Rui Nunes’s thoughts and ideas

I'm the Country Manager of Canalmail Portugal, the leading media group in Permission E-mail Marketing and Direct Response Strategies.

I'm focusing on e-Marketing and Web Creativity listening, reading and learning a lot. If I can provide some knowledge in exchange that would be a pleasure for me.


Searching Steve Jobs

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This is why we need to trust our guts even if the critics dig our grave expecting the worst!

Two years ago, Gary Kelly drew a competitive line in the sand when he decided not to charge passengers for their bags.

The 55-year-old chief executive of Southwest Airlines Co. didn't want employees to face customer wrath for an issue that would have gone against the essence of Southwest.

"We had our niche for a long time," Kelly said in his headquarters office at Love Field in Dallas. "We were the low-cost carrier, the low-fare carrier. Nobody paid much attention to us. Well, that ain't the case anymore."

via latimes.com

We have a full hand of good examples. From Steve Jobs from Apple, to Tony Hsieh from Zappos or José Mourinho world's best soccer coach. Critics severely restrict the most innovative ideas or those who breaks the status quo.
Our grave is caved on pages of continuous through down attacks and everyone joins to be one more voice of doom. But if we stay firm and we get the trust from our team and investors we can demonstrate that our path was right all along. The bigger risk is to stay put. Not moving a straw until the world shows that it isn't the same anymore.

Wake up! You need to be confident and true to your thoughts and knowledge. If deep down your guts say that you're right, then go ahead and demonstrate that the fool is the one who maintain everything the same.

See the example of Gary Kelly. Named a fool and now it's respected for his courage to demonstrate that he was right all along.

The Danger of Being the Company Star

I'm reading the news about the almost certain new Apple's netbook tablet as well as the possible lack of health of Steve Jobs and I can't stop wondering about how can a company's superstar be so directly influential.

Obviously, until today, Steve Jobs is the human face of Apple. Those few keynotes presented by Phillip Schiller was lacking the magic and the brilliant communication of their CEO. He's charismatic and has the status of a superstar in their medium.
So, is this good for the company?
It went very well for Apple so far, but these news about his health made some doubts about the company's future. The investors are trembling every time some news about it is brought up. And people forget the fact that Apple is more than one person. The products are made by several thousands excellent professionals.

Same thing occurred when Bill Gates went absent from Microsoft. And still is connected as Chairman.
When a company or a brand is completely connected to one charismatic and famous person, it can be very good when things go well, but this umbilical string can be very damaging when some misfortune occurs to that particular person. Imagine that instead of Jobs or Gates it was Bernie Madoff, or even more recently Tiger Woods. Their actions can be decisive for their businesses.

Imagine the responsibility. Imagine that Sir Richard Bronson of Virgin International went rogue. So, the question is... the benefits of having a star as a leading commander of a company are more valuable than the potential losses from their actions or misfortunes?

By the way: I enjoy not being a star. ;-)