Happy New Year

At this artificial demarcation of time, it is customary to remember and speculate.  What was good about last year? What was boneheaded and banal?  Was there brilliance? Idiocy?  Of course, the answer is all of the above.  And that will be the same for 2016.  Some will shine, some burnout.  We don’t know at this juncture who will be feted and who mocked.  Will we have another Volkswagen moment when a corporation is revealed as a liar?  That’s hard to say and not something that occurs at such a scale with much frequency, but it is possible.  Will we have an instance in which a corporation shines magnificently as a good citizen and practitioner of public relations?  Again, hard to say.  Companies are people working together for a common mission.  All the flaws of humanity are represented in them.  It takes good leadership to guide business on the right path and a degree of humility to listen to consumers and buyers.  It is easy to forget what a company is for and to work for one’s self-interest.  In 2016, we should see examples of good PR and marketing and awful attempts that have one shaking his head.  It should be an interesting year.