Nike's "Just Do It" didn't just happen.

The tagline and the brand that's been built around it was developed through a process–and a fairly long one, at that. It most likely entailed numerous interviews in focus groups with athletes and aspiring athletes to understand not only their wants, needs and thoughts about Nike, but what drives and inspires them to compete and/or workout. The process included market, competitor and SWOT analyses, demographics, consumer psychology studies and a host of other data and research.

Every time I hear someone in marketing or advertising talk about "best practices" for website design, I roll my eyes.

Now granted, many of the do's and don't's of web design have merit. They've been tried, tested and proven to work. And I believe that certain best practices such as ease of navigation, making good use of white space, ensuring that site text is easy to read and building for fast loading times are sarcosanct. But I also believe that best practices are helping to hold marketers back.

A new season of television is upon us and with it, one of my favorite shows – "The Biggest Loser." I'm always moved and motivated by how Bob and Jillian help each season's contestants shed pounds, sculpt their bodies and lead healthier lifestyles. But what I love even more is watching how the show's contestants discover and then reveal their true selves as they slough off the fat and health problems that junk food, lethargy and self-doubt have layered on.