When Brands and Executives Marry

At the recent Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibit, the most interesting part of Patrick Byrne's keynote presentation wasn’t what he was “slated” to talk about. Byrne is the CEO of Overstock.com and a personal crusader for ending or severely restricting short-selling practices. Where things got interesting was when Mr. Byrne asked the audience if we wanted to leave time for questions or hear about short selling: the vast majority of the audience wanted to hear about short selling.

So here's my question: In a world where it's easier than ever to connect the multiple facets of a person's life together, and where company executives (who are, it could be argued, brand stewards) are increasingly making their individual voices heard under the umbrella of their brand, how do you separate individual quirks and passions from company and brand values?

Will the day come when a company or campaign is taken down by the social networking antics of one of its executives? I believe we will indeed see a day like that in our future, and I think it will be a scary day for brands everywhere. What do you think?

About the author: Nikki Baird is a Managing Partner at RSR Research , a technology analyst firm specializing in consumer and retailer technology adoption trends.