketing has to offer. Honda are backing a campaign to save the All-American Drive In Movie Theatre. These mainly family-run businesses are struggling to survive, as they grapple with the high costs of converting to digital projection. There is a quiet little irony in using youtube to...
Read MoreAugust 1, 2013
We’ve all known this all along, haven’t we? We’ve all known that so called “multi-tasking” is really about being badly focused, easily interrupted, and ultimately less productive.So it’s good to see BAFTA giving a platform to Arianna Huffington, to make a speech in which she said: ““There’s scientific evidence that shows that there’s no such thing as multi-tasking. You think you’re being efficient, you’re actually being stupid. It’s time to...
Read MoreJuly 1, 2013
The complaint letter is dead. When we found ourselves getting nowhere regarding the high cost of a courier to pick up unwanted goods, we resorted to a social media ambush (or three). Having posted a few pithy comments on said firm’s Facebook page and via Twitter for all to see, we were contacted AT ONCE and the problem was resolved. The world really is flat. Maybe social media changes everything...
Read MoreJune 20, 2013
So: I am (once again) working on the content and themes for an international summit about business taxation. Five years ago, when I started working with this client, tax was a close-to-dull subject. Nowadays, I almost feel hip being part of the debate. But that’s not why I am blogging. I am blogging because it’s fascinating to watch tax law NOT keep up with the pace of change in the...
Read MoreMay 24, 2013
So now we know: A person who smiles is worth 40% more than a person who does not. At least if you work in retail. According to this report from the Retail Bulletin. As a partly-and-sometimes-grumpy bloke, I will take this wisdom and insight to heart, and go about my everyday work with a fixed grin from now on. I will do this so that, come 2014 (when, surely The...
Read MoreMay 21, 2013
Pinterest is a fun tool. Especially for the visually-minded. And it’s very, very addictive as a play-thing. But: As I mull the need to update my website and make it more sociable (I know, I know: it doesn’t even work properly on an iPAD – I KNOW!!!) … I am wondering just how many of these sociable tools a busy business (let alone an equally busy three-headed man) can sustain...
Read MoreMay 1, 2013
Further to last post: I recently shared this photo of a bull sparing a matador on my Facebook Timeline: It is so odd a story that it was then shared by many people I shared it with. In other words: it went viral. Why? Because it is an amazing story. It would have been an amazing story in 1980. It went viral today because it is a great story. Not...
Read MoreApril 29, 2013
I keep running into people who are mildly terrified of social media, social media marketing and all the other buzzy-buzzwords that are being attached to this mashed-up online world we all do business in now. It is scary. It is different. It is fast. But: My main advice remains: imagine nothing has changed. Imagine that you are simply doing what people did before social media came along. In other words:...
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