I was doing some CMO material research recently when I came across an impressive marketing blog called Digital Mindset by Eric Kintz, VP of Strategy and Marketing for HP's Web Services and Software Division. Great topics, thoughtful posts, comfortable style.

I like this guy's blog because he posts original ideas. One of the most amusing things I've discovered over my 23 year marketing career is that there's a LOT of follow-the-leader being played in the marketing world (what I call "Simon Says Marketing").

As a VP of Marketing for some mid-sized and emerging tech companies over the last decade, there were countless times where I'd make an aggressive move, just to see my bigger competitors follow us 6 months to a year later.

This continues even today. When I established PowerMark on a shoestring in 2005, I knew I had to isolate and dominate. I chose one place to advertise. No other marketing/PR firms were in there, but I knew it was target rich. Didn't take long for one of our chief competitors who has been around for 10 years to jump in with a much bigger presence than ours.

It happens with our clients, too. I love it when a client holds up some messaging and cries out, "They blatantly ripped us off, word for word!" That means the competitor isn't thinking for themselves, they're letting us do it for them. Simon Says Marketing is where the thought leader (not necessarily the biggest company) makes a marketing move, then competitors copy it.

Don't take the easy way out. Looking at what competitors are doing is useful in the sense that you should always have an awareness of the competitive landscape. But when you're planning your event schedule, avoid the temptation to blindly attend the shows that your competitor has posted on their site. When planning your ad schedule, don't mirror the media buy of your competitors. When rebuilding your Web site, don't use your competitor as a model. What guarantee do you have that their marketing team did their homework or made good decisions? They could have blindly followed another competitor, and then you have whole industries making bad decisions.

Bottom line -- be Simon. All the time. It's the best way to win.