Just like the old days?
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Star power at Alexander Forbes in Darfoor's schmooze offensive
Forbes had to go big or go home with its insurance business. There’s a good chance that it will no longer be a niche business in a year or two
Years ago, something called fourth-wave advertising emerged. Only highly pretentious people remember what that is. But I was reminded of it when a few people spotted the marketing opportunity in what they call the fourth industrial revolution. At first sight, conditions in today’s market look like a rerun of the 2000 Nasdaq crash, when IT company share prices came down to earth. When Warren Buffett was criticised for buying into the old-economy Fruit of the Loom underwear business by a firm of supposedly tech-savvy brokers, he replied: "And you were the nincompoops who tried to sell me Pets.com." These dot-com businesses were priced not on earnings, as they didn’t have any, but as a multiple of sales, and sometimes of forecast sales. There were few profitable businesses on the Internet then, at least on the content side — only the less glamorous support businesses such as Microsoft and Oracle were doing well. And, of course, social networks still had to emerge. Facebook came only in...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.