Alexander Chalkidis

Blog

  • Germanic revenge: Greece and it’s Allies get what we deserve

    Even if you haven’t read Churchill’s account, there is no way in avoiding the conclusion that it was the way the Allies handled victory in the first world war that pushed Germany into the second one.   We took their pride, divided their land and burdened them financially to an inconceivable level.   Hitler’s words appealled to desperate, bitter and hardened people with nothing to lose, not die hard born fascists.

    So many years after the second world war Greeks are now complaining about money they feel is owed to them from theft and massacres during German occupation of Greece.   There is an important difference:   Germany worked it’s way out of the dismal situation we put it in.   Some Greeks, once again, lazily await a miracle.   They feel they are “owed” a magical solution to the current financial mess we got ourselves into.

    Selectivity in reading history is always a problem.   Maybe we need to learn more about the German miracle.   Precisely how Germany got from utterly destitute to the triple A powerhouse it is today in Europe.   Even if some people wish to treat them as enemies instead of the allies they now are.

    We would do well to learn more from them.   (One example I have refered to in the past is the mid sized German family business that we would do well to emulate.)

  • How to make a film like Theo Angelopoulos

    Ingredients:

    1. A CD with music by Eleni Karaindrou.

    2. A photo album, the kind you find in the lounge usually with scenery or black and white pictures.

     

    Instructions:

    1. Play the music.

    2. Flick through the photos.   Really slowly.  1-5 minutes on each usually is OK.

    3. You can (slowly!) move your gaze across the page occasionally.

    4. Think or don’t think of anything you like.

     

    The overall effect is remarkably similar to a Theodoros Angelopoulos film in my opinion.

    In a country stuggling to get a film industry working, Angelopoulos was a symbol of success though he didn’t actually much help improve anything.    Some loved him, other considered him Rotten Tomato material.

    In a country battling with anarchy the question why an old man (albeit a famous old man) was allowed to walk across a busy street and what sort of safety protocol his production company was following begs an answer.

    Personaly I won’t miss him at all.   Other than a striking resemblance to my dear uncle who shares his first name I found little of interest in his film and much to critique in his actions.   Greece has bigger problems than whether or not his films were boring.   If there is a budding new Theo Angelopoulos in the wings let’s hope he has a better idea how best to help his country abroad than the one that just passed.

     

  • Marketing myths: Beta vs VHS and the demise of Kodak

    Before the web there were just plain marketing gurus.  They were the closest we had to the to soundbite Twitter sized slogan makers we are used to today.   Before Google searches, they were the ones discovering interesting stories about products, companies and brands.   And they packaged them neatly for us with branded big fonts and style.

    A well known and well circulated in Marketing classes myth concerns Sony’s “failure” to promote Beta against VHS as a video format.   They usually forget to mention the main reason (Sony not wanting to go to bed with the porn industry) but – most importantly – they don’t even get their numbers right.   Did anybody bother to quantify the profits made from VHS versus what Sony made from Beta in the longterm?   Because as a broadcast standard for many many years I have seen that equipment being sold and rented for pretty big sums of money for more than two decades!   Even now there are TV stations ticking along with a dozen betaMax decks for A/B editing or even playout.

    If Sony lost the battle against VHS as a format for every living room, they did pretty well getting it in every TV station and post production facility and even better as a base for launching a huge business around media production.   Doesn’t look like a failure to me.

    Kodak going down has a similar smell already.   It is as if scores of writers had the obituary ready.   That little colored box in the marketing manual as a case study.   A perfect illustration of a big company getting arrogant and getting it wrong.   How new technologies overtake even the strongest firms.   How bad management is blind to change.   A company with more of a century of global domination seems an easy target.

     

    Maybe they should wait a bit before writing that chapter.

  • Goebbels needed in Brussels to change the flag

    “The European flag consists of 12 golden stars in a circle on a blue background. The stars symbolise the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe.

    The number of stars has nothing to do with the number of member countries, though the circle is a symbol of unity.”

    That is all you get when trying to discover what the flag is about from the official site.    Contrast it to your nation of choice’s story.   You probably have several versions of your country’s flag as it developed, rich in history and people, wonderful colorful fairytales connected to your past.   You probably know this information by heart because you learnt it at school.   You probably have some emotional response to your flag.

    To anyone in communications or branding, what the European Union is doing is suicidal.   While there is much talk about “nation branding” and what individual countries do to themselves or to each other regarding negative press, nobody seems to care about the Union itself.   This goes against millenia of wisdom concerning economic and cultural development.   According to a summary:

    “Images of the EU are split:
    positive images:

    the EU as “strategic opportunity” for the partner countries; a trade giant; a
    supporter of multilateralism (or at least multipolarism); a model of regional integration; and
    a possible counterbalance to US hegemony, a protector of the environment;
    negative images:

    an actor whose policy is severely influenced by its own security or
    economic concerns; a neo-liberal actor in its external relations; and a protectionist power
    (CAP).  EU’s self-representation as a solidaristic actor is called into question. Moreover:
     Little evidence of the EU being widely seen as a “normative power” exporting
    universal values of democracy and human rights.
     No evidence of the EU being widely regarded as a social model to be imitated.
     No public reward for EU’s development cooperation policy”

    The current global economic crisis is focusing on the European Union for good reason; it is easy!   Any single sovereign country can deal with an external attack.   But in Brussels they decide by…committee.   In the worse sense of the phrase.   According to Nicholas Moussis in “Access to European Union law, economics, policies” “…the edifice of the European Union is divided horizontally in floors. The floor of the common market was built on the basement of the customs union. Apart from the four fundamental freedoms (free movement of goods, persons, services and capital), the common market floor consists of numerous horizontal and vertical compartments, which contain the common policies…”

    At least this author is trying to make it understandable.   Because moving from separate countries to any other system is something which citizens of Europe have not quite perceived yet.   The task is made harder by politicians in every country using the EU as a scapegoat for their political problems.   They used to point to some neighbor or other threat when they needed to rally up support; now they just point to Brussels.

    From a communicational point of view it is amazing.   We would assume that when you give a handout, you will demand some sort of media attention.   If I am bailing out French farmers, the least they can do is put up an EU flag.   Even better they should commit to some cultural change towards European integration.   Somehow the EU managed to squander its capital (economic and in terms of good will) without getting anything in return.   A feat only possible by a committee!   In any other human-to-human interaction there would have been more.   If the United States were set up as a “melting pot of cultures”, the European Union is set up as a feudal parody.   Immigrants entering the US learn about its constitution.   In Europe we can’t even manage that.

    The film industry is a great example.   A variety of Euroinitiatives concerning film making, film distribution and other cultural aspects of film and the results?   Absolutely nothing.   On average, European don’t watch more locally produced content, nor is European film thriving abroad.   We are neither helping Europeans become more aware of their cultural heritage nor telling the rest of the world anything about us.   And of course we are nowhere near making it a viable business in any of the country – members.   For the size of the internal media consumption market and the depth of talent in this field it is a simply amazing feat of incompetence.

    So now we need a Goebbels.   I don’t care who runs the ECB, I want to know who is in charge of propaganda.

  • How witchhunters taught the IMF all about communication

    I once famously wrote an article about the Business Software Alliance and how it’s methodology is similar to the Holy Inquisition.  The Middle Ages are to me a truly inspiring historical period, a time when many of our modern concepts were created.   Except they were in their more raw, essential form.  For example there were quite a few “tests of witchery” in order to ascertain whether or not someone was indeed possesed by the devil.  One was called the test of the tear.   Someone would recite in detail excerpts from the Testaments including all the sacrifices Christ made for us.   If, at the end of it,the accused didn’t shed a tear they were obviously a witch!

    My country is one of many areas of the world currently the focus of financial speculation.   And a pattern is emerging in terms of the communicational methods used.   Public statements of support for the enormous burden of measures dictated by the IMF are a bit like the test of the tear.   Another common test was conducted in deep water (either a lake or a specially designed big barrel) whereby the accused was left to sink or float.   But it wasn’t that simple; they were held for some time with sticks from outside.   So in effect they could be hurt in the ribs and made to get tired for quite long until they were truly exhausted; then they were let loose.    This is a lot like an economy taking a beating with rumors,  debt being rated “junk” and all the rest of the ways the international money markets work on a country to soften it up.

    The other great thing about witch hunting, is that it was a game that could only have one ending.   If the witch passed the tests it was because “the devil helped”.   In the same way there are plenty of countries much less guilty of mismanaging their finances than Greece.  Ireland is completely different for example.   But when the Inquisition comes to town we are all witches…

  • The apps you need for your divorce

    I am a happily divorced father of three children of which I have sole custody.  By Greek standards that is crazy unlikely verging on impossible.  Several years later I am glad I never got too worked up about the whole thing.  I also realize that technology played a major part.  Yeah, I know I am plugging all Google products and yes of course if you want to get technical there are other options, but this is the real world.  I have an army of 7-8 phones (including spares and seconds) to maintain.  Stock Android and similar look and feel all over for us. And preinstalled apps wherever I can get them.

    Here are some pointers for those that are in a less relaxed place than me right now:

    1. Google Maps.  This post is continuing on from a presentation I did recently about the Timeline feature in Google Maps which seemed to resonate.  Given permission, Google tracks where you log in from.  You can all share location with each other if you like.  If you connect to a wifi for example it knows where you are.  Or if you have your data connection switched on.  So when you get a law suit claiming that on the 23d of some month and year you can’t remember your daughter fell and hurt her chin, you can easily get reminders.  What is really cool about timeline is that not only does it show you on a map, but it also combines with…
    2. …Google Photos.  Aha, there is that chin on that very same day and it was a minor scratch.  Proof! We also track school reports (just snap), doctor visits (only takes a second.  Snap!) or screen grabs of SMS.  (No need to snap, just make sure it is backing up the ‘screenshots’ folder – you will have to select it.)  Who needs more paper and files around the house?  Snap and throw.  Google Photos offers a mind boggling infinite amount of space for free and has amazing AI tools for searching them instantly.
    3. Google Calendar.  Kids in divorces have everybody shoving agendas down their throats.  Personally I am a soft touch kind of parent.  So it is a widgets on their front screen, with our shared calendar in purple for our shared activities.    I might spend five minutes getting all his basketball games in there for us all to find easily but it is worth it.  If and when he wants to know, it is there waiting for him, right next to the appointment with the orthodontist.
    4. Google Hangouts.  Yes, they use Instagram for their friends, or Messenger or Snapchat or whatever is fashionable.  Which leaves Hangouts, the conveniently preinstalled on every Android phone app, for family.  Unless they look around Settings, it will ping on top of the game they are playing on the phone without destroying their attempt at a record.  If your ex is funny about letting them speak on the phone, use this backdoor.
    5. Google Docs.  It isn’t just about homework.  You also have a million multi page legal documents to work on.  Sometimes you want to share them with your lawyer, sometimes your kids demand to read them.  Again, depending on your parenting style and their maturity you might want the kids to be involved in these documents, to comment, to collaborate, to be able to view if they feel like it sometime at any time in the future, much like….
    6. …Google Drive which is your shared master memory.  Forget saving to physical drives and USB sticks which will get you into trouble sooner or later.  Send those important documents to Drive for future reference.  If you’re lucky, you will archive them and forget them.  If not you might want to dig up those Call Recorder app files which backed up to Drive, or the SMS and call lists in there.
    7. Google Contacts.  I easily export other parents phones from my account to theirs.  No excuses!  YOU call your friend’s mum to arrange that play date!  This also works in reverse as they start saving their friend’s numbers and I can – in emergencies – track down someone in their posse with the damn thing actually switched on.

    I can go on and on with such real world examples of how Google is the backbone of our family.  My kids got Gmail accounts the day they were born.  If it was absolutely necessary I guess I could easily dial in to their Chrome browser history.  Haven’t needed to yet and they will be locking me out of their Gmail accounts soon I hope as they approach puberty and don’t need me helping them with it anymore.  When a phone is confiscated by your ex, lost or broken (as happens with kids, OK, actually I destroy more phones than they do!) we just log in with their Gmail and all apps, games and contacts reappear magically.  For a long time I had all our accounts signed in on my phone for them to play their favorite game when they had to collect chests, feed chickens, collect apples or whatever the current crisis was at the time.  Google assistant is a great way to learn English and a fantastic tool for kids in general.  We share pictures in Photos which is even more important in divorces for making shared happy memories and coming to terms with the past.

    You couldn’t really do all this with any other app ecosystem.  Apple’s is restrictive, lacks many key features, makes you pay for others and has way too many hoops for you to jump through.   Microsoft is no longer in phones and generally tries to sell these sort of solutions to business customers.  So give your kids Gmail accounts, pick up a 150 dollar Chinese Android phone and your family is in business.  All you need to do is remember the passwords.   Well, actually, you don’t even need to that.  Because…

    8. …Google Chrome remembers all passwords.  ; )

  • The planet is lucky Steve Jobs stuck to making gadgets

    I think everyone in branding envies Steve Jobs.   Some turn it into adulation, others into hate.  He was the ultimate spin doctor.  From “we burn Pentiums to the ground” to “we love Intel” in the space of a few months.  Or “we will never use Adobe Flash” to “OK, we will implement it in everything again”; most politicians would do well to study how he did it.

    From the Apple IIe back in the early 80s, to my Macintosh and then the Quadra at University, I must admit I never agreed with the company’s approach to doing business.   Because there was only one beneficiary:   Steve Jobs!  The concept of a sales channel simply didn’t exist in his mind.   Up or down his supply chain everyone was milked for everything they had.  5,6 or 8 billion dollars or whatever his net worth was as he died and not a cent given to charity.

    And yet the whole planet mourns.   If this man was in charge of a country, he would have set his neighboring country off doing space exploration (he would keep the rights and take the credit though), we would all be earning $100 a month and he would be re-elected every time.   We would all believe we are living in a golden age of a perfect life as we waited for the next version of his social policies to actually work.   He would be president of the United Nations and kick everyone else out of the meetings.  We would put up with his laws being practically a dictatorship; and like it too!

    We should all breathe a huge sigh of relief at the passing of this genius.   Because it wasn’t evil genius.   Simply a megalomaniac without a real vision.   Selling gadgets for people to play “Angry Birds” on, isn’t a vision.   Fighting poverty in Africa, famine or cancer is a vision.   Getting rich people to buy shiny hardware doesn’t change the world.

    Read here about “The Other Steve Jobs: Censorship, Control and Labor Rights”

  • Your first move in social media is…market segmentation?

    For most business people, social media appears to be something exotic, even alien.   Partly due to the way it is presented in the media and largely because their “older media” companies are still not sure how to sell it.   There is a big temptation to see it as a completely new paradigm.   Of course it isn’t.   It still homo sapiens communicating.   And by the way, many of those homo sapiens are your old customers communicating.

    Social CRM got me excited from the beginning.   I always loved CRM systems, even when they were clunky, tiring and meant more data entry for everyone.  If the customer is king, you had better make sure you know how the king likes his eggs cooked in the morning.  Just as we strived to find ways to unify what an organization knew about a contact into CRM, Social CRM systems try to unify the social media activity with whatever else you know about a contact.  XeeSM was the first system I saw which had the concept of “touch”, in a product called “Flights”.  This is an interaction via social media which isn’t a sales pitch, but a deliberate attempt to get in somebody’s peripheral vision in order to prepare the ground.   Social media is ideal for this.   You just need to “like” their photo on Facebook and they are reminded you exist.   Which makes the next telephone call, less of a cold call.

    But you still feel lost.   It is as if all your customers are suddenly out of control, tweeting, blogging and posting anything they want.   It is scary and intimidating.   I am famously quoted as saying more than 15 years ago that “if you want to sell to the Greek market, your CRM system needs 11 million entries.   For starters.”    Sure, that CEO of your main customer is important and you might want to remember his wife’s birthday and kids’ names.   But those 11,000 people that “liked” your offer on Facebook yesterday and then clicked through to it on your website might be more important.   If only you knew them…

  • How team Romania put “national” into social media

    We tend to think of social media as quite an individualistic activity.   Very self centred.   Sure, it’s “social” but we often imply that the “circles” or “groups” are smaller and more fragmented to a degree which trivialised “old school” categorization.

    Enter the nation state.

    A country is of course quite an artificial creation, but still a mighty powerful one.   So, with amazement I watched the Romanian entrants of this year’s “Web it” digital influence competition roller past us all to fill up all the top positions.   Romania also sits firmly at No1 in the country rank overall of course.   How did they do it?

    Readers of my Greek blog know that I went to extraordinary lengths (at a rather busy time of the year) to discover how and why this competition works.   It is fascinating to discover how you can coerce people into voting for you and I tried pretty much everything.   I measured each promotion (in fact self promotion to be accurate!) and took notes.   Which Facebook groups reacted better, which taglines, which times of day?  I quickly got to the No1 Greek position and 9th overall.   Not bad going for a couple days in between other projects.

    But then the Romanian invasion begun.  They didn’t go in bursts like the rest of us.  At first I assumed they were cheating.   Some automated script or something.   But this would be easy for the organizers to discover, especially since they are going through bit.ly.   The statistics will make it glaringly obvious.   In total, I have measured more than 4,000 clicks that have gone from various blogs I run to http://bit.ly/aIcDZ5   I would guess that roughly 1/10th of those have actually entered the four digits of the captcha to vote for me.   If the Romanians were cheating their votes would match their clicks.   It would be too good to be true.

    But then I Google translated the blog mentioned by the top Romanian entrant and there it was.  “Let’s all vote for ALL ROMANIAN entrants!”   Nationalism in its simplest form.   Simple, clever, social and viral.   The timing perfect (on the last stretch, too late for anyone else to do the same) and team Romania wins.   Fair and square.   Next time, when I try to think of something “social”, I won’t forget the altruistic aspect of nationalism as a force of mobilization…