Last week we looked at a sad case of Smug Complacent Agency Mail (SCAM) from somebody with an ebook and a great deal of hope. Where last week’s example was probably a lazy agency with a good idea, this week’s is, in my opinion, malpractice. This large padded envelope arrived one day in July and […]
Why Are We Still Sending Bad Direct Mail? Part 1
Even postal strikes aren’t what they used to be. Sure, there are picket lines, barrels full of burning stuff (what do they burn, anyway?), and a much emptier recycling bin, but the payoff isn’t there. It used to be that the end of the strike was a bit of a postal Christmas morning. Beloved magazines, […]
Friends Like These or Why Most Trusted Advisors are Neither
Is trusted advisor the theme of the week? I have at least half a dozen emails, voice mails and other rubbish asking to be my trusted advisor on everything from social media to something called talent optimization ( which is either bagpipe lessons or a hit squad for employees I don’t like). Forgive the unfortunate […]
Schadenfreudian Slips
You would expect a book about epic business failures to be a delicious, gloating, satisfying kind of fun; a long, slow, I-Told-You-So Waltz. But Jim Collins’ book, How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In* takes a much higher moral road than, say, I would. Collins had the misfortune to be attempting to […]
Algorithms & Blues in the Obscurocratic Empire
This week my youngest son started high school. In an age where self-esteem is considered a core metric of eduction systems everywhere, many high schools hold welcome parties or special orientation days for freshmen and their helicopter parents. They give out elaborate packages of information but. naturally, the only thing in the package any of the […]
