In a previous article on social media, I state: "It will just be much more difficult to lie to consumers since they have the tools and the communication ability to weed them out." And that's why they got punk'd. So what did they do wrong? And what do others companies do wrong when they approach social media?

The most powerful brands are often the ones that get left behind. Why? Because change comes much more slowly to them. Their corporate structures are layered -- a tree structure of employees sitting on top of employees who sit on top of other employees, all in a tree structure of responsibility avoidance. This causes entrenchment and aversion to risk in an effort to reach that next rung. Those companies are glaciers; oil tankers trying a three-point turn; a blind squirrel trying to find a nut.