Business News

Wipe out

eschmidl@hotmail.com (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

In 2008, Billabong was Australia's hardest working brand. Last week, its board sacked long-time Billabong insider and CEO Derek O'Neill, a move that appears to have been in the works for some months.

You can’t get to WOW from here

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan ) — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:24:51 +0000

I’m pretty much sick and tired of rhetoric from gurus telling companies they need to be WOWing their customers. The fact is most struggle just to satisfy them and until you can do that, WOWing them may as well be Mars.

The one thing you can do

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan ) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:27:42 +0000

I am often asked, “What’s the one thing I can do?” My return question is most usually, “To do what?” Because it depends.

A month of living “brandlessly”

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan ) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I've sworn off using the term "brand" (or even Bob for that matter) for a month. Actually I tweeted my intention last week so in reality I've been doing it for nearly a week now.

The world's most "damaged" brands

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan ) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

An article on 24/7 Wall Street this past week outlined the "Nine Most Damaged Brands in America".

What’s in a name?

andrewmedia@internode.on.net (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:57:58 +0000

I’m currently working on a naming project for a new enterprise. Confidentiality clauses mean I can’t reveal the details about who they are or what they do.

The price of favour

andrewmedia@internode.on.net (Michel Hogan) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:11:45 +0000

An article in The Age this weekend got me thinking. Called 'Social Media Clicks and Business Really Likes It', there were a couple of points within the article that caught my attention.

Shiny Object Syndrome

andrewmedia@internode.on.net (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

A friend described the following scenario to me via email.

Kony 2012: Awareness is great. Now what?

andrewmedia@internode.on.net (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:42:11 +0000

In the wake of the Kony 2012 viral video I started thinking about the role of awareness, or more specifically, what happens next.

Unpaid creative suicide: the case for good design

andrewmedia@internode.on.net (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:43:30 +0000

Good design matters. It can make you pay attention. It can make you see things differently. It can bring an idea to life in ways that nothing else can. And it IS worth paying for.

The enemy of clarity is insincerity

andrewmedia@internode.on.net (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:30:25 +0000

“The enemy of clarity is insincerity” is a great line. I wish I could claim authorship of it, but it comes paraphrased from a quote by George Orwell:

And, not or

jthomson@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Amid the wreckage that passes for our national political system I’ve decided to turn my back on its abundant blog gifts and turned my gaze on other matters (at least for this week).

Dazed and confused amid broken promises

ekrieger@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:15:42 +0000

It's been such a bad week on promises for corporates here in Australia I'm not even sure where to start. I have noted in the past that "Bobs" are built one action and decision at a time and destroyed the same way. This week we have had two companies give us a real time demonstration of that with ANZ and Air Australia leading the pack in broken promises.

Some words just need a timeout

ekrieger@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

There are words out there that have become empty shells of their former selves; inappropriately used and hackneyed shorthand for not much at all. So that got me thinking, maybe they need a timeout, a holiday or just a bit of well-earned long service leave.

A good offense is really defense

ekrieger@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

It's been a tough week and at the end of it I have a whole new view of the role of an online presence. It's defense.

Apple launches damage control

ekrieger@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Apple is in damage control mode. By now anyone with a computer and an interest in technology and/or Apple have heard about and probably read, the New York Times article that started the whole furore.

Satisfied customers and the promises they keep (or don’t)

mheffernan@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:01:07 +0000

When it comes to keeping promises the weight of the discussion mostly falls on the organisation, but what about the other half of the equation – the promises a customer makes?

I want to know what you think

ekrieger@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I know many of you are regular readers of this blog and I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of you in person, so I’ve got a question for you.

Six ways to build brand resilience

ekrieger@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:51:22 +0000

This article first appeared June 7, 2011.

There is a lot of talk around these days about sustainability, and it's a term I have used more than once about brands. I was reminded on the weekend, that when I talk about sustainability what I really mean is resilience.

Good brand, bad brand, “rebrand”, you brand

ekrieger@smartcompany.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:23:17 +0000

This article first appeared May 10, 2011.

This past week saw the launch of Virgin Australia. Complete with Richard Branson on hand, this was touted as the "rebrand" of Virgin's holdings in this part of the world into a single identifiable entity. If companies were cattle that may be true.