The good, the bad and the ugly

Chevrolet gave the 'tools' to the public to create web-based viral ad campaigns for their Tahoe SUV. If they were expecting warm and fuzzy conventional commercial messages, they were doomed -- instead, creators used the opportunity to reflect their own values, not quite what GM had hoped!

First, the good. From The Womma Word, a resource I first discovered from the late Sonny Lykos, this list of the "Top 100 Advertising, Media and PR blogs." Alas, Construction Marketing Ideas isn't on the list, but you know about this blog anyways, so it doesn't really need to be there.
Now the bad. The same Womma Word e-letter has stuff that shows you just how bad marketing can really be. Like inviting young, environmentally sensitive Youtube viewers to "make their own commercials" about a gas guzzling and expensive SUV. Duh....
Oh, the ugly. My bad. Not looking around my own business close enough for signs of stress and overwork among our employees. As I traveled to Denver for the SMPS Conference and observed sales reports at our regular meetings, something in my mind didn't catch the (should be obvious) signal that things were getting awfully busy. Why is this ugly? Because there comes a point when hard working and dedicated employees get overloaded -- too busy to seek out assistance but far too stressed for fairness and reasonable workload. And since our hiring process must be thorough, careful and thoughtful, the solution isn't as simple as picking up the phone, hiring a temp, and saying "we're done."
I constantly observe that great marketing involves great relationships between our employees and our clients; here, even though the indicators were right under my nose, I failed to see this in a timely manner. Fortunately, this problem can be fixed, and will be, as I learn from my mistakes.