Marketing automation company Marketo had an oopsy last week — they forgot to renew their main domain name. This caused a day’s disruption for their customers. The CEO’s passive apology fails to be direct and honest. Why is this so hard? Let’s take a look at the CEO’s email to customers. In what follows, I’ve…
I feel for Michael Surbaugh, Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts of America. He got the thankless job of apologizing for Donald Trump’s remarks to the scouts’ Jamboree. But his padded and swaddled apology misses the mark. Even if a problem is not your fault, you are responsible for apologizing as briefly and clearly as…
Air France announced a new subsidiary targeting millennials, Joon. It apparently believes that millennials will select an airline based on branding and style, unlike everyone else who buys on price, convenience, and a reduced chance of being assaulted. The resulting announcement is as airy as a fresh-baked Parisian croissant. The Joon announcement is breathless My…
At the Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia yesterday, Trump gave a speech including remarks more appropriate for a political rally. To see why this matters, consider all the groups of scouts he rejected or excluded with his remarks. The Boy Scout organization has rules about politics. As an official Boy Scout blog on scouting…
The Congressional Budget Office is in the crosshairs for its prediction that the republican health care bills will cause 22 million people to lose health insurance. Eight of the organization’s former leaders wrote a letter to defend it. Who’s right, the CBO’s critics or its defenders? Congress created the CBO in 1974 as an independent,…
The New York Times published a far-ranging and, in places, incomprehensible Oval Office interview with Donald Trump. It’s rambling and strange. As a result, there can be no definitive interpretation — like a Rorschach test, you see in President Trump’s words whatever you want to see. Here’s one interpretation — what I think I heard….
John McCain has an aggressive form of brain cancer. After 31 years of high-visibility leadership in the Senate, he’s due a lot of sympathy. The sincere and personal notes that his colleagues have written impressed me. The prognosis for McCain’s cancer is poor. Like many Americans, I’ve admired him for years. His heroism as a…
When it comes to your passion for the NBA, Nike knows it’s the uniforms that really excite you. They’ve given 110% in their superlative- and jargon-packed press release. My critique feels like a slam dunk; let me know if you think it’s an airball. Here’s yesterday’s Nike release. I’ve put the superlatives and other weasel…
We can now see the email that publicist Rob Goldstone sent to Donald Trump Jr. on June 3 of last year, promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. It follows my email principles; it’s short, direct, fact-based, and relevant to the recipient. And sure enough, it got the meeting. Let’s deconstruct it, as well as Trump, Jr.’s…