WOW…  When the world experiences big changes, there are two camps that emerge – those that see and use the change for good and those that take advantage.  Those that take advantage damage their brand irretrievably, maybe not in the short term, but in due course, every dog has its day.

A story published today by Mobile Crunch (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/) unearths some questionable practices by a PR firm that represents game developers.  As part of their support program, the PR firm uses interns to crawl iTunes and community forums and post positive reviews (i.e. 5 out of 5 stars) for their clients s/w.  Trouble is the reviews appear to be pre-written by the PR firm.  Read the story here: http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/08/22/cheating-the-app-store-pr-firm-has-interns-post-positive-reviews-for-clients/

In a competitive world, it is your job to promote your brand as competitively and aggressively as possible. Fair enough.  But breaking moral and ethical codes taints your brand, drives away customers, partners and employees lessening the brands chances for survival.

We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. Aristotle