By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News Today’s marketing and communications professionals face a serious challenge. New internet technologies are changing our customers’ communication styles dramatically, and failing to keep up with them is failing to prepare our businesses for the future. It used to be that the higher you went in your career, the fewer details you needed to know. Now, though, you can’t be a knowledgeable decision maker if you don’t have a hands-on understanding of what’s happening online. The best way to do that is to use these new web 2.0 social media tools yourself, so you can […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News Some years ago, companies figured out how to build quality products. In almost every sector, and in almost every cost position, you’ll find good design and quality manufacturing. However, what most companies haven’t figured out is how to provide high quality customer service. Now and into the future, service is exactly what will differentiate companies from one another. The concept is simple, but when you are looking from inside a company out, the obstacles might seem complex. Throughout the business world, managers say, “The bigger a company gets, the more complex it becomes”. This […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News In the old days, Turks preferred home-prepared food to eating out in restaurants. Today, professional couples with less time than money log onto yemeksepeti.com to order dinner after an exhausting workday.  Their lifestyle habits don’t resemble those of their parents. How many years did it take for Nike, Starbucks or Mavi to build names for themselves?  Compare their relatively long, slow growth to the meteoric rise of YouTube, the popular video-sharing site.  The company started in 2005 with the “Broadcast Yourself” slogan, and sold a mere two years later for 1.6 billion dollars. Murat, […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News Last week, many marketing and communication professionals gathered for the Marka conference at Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace. Marka is a truly inspiring event. Every year, it lifts up my spirit, it unleashes my creativity, and it ignites my passion for entrepreneurship. The conference had many great speakers, two of whom were particularly memorable. The first, Gerald Ratner, a well-known British businessman, saw his life forever changed by a communication crisis, and in rebuilding he rose above challenges that would destroy most others. The second, Ora-Ito, a French designer, changed his name so he could find […]