Are we really that gullible that we just believe what people tell us when it comes to products and services, things we part with our hard earned for?

In the biggest twist of fate I have seen for ages Coca-Cola say NO WE ARE NOT!

WHY, would the one of the worlds biggest consumer brands say that when it spends more than the GDP of a small country on marketing?

Check out this article being circulated on Twitter today – The Dark side of Vitamin Water

In a staggering feat of twisted logic, lawyers for Coca-Cola are defending the lawsuit by asserting that “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.”

I completely agree with John Robbins who says I still can’t get over the bizarre audacity of Coke’s legal case. Forced to defend themselves in court, they are acknowledging that vitaminwater isn’t a healthy product. But they are arguing that advertising it as such isn’t false advertising, because no could possibly believe such a ridiculous claim.

My mind (that likes to process map everything) will not let go of this thought. Coke spend money convincing us their product is healthy, when all the time they know it’s not and believe we know it’s not. Is this the next raft of marketing innovation? Or is it that Coke believe that they just could not say “hands up your right and we are guilty as charged”

” Noting that the soft drink giant wasn’t claiming the lawsuit was wrong on factual grounds, the judge wrote that, “Accordingly, I must accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true.”

It will be interesting to see if this kills the brand or Coke are right, the one thing that has not changed is that through whatever channel, we will decide.

Are you having an affair?…
…dabbling with a little social media, playing marketing consultant or technical reviewer in your spare time?

Seriously, the social networks are creating opportunities for us to get involved in things that once were the domain of professionals that were out of reach. Now we can all have a go and the consensus is this making a difference to how we view the world and choose our products and services but is it changing the way we work?

Some questions…
1. Has the way you engage with people over the social networks e.g. chat with strangers, engage on topics of interest, etc. changed the way you engage with people at work?
2. Have you uncovered new skill sets via the social networks that you have used in your actual workplace?
3. Has the use of social networks made you feel more satisfied or less satisfied with your day job?

If you are an employer or manage people do you know what turns them on? Do you know what they are doing in the virtual world? A lot of companies knee jerked a reaction to the use of social networks in the workplace and banned them and now slowly they are creeping back in through another knee jerk reaction – now to use them from a business perspective.
As always our advice start with the end in mind…find out what turns you and your workforce on, if it’s something they are getting from their “affair” there is an opportunity on your doorstep.

I consider myself to be an honest person and wanted to test my belief in the ‘honesty lab’, thankfully I still consider myself to be honest, but my contribution to this research highlighted the fine moral line that guides our perception of what is honest.

Are we “doing honesty” or being honest?

In this “dog eat dog” world we will all face circumstances where we are tempted to apply situational ethics to gain the edge.

Last week the British Olympic gold medallist, Rebecca Adlington, hit the headlines when she refused to wear a performance enhancing swim suit because she considered it cheating. A legal battle by the manufactures has prevented the suit from being banned, and so, Rebecca’s competitors will wear this suit and believe that their honesty and integrity is intact. When the truth is out, who has the edge?

Honesty = Trust

When we act dishonestly we become a mystery, people are not able to read us and this leads to distrust and suspicion. Without trust we have no credibility and it is this that is at the core of being able to influence people and provide strong leadership.

Trust = Confidence

If we consider that we all need a level of confidence to conquer life’s problems, can success hinge on others having confidence in our actions and motives? Confidence is what encourages us to take risks and success is rarely achieved without risk.

Be True to Yourself

The results from the ‘honesty lab’ experiment will be presented at the British Science Festival in September, until then my belief will be that the level of a person’s honesty is linked to their self respect and respect of others. Be true to yourself, when we are real and open as people we show our true self to others, we can show that we are genuine and can be relied upon.

“The truth is the only thing worth having, and, in a civilized life, like ours, where so many risks are removed, facing it is almost the only courageous thing left to do” – E.V. Lucas