When thinking about the relationship between our brands and consumers, my secret weapon is to draw parallels with our relationships; the quality, frequency and style with which we communicate with friends and family.
We generally know the boundaries and etiquettes we employ in everyday relationships, but we need to think about those with our brands as well. We need to make sure we're a good listener and respect other people's time.
So, for example, in social media we've been invited to Facebook and Twitter by consumers; they've allowed us into their personal space. Producing an overabundance of tweets and posts isn't respecting that relationship.
Sampling provides another example; in bars you don't have permission to invade people's space, so getting permission is the most important thing, and we train our field staff to ask questions politely.