April 2013
1 post
March 2013
3 posts
9 tags
February 2013
2 posts
5 tags
“Sometimes you have to lose yourself before you find anything.”
– Burt Reynolds “Lewis” in the movie Deliverance, 1972
January 2013
3 posts
5 tags
2 tags
“What you said hurt me very much. I cried all the way to the bank.”
– Liberace, 1954
5 tags
December 2012
2 posts
3 tags
So, how about Netflix?
With Netflix recently coming under fire from the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the USA (link), the importance of effective and of course legal corporate and financial communication has come to the fore.
The situation began with the Chief Executive of Netflix sharing information about its strong viewing figures, this led to a rise in the company’s share price. The SEC would have liked...
4 tags
November 2012
2 posts
“The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.”
– Jon Stewart (via usatoday)
7 tags
BBC Broken News
The BBC has recently been in the middle of some of the biggest media and communications failures of this decade. Beginning with their poor handling of the Jimmy Saville fiasco, where Sir Jimmy Saville was found to have committed child abuse and the BBC was facing allegations of conspiracy to cover up these matters. The BBC cancelled a Newsnight “special” examining the Saville allegations, however...
October 2012
2 posts
5 tags
Coffee and Taxes
As you may well know (particularly if you’re reading this from the U.K) Starbucks (among other organisations) has been in the news a lot recently, for allegedly not paying any income tax in the last 3 years. Although some have attempted to use these findings to justify calls for “doing something about such tax avoiders”, I think the real issue here is one of competition, how...
September 2012
2 posts
witnessing the evolution of a brilliant campaign
thisadvertisinglife:
9 tags
Harry on Censoring
The subject of the nude Prince Harry photographs has been rearing its ugly head in the media and not just through the tabloids. The question of whether a newspaper is or should be able to publish photos of a member of the British royal family exposing themselves, photos which are already widely available on the internet worldwide has arisen.
Sure the photos are distasteful. But taking away the...
August 2012
1 post
3 tags
When I walk into the wrong meeting
thisadvertisinglife:
July 2012
4 posts
4 tags
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say...”
– Voltaire (1694-1778)
4 tags
10 tags
Risky Issues
Following the media recently, it seems to have been impossible to ignore, the negative stories about the banking industry, it seems as though the public have lost the little trust which they had in the banks, with Barclays’ reputation in particular being left in a bad state of disrepair, thanks to the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) scandal.
Barclays appear to have mishandled much...
3 tags
“Do what you love and love what you do and everything else is detail”
– Martina Navratilova
June 2012
5 posts
3 tags
2 tags
4 tags
The Never Ending Why
I have always found that people do not ask why enough, whether this is questioning why something is the way it is or perhaps why they do what they do. People tend to focus on what they do mostly, not why they do it. In particular when it comes to much of the marketing, advertising and public relations activity by organisations they tend to communicate what they do, sometimes they will go further...
1 tag
“We are what we believe we are.”
– C. S. Lewis
1 tag
Jargon Jar Phrase of the Day: "Throw It Against...
99problemsbutapitchaintone:
May 2012
5 posts
4 tags
1 tag
How you feel when you are walking out the door and...
99problemsbutapitchaintone:
4 tags
“I am the greatest. Not only do I knock ‘em out. I pick the round!”
– Muhammad Ali, 1942 - Present
6 tags
9 tags
Financial Disillusion?
In recent times it has been becoming increasingly clear that bank stakeholders with shareholders in particular becoming more active then they have been in the past. The recent case of Barclays Bank shareholders standing against what many of the viewed as unjustifiably excessive executive pay is a case in point (Guardian article). This is an issue that is no longer just constrained to banking with...
April 2012
6 posts
3 tags
“A journey of a thousand steps begins with a single one”
– Me (Inspired by Lao-Tzu, 6th Century BC)
11 tags
Motorola Frustrations
Motorola Mobility is one of the few brands that frustrates me, with such history, such successful brands in the past and such stories to tell and yet it seems to fail to get people excited about much of what it does. Due to this failure Motorola Mobility is currently being eaten up by its competition.
What can they do about this? Well there are four key aspects of their business they need to take...
5 tags
7 tags
Transparent Justice
Since 1925, photography and filming have been understood to be prohibited in courts throughout England and Wales, with the exception of the Supreme Court. This has been due to the 1925 Criminal Justice Act.
Recent suggestions in the media that the decision to allow cameras into court will be announced in the Queen’s speech in May, have reignited the cameras in court debate.
It is a fundamental...
March 2012
2 posts
5 tags
11 tags
The Gold Man Sucks... Apparently
According to the media this week, Goldman Sachs, the infamous investment banking and securities firm has recently had its reputation damaged. This is arguably due to the resignation of Greg Smith Goldman Sachs executive director and head of its equities derivatives business in the EMEA area. It can also be argued that the reputation damage was caused by the deteriorating practices within the firm...
February 2012
6 posts
3 tags
“Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide...”
– Bob Dylan, 1964
7 tags
To be or not to be social... That is the question.
It goes without saying that organisations are often confronted by tough decisions, perhaps not always as eloquent a decision as that confronted by Shakespeare. Social media is another one of those decisions.
It seems as though some organisations have the fear. They fear that using social media may have unintended consequences, such as perhaps galvanising the public to vent their complaints,...
5 tags
8 tags
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Once Facebook Goes Public Will It Be Too Big Too...
Would it?
Considering:
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The Bird That Flew Away From Freedom of Expression
Twitter has recently been in the news, although not for reasons resembling those of why they caught medua attention in 2011. No new winter arab uprising. No super injunction being exposed. No.
Twitter have effectively allowed for censorship to prevail against freedom of information around the world. Twitter have now allowed governments to censor post within that government’s own...
January 2012
6 posts
5 tags
Living in the Cloud
Megaupload has caught much media attention with its shutdown. This issue brings up a larger and broader threat. The situations shows us just how easily content stored online can be taken down. It is important to remember that although Megaupload may have been used for piracy, it was primarily a form of online content storage resembling cloud storage services.
With that in mind, I will stick to...
8 tags
“In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn’t speak up...”
– Martin Niemoller, 1946
11 tags
CES 2012... Conferences... The Good. The Bad. The...
As CES 2012 comes to an end. It’s a good idea to consider who got what right and what wrong.
We begin with Panasonic… It seems as though they really need help with media training and the performance and running of a show for the trade and consumers.
First of all, you must focus on showing breakthrough technology, not periphery products. This was an opportunity for them to get the...
