August 2009 Archives

It's been 33 years since Network was released by MGM and went on to win four Oscars. Yet it seems strangely prescient for how social media and the internet have changed everything - with a particular warning for business. Cotton On recently found themselves on the receiving end of their own Howard Beale moment with consequences for their brand.

As technology has provided better and faster ways of tracking a customer's response to a given marketing campaign, the industry has increasingly become obsessed with numbers. This link resulted in this number of conversions. That direct mail piece resulted in that many phone calls. These poll respondents said this about the brand.

Can't claim any credit for this one. Catherine White (@DivineMissWhite) put this out on her blog, but I laughed so hard, I think I should also share it here.

It's funny, cause it's true!

Have you ever known someone who gives a pet name to their car and talks about it as if it was a real person? If you're like me, you think they're slightly kooky for imbuing a pile of machinery with a personality and building an emotional attachment with it. But many businesses continue to expect all their customers to be equally illogical by expecting them to form relationships with a brand while only providing them with automated machinery in return.

One thing is for certain...; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to…toil in their underground sugar caves.

Yes, the ants will take over the world. But something tells me Kent Brockman and I have a different idea of what kind of ant we're talking about.