As a person that has worked in broadcast media and communications for years, I have noticed a sad trend in business. That trend is many companies refuse to set the trends; they follow them.

For example I remember when E-sports was gaining traction. I worked as a freelancer for a marketing company at the time. Since I am a gamer I pitched the idea to them about the E-sports audience and possible marketing opportunities with that audience; they loved it. But they didn’t know much about gaming, so I lead the project. I did my market research of the target demographic, conducted polling at various E-sports events to understand the products players and audience members used.

I took my data, created my proposal and I went to pitch to various brands ranging from snack foods, deodorant, headset etc. Many companies turned me down and that was fine but what was telling was each of those companies said that the target demographic was not their target audience. I was floored by that. Now years later I see those same companies sponsoring E-sporting events and teams. The demographic never changed but the attitude of the companies did.

I see this time and time again when it comes to business, media and even politics. There is always a wait and see what someone else is doing and what the masses will think approach. Companies that do take chances may fail but at least they take the chance to know where they need to improve. To set back and wait to see what someone else does tells you a lot about a company’s and persons principals, integrity and overall business practices.