This morning, GMTV interviewed TV comedy legend Bruce Forsyth about once again missing out on a knighthood in the latest Queen’s Honours.

The annual event is promoted to reward exceptional people and those honoured work in a wide range of fields including sports, education, medical research, heritage, and local arts and sports projects.

According to the official Gov website: “The people honoured this year include a pathologist, a nursery nurse, the coach of the England women’s football team, a GP, and a number of youth workers and volunteers. Among the more unusual professions on this year’s list are a station announcer at Fenchurch Street Station and the organist at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool.”

Bruce, who picked up a CBE in 2006, missed out on his knighthood again this year. On the GMTV interview he mused that the support that he’d received from 25,000 Facebook fans and the media, promoting his long years of service to the entertainment industry, may have influenced the final decision in the opposite direction.

If true, then this underlines how out of touch the decision makers are with the power of the ground swell of public opinion now harnessed by Facebook and other social platforms.

We’re not suggesting that knighthoods are given out based on the same voting system as the X-Factor, but a good leader (just as a good brand) uses all the methods available to listen to what’s important to their public, learns from them and makes decisions accordingly.

Who knows Bruce – next year …. the Queen will be saying ‘nice to see you to see you nice’, and you’ll get that Brucie Bonus you so rightly deserve.