Spend enough time in the industry and you see the same ideas over and over again.  Sure, they may be varying shades of grey, but essentially they fall into the same blanket, they are a Vehicle, not a strategy.  Take the good old Competition as an example, (be it web based, traditional or modern day social media driven), rarely does enough thought go into understanding the sales funnel and emotional drivers to generate the desired end results.

I've heard it a million times before 'We run a competition to increase our followers, then we can communicate to them for free', which in essence is a truth, hidden behind a veil of laziness.  As a consumer, does entering a toilet paper competition make me more likely to buy that brand, improve my brand sentiment or any practical business outcome.... probably not.

This is not to say that competitions are useless, quite the opposite, what they are however is a vehicle (or tactic), not an overarching strategy.  A strategy is the overall driver for action, it works in congruence with your existing brand position, a communication style.  It may seem obvious, but way too often we see half baked ideas go to market, ideas that turn into nothing more that stimuli clutter in an already jam packed world of advertising.

Conclusion
This entry is more about common sense that anything, but before you dismiss it as yet another pointless blog, sit back and think about the amount of pointless acts your organisation has performed.  Now take all that time and resource and combine it into one truly brilliant idea.  I think we are all on the same page now.  Good night.