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.

  • Why small charities and lobby groups need to raise their sites As the web matures the big NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are pushing up the thresholds of credibility and visibility for small and medium-sized charities and lobby groups. Unless they can raise their efforts they are in danger of losing their worl
  • How Europeans and Americans deploy different tactics to defend their reputations Reputation management is a hot topic with companies as much as governments on both sides of the Atlantic. But while Europe’s corporate giants use their websites to carry the war of words to their opponents, in America they starve them of the oxygen of p
  • How to keep in touch with the People on your terms The web gives national leaders an opportunity to open a dialogue with their citizens on an unprecedented scale. But diversion rather than democracy seems to be the preferred policy of most.
  • Why a fragmented, rickety infrastructure undermines Europe online The European Union website offers information in 14 more languages than the United Nations’ attempts. But its usefulness to citizens is deeply flawed by technical and organisational issues that make a cautionary lesson for any content-rich or multinatio
  • Why it’s never been better to talk Live chat, the ability to have a real-time dialogue with visitors to your website, is no longer a creaky gimmick. In the right circumstances, and executed properly, it can revolutionise online help and sales conversion rates.
  • How the Olympic contenders put their credentials online Nine major cities have just made very public competitive tenders for one of the most prized contracts in the world: host for the summer Olympic games of 2012. All bar one have gone online to promote their cause – and one is running rings round the other
  • Why now is the time to factor broadband into your online thinking High-speed internet connections – broadband – are more talked about than subscribed to. But while broadband penetration in most countries remains in single figures the rate of take-up is accelerating, especially among the well-to-do and influential. T
  • Who was fit to be ranked among the best in 2003 What is the best website? Impossible question. It depends what it is best for. But throughout the year I come across sites that are superb at what they do – that are most fit for purpose. Here are some from 2003, with a few turkeys thrown in for Christm
  • Why it promises to be a silly season in the online bookshops As the busiest time of year arrives for online retailers there are signs that some big names on the web are struggling with the effectiveness of their sites. Common sense and attention to detail are not always on display.
  • How global bodies can keep their audiences better informed International organisations recognised several years ago the mission-enhancing power of the web as a platform for communication with their various audiences. But how they have developed that opportunity ranges from the sloppy to the exemplary.

BC Tip: Going against the tide

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

BC Tip: Dating letdown

Initial promise for picture editors is not sustained. 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...