Systems evolve over time. Look at the eco-system that drives most of the western world. It has been around for a relatively short time in historical terms. It is a sub-set of capitalism that may now be showing signs of weakness as a continuing driver for wealth creation. I’m talking about consumerism. Consumerism is assumed [...]
I was in a venture with MCA in the publishing business which lasted for a very successful eleven and an half years. It ended in the early 1990’s I signed some big Australian acts during that time including Tommy Emmanuel, InXs, Wa Wa Nee, Noiseworks and of course Keith Urban. MCA, at that time, was [...]
The Web is the big change maker in how we consume media. But the changes that it makes are just beginning. Newspapers are struggling to find new business models. And here is a story about one called Kachingle. Over the last few days I have been talking to people in and around the media and [...]
The fact is that while some people talk about the financial markets being in turmoil, the reality is that they are in chaos. The capitalist system requires that there is a fundamental belief in the old maxim “honour among thieves”. The problem that we now have though is that banks don’t trust other banks. So [...]
I haven't blogged for a while…. the news about the global economy has been so widely reported and I didn't feel I had anything significant to add that hadn't been said before. Suffice to say that I have been blogging about the problems in the US economy and the inter-connectedness of other economies for quite [...]
I thought it was remarkably ironic to read this week that Lehman Brothers may be forced into a sale after declaring losses of almost $3 Billion: Major U.S. investment banks this week announced yet another painful quarter amid the implosion of mortgage-backed securities and risky credit investments. Regional banks have scrambled to secure fresh capital [...]
There was a fantastic 4 part series on BBC 4 that is online. It is called the Century Of The Self. It's all about the history of public relations. The episodes are on Google Video and are archived here. The first episode goes into detail about the influence of Edward Bernays on shaping both consumerism [...]
I came across the following, while reading the fantastic new book by Al Gore, “The Assault On Reason”. It is about Edward Bernays, the father of public relations – and of advertising. …”A second victory involved another corporate client, Betty Crocker. Bernays discovered that women were not buying cake mixes because they felt ashamed to [...]