p70,71 Scribbler:Layout 1 16/02/2010 14:14 Page 71
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who just want a phone that enables them to stay in touch with friends,
family and business contacts.
Would you credit it?
I read that Credit Suisse bankers’ bonuses are to be cut substantially and
applaud the fact that one of the big players has shown that they ‘get it’. The
announcement referred to their ‘400 managing directors in London’. Pardon
me? 400? Presumably they’ve got a load more stashed away in Zurich and
New York as well. Doing what?
Insurance against next time
Barack Obama and some other senior political figures worldwide are
proposing to create a bail-out fund so that a repeat of the banking crisis
lands back in the bankers laps. Good idea, no? After all, insurance against
future risks is a good thing. One little problem: where do they propose to
stash the cash and in what physical form? Current estimates of the cost of
the bail-out in America alone run to $90 billion, so for a worldwide figure
you can probably double that and add on the number you first thought of.
Meanwhile, the value of gold in Fort Knox stands at some $110 billion. Back
to the drawing board, chaps.
Why did you give me the business?
I’ve been told the answer to this one, unprompted, a few times, but I’ve
never asked it. To my ear it sounds uncomfortably like an encouragement to
the client to review their decision. Perhaps I’m wrong. Dynshaw Italia, the
eBookers entrepreneur, says that if you don’t know what is making you
succeed, you can’t replicate it. I’ve had suppliers ask me why they didn’t get
the nod, but, again, nobody ever asked why they did get the job. Me, I’m
going to start asking.
World Cup effect
It is being suggested that the World Cup will define more than just our
football team. The general election’s timing may be held off until the last
minute to capitalise on so-called World Cup fever. Victory for our boys would
create a buzz that would, it’s said, end the recession. (The opposite also
applies, unfortunately).
Half a job is better than no bread
Unemployment has somewhat surprisingly fallen as people take part-time
jobs. I have often wondered why this isn’t more common. Two part-time jobs
can equal one full-time job. Smaller businesses often need specialist skills but
can’t afford them and, just as likely, don’t need a full-time employee. A
skilled marketing manager (say), working two and a half days a week for
each of two businesses would be good news all round. The businesses would
get the right amount of the right skills and the employee would have to be
desperately unlucky or truly inept to lose both jobs together.
Take one tablet
Apple’s new tablet computer, the I-pad has been launched and its impact
assessed. Everybody will by now have forgotten the pre-launch marketing.
That would be easy because strictly speaking there wasn’t any. Applying
absolute secrecy to new
products is the Apple
style (even the product
name wasn’t leaked) and
it has worked again:
newspapers, magazines
and websites - not to
mention any place where
two or more techno-
heads meet – were
awash with speculation
and rumour about its capabilities, features and presumed wizardry. As Dolly
Parton says “it costs a lot of money to look this cheap” and I suspect Apple
will have spent a small fortune doing so little marketing.
A triumph of hope
Let’s hear it for a British success story. Triumph Motorcycles, who were
rescued from receivership in the '80s, have announced that their UK sales in
2009 topped those of Kawasaki, putting them fourth behind the Japanese
big three. Their sales rose by 26% – not bad in a recession. A similar
performance next year could see them brand leader. Most of their product
goes to export, notably to the States, where they have overtaken BMW.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk March 2010 | 71 |
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