I’ve been wrestling with a bit of a conundrum for a while, and John Rogers at OpinionatedMarketers.com reminded me of it again the other day.  If the new marketing philosophy is correct, then the customer owns the brand, relevance is the most important thing, and one must engage and placate ones customers, etc…

Here’s the issue:  if that’s all true, then why spam, or even worse, adware?  Why do companies like Real Media (as John noted in his post) cram all kinds of junk into their installers to trick us into seeing  marketing messages we don’t want to hear?

The thing that makes me wonder is that so many companies are relying on outright deception as a part of their marketing plan.  If the customer truly owns the brand, would not these bottom dwelling denizens have headed for bankruptcy court by now?

I think the truth of the matter is this: new marketing demands excellent throughout the organization.  Unfortunately, not everyone is capable of excellence, hence they’re forced to seek “alternative means” and that inevitably leads to the dark side.  For some folks “good enough” is just that. 

Don’t settle for good enough – success demands excellence.