The Ethical Optimist

As I scan the newspapers, watch the news and listen to the radio in my car, I keep hearing a lot about the importance of the financial bail out. Why, although they may not think it’s a great idea, both parties feel it a necessary evil.

I also hear McCain and Obama consistently talk about getting us back on track, making us the nation we should be, and used to be.

While it’s admirable to focus on the future, I feel as though we’re not looking in the rear view mirror.

I haven’t seen much press coverage or analysis on how the heck we got to this point. I hear phrases, like the “perfect storm” of greed and deregulation, but I’m not hearing much in-depth analysis.

Among the biggest causes of ethical mishaps are the rush to move forward and the inability to speak up when things don’t feel “right.” In a time when we’re all moving too fast for thought…when we’re all deadline oriented, and when many were discouraged to speak up (after all, it meant we were unpatriotic if we questioned the way things were heading), it’s no wonder we find ourselves in one mess after another.

The one thing students of history know is that to ignore the past is to repeat it. Perhaps we need to slow down long enough to figure out what got us into this fine mess (right, Ollie?).

I find it interesting that there is an endless array of media coverage dedicated to the ethics of blogging…most of which centers on the “outing” of bloggers with ulterior motives.

For example, a recent article in the LA Times titled, “Blogging for dollars raises questions of online ethics,” notes that “Thousands of bloggers are writing sponsored posts touting such diverse topics as diamonds, digital cameras and drug clinics. The bloggers are spurred by new marketing middlemen such as PayPerPost Inc. that connect advertisers with mom-and-pop webmasters.”

The article goes on to say that this draws criticism as it blurs the line between advertising and unbiased opinion.

Frankly, while I find it of concern, I cannot think of a time during my 20+ years in this business where the “blurring of the lines” hasn’t existed in some form or other.

What I find heartening now, however, is that the scales are more balanced. More and more consumers now have access to information that “debunks” false information, while they are at the same time exposed to more of it.

I see this on a daily basis as well meaning friends send me email alerts about one thing or another, and then, minutes later someone on the distribution list fires back a note debunking it after looking on urbanlegend.com or another site.

While it’s easy to be conned online, it’s just as easy to be educated. I think the latter is a relatively new phenomenon for consumers. In the past, they were unwittingly duped. Now, in an era of transparency, Caveat Emptor (buyers beware) takes on a whole new meaning.

I’m more concerned with how this affects us as professionals. As marketers, we need to take a hard look at these developing practices and ask ourselves if they are in the best interests of our client’s long term reputations. While they may deliver immediate monetary/sales results, what price will a client pay when their tactics are “outed?” Nowadays, it’s not a question of if, but when.

This also means that we need to stay abreast of product marketing techniques and have stronger relationships with our counterparts in brand management and marketing, as well as legal.

Like my mother used to say, “Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t make it right.”