So I posted a response to Bill Vick's question about 'interview preparation' today ("Should recruiters outsource the interview prep to other professionals?") . . . and noticed that there had been some positive and potentially negative responses to the vendor that Bill spotlighted. That's not a bad thing - hey, it's life . . . and it represents an opportunity to engage! We all know how it used to work - marketers would mail us a piece, or we'd see an ad in a magazine, or we'd have to watch 20 mins of ads per each primetime show, etc. . . .

Translation: We tuned out, and in many cases, it was wasted marketing dollars.

Today, however, the social media age has changed the game. In many cases, marketers and business people would see objections on an open forum as a significant. But is it really? No. Dialogue is good . . . engagement is better . In fact, I wanted to take a moment to commend Erik Kramer on seizing the opportunity to dialogue with posters/consumers/customers relative to all responses (no, I don't know Erik and have never used his product!)

To show the inverse of dialogue . . . to show what happens when customers and shareholders are ignored, we need to look no further than Starbucks. This is what I mean: On 2/14/07, returned CEO, Howard Schulz wrote a memo to several employees in preparation for the FY 08 Strategic Planning process. In this memo, Schulz warned of "the commoditization of the Starbucks experience". Nine days later, the memo leaked and was broadcast to the world through the blog, Starbucks Gossip. Hundreds of comments followed, running the full gamut of emotions . . . and did anyone at Starbucks respond? Of course not. In fact, Schulz himself even hinted at the pompous, bourgeoisie-laden atmosphere SB Corporate had become:

"I have said for 20 years that our success is not an entitlement and now it's proving to be a reality. Let's be smarter about how we are spending our time, money and resources. Let's get back to the core."

In my estimation, the lesson for marketers today is to realize that everyone (yes, everyone) represents the brand in the marketplace. In the age of social media, marketing is no longer something you do . . . but rather, something you organizationally live and breathe.

(Hey, is this the same Starbucks that was winning recruiting award after recruiting award as a result of the Halo Effect during the good times????) Man, when times were good, we couldn't get Starbucks off the recruiting award stage! I don't know anyone at SB, so please take no offense . . . but you have to admit that it's surreal how the tables can turn when the Halo pendulum swings the other way.