My parents, like most, always had a repertoire of sayings that they used to keep their wayward children moving in the right direction. My father used to frequently say: “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.” My mother had a similar one: “You are who you hang out with.” Like many kids, I had my good friends and I had my share of not-so-good friends. Sometimes the latter were a bit more stimulating, which likely led to my parents’ concern.
Fast forward many years and the concept still holds, this time in business. No company is an island: many organizations rely on business partners for sales, distribution, marketing, integration, etc. These are our business “friends” and they are a reflection on/of our company. It doesn’t matter if we’re a large multinational or a regional non-profit.
When they add value, it’s brand harmony; when they don’t it’s brand dissonance, which can cause customers to walk. Unfortunately, there is reluctance to mute this dissonance until it’s too late. Why? Trepidation, perceived risk, ignorance. Remember: your bad corporate friends make you look bad. Period.
Many years ago I started what eventually became a large, cutting-edge, worldwide IT services firm. Some early, successful projects with E*TRADE put us on the map and helped us establish a solid and strong brand. We subsequently added some great partners such as Cisco and did great things with them around the world. Our brand became even stronger.
Then came a new “friend,” Enron. We partnered with them to use their infrastructure as a foundation for what was to become one the world’s most powerful and advanced video-on-demand networks. Today, we take video-on-demand for granted, but since we were doing one of the first large-scale networks, it was a challenge. Blockbuster, the video rental rock star, was also in the the mix as the content provider. This had all the characteristics to be one of the greatest IT projects of all time. Unfortunately, Enron was not a good business friend and they were making us look bad – to Blockbuster, to Cisco, and to the many other organizations associated with the project.
We tried to turn them into a good partner, but remember, before their fall, Enron was occupying Mount Olympus. They were business gods and had the hubris to go with it, not to mention they were jeopardizing the project. Blockbuster was screaming. Cisco was screaming. Our employees were screaming from abuse. We had to make a decision and we did: we walked. We walked away from an incredible opportunity. We had to. We did it for our employees, our other partners, and our brand. The dissonance was deafening, but it was the right thing to do.
All organizations should take regular inventory of their partnerships and listen for brand dissonance. If something doesn’t seem right, don’t tune it out. Take action or the market certainly will. You are who you hang with. My parents were right.
Rob
Over the years, I’ve run into many marketers at all skill levels who had either no or limited knowledge of their products. Granted, product marketing managers do, but what about marketing communication managers? Lead generation specialists? And even marketing executives? Is this surprising? Well, yes and no. Yes, because product knowledge is one of the key tenets of effective marketing. No, because many products are becoming more sophisticated and require a significant investment of time to develop base expertise.
As marketers and business leaders, we spend years, if not a lifetime, cultivating our brands. They define who we are and generate an annuity of business and goodwill for decades. That annuity helps grow the value our brand equity. Our customers, by purchase and by proxy, derive benefit from our brands. Go walk into a 
Facebook 
What a difference a year makes. Last year, our large Thanksgiving gathering was still divided and at odds over the then recent 2008 presidential election. With the exception of Sarah Palin, which I’ll address shortly, a new, shiny object showed up with the holiday turkey: social media. With three generations at the table ranging from ages twelve to eighty, I knew it was going to be an interesting discussion. For my statistically-oriented and pollster-pushing friends, here is a measurable tidbit: everyone in attendance had an email address – and that included “the elders.” For simplicity, let’s segment the gathering into the elders (60 +), the kids (20 -) and the mid-market (20-60).
Bayou Farewell
Leeville, Louisiana
In 1998, while living north of Boston, I co-founded an internet services company in Atlanta. The following year, when the venture got traction, my family and I left New England, moved to the South, and began a new chapter in our lives. For the next eight years, when not consumed with work, I explored much of the region with my family.
Moving from the Northeast was quite a change, but not for the typical reasons. For us, we gave up regional character, culture and cuisine. For those of you who read the blog I write with my wife, The Two Palaverers, you know why I borrowed that alliteration. Immediately, we began our quest to discover what we left a thousand miles behind. Happily over time, we found it in places like Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Natchez, Mississippi, but we knew we hit the jackpot with Louisiana.
For years, we made many visits to Louisiana, exploring much of the state. Each trip offered a different, more stimulating experience, whether it was eating alligator in Lafayette, watching a Sunday service procession along the Mississippi River south of Baton Rouge, or listening to an emerging jazz trio near Tulane University. Louisiana has soul.
Not long after reading the book, I retraced many of Tidwell’s paths through Cajun country and such small towns as Leeville, Galliano, and Golden Meadow. The more I saw, the more I was convinced – and concerned – by how ecologically fragile this region was. Decades of silt loss from the Mississippi and pipeline runs through the swampland were having a range of effects from land erosion to wetland depletion.
Today, we’re all shocked by the endless flow of oil and images from the massive leak in the Gulf. Oil from this region is important to both the people of Lousisiana and the rest of us around the country. I’m sure we’ll have more insight to the cause as the seepage stops. Like every catastrophe, I expect there to be no shortage of warning signs ignored. We won’t know the ultimate impact on the inhabitants or environment for some time. Hurricane Katrina knocked Louisiana down, but it survived. This oil spill, though, is different. I hope it’s not Bayou Farewell.
Rob Ciampa