It's wrong to think we're entering a world in which traditional marketing activities will become irrelevant. Yet the scale and speed of social media make it urgent to get the branding basics right. Remember the internet-fueled backlash against Dell's flammable laptops and Kryptonite's expensive but easily picked lock. The obvious danger is failing to keep pace with social media developments. An equal, less obvious danger is getting distracted by them and losing sight of the fundamentals. Brands should exploit new media's possibilities to deliver on four basics: offering and communicating a clear customer promise; building trust by delivering on it; continuously improving the promise; and innovating beyond the familiar. Virgin Atlantic does this by, for example, scanning travel websites to learn what people are saying; including travel tips from crew members on its Facebook page; communicating with customers on Twitter in rapidly changing situations; offering a taxi-sharing system to enhance its brand; and maintaining V-Travelled, a site where customers exchange stories and advice while they plan a big trip. As they experiment with social media, companies should gain customer insights rather than simply try to increase sales, capitalize on the media's speed and reach while protecting the brand's reputation, and carefully follow the unwritten rules of customer engagement online.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. When Peter Drucker first proposed his "marketing concept" back in 1954, the notion that meeting customer needs better than your competition as the driver of business success was a radical idea. Today most managers agree that achieving sustainable profit growth requires having a clear, relevant customer promise; delivering on that promise; improving it; innovating; and supporting all of that with an organization that's open to new ideas and market feedback. However, achieving all of this is difficult. Despite management's tendency toward wishful thinking, the authors believe managers can come to terms with their company's weaknesses by posing a set of five questions specifically designed to uncover their vulnerabilities. Drawing on examples from companies including Apple, Google, Procter & Gamble and Toyota, the authors explain the importance of each of these questions. "For those who are prepared to ask the tough questions and willing to hear the answers," they write, "the potential benefits to the business are significant.

Managers are less receptive to bad news and contrary viewpoints than they think they are, and they often send subtle signals that discourage frank input. The solution: 360-degree surveys of peers and subordinates that generate feedback specific to individual managers.

When conflict arises between the tenets of competitive analysis and those of financial analysis, it's not the theory at fault but the practice. Good project evaluation considers all relevant factors, including hard-to-quantify costs and benefits. It takes into account the consequences of not investing and also recognizes the value of opening up options. Finally, it doesn't undervalue projects by arbitrarily restructuring the time horizon or setting discount rates too high, and it considers separately investments that may be proposed together.