Last week, Abercrombie & Fitch was pilloried in social media -- and mainstream media -- for obnoxious, self-indicting remarks made by its chairman Mike Jeffries... in 2006. Jeffries has long styled himself a provocateur. So it's no surprise that he's in the middle of a controversy. What's notable is that his arrogance and condescension are catching up to him on a 7-year time delay.» 11 Comments
I'm seeing GE in a different, flattering, energy-saving compact fluorescent light -- owing entirely to Focus Forward, a mesmerizing collection of mini-documentary films highlighting -- in GE's words -- "exceptional people and world-changing ideas that have impacted the course of human development ... or with great potential to significantly affect how we live in the next generation." I'm grateful to GE for identifying our common interests and establishing common ground.» 2 Comments
Enforced transparency and social media have not only taken every institution from its fortress and relocated it to a glass house -- the whole world is standing outside that house, gaping in. This is a really good time in history for business to behave itself. That means being good to those who depend on you. Customers, employees, neighbors, suppliers, shareholders, the trade -- everybody, everywhere.» 5 Comments
In an unexpected display of breathtaking courage, Johnson & Johnson has launched an advertising campaign heroically endorsing love -- hoping to rekindle our love affair with a decreasingly lovable brand. In the past three years, the company has been fined more than $1 billion, settled multiple regulatory actions and has faced huge lawsuits for a staggering series of failures.» 2 Comments
There are many explanations for this world of blunder. One is the idiotic value placed on being first with a shard of previously unreported information, no matter how dubious. Another is physics; in the vacuum of understanding that afflicts live coverage after breaking news, anything that fills the gaping void looks irresistible. The final reason is the most counterintuitive: the news channels have little capacity for actual journalism.» 12 Comments
A la carte digitally delivered TV is a non-starter. Except that it's now here. Cord-cutters can now have access to almost everything cable offers at much lower cost.» 7 Comments
You can't please everybody, nor should you try. But you can't ignore everybody, either. You do not exist without them. And is there any stakeholder relationship more elemental than a theater and its audience?» 3 Comments
In honor of the new baseball season, here is another edition of Wild Pitches, the semiannual feature featuring publicists and other corporate communicators who probably have flesh and blood, but nonetheless behave like mindless bots clogging the inboxes of journalists the world over.» 5 Comments
The occasion was the launch of 'Can't Buy Me Like,' in which Doug Levy and I outline sweeping changes in commerce that will yield a more open, more humane, more purposeful business world and society at large. The gist is this: four forces are converged to render obsolete the opaque, high-handed practices of commerce we've grown grudgingly accustomed to.» 9 Comments
Purpose is not a campaign or a gimmick or PR window dressing. It is not positioning. It does not aim to be differentiating. Purposefulness is an ethic. A worldview. A mentality. And it is not merely the right way for brands -- and all institutions -- to operate in a digitally connected world. It is the only way.» 9 Comments
