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.

  • When gurus go bad Web thinkers are trend jumping one-track back-slappers whose influence over senior executives can seriously disrupt online management, David Bowen says.
  • How green is the grass? According to the people who run big web estates, the past year has had a mixed effect on the resources available to them, reports David Bowen.
  • How personal should you get? Interest is stirring again in offering elements tailored to different users, but the wide spectrum of options needs careful assessment, says David Bowen.
  • Where holiday-makers go Tourism sites are tapping into the insights of those who’ve been there done that, but are they also exposing some of the limitations of social media, asks David Bowen.
  • When to go native? Some big companies are moving closer to a ‘one language fits all’ approach to their online content. So what price thinking global talking local? asks David Bowen.
  • What the conference gathered Excellent speakers and really good conversation were the order of both days at our Web Effectiveness Conference in Barcelona, says David Bowen.
  • What Warren Buffett could profit from Berkshire Hathaway, legendary billionaire businessman Warren Buffett’s giant holding company, has an appropriately unrefined website that none the less could show a big return on modest investment, says David Bowen.
  • Why the developing world isn’t Corporate websites in the emerging economies are lagging further than ever behind those in the west as efficient business tools, says David Bowen.
  • Who’s dedicated to mobile? Technology may finally have delivered a practical portable device for viewing the web, but only a handful of corporate sites have so far been developed for it, says David Bowen.
  • Where continents divide Two financial systems, a common crisis – but customers on one side of the Atlantic get friendlier treatment online. Enthusiasm for social media may be part of the reason, says David Bowen.

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