Monthly archives of “October 2013”

October 30, 2013

Lidl and Me: an update

After writing about my relationship problems with Lidl, the german supermarkets chain, I experienced some weird emotions. Expressing my deepest feelings like that, in front of everybody, made me feel naked and vulnerable, and I swore to myself that I wouldn’t have written one more word about it.

But then hundreds of you wrote to cheer me up, give me relationship advice and ask me how things with Lidl were going, so I figured the least I could do is give you a short update on the situation.

lidl and me

I’ll be completely honest with you: we went through tough times. Read More

October 19, 2013

If you liked it then you shoulda put a pope on it

Like them or not, popes are the oldest community managers in human history.

Penalized by an absent CEO and a troublemaker COO, the Catholic Church wasn’t doing that well as a startup. It’s only after the figure of the pope was introduced – in fact – that the community started thriving and could be taken to a new level.

Opinionists, bloggers, press magnetizers: popes have been around less than Jesus (but more than – for example – Pokemons) and nonetheless they proved to be amazing brand ambassadors, always coming up with new outstanding marketing ideas.

During my recent trip to Rome, in particular, I noticed that the Church’s marketing efforts have become more and more visual. Take a look, for example, at these postcards, masterpieces of graphic design, featuring random circles placed over Rome from which various popes send a benevolent look to your friends and family.

pope francis postcard Read More