It was the summer of 2003. I had just finished my first year of college down South, returned home to Pittsburgh and landed an internship in the Steelers’ marketing department. Walking into Heinz Field’s corporate offices was like something out of a movie for someone who was born and raised in ‘Steelers Country.’

I remember like it was yesterday sitting down in the boardroom as a manager sat across the long, brown, intimidating table ready to grill me. Forget a suit, I was dressed in old Catholic school gear I had dug out of my closet and forcefully asked my mother to dry clean! That table was all that stood between us. I was expecting the usual litany of dress code rules, vacation allowances, etc., when he caught me off guard and said, “What does marketing mean to you?” It would be two more years before I would even take my first marketing class, and so a stab in the dark was all I had going for me. Throughout the next four months, I learned an insurmountable amount of information about promoting the Steelers brand to better the community and serve the fans.

These early lessons have carried over into my current career, as I watch many of our members and readers engage consumers—rather than fans—to buy and interact with their companies. Fortune recently released a list of the top 20 most admired companies:

1) Apple, 2) Berkshire Hathaway, 3) General Electric, 4) Google, 5) Toyota Motor, 6) Starbucks, 7) FedEx, 8 ) Proctor & Gamble, 9) Johnson & Johnson, 10) Goldman Sachs Group, 11) Target, 12) Southwest Airlines, 13) American Express, 14) BMW tied with Costco Wholesale, 16) Microsoft, 17) United Parcel Service, 18) Cisco Systems, 19) 3M and 20) Nordstrom

These companies obviously all benefit from extraordinary marketing and/or advertising departments. For me, good marketing means taking creative risks. Taking the big chances is sometimes worth it, but sometimes it doesn’t pan out quite as you’d like. Take Cartoon Network’s gaffe last year, for example, when large, electronic light boards featuring characters from its popular “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” giving the middle finger led to bomb scares and the closing of multiple bridges in Boston. How is one supposed to know when a marketing gimmick or promotion has gone too far? How should CEOs react when marketing departments propose such big ideas?

Enjoy the following hilarious clip from CollegeHumor.com that pokes fun at the Cartoon Network scenario.

What does marketing mean to you?

Pat Cauley, eMedia Editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine

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