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A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

thehustle.co

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Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#21

Post by dumbfoundded »

krustyburger wrote: post #7

What kind of jewelry did people think they were getting for a few quid?

Of course, everyone who bought it already knew it was crap. It's the same thing for buying $15K engagement rings. Everyone knows it's a stupid use of money and that the rings have no value. Same goes for clothing, cars, and many other things.

These types of products succeed because of a shared delusion. Take fashion for instance. Everyone believes some clothes are more fashionable than others. The way you dress says a lot about you but why? It's simply because other people think it does. If the delusion runs into reality from the person hawking it, it can collapse quite quickly.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#25

Post by spzb »

SomeOtherThrow wrote: post #14

What were the effects it had on the company? They just mention the stock tanking which, by itself, is pretty meaningless. I'm assuming people stopped buying the stuff? Secondly, why did it have any effect? Who would change their practices because of this? It really rams home how deeply brands are integrated into our understanding of value. How depressing.

It became a national joke in the UK. Nobody would be seen dead going into one of their stores or giving their jewellery as a gift. It basically put them out of business : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/22/gerald-ratn...

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#26

Post by lifeisstillgood »

I would say this is not the Ratner effect but the Othello effect (as in Reversi not Shakespeare)

Ratner merely put down the last piece that flipped almost the whole board. Marketing is usually the uphill struggle to persuade anyone looking at the board that "white is winning" when it is really anyone's game.

But eventually one piece is played, often a public failure, and everyone realises the board was destined to be black anyway.

It's much harder to play this marketing game when you are selling costume jewellery or other fashion lead items. And the odds of someone flipping the board are high without you realising it.

But people play it that way anyway.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#27

Post by ghaff »

krustyburger wrote: post #7

What kind of jewelry did people think they were getting for a few quid?

There's a difference between both you and the recipient sorta knowing it's cheaper/cheap jewelry but, heh, people like us can't really afford the posh stuff. It's the thought that counts and all that. And the company's CEO describing it as "crap."

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#28

Post by dragontamer »

smallgovt wrote: post #15

I think the more interesting lesson to learn from this was how Ratner was able to deal and cope with the public embarrassment following the mishap. It reminds me of this TED talk where Jon Ronson talks about how public shaming has gone out of control with the advent of social media: https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_what_happens_when_onlin...

Actually, the best "public shaming" talk I've seen are the ones given by Monica Lewinsky. When you consider that Monica Lewinsky was 22 years old during the time of the scandal, a lot of the stuff going on was simply outside of her control.

Seeing things from her perspective is pretty interesting, to say the least: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7Eh6JTKIg

John Oliver starts the discussion, but there is a Lewinsky interview which is very eye-opening for me.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#29

Post by cmauniada »

mjw1007 wrote: post #10
insickness wrote: post #4

> so why did he do it? This is the most interesting question, which the article doesn't answer.

He'd made the same jokes in speeches several times before, and it had gone down well with the audience. Presumably he just didn't consider the possibility that the press would think it worth making a story out of.

I don't get it. So he made these jokes infront of shareholders just for kicks? Why would someone even say this infront of anyone, I don't understand. I am starting to think he might have been under the influence.

Re: A man who destroyed his multimillion dollar company in 10 seconds (2018)

#30

Post by joosters »

smallgovt wrote: post #15

I think the more interesting lesson to learn from this was how Ratner was able to deal and cope with the public embarrassment following the mishap. It reminds me of this TED talk where Jon Ronson talks about how public shaming has gone out of control with the advent of social media: https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_what_happens_when_onlin...

Being a multi-millionaire probably helped a bit, too...
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