Beware the dog that brings the marketing bone.

"A dog that'll bring a bone will carry a bone. " What does an old saying explaining the fact that someone who gossips to you will also gossip about you have to do with business and marketing. For me, at least two things. One, it ties into a saying I use often and something I try to live by, "How you do anything is how you do everything." and two, gossiping, rumors, quitting, cancelling, etc have become informal marketing techniques in recent years.

I have spent a lot of time in leadership positions and in leadership training. (Bear with me I am going somewhere with this.) We learn, you realized there are two types of leaders, formal and informal. Those who are appointed leaders and those that have influences on a group, that somehow lead without... well being "The" leader. Now that I think about it the same could be said for "influencers" and perhaps that ties in more closely with the point I am making.

So marketing... most of us know, use and employ typical marketing strategies and techniques. I could bore... I mean tell you about them now but I will refrain. Lately though there is an informal marketing technique that is subversively being deployed by many companies. It's been done in political campaigns for years (and mostly not subversively) where bad PR, images, tweets, etc "somehow" make it out to the "public". Sure, maybe some of the bad exposure of one company or organization or person is truly found by a random customer or person and is released in a post or comment that goes so viral that it causes a major backlash, consumption of the product to plummet and subsequently helps the sell and profits of a rival company buuuuttt C'mon you really think its ALL random and does not involve a rival of some sort.

I know that integrity does not matter as much as it use to, I hate it but I get it. Heck, even internally my partners have to stop me from initiating a promotional campaign center around that fact that "We aren't a#$holes." Personally, I think it's a huge and major differentiator that admittedly I still use as an informal selling point. :)

I also love that idea of personality and integrity are not complete gone yet. Just recently, while discussing marketing plans, we had a client tell us that if people are XXXXs we don't want their money.

So back to point one, how you, the company you align with, the people you hang out with do anything is how we do everything. "A dog that'll bring a bone will carry a bone. " - someone who gossips to you will also gossip about you. I could start a whole long blog right here on my feelings about integrity, professionalism, moral character, etc. but I have learn if it matters to you it matters to you so I will just plant the seeds of awareness and let you know...

It matters to me.