David Bowen commentaries

In his regular columns for the Financial Times and ft.com, senior consultant David Bowen has pursued themes ranged from customer relationship management and career marketing to ‘ethical’ retailing and royal family sites. His collected Financial Times and ft.com columns from January 2001 onward are indexed by theme and available for viewing on this site.

You can access articles directly by selecting a link below.

  • How do you meet the website challenge? Web managers confront common issues on their own diverse turfs, but our research into their site traffic reveals much about the collective response, Dan Drury says.
  • Which six issues you should be talking about Web managers never face an empty in-tray, but beyond its day-to-day cares they are also confronted with an agenda of fundamental questions, David Bowen says.
  • How to resist the seven-year twitch The world’s affair with Twitter began seven years ago this month. The birds lost a word for the chatter they make, but how can other communicators gain, David Bowen asks.
  • What to serve up in a crisis With Europe’s food supply chain caught in a horsemeat scandal, its major players need to beef up their use of the internet to address public concern, David Bowen says.
  • What if ExxonMobil decided to dance? In the internet jungle the sometime biggest corporate elephant of them all currently lies asleep, but if it ever wakes up to the medium, look out, says David Bowen.
  • When the business web goes wrong Companies should resolve to give up the five cardinal sins of online corporate communications if they wish to be effective in the new year, David Bowen says.
  • How to keep command of online communications The key to controlling the proliferation of online media and not being controlled by it can be found in a 10-point agenda for enlightened governance, says David Bowen.
  • How to get real As companies rush to add the true grit of reality to their well-glossed corporate communications what can they do to achieve credibility, Scott Payton asks.
  • When the internet is the best prescription The pharmaceutical giants are a prime example of companies that can boost their public standing with stronger online interventions, David Bowen says.
  • How to get ahead of the trends Online managers at the inaugural Web Effectiveness Conference US debated three key issues dominating the development of their sites, Scott Payton reports

BC Tip: Going against the tide

A Twitter-free news strategy has some logic. more...

BC Tip: Barring access to linked content

An arbitrary demand for site registration is a severe test of users’ goodwill. more...

Comment: How do you meet the website challenge?

Web managers confront common issues on their own diverse turfs, but our research into their site traffic reveals much about the collective response, Dan Drury says. more...