[This essay originally appeared as a podcast at The Brand Populist] Well, another Super Bowl has come and gone, and while the Patriots will long remember the addition of another championship to their history, I think the commercials will quickly be forgotten. That’s why Super Bowl ads are so inane, Read more…
I’ve just had an epiphany about why B2B communicators find dealing with the B2C media world so challenging. Most of the “news” in the B2B world consists of whatever a company has just introduced into its marketplace, which is then vetted for veracity and relevance by informed reporters who are Read more…
Protesters in Paris have turned the city into a de facto war zone, their rage seemingly unassuaged by President Macron’s promise to reverse a fuel tax increase. What do the yellow-vestors want? There’s the rub. Nobody knows, including them. To call this miscommunications fiasco a comedy of errors wouldn’t do Read more…
I was just denied press credentials for the oddly-named North American International Auto Show, or NAIAS. It was known more conveniently as the Detroit Auto Show for almost a hundred years before 1989. I’m kinda bent out of shape, even though I’m not necessarily a “member of the press” — Read more…
Apple shocked the investor community earlier this month when it announced that it would no longer report iPhone sales, or shipments of any particular product, during its quarterly earnings calls. Most every stock analyst agreed that it meant Apple wanted to hide them. Some said they no longer trusted the company. Read more…
Only 5% of the UK’s corporate pension funds have a policy to protect against the potential impacts of climate change on their returns, according to an article in the Financial Times. I worry this problem is greater than it might first appear, as I see four risks, not just one: Read more…
This week’s walkout by Google staff in protest of the company’s attitude toward sexual misconduct was the latest example of employees exerting their power over corporate behavior. Or not. Their grievances on gender issues are numerous and legitimate. Dozens of execs have been quietly ushered out the door because of Read more…
Virtual reality (“VR”) will transform entertainment, according to 21st Century Fox’s James Murdoch. The Economist notes that Alaska Airlines tested VR for some first class passengers recently, and other airlines are looking at it (no pun intended). This year’s Ready Player One movie was a hint that we’re at “the Read more…
John Gapper’s recent essay in the Financial Times entitled “General Electric has too much imagination” is a must-read for anybody working in tech communications. I took away three core lessons: First, shareholder value is an outdated measure of business performance. The company was founded by the inventor of the light Read more…
Can pulling an all-nighter help today’s digital tech leaders pass the tests of today’s thorniest public policy issues? Consider Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, who’s struggling to define free speech, or Mark Zuckerberg struggling to separate fact from fiction at Facebook. Uber’s new CEO is trying to figure out who is or Read more…