Marketing Recruitment News

ATLANTA, GA - Happy Election Day!  Vote early and often!  Here are some choice tidbits from the worlds of marketing and recruitment:

1. Big news for Apple in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal: The company is losing one of its stars, Tony Fadell.  Mr. Fadell does not say where he's going, but given the recent non-compete flap between his replacement, Mark Papermaster, and IBM (Mr. Papermaster's former employer) ... Is it possible that Mr. Fadell is defecting to a competitor and staying mum about his plans until he's ready to address the non-compete issues?  One wonders.  Regardless ...

A-Players take note:  Consider what happened between Bratz and Mattel and understand that companies are getting pretty damn grabby about their intellectual property -- further underscoring the importance of talent in today's business world.  Even if your non-compete agreement is riddled with holes, your employer can still drag you into court.  Click here for more info.

2. Yahoo has disclosed that Scott Moore, who oversaw media properties such as its sports and finance sites, has become the latest executive to leave the struggling company.  From where I sit, the Yahoo brain drain looks painful.  It takes years to build a great company, and this year's defections at Yahoo underscore just how quickly things can unravel if management doesn't have its act together.  We used to have a saying in the trading business: "Your FIRST loss is your BEST loss."  Yahoo should have aligned with Microsoft months ago ...


3. Auto sales worst in 25 years.  Funny, but this fits right in with Faith Popcorn's recent observation that, under the new "vigilante consumerism," people are going to be keeping their old cars longer.

"People are finding shame in consuming. Consume is an evil word," says Popcorn. "This change in attitude applies to "anyone who is financially well off, but not optimistic anymore, mainly people with discretionary income that won't have it any more," she says. "These folks are behaving differently. They're acting like they need to cut out stuff."

Ms. Popcorn sees a major change in the way all U.S. consumers will behave in the future. In fact, she says the appropriate word for Americans is no longer "consumer," but "citizen."

My take:  For decades, the greatest marketing minds have known that "People don't buy features, they buy feelings."  But shame is a pretty dark word.  It's one of the darkest emotions in the human experience.  Are things really that bleak?

Marketing candidates:  If we are truly headed for an era of vigilante consumerism and citizen consumption, then you had better closely study the customers of the companies to which you are applying.  If you wouldn't hang out with them socially, then it seems unlikely that you will be successful marketing to them in an age of social media and total transparency.  Click here for more info.
______________________________________________________________________
Submit Your Resume | Download my vCard | Get My Searches | 97 Job Search Tips