"I think I'm just going to become an asshole," David said. "It's obvious girls actually prefer it." David's dilemma came down to a choice between two worldviews. One says it's more important to win the girl, the other says it's more important to do the right thing. This kind of analysis happens all the time, and not just in love. Am I doing this because it's effective? Is it rewarded? Is it worth it? Is it the right thing to do?

At the closing panel of Gridley & Company's 13th Annual Marketing, Internet, Financial Technology and Outsourcing Services Conference, I predicted that television advertising spend in the U.S. would grow more in real dollars than spend on video ads on the Web, mobile and over-the-top combined, every year for the next five years. To make sure that the digitally biased audience knew that I was serious about my prediction, I said if I was wrong, I would pay for the conference cocktail party after any year in which I wasn't right. The crowd, a bit taken back by my bet, didn't …

Marketers are overwhelmed by all the discussion about data because no one is offering up a simple explanation for how to use it in the right way. I'd say that in order to utilize data properly, you simply need to implement a policy of polite marketing.

One side effect of the publishing industry's reinvention is that a lot of its professionals are transitioning into marketing, where there's a growing demand for writing and editing skills. This trend is going far beyond the historical trickle of editors who jump ship to the PR darkside for a higher paycheck.

In mid-December I trekked to the New York Googleplex Glass Annex (Glass-plex?) to pick up my Glass (glasses?). I have been experimenting with Glass for almost a month, while CES was bursting at the seams with wearables, insertables, integratables and even under-your-skin-ers. Let's be clear that Glass is an amazing technological accomplishment. The tiny screen delivers pretty cool HD quality, and the pictures and videos Glass records are of decent quality. But after that the whole experience falls flat.

I had always bought the story that Henry Ford paid his workers enough to buy the cars they made. Looks like I was wrong. Turns out his real motivation had more to do with reducing turnover than with building a middle class. Altruism myth busted. The thing is, it doesn't really matter why he did it. What matters is the effect of the decision: the fact that other manufacturers had to increase their wages in order to compete, the fact that a growing middle class was good for the entire economy, and the fact that Ford ultimately benefited from paying …

How many years have been "the year" mobile advertising finally catches up to the massive growth in consumer time spent on mobile? As you marinate on that question, take a second also to reflect on how often you've read the headline that "this is the year" digital advertising dollars finally catch up with the amount of time consumers are spending with digital media.

When I look at a business idea, I initially think through two primary criteria to forecast its success. Of those two, the most important is defensibility: making sure your business idea can maintain an advantage over similar products or services in the market.

With increased digital exposure, it's become more common to hear statements like "you're always on now," or "the meter is always ticking" or the "world is always watching." These statements imply that it is important to always be on your best behavior because someone may be watching or listening.

My friend David Berkowitz, CMO of MRY, just wrote an opinion piece titled "Why Brands will Focus Less on Startups in 2014." In the piece, he cites (1) clutter, (2) too much P.R, and (3) lack of results as the three reasons why "brand and agency love for startups is going to fizzle." What David is referring to is a sickness that seems to strike many marketers and is passed on to their agencies (or perhaps it is the other way round): namely TNBTS, or The Next Big Thing Syndrome.