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Rachel BarrettIn almost messianic tones Mark Zuckerburg this week likened Facebook to a social mission rather than a mere company as he announced plans to float the social networking site on the stock market. In the week a survey revealed that people found the urge to update their status more overpowering than a desire for a pint, the value placed on our ability to connect with others was found to be $75 - $100...
Paul SweetmanThe happiness debate has reared its head again. As if the prospect of Downing Street promoting and measuring household wellbeing were not enough, we now have a new wave of discussions on the importance of happiness at work. A recent issue of Harvard Business Review carried a whole series of articles about the topic. They rekindle a management debate that I first experienced in earnest around a dec...
Guy CorbetMuch in marketing is made of the brand truth, the customer benefit, essentially identifying the problem that any product or service is trying to solve. Very often the really successful products are the ones which solve problems we didn’t even know we had. Who knew the old MP3 players were too hard to use? Apple did. It gave us the user-friendly iPod and changed our lives. Until Dyson cam...
Charlie HowardYesterday, an article by BBC tech correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones argued that Apple needs to move away from its closed approach to comms, in which a limited pool of spokespeople – most prominently, its CEO Tim Cook – are allowed to speak on behalf of the world’s most valuable brand. The article followed recent criticism of Apple’s human rights and labour record in developing markets, in pa...
Shirin HomawalaThis week the economy has dominated the news, with the Office for National Statistics announcing on Wednesday that GDP was down 0.2% in Q4 of 2011. This is already fuelling speculation of the prospect of a double-dip recession, which wasn’t exactly the best news for the Prime Minister to take to Davos. Although a lot of the news yesterday was about Cameron telling Germany to “be bold” in de...
Rose BeynonJonny Wilkinson is supporting Time to Change, a campaign from the Department of Heath which encourages people to talk openly about depression and anxiety in order to tackle the stigma around mental health. News of his endorsement featured in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, and follows the British Heart Foundation’s Hard and Fast campaign fronted by Vinnie Jones, which was picked up acros...
Shirin HomawalaYesterday the media was in uproar following Lord Ashdown’s public statements against the Coalition Government’s welfare reform proposals. Many experts said that his outspoken remarks were causing a headache for the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg. But I think they’re all missing the bigger strategy being played out. Both politicians are savvy enough to know when to speak out, and when ...
Natasha JonesThe past week has seen all three party leaders making waves about the need to reform capitalism. Ed Miliband led from the front this time, with his conference speech on ‘reforming capitalism’ way back in September, followed by comments last week on ‘predatory capitalism’. Nick Clegg weighed in with a speech about ‘fairer capitalism’ and a call for more of a ‘John Lewis economy’...
Ben LyonsThree party leaders. Three speeches on the free market. The last two weeks have seen Ed Miliband, David Cameron and Nick Clegg all argue for a more responsible capitalism. Things kicked off last week as Miliband fleshed out plans around making “your society fairer in a world where there is less money”. Clegg followed up this week with a call for "John Lewis economy" in which individuals had "r...