Arcadia Communications Lab

Jonathan Salem Baskin

Essays

Why I’m Quitting Amazon

My name is Jonathan and I’m an Amazonaholic. It’s taken a while for me to admit my addiction because it was years in the making. As a book lover, the premise that I could get pretty much any title in the known universe delivered to my door was my gateway Read more…

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 5 monthsOctober 26, 2022 ago
Essays

Is A Big Brand Shakeout Coming?

The world’s leading ad groups are forecasting increased spending on consumer branding as economies slow and costs go up. They couldn’t be more wrong. The claims, articulated in a recent Financial Times story, all rely on the mistaken belief that brands have “value” in excess of their functional qualities and Read more…

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 5 monthsOctober 24, 2022 ago
Essays

Intel’s Buggy Whips & Scapegoats

Intel plans to fire thousands of employees later this month around the same time it announces likely disappointing 3Q22 earnings. Its stock is worth less than half of what it was at the start of the year. You’d think they were in the buggy whip business or something. The Conventional Wisdom Most explanations for Intel’s Read more…

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 5 monthsOctober 12, 2022 ago
Essays

It’s Time To Rebrand Accounting

“We’ve heard the rumors that accounting is nerdy and boring,” says an unnamed trade group on its website, as reported in the Financial Times. Yup, it sure looks that way. The numbers don’t lie The Big Four firms couldn’t run away faster from accounting, pretending instead to be generic management Read more…

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 6 monthsOctober 4, 2022 ago
Essays

Happy PR Isn’t Helping ESG

The EU is struggling to balance its green policies with the exigencies of feeding its citizens and keeping them warm. Isn’t it strange that no big company admits to such difficult choices?

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 6 monthsSeptember 14, 2022 ago
Essays

EY Split Could Be A Game Changer (But Don’t Bet On It)

Accounting giant Ernst & Young (“EY”) is reportedly close to splitting its audit and consulting functions into two separate companies. It could change how the industry functions, though I’m not betting on it.

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 7 monthsSeptember 7, 2022 ago
Essays

NASA Breaks My Heart (Again)

NASA is sending an experimental, highly innovative, totally risky rocket to circle the Moon later this month that could change the course of history. And nobody cares. NASA has been breaking my heart ever since it made the Apollo program look about as exciting as a tax audit. Granted, our Read more…

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 7 monthsAugust 15, 2022 ago
Essays

VW’s Political Theater

Putting a happy face on the sometimes ugly side of transformative change is more about communications and appearances than it is about strategy. Here’s a take on the leadership change at VW.

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 8 monthsJuly 25, 2022 ago
Essays

Kellogg’s Admits Defeat

News that the Kellogg Company (it operates as “Kellogg’s”) will separate into three companies is bad news. It’s also kinda sad. The press release used typical PR bombast to herald “bold steps in portfolio transformation” to describe its plan to create independent companies out of its snacking, cereal, and plant-based Read more…

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 9 monthsJuly 4, 2022 ago
Essays

The Metaverse Will Never Happen

It’s a great distraction from the realities of the online surveillance economy and how it’s scrapping our actions and from that extrapolating our intentions, all the better to manage the latter and monetize the former.

By Jonathan Salem Baskin, 1 yearJanuary 25, 2022 ago

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