Month: February 2012

I think we can now sound a note of cautious optimism in the wake of Apple’s announcement that it had asked the Fair Labor Association to inspect its factories in China. (Read Apple’s press release.) Apple’s actions come in the wake of substantial press coverage and public outcry over the working conditions of factory employees.

I also think we can assume that it was this public and media pressure and the FLA’s inspections that were responsible for even more important and potentially far-reaching changes. Continue reading “A Follow-Up to My Earlier Post: “Dear Apple…””

Advertising veteran Martin Lindstrom, who authored Buyology and has written extensively on branding, recently published something of a manifesto on branding and ethics for Fast Company. It’s a good piece: short, provocative, and worth reading.

In it, Lindstrom refers to himself as a “brand futurist” whose job in part is “to predict the future.” And indeed, if his word is to be trusted, he’s made some accurate predictions in the past – for example, envisioning a Facebook-like experience before Facebook came into being. (This was, notably, right around the time that MySpace appeared.)

Looking forward into the rest of 2012 and beyond, Lindstrom makes this bold statement:

“My prediction for 2012 is a rise in the importance of ethics. I foresee a kind of WikiLeaks emerging to tackle the maneuvrings of less-ethical brands. The move will come from an independent organization with the sole mission of disclosing what those companies are up to. Most companies will be vulnerable to being targeted, despite having some sort of written standards.”

I agree with Lindstrom on the growing importance of ethics in business, but I suggest that his “prediction” has in fact already come true. Continue reading “Ethics and Branding”

Companies go public to raise capital, usually for expansion. Manufacturers build factories. Retailers fund new stores. That’s good for them and good for the economy. These businesses use capital investment for production, innovation, sales, and hiring.

But expansion doesn’t appear to be Facebook’s motivation.

If you read the letter from Mark Zuckerberg that was included in the SEC filing, you may notice that there is a lot of talk about Facebook’s mission, but very little about why an IPO is necessary or beneficial for the company. Is that by design? Continue reading “Why is Facebook Going Public? The answer isn’t obvious.”