Since the coronavirus pandemic, the use of digital tools has not had any signs of slowing down. More so, the digital revolution is continuing to become an integral part of an organization’s competitive advantage. In my 2020 Tribune242 article, I mentioned how a digital arm of components would allow most professional businesses and service providers a covid-proof strategy to operate. Although these adaptations have shown their benefits, there is still another factor within this digital revolution that some brands…. Well, that some poorly branded companies are a little behind with understanding. This deficit can be labeled as social media statistics syndrome (SMSS). It’s a little phrase I came up with all on my own. Basically, this phrase tries to sum up the results that take effect when a company aims to do too much, or too little without any clear direction for the purpose that they aim to be perceived. Kinda like those companies that purchase a bunch of fake followers and act as if nobody will notice.

Maybe it’s just shear laziness, lack of strategy or being cheap. It could all of the above. Perhaps it’s all for the trend indeed. Sure, that’s understandable, as nothing is wrong with wanted to follow a trend. I’m sure we have been there. Some of these trends can get in our blood and embed inks deeper than those superficial tattoos that you may have gotten on a whim. As for a respectable company like – ummmmm……, let’s say….. J.P. Morgan. Yes, thee J.P. Morgan, these guys had bright idea. So bright, you have to wonder why nobody else is doing it. (Or are they?) Perhaps they wanted to set the trend, or perhaps they were behind the trend. See, the good folks at J.P. Morgan thought it diligent to make a 175 million dollar acquisition for a platform named Frank. This digital platform aims to aid college students with financial literacy tools, at least this was the intent. J.P. Morgan in all of their financial wisdom and years of banking made the purchase and it was only after (yes after, not before) the deal was through that they made the choice to verify the accounts of the users of my this digital platform named Frank.

Guess what they found? I’ll tell you, a whole lot of nothing. Nothing in the sense that 90 percent of the platform’s users were robots. Yes, fake accounts ladies and gentleman. Just like some of those guys who buy fake social media followers, J.P. Morgan is no different. More expensive, yes but they are not different. 175 million for fake accounts and lines of code. I’m sure this could have been avoided, but I guess the trendy digital platform was too trendy for due diligence. Who needs a professional digital strategist when you have 175 million dollars to burn right? In the end, it’ll be good public relations anyway when everyone finds out how cool and reckless we (J.P. Morgan) are at spending money. And who cares about the going rate on a digital strategist? Who wants to waste time consulting with them when we can jump the gun and buy Frank? To be frank, not J.P Morgan.

The unfortunate thing is that there are a lot more companies that hold this same sentiment. Perhaps they do not value the need for a full fledged digital strategy team to accommodate their needs for branding, due diligence, digital fraud mitigation and effective content creation. Maybe they perceive digital strategists as youngsters with smartphones wasting time making TikTok videos and not as professionals with expertise, insight and networks to bring results, mitigate pitfalls and provide advise. Then again, it’s J.P. Morgan, they’ll recover. Now it may not be the 175 million that is recovered but I’m sure there will be a mental recovery in due time from realizing that a company duped them because they failed to do any digital due diligence to verify a user base. And to think that this is just one example. Don’t be an example. Onboard a digital strategist. Hire a digital brand consultant. Seek out the professionals for your company’s sake.