A dodgy 2000s’ UK spam list is still doing the rounds in 2022, pretending to be legit

07.04.2022/13.11

During February, I received spam from Novuna in the UK, the finance company that’s a subsidiary of Mitsubishi. It wasn’t personally addressed, it was just a general message. I complained via their complaints’ email, only to have the message bounce back as it wasn’t working. However, they did respond on Twitter, unlike less caring […]

Where democratizing technology got the better of us

13.02.2022/11.17

From the start, I’ve been a supporter of the democratization of design. Everyone has the right to access it, because fundamentally good design is something that makes the world a better place. A lot of websites are founded on this, such as Shopify, which has enough flexibility to give most of the stores we visit […]

Stanley Moss’s latest Global Brand Letter out now

10.01.2022/08.39

Finally, a happier post. For many years (since 2004), my dear friend Stanley Moss has been publishing his Global Brand Letter, which is not only a wonderful summary of the year (or the last half-year, since he often writes every six months) in branding, but an excellent record of the evolution of culture. He […]

The erosion of standards

/08.19

For homeowners and buyers, there’s a great guide from Moisture Detection Co. Ltd. called What You Absolutely Must Know About Owning a Plaster-Clad Home, subtitled The Origin of New Zealand’s Leaky Building Crisis and Must-Know Information for Owners to Make Their Homes Weathertight, and Regain Lost Value. My intent isn’t to repeat someone’s copyrighted […]

Don’t put your events on just Facebook—they won’t be seen

31.12.2021/06.50

We’re probably far enough along from the event for people not to know which one I am referring to, as I’ve no wish to embarrass the organizers. Earlier in 2021, we saw a weekend event that would take place at the ‘Johnsonville Community Hub’. No address was given other than that. Both Duck Duck […]

Facebook pages no longer immediately update after you post

21.12.2021/11.24

With Lucire’s Twitter restored—it was a huge distraction over the last two months with various automatic posting gadgets needing to be reprogrammed, and the Twitter-to-Mastodon cross-poster still does not work (it’s what happens when you modify things that are working perfectly well: it’s impossible to put them back)—we wanted to get some of our social […]

Xiaomi’s confusing nomenclature

04.12.2021/21.47

I’m starting to understand Xiaomi’s naming conventions but it’s a mess, especially coming from a marketer’s point of view. I ordered the Note 9, which is superior to the 9. So far so good. But what I’m getting is not what’s called the Note 9 here (or in any export market, from what […]

My tribute to David MacGregor

28.11.2021/23.28

Digital art by David MacGregor I hope the media will say more because David MacGregor had packed so much into his 50-something years on this planet. Here is my tribute on Lucire. Not everyone can claim to have discovered Rachel Hunter, created the Family Health Diary TV commercial format (and others), founded the first online […]

Chatting at a pro level on Leonard Kim’s Grow Your Influence Tree

21.10.2021/03.15

Shared on my social media on the day, but I had been waiting for an opportunity to note this on my blog. It was an honour last week to guest on Leonard Kim’s Grow Your Influence Tree, his internet talk show on VoiceAmerica. Leonard knows plenty about marketing and branding, so I thought it […]

What I do when someone uploads my private information on to Facebook

14.10.2021/11.01

I can’t be the only person who does this. This is one of the few things that I do on Facebook. Removing off-Facebook activity is another. 1. Let me check my Facebook advertising preferences. Who has been uploading my private information to Facebook without my permission? Hmm, Ramp, @rampcard, that’s new. I’ve […]