A very sad sign of the times. Yesterday I heard a listener be told she had won £100K in a radio phone-in competition. 'What's the first thing you're going to buy?' asked the host; 'I'm taking my boy to a dentist' the winner replied.

I just read the results of a significant publication's 'marketing' awards. All categories in the various industries [with no - it seems - B2B] were 'promotional' practices. Ho Hum.

The article’s title started with “DTC Toy Company …” and the description of said company included “makes … toys and sells them on Amazon, Walmart, and other marketplaces.” Errr, DTC stands for direct to consumer, not selling via a third party.🤦‍♂️

Just listened to a radio show on AI. It focused on output being dependent on input. One talking head was presented as Professor of AI at [UK uni]. She was further described as an 'expert in AI data input'. In her chat, she misused 'i.e.' for 'e.g.' and vice versa. Hmmm🤔

Just read an online piece on B2B exuding a research-based 2020 model revealing buying groups of ‘target’ and ‘hidden’ buyers. No mention of the decision-making unit (DMU) from Webster and Wind in 1972🙄

And another article ... where a 'direct-to-consumer' plans economies by planning 'to get closer to our new manufacturer'. Errr, that makes you an online retailer - because DtC means direct to the consumer without the involvement of a third party.

I just completed a yougov survey on travel. One question was in regard of my use of online media which required me to tick each 'brand' that I used 'regularly'. I would suggest that each respondent's definition of 'regularly' renders this research so flawed as to be useless.

Hmmmmmm 🤔

I just spotted an ad for a ‘fast track to digital marketing’ an ‘8-week course covers the key digital topics a marketer needs to understand.’ Why are there still marketers out there who need such training?

I like to drag this back out every so often ... the current ad from Curry's has given me another opportunity 😀 alancharlesworth.com/Alans-musings/…

generally I like Jet2, but its website/app usability could be better. This example is frustrating because the message suggests that the fault is mine. The icon in the top right corner of this screenshot suggests it is not my Internet that is the problem.

Anyone else not getting Carol Vorderman's posts in either of their feeds? Carol Vorderman

One of his best ... this is the way marketing is taught - and is presented in most marketing textbooks.

Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees. $30 per seat per month. $1.4 million annually. I called it "digital transformation." The board loved that phrase. They approved it in eleven minutes. No one asked what it would actually do. Including me. I

Is Google going downhill? I've never seen a web page download on a tilt before. Can't have been deliberate ... could it?

It was hard enough to see the posts of folk I follow when I could chose 'recent' over 'popular'. Now that choice has been removed my use of this platform will reduce. maybe to zero. Or I will just look for posts - and reposts - of specific folk like Alastair Thomson Tom Goodwin