Sporadic blogging this week

We're in the midst of a maelstrom of activity here at Blackfriars World Wide Headquarters as we are putting our Sizing US Marketing 2006 report to bed this week, so blog posts will be sporadic. So in lieu of any detailed analysis, here are some of the stories we've been noticing lately as worth of marketing comment:

• The HP phone pretexting story continues to spiral out of control. Today's New York Times recaps CEO Mark Hurd's Friday press conference where he accepted both responsibility and Patricia Dunn's job of Chairman of the Board. While accepting Dunn's immediate resignation was the right thing for the company, as we noted when the event first came to light, Hurd taking over as Chairman is certainly going to raise issues of proper corporate governance, thereby providing more grist for the news mill. This would be the right time for HP to bring in someone completely independent and with unquestioned integrity as Chairperson to do a proper investigation and set things right. Sadly, with Hurd as both Chairman and CEO, that is unlikely to happen, and we'll keep reading bits and pieces of HP's misconduct for months to come. So much for HP's comeback.


• The electronic voting machine debacle is just getting started. In the aftermath of serious voting irregularities in Maryland and revelations about these machines being about as secure as your local hotel minibar (namely, not very), articles like this one in the New York Times are starting to raise serious concerns with officials and voters alike. The voting machine companies like Diebold and ESS are doing a terrible job of communicating with the public, leading voters to conclude one of two things: 1) the companies don't know how to secure electronic systems correctly, or 2) they really are trying to stonewall election officials and voters. This is another story with legs, created by poor communication.

I have about four more articles I noticed that will have to wait. But one other I have to comment on: I saw my ex-Forrester colleague Bill Bass and his new company Fair Indigo featured in today's New York Times Business section. Bill is a truly sharp guy and a terrific marketer, having shaped Lands End's online retailing operation prior to and after its sale to Sears. I was particularly interested to read a Forrester analyst's comment on the company:

Marketing could present difficulties for the company, especially since Fair Indigo is banking on word-of-mouth in its early stages. “If costs are higher, it leaves less money for building a brand and introducing new designs,” Mr. Dhar said. “Some of these could be offset by word-of-mouth and other forms of buzz, but the examples of a mass brand built purely through these media are rare.”

Given the online nature of Fair Indigo's operation, I doubt Bill is relying purely on word-of-mouth for his marketing. After all, didn't he just appear in the New York Times? Sounds like good old fashioned public relations and press is working just fine for him.

Technorati Tags: Bill Bass, Fair Indigo, Hewlett Packard, Mark Hurd, Marketing, Patricia Dunn, Security, Sizing US Marketing, Voting, Voting Machines