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Three-Headed Ponder

Thoughts on the weird and wonderful world of managed and unmanaged communications that surround us all.

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November 15, 2013

Ryanair 2: trying too hard and not hard enough

So: Michael O’Leary, under pressure from shareholders, seems to have entered a confessional stage. At a general meeting with shareholders in September, he said: “We should try to eliminate things that unnecessarily piss people off,” adding, “I’m very happy to take the responsibility of a macho or overly abrupt culture. Some of that may well be my own personal deformities.” Cue new website launched today. You can see what’s going on....

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October 16, 2013

Social Media will not rescue Ryanair

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...

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September 17, 2013

Technology is getting scary

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...

August 15, 2013

When brands do good things dishonestly

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...

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August 1, 2013

In praise of uni-tasking

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...

July 1, 2013

How to complain: 2013 style

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...

June 20, 2013

The digital economy is eating the world (and tax systems)

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...

May 24, 2013

Smile and ask for a 40% pay rise

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...

May 21, 2013

Have I got the time to be p-interesting?

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...

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May 1, 2013

As I say: imagine social media changes nothing

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...

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