I am writing about the CMO Survey that has come from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business over at Marketing Pilgrim.

As I was looking through the report I saw this chart and immediately I called BS!

I just had to call BS on this one. I think that it is the smart thing to say that sales and marketing work on an equal basis because they should. Does it happen in real life 70% of the time? And what does working on an equal basis mean? With the other options being one works within the other’s function (marketing in sales and vice versa) this is confusing. What the real question needs to be is do they work together? That’s where the important stuff happens. Equal basis?

I call BS! Do you?

C’mon CMO’s be honest. How integrated are you with your sales counterpart. There usually is no CSO (Chief Sales Officer) although maybe their should be. Bottom line is that I don’t think this stat is realistic. It’s not a knock on the survey. it’s a knock on those answering the survey. No wonder people don’t trust marketers. The fibs start at the top!

Just as a warning this is a complete opinion piece. If you want facts and figures you have come to the wrong spot. You have been warned.

This is just a quick observation. Social media has created such an inflated view of self that we run the risk of actually losing who we really are. The social media industry is particularly guilty of this.

There are social media rockstars, gurus, experts, ninjas, cowboys, mavens and more and it has gotten pathetic. It’s actually embarrassing to be a part of this industry. The activity of social media for business use is important and will remain so far into the future. This obsession with self-promotion, though? It’s lame and it brings out the worst in all of us.

I am not going to point out particular people. They know who they are and you know who they are. In fact, each person’s level of tolerance of self-promotion will define who has overstepped the bounds of good taste or just plain good judgment.

When we allow the self to be the most important thing we actually run the risk of losing ourselves. When we hand over our ‘persona’ to anyone who will follow or listen we become theirs and not our own. This is a dangerous place to be.

So do I have any recommendations? Nope. That’s not my place. In fact, the only thing that I can control is how I put myself ‘out there’ and how far I am willing to go. I suspect I am close to my limit though because every time I see or hear a blatant self-promoter espouse their brand of wisdom I shut down.

That’s a shame really because I will likely miss some good information. It’s cutting through the self-importance to get the good information though that makes me realize that maybe I am not missing anything at all. After all, there is nothing new under the sun (that’s from a source that I rely which is not me thankfully) so if I miss it coming from one expert I’ll hear it elsewhere from a more palatable source.

I am staying away from the slippery slope as best as I can. Being human makes it tempting to step out on it though, I have to admit. I hope I can stay away.

No great insight here.

Score one for GEICO.

I am a sucker for the weird and the odd especially when it comes to business. What’s even more interesting is when the weird and the odd makes more sense than the norm.

That’s how I take the revelation that brands are getting smart enough (actually sneaky enough is a better term) to find ways to disassociate themselves from moronic pop culture ‘celebrities’ like Snooki from MTV’s Jersey Shore.

Here is my full disclosure. I am from NJ but not the NJ you are thinking of. My New Jersey had farms and lots of space. I didn’t live anywhere near the Turnpike (although Exit 10 would be the best one to start your trek to the part of NJ I know). I have also never watched a second of MTV’s Jersey Shore nor do I plan to.

The trouble is that this Snooki character is all over the place and apparently she is a walking cry for an intervention of some sort. As a result she has become anathema to the brands that she likes to be seen in especially the Coach bag she apparently totes around in between drinks and fights. Not exactly the kind of person you want as the spokesperson for your brand, right?

Well, if you are afraid that someone with this little moral character or common sense is what is becoming the face of your brand what can you do? Send her a competitor’s brand so she will stop using yours! Brilliant!

In what is being called ‘unbranding’ brands are looking for ways to move away from ‘popular’ people who are notorious rather than just getting notoriety. From the Observer by way of the Business Insider War Room

Remember how Snooki, drunk or sober, was never seen without that Coach bag dangling from the crook of her arm? Snooki and her Coach were as synonymous as The Situation and his six-pack.

But then the winds of change started blowing on Jersey Shore. Every photograph of Guido-huntin’ Snooki showed her toting a new designer purse. Why the sudden disloyalty? Was she trading up? Was she vomiting into her purses and then randomly replacing them?

The answer is much more intriguing.

Allegedly, the anxious folks at these various luxury houses are all aggressively gifting our gal Snookums with free bags. No surprise, right? But here’s the shocker: They are not sending her their own bags. They are sending her each other’s bags! Competitors’ bags!

So if you are finding that your product is getting some press from the wrong sources (maybe Tiger Woods is using your Day Timer for his ‘appointments’?) send along the competitor’s stuff to keep yours out of the wrong spotlight.

Ingenious? Maybe. More like a statement on the sad times we live in. Trouble is that it’s what is happening whether we like it or not. Do you like it?

I am reading some of the comments that have some from the Google CEO’s mouth lately and I am hoping that they are mostly taken out of context. Why? Because he sounds like a lunatic, that’s why.

From the Telegraph we read

Eric Schmidt suggested that young people should be entitled to change their identity to escape their misspent youth, which is now recorded in excruciating detail on social networking sites such as Facebook

Huh? Oh and it gets better

“I actually think most people don’t want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next.”

You’re kidding right, Mr. Schmidt?

Maybe being really wealthy and really powerful does go to your head. Or maybe this guy suffers from some kind of delusional fantasy since he is SO far removed from reality. I don’t know.

It’s so weird to see this kind of behavior because it makes it hard for me personally. Why? Because I love Google products but with crazy talk about predicting next moves and future events from their CEO I get queasy.

So was he done? Not even close.

He suggested, as an example, that because Google would know “roughly who you are, roughly what you care about, roughly who your friends are”, it could remind users what groceries they needed to buy when passing a shop.

Hey Dr. Franken-Schmidt – No thanks. Go to wherever rich and powerful early onset folks go to and please stop talking like a crazy person. The rest of us are getting weirded-out.

To read some more if you like check out this Wall Street Journal article where many of these quotes come from.

Because I like to talk about the little guy, the SMB, I had to point out that Google is paying attention to the SMB as well. At least that’s what it kinda looks like.

Google has started its small business blog but they have committed the cardinal sin of new blogs. You see, if you are a small business owner and you learn that Google is blogging to help you understand more about the opportunities online for an SMB you would expect something spectacular, right?

Well, not so much. There are just 2 posts and plenty of links to things elsewhere. That’s it. You would figure that Google would have read enough to know that you don’t tell the world that you have a new blog and then show just 2 posts (with one being the intro of the blog which is news but it’s not exactly ‘content’ for the SMB). I recommend at least 20 entries be there before you tell the world about your blog otherwise you run the sever risk of people being underwhelmed.

I am really curious to see what Google does to populate this blog or will this go the way of Wave and other things that Google tried but didn’t really give a rip about?

Another day of looking at the Internet marketing space from several angles. I am really interested in local search so the ability for Google Place Page owners (which we refer to mostly as SMB’s) to be able to respond to reviews done in Google Maps is big. So’s the rest of it too, I guess, but I’ll let you decide.

Google Place Page Owners Can Now Respond to Reviews - Marketing Pilgrim
Changing Norms, Online Reputations and Your Future – Trackur
Some Facebook Advertisers Upping the Ante In a Big Way – Marketing Pilgrim
Content Anticipation: Inc. Magazine vs. Inc.’s Website – Biznology

Frank Thinking: Anticipating content is very rare. If you can accomplish this then you are doing something for your audience. Just as rare is an SMB that understands all of the local search options that Google affords them. If you would like to get some help with this concept cal me at 919-285-1515.

In honor of the idea of ‘norms’ I am going back to the original Norm from Cheers, Norm Peterson. George Wendt was classic. Here are some of the “Norm!” -isms from that great character.

“Can I draw you a beer, Norm ?”
“No, I know what they look like. Just pour me one.”

“How’s a beer sound, Norm?”
“I dunno. I usually finish them before they get a word in.”

“What’s shaking, Norm?”
“All four cheeks and a couple of chins.”

“What would you say to a nice beer, Normie?”
“Going Down?”

“What’s new, Normie?”
“Terrorists, Sam. They’ve taken over my stomach and they’re demanding beer.”

“What’ll it be, Normie?”
“Just the usual Coach. I’ll have a froth of beer and a snorkel.”

“What would you say to a beer, Normie?”
“Daddy wuvs you.”

“What’d you like, Normie?”
“A reason to live. Give me another beer.”

“What’ll you have, Normie?”
“Well, I’m in a gambling mood Sammy. I’ll take a glass of whatever comes out of that tap.”
“Looks like beer, Norm.”
“Call me Mister Lucky.”

“What’d you say, Norm?”
“Any cheap, tawdry thing that will get me a beer.”

“What would you say to a beer, Norm?”
“Hiya, sailor. New in town?”

(Coming in from the rain)
“Evening everybody.”
Everybody: “Norm!”
“Still pouring, Norm?”
“That’s funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“Whaddya say, Norm?”
“Well, I never met a beer I didn’t drink.”

“Hey Norm, how’s the world been treating you?”
“Like a baby treats a diaper.”

“Would you like a beer Mr.. Peterson?”
“No, I’d like a dead cat in a glass.”

“How’s life treating you?”
“It’s not, Sammy, but you can.”
“What’s the story, Mr. Peterson?”
“The Bobbsey twins go to the brewery. Let’s cut to the happy ending.”

“Hey Mr. Peterson, there’s a cold one waiting for you.”
“I know, if she calls, I’m not here.”

“Beer, Norm?”
“Have I gotten that predictable? Good.”

“What’s going on, Mr. Peterson?”
“A flashing sign in my gut that says, ‘Insert beer here.’”

“Hey Mr. Peterson, Jack Frost nipping at your nose?”
“Yep, now let’s get Joe Beer nipping at my liver, huh?”

“What’s going on, Mr. Peterson?”
“Another layer for the winter, Wood.”

“Whatcha up to, Norm?”
“My ideal weight if I were eleven feet tall.”

“How’s it going Mr. Peterson?”
“Poor.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No, I mean pour.”

“How’s life treating you, Norm?”
“Like it caught me sleeping with its wife.”

“Women. Can’t live with ‘em … pass the beer nuts.”

“What’s going down, Normie?”
“My butt cheeks on that bar stool.”

“Pour you a beer, Mr. Peterson?”
“Alright, but stop me at one….make that one-thirty.”

“How’s it going Mr. Peterson?”
“It’s a dog eat dog world, Woody and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear.

“What’s the story, Norm?”
“Boy meets beer. Boy drinks beer. Boy meets another beer.”

“How’s about a beer, Norm?”
“That’s that amber sudsy stuff, right? I’ve heard good things about it!”

“What’s going on, Mr. Peterson?”
“The question is, `what’s going ‘in’ Mr. Peterson?” A beer, please, Woody.”

“Can I pour you a beer, Mr. Peterson?”
“A little early isn’t it, Woody?”
“For a beer?” “No, for stupid questions.”