The First Rule of Marketing

As with doctors, the first rule of marketing is to do no harm. It is tough enough to fight off competitive threats, environmental changes, and all the other enemies at the gate. There's no good reason to make things more difficult for yourself by making gigantic, entirely avoidable blunders. You might wonder if I have some particular blunder in mind. As a matter of fact, I do.

You may have heard about Wells Fargo and their planned junket to Las Vegas. If not, here's a portion of an AP story:

"WASHINGTON - Wells Fargo & Co. abruptly canceled Tuesday a pricey Las Vegas casino junket for employees after a torrent of criticism that it was misusing $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money.

The company initially defended the trip after The Associated Press reported it had booked 12 nights beginning Friday... by saying:

"Recognition events are still part of our culture," spokeswoman Melissa Murray said Tuesday afternoon. "It's really important that our team members are still valued and recognized.""

The branding implications are clear. Wells Fargo is saying, clearly, that "Our customers exist to serve us. We are paramount." The brand for this once venerable, long-standing banking titan is now as tarnished and as utterly valueless as any other. They had an opportunity, especially in light of AIG's epic blunder (doing essentially the exact same thing and receiving withering criticism as a result), to take the initiative, cancel all events, reign in executive pay and bonuses, and say to the American people, "We stand with you. It's an awful mess out there, but we'll get through it together." But no, that would have inconvenienced a whole generation of corporate executives that have come to believe that they actually deserve the perks, the bonuses, the unbelievable salaries.

I really was taken aback by their comment, echoed by Wall Street firms aplenty, that
"Recognition events are still part of our culture," spokeswoman Melissa Murray said Tuesday afternoon. "It's really important that our team members are still valued and recognized."

Recognition? What on earth might the senior management be recognized for? Nobel Prize winning new levels of ineptitude? Mismanagement so severe that they had to ask Uncle Sam for $25 BILLION? The recognition event that needed to happen was to have the board meet and 1) fire the senior management team and 2) resign for failure to oversee the juggernaut before the predictable train wreck.

So back to marketing. Your brand is your most precious asset. Everything you do impacts on your brand. Everything. Big things, and small things. Our collective perception of your brand is developed one person at a time. It's as simple as that. Once you cross a certain line, your brand, so carefully nurtured, becomes an albatross around your neck. Don't Wells Fargo your own brand.