September 2009
6 posts
Blackwater, or the downsides of a strong brand →
Blackwater is increasingly used as a generic for government defense contractors (the Mother Jones article linked here is just an example) and the tide is now turning against this industry heavily. For Blackwater, their strong branding means it’s becoming nearly impossible to hire them. Their brilliant branding is turning into a dealbreaker in times when decency is the best business strategy.
I moved this blog to Wordpress, this blog is now a...
This blog about the social life of brands is now at http://lokomotivebreath.wordpress.com. The reasons for this move are obvious. My posts grew longer, some into essay format, and Tumblr doesn’t offer any of the conveniences for the reader that we’re expecting from blogs that we use regularly.
This is nothig against Tumblr, I still like it and frankly am only now beginning to...
To Hell with Flash!
Flash is the antithesis of all achievements of the web: transparency, dialogue, participation. A dinosaur of the internet-as-medium metaphor. And therefore, a dead man walking.
The last proof I needed came with the new Deutsche Telekom sustainability campaign website (I commented on the campaign here).
Unintentional opacity comes with the pursuit of creative control that Flash promises....
Mind your own dirt, please, Deutsche Telekom!
Deutsche Telekom has just launched an environmental image campaign (watch TV spot here) that’s debatable in several aspects.
Only the smallest slip is the campaign website at www.millionen-fangen-an.de. While the site puts Flash to a really beautiful use, a non-Flash version doesn’t even exist. Strange for the company that exclusively sells the iPhone here (which cannot play Flash)....
David Weinberger: Hire Execs who love your Product →
Weinberger, in extension of a post from Dave Weiner (http://bit.ly/pBBIc), argues that managers with a passion for the product will be better and more credible leaders than managers with a passion for process.
In reality, the process obsessive type of managers is the vast majority and it is arguable whether the clock on “professionalizing management” can ever be turned back.
One...