Harvard Business Review this month is running a “case study” (pure fiction) I wrote about whether companies can and should be authentic. The case study is intended to be even-handed in its presentation; it’s followed by expert commentary. They’ve posted the case on their Web site and have opened it up to readers for discussion. There’s also a video of Julia Kirby (one of the editors) interviewing me on the topic, on that same page. FWIW, I am not at all convinced that the term “authenticity” is helpful — or maybe even meaningful — when applied to business.

[Tags: marketing authenticity hbr ]

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Given Wal-Mart’s size and its heavy-handed approach to so much of life, the fact that it’s letting its buyers blog freely is welcome news. (Disclosure: I consult to Edelman PR, which has Wal-Mart as a client. But all I know about this is what I read in the linked article; I assume but don’t know that Edelman was involved. And, yes, this disclosure is now longer than the post.)

[Tags: wal-mart blogs cluetrain ]

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After trying the various phone numbers on the AT&T Wireless site, including 1-800-331-0500, 611 from my cellphone, and 800‑288‑2747 from GetHuman.com, it seems that AT&T provides no customer service on Sunday. So, if your phone or their software is broken, you are SOL.

Jeez, remember when major corporations acted like major corporations? Or maybe this is how major corporations act.

(There’s gotta be a national security angle to this somewhere. Do terrorists and hurricanes take Sundays off? Yeah, that’s the ticket!) [Tags: att customer_service vrm ]

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Ryan Terry is an illustrator and a Flash guy. His home page is like one of those poke-n-play CD illustrated books for kids, except better. His previous one is at least as good. (Thanks to Marc Nathan for the link, via Twitter.

[Tags: ryan_terry flash illustrations home_page resume marketing ]

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I was just taking a little break, watching some political ads on YouTube.

Yup. Ads I want to see. Ads I enjoyed. Not ads thrust in my face, interrupting me.

Yup, I was watching ads I want to watch. As if that were something we always could do. [Tags: ads marketing broadcast politics ]

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Remember Grokster? It was an attempt to be Napster without having a centralized database of songs and users. It was shut down by a unanimous Supreme Court decision.

Go to Grokster.com now and you are not only told that Grokster is no more but that you are at risk simply by having gone to the site.

YOUR IP ADDRESS IS 123.123.123.123 AND HAS BEEN LOGGED.
Don’t think you can’t get caught. You are not anonymous.

(The IP address they give is the right one.)

The site then suggests:

In the meantime, please visit www.respectcopyrights.com and www.musicunited.org to learn more about copyright.

RespectCopyrights.com really should be called FearCopyrights.com. It’s an MPAA scare site that doesn’t let you know you still have rights when using copyrighted material. (It captures the back arrow key in your browser, which is not only annoying, controlling and disrespectful, it’s a way of driving up the hit count.) MusicUnited is an music industry pro-DRM propaganda site. Hey, it’s their right. It’s a free country. Sort of.

[Tags: copyright copyleft grokster riaa mpaa broadcast_flag drm ]

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That’s what Jock Gill calls “global climate change,” ne� “global warming.”

Good phrase.

[Tags: climate jock_gill global_climate_change al_gore marketing ]

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I found the DipDive video to be emotionally overwhelming. Granted, I’m an Obama supporter. But reminding supporters why their candidate matters more than most candidates ever have is not such a little thing.

This is the organization that made that video.

Go Obama! [Tags: dipdive obama video advertising propaganda marketing politics ]

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The official NFL Superbowl site doesn’t tell you when the game starts or what network is showing it, at least as far as I can tell. (I am not accepting the count-down timer as a way of telling me when the game starts. No math should be required for this.)

The HighBeam research service tells you everything about their pro vs. regular service except how much either one of them costs.

[Tags: marketing superbowl cluetrain ]

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From Computer Gaming World:

Engineered for professional Counter-Strike gamers…

Say, Razer Piranha, care to define your market any more narrowly?

(Yes, I know I’m being totally unreasonable and that the ad’s point is that if it’s good enough for the pro’s, it’s good enough for you. I just enjoy the nano-marketing feel of the thing.) [Tags: advertising marketing unfair_reactions ]

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