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 US carmakers relate to the world As global brands go you can’t get any more universal than America’s big auto companies. But their corporate websites have difficulty treating with the world at large.
  • Why Siemens gets top marks for its home work It doesn’t push the envelope of web 2.0 or the boundaries of design. But there are five solid reasons why Siemens’ re-invention of its home page could be a trailblazer for corporate sites, says David Bowen.
  • Why recruiters should enlist the army Few organisations are making more effort to get their recruitment right than the US and British armies. Online, their sites show flashes of brilliance worth reconnoitring by anyone involved in careers.
  • Why big sites are less than brilliant The people who run large web presences know their sites could be a whole lot better. So what’s stopping them doing something about it? asks David Bowen.
  • What Second Life holds for businesses Unlike Shangri La, the virtual world of Second Life is a fantastical place that takes no finding. David Bowen has been there to discover how companies might be missing out if they stay away.
  • How rival bidders impress their potential workforce When a company is the target of a takeover it is no longer just its senior executives who can diligently research the bidder. Any employee with an internet connection can check out its corporate sales pitch.
  • What to be thankful that someone else did Here are some turkeys for Christmas: things to be grateful other people did on their websites (even if they’ve since corrected them).
  • How companies are warming to spinning the web An extract from the recently published 'Spinning the Web' explains how, after their early traumas, companies and other large organisations have discovered they can develop a fruitful relationship with the web.
  • How engineering companies are failing their industry Engineers are in short supply according to the companies who need to employ them. But what are they doing on their websites to excite career interest among young people.
  • What we can learn from the business of royalty A small to medium-sized family-run business based in central London and led by the same person for more than 50 years is a treasure house of online best practice for businesses of all kinds.

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