RE: APRIL 2011
Brand Loyalty
Kudos to FAS T COMPAN Y for having the
courage to buck conventional publishing
norms to explore a vital issue facing
businesses in the digital age: the integration of branding and marketing communications within traditional settings,
such as a magazine’s editorial pages
(“I’m With the Brand”). This story has
given increased attention to the need
for consumer awareness of how branding and communication impact their
lives, and for a far better explanation by
marketers of the positive value of that
outreach. Thus, Morgan Spurlock’s
efforts to create the most absurd case
of product placement in a movie is actually quite noble. When marketing and
public relations help consumers understand how products and services can
enrich their lives, it adds real value to
society and should not be vilified. All
communicators need to understand and
respect where brands are willing to draw
the line between making a profit and
upholding their ethics and integrity.
Otherwise, we risk continued erosion
of consumer trust.
Rosanna M. Fiske
New York
An excellent article in an exceptional magazine. I think Morgan
Spurlock’s logo-embroidered
jacket would sell like hotcakes if
mass produced—can I get a cut
of the advertising revenue for
this idea?
Dennis Allen
Pittsford, New York
way, has redefined innovation;
perhaps Page will leave us with a
definition of his own.
Udayan Banerjee
Bangalore, India
Flipping through the pages of
the April issue, I stumbled upon
Morgan Spurlock, naked, twice. It
scared me the way clowns scare
little kids. Please do not ever show
naked pictures of Morgan Spurlock
again. To be clear, I am not opposed
to stories with someone baring it
all, just Morgan Spurlock.
Thu Vu
Alexandria, Virginia
Social networking is a big challenge that needs to be taken care
of, but not in the ways of Facebook
and T witter. Some company—most
likely Google—has to introduce a
social network that really makes
sense. It will take the company time
to get it right, but Google has the
ability to create tools to improve
human efficiency, collaboration,
and organization, giving us better
methods to meet new people
instead of simply being stuck with
old Facebook connections.
Nicolas Charbonnier
Copenhagen
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I’m a fan of Morgan Spurlock
and the topic of advertising is of
interest to me, but I couldn’t quite
follow and stick with the narrative
of this article, which makes me
feel lukewarm about seeing the
film or checking out the trailer.
There’s a marketing lesson in
there somewhere.
Wallace J. Nichols
Davenport, California
These are very simplistic assumptions about Page, who is a really
bright guy. The only thing we can
assume is that Google is a meritocracy, and the best idea will win.
Rahul Balyan
Mumbai, India
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The Power of Page
Thanks for writing such a great
article (“Google: The Quest”). In
recent times, we seem to notice
only Google’s failures, not the
company’s successes. Will Larry
Page become the greatest inventor
of all time? Steve Jobs, in his own
Good to Be Green
I applaud Bloomberg’s efforts in
corporate sustainability (“Making
the Bottom Line Green”). It’s
worth noting, though, that in many
senses, the train has left the station on sustainability reporting.
Corporate scorecards, voluntary
reporting to the Carbon Disclosure
Project and the Global Reporting
Initiative, and various countries’
compliance legislation are compelling a growing number of businesses to do something about the
numbers they report in terms of
reducing risk and operational costs.
Robert Clarke
London
So glad to see businesses at all
levels embracing the opportunities
associated with environmental,
social, and governance policies
(ESG). From entrepreneurs to Wall
Street, the business community
