Posts Tagged ‘Business’
Those Weird and Wonderful Benford Numbers
From the Report on Business Magazine, December 2010 When WikiLeaks released nearly 80,000 classified documents relating to military operations in Afghanistan this past July, a wide range of journalists, politicians and members of the public were eager to see the data. Some of them were looking for a true tally of IED attacks, others for…
Read MoreWhat We Talk About When We Talk About “Buyer’s Pain”
Globe and Mail ROB Magazine My introduction to the topic of “buyer’s pain” came via a colleague, an editor of an American food magazine, who was describing the excruciatingly long line-ups he had to endure to get a hamburger at the Shake Shack in New York’s Madison Square Park. I’ve never eaten one, but I’ve…
Read MoreBlink and You’ll Miss It
From the Globe and Mail Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010 I was made to feel stupid by a video on YouTube the other day. Designed by neuropsychology professors Christopher Charbris and Daniel Simons, the clip shows some basketball players passing a ball around. Count the passes, the viewer is instructed. So I did, and got the right answer: 15. But…
Read MoreJacqui Cohen: Army and Navy’s Sole Survivor
Jacqui Cohen, Army & Navy’s Sole Survivor BC Business Magazine, July 2010 There was a story the newspapers used to tell about Army & Navy. It showed up a number of times during the late ’70s and early ’80s. It involved pointing out what was then considered to be a central irony about the company.…
Read MoreThe Ugly Truth
Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine June 24, 2010 Facing down a world wracked with financial turmoil, Mark Carney brings many strengths to the table on behalf of Canadians: Harvard and Oxford training, years of experience in the private sector at Goldman Sachs. But Carney may also have another, less obvious competitive advantage: The…
Read MoreThe Envy Economy
From the Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine When Oliver Stone’s upcoming sequel to Wall Street (Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps) is released this fall, there will be renewed debate on whether “greed is good.” People may disagree with Gordon Gekko, just as his protégé Bud Fox ultimately did in the original film,…
Read MoreThe Tiger Trap
From The Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine April 2010 In December, a pair of UC Davis economists estimated that Tiger Woods’s off-course philandering managed to wipe out about $12 billion (all currency in U.S. dollars) market value for his sponsors. It wasn’t long before experts were speculating that the whole celebrity endorsement market…
Read MoreAge and Innovation
From the February 2010 Report on Business Magazine You may have heard rumours that the Mayan calendar forecasts the world will end in 2012. However, the Mayans missed a lesser milestone: In two years’ time, fully half of all federal government employees will be eligible for retirement. Yes, the work force is aging. There will…
Read MoreThe Feel Good Economy
From the January 2010 Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine If you want to make people feel good about your company, it doesn’t hurt to make them feel good about themselves “Paying it forward” is an old idea with new life lately. Brands as different from one another as Dove, Starbucks, TalkTalk wireless…
Read MoreThe Xerox Effect
From the December Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine Marketers already know we’re copycats at heart. Now science proves it Most of us believe we make up our own minds in the marketplace: Apple or Dell, Brooks Brothers or Boss, equities or gold. But recent studies suggest we exert less control over these decisions…
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