dot-coma
“…gli è tutto sbagliato, tutto da rifare…” – Gino Bartali
No, il compianto Ginaccio non era un esperto di Internet. Ma a giudicare dai risultati, non lo sono certo neppure i signori che hanno investito (buttato via) una barcata di miliardi nel 1999 – 2000.
Questa newsletter vuole essere da un lato una critica a ciò che è stato; dall’altro e soprattutto, una provocazione per il futuro. Un futuro che NON “sarà facile” – come recita invece HappyWeb.
Maggio 2001. accidenti, non si va in borsa. tre quarti dei 120 dipendenti
di ciao.com verranno prima o poi giustiziati. sta per arrivare il mio turno.
inizio dot-coma, una newsletter sulla crisi della cosiddetta new economy.
Agosto 2001. marek j, un amico polacco con un cognome impronunciabile
che vive e lavora negli states mi invita a iniziare a bloggare. sono senza
lavoro e ho una connessione fastweb. nasce dotcoma.radiopossibility.com
Obiettivo, sfottere le dot-com più stupide della spaghetti new economy,
iniziare una riflessione su internet e le aziende cosiddette offline e
provare a rivendermi ad una di esse. no, no, no, proprio non ci riesco.
Ovviamente, non tutte le dot-com vanno male. tutt’altro. va di moda dire
che… internet non funziona, ma la verità è che nessuna azienda offline
fa profitti neanche paragonabili a quelli delle dot-com di successo.
Novembre 2002. nuova dot-com. è l’ora del dating, lancio Meetic in Italia.
Dear Doc,
I read your letter to Meg Whitman. Great. Now what do I do? Quit my job?
I do “marketing” for a European Web-company that gathers consumer reviews – just like epinions.com in the US.
I always laugh about (and relish!) the fact that I work as a marketer who will end marketing because a service like ours will allow people to tell each other the truth about products and services and expose the lies that companies try to sell them.
Apparently, the management thinks otherwise.
Last week I learned, much to my chagrin, that “space” on our newsletter was being sold. I had long asked to make this a cozy, private PLACE where we could present only good offers (special offers!) to our members; now I find out that it’s been debased to just another billboard…
Then I hear a lot of talk about the need to gather information about our members so that advertisers can “target” them better. Finally your letter to Meg Whitman. I agree: ads don’t belong on eBay. Maybe they don’t belong our site, either.
Yes, we do indeed look like a “media company”, intent as we are on counting eyeballs and gathering info and “profiles” for the clueless advertisers who hope to sell the “oh-so-cool” products of the clueless companies they work for by interrupting people who are having a conversation on a site that is all about anti-advertising…
Is this really the only way for us to become profitable? I doubt it. Quite on the contrary, I believe that this approach will bring in some money in the short run, but destroy the only real asset we have, trust. To me, it’s all about trust, respect and clutter.
* if we’re just another ad carrier, why should anybody trust us?
* if companies don’t respect the conversation that is going on and just wish to interrupt, why should anybody want to pay any attention?
* if nobody listens, companies will just scream louder – which will only make things worse for everybody…
Is this the only way? I don’t think so. Why not for example present fewer and less intrusive messages that come not from the advertisers but from us here at The Company, from people who will only present good offers from other good companies because we work FOR our members – not against them?
This is just an idea. But there is no doubt in my mind that for us to go the Yahoo! way is nonsense. We are not in media, no matter how much some of us (not me!) may wish we were.
My name is Massimo, I’m 27 and I am applying for your Marketing Manager position.
I was (am) thinking about starting my own little start-up. A shopping community, a PLACE where shoppers would have their privacy respected and could be free to speak their minds.
Then I found out about ciao.com. I read your privacy policy, and I liked it. So, I joined, and I noticed that, unlike your American competitors at deja.com and epinions.com, you do NOT ask for my name, age, education, occupation, interests etc.
I’m glad you don’t! I sure hope this means you understand that we need a new and more respectful way to deal with customers. For a start, they’re people, not just customers.
Marketing is dead – hurrah for marketing!
Don’t get me wrong. You will still need to bring your products to the market – and I actually believe ciao.com could be (is) a smart, innovative and non-intrusive way to do so.
My point is that you can no longer do it the old way: categorize people based on age, sex, job, education and so on and then conduct “marketing campaigns” AGAINST them (campaign=war) until they give in and buy what some “market research” type said they should be buying!
Simply, people are getting tired of this stuff – and people on the Internet positively hate it! So, hire me, and you will have an unconventional marketer on your side. It’s that simple.
Am I Qualified?
I would say I am “uniquely qualified”. You have my resume, but I would look way beyond that.
Simply, I love the Internet and I believe I have absorbed a lot of its unique “culture”. I hang out in cool places such as cluetrain.com and much of what revolves around it. I have ideas, and you will find out quickly that I am not shy about letting people know.
In fact, I have already written quite a few short essays in Italian on ciao.com. My “ciao ID” is Max73. Please feel free to check them out … I mean … you even paid me 1.000 lire a piece!
“Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore”. Or are we?
I am well aware this doesn’t look like a standard job application. But then again, I’m not a standard prospective employee, or am I? And this is not a standard job, or is it?
If it isn’t,
Please contact me at ..-@yahoo.com or on 02 …….
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cover letter – position: marketing manager, ciao|com, circa mid may, 2000.