Emily R. Coleman

For generations, parents have been telling their kids the same things. As kids, we swear that we’ll never say those things to our kids. Then, one day, we are shocked to hear them coming out of our mouths.

So one wonders if there aren’t some elemental truths in these nostrums – and if they might not apply to marketing, and to business in general:

- If everyone is jumping off a bridge, does that mean you should, too?

If everyone is busy chasing a new fad, technique, tool, niche, apparent methodological innovation, does that mean it is right for your business? Will it actually make you more efficient? Is it really the most effective way to reach your customers? What is it you really want to accomplish with it – and will it take you there?

- Finish your vegetables. Then you can have dessert.

Before marketers specialize in particular means of (theoretically) reaching their target audiences, shouldn’t they have grounding in marketing basics?...

Once upon a time, we were told “Call me anything you want; just spell my name right.” Or “there is no such thing as bad publicity.”

Arrant nonsense, of course, although it has seeped into everyone’s consciousness. If that was true, companies wouldn’t spend untold millions on crisis management. If that was true, people and companies wouldn’t worry about their reputations. If that was true, libel and slander attorneys would be extinct.

Reputations matter. And in the marketplace, they can make the difference between success and failure. But reputations can be destroyed by more than poor products, by more than inept pricing, by more than terrible customer service.

In the age of the Internet, in the era of ever-expansive social media, in the apparent need to be present all the time, on as many platforms as possible, we can destroy our reputations ourselves.

Here are some simple truths to which we can all agree:

• Customers and prospects have 24/7...

In Greek mythology, Tantalus was cursed by the gods with an unquenchable thirst. He was chained to a rock in the middle of a river; and each time he bent down to drink, the river would recede.

This is where the word “tantalize” comes from.

And this, in far too many cases, is the reality behind the promises made for social media marketing.

The pundits, the consultants, the “experts” all tell us how we cannot succeed in marketing today without a social media “strategy.” Large, and increasing, numbers of followers are vital to our success. We must “engage” these followers to turn them into leads. Indeed, if we carefully follow their advice, the “experts” promise us that the social media platforms will be a potent lead generation engine. They are the key to modern marketing success.

So let’s just step back for a second and think about these premises and promises.

- How many companies do you know that have actually generated a noticeable number of...

The original intent of Boards of Directors was to bring outside, independent expertise, experience, and insight to the management of an enterprise.

The late 19th and early 20th century robber barons saw Boards differently. They seized the opportunity to create inter-locking directorates, coordinate and enhance monopolistic practices and predatory pricing, and develop other creative ways to tame the unruliness of the unfettered marketplace.

Then came the Muckrakers and the Age of Reform. Inter-locking directorates were banned; and public accountability and fiduciary responsibility were imposed on Boards. Boards of public companies were now mandated to protect the stockholders and shareholder value, as well as lend their expertise to management. And failure to protect shareholder value, or collusion to protect management from the consequences of its failures, could lead to suits for breach of fiduciary responsibility.

So much for theory.

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