Authentic CEOs

Posted on August 26, 2008 | 0 Comments

I just returned from Singapore where I appeared at the Global Branding Forum. This has been an annual conference for the past five years and has had such speakers as Al Gore, Rudy Guiliani, Francis Ford Coppola and others. I was flattered to be invited and made a presentation that I titled: "Time for Brands to Get REAL."

After this, I appeared on a panel with Spike Lee and Al Reis, and I thought our readers might enjoy an anecdote I cited. I think that we are all getting fed up with the phonies we've seen in business, politics, and everything in general in the news. Very recently, for example, if you thought of the image of a CEO, you thought about a person with bigger-than-life stature, a million dollar smile (and an equally expensive suit). But those guys, as it turned out, were not very real, not very authentic, and their companies have suffered as a result.

Based on that Hollywood image of corporate leaders, I bet that Spike Lee would never cast a man I know as the CEO of a major global company I'm familiar with. That man is not very tall, he's ordinary looking and speaks with a Midwestern twang. When he was appointed, I agreed with most people in his company that the board of directors made a huge mistake in appointing him to lead this multi-billion dollar company.

But not long after his appointment, a funny thing happened. He gave a speech from the heart, which I attended, and, this unassuming man had his audience rapt in attention. When it was over, the person in charge of the event, came over to me and said, "You know -- he's really authentic. He came across as someone you could believe in, someone who is REAL."

Al Golin
Chairman
Golin/Harris International

PR and Road Kill

Posted on August 22, 2008 | 3 Comments

To some, PR is still little more than road kill

There's no question the craft of public relations has gained in stature.

More and more chief executives understand PR's importance to constituent communications and its influence, direct or indirect, on the Street. Chief Marketing Officers have also recognized PR's ability to reach targets on a one-to-one basis. Additionally, CEOs and CMOs prefer cost-effective PR instead of big, bad advertising.

Yet, for every two steps forward, it seems PR always takes at least one giant stride in reverse. Take Chrysler, please.

The PR Strategist's current issue takes an in-depth look at Chrysler's decision to strip PR's direct report to Chief Executive Bob Nardelli and, instead, assign public relations to Human Resources. Ugh.

Even though Chrysler is now privately-held, it makes no sense to distance PR from the corner office. And, it makes even less sense to have the function report to Nancy Rae, Chrysler's human resources chief. Ms. Rae may be the Michael Phelps of HR, but I guarantee she knows less about the practice of PR than, say, your average agency intern (and, that's said with all due respect to interns near and far.)

Public relations MUST report to the CEO. He or she MUST have a seasoned communications professional who understands the rapidly-evolving communications landscape and can provide unvarnished direction and feedback. That's true in normal circumstances, but even more critical in a crisis. Trust me, when the proverbial sh*t hits the fan, a Fortune 500 company CEO does not want a communicator whose counseling expertise is limited to crafting employee handbooks and newsletters. Instead, he/she will want a smart, seasoned PR pro who understands the murkiness of today's landscape and can help the CEO navigate turbulent waters.

Sadly, it will take a monumental crisis before a guy like Nardelli wakes up and gives PR its rightful seat at the table. Let's just hope he's still occupying the head seat when that realization occurs.

Steve Cody
Managing Partner
Peppercom Strategic Communications

Authenticity and Keeping Promises

Posted on August 13, 2008 | 0 Comments

The academic symposium at Tuck sounds like it generated rich dialogue around The Authentic Enterprise (very much in keeping with the Society's goal to encourage a global conversation). I was pleased to see the focus on the leadership needed by the CCO and that the potential conflict some might see with marketing and the CMOs role may in fact be quite the opposite--that authenticity is fundamentally what will help marketers distinguish their brands. Jim Gilmore, author of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, and a speaker on the authenticity at the AWPS upcoming Annual Conference, would likely agree with this. As he told us, "in a world filled with ever more mediated and staged experience--an increasingly unreal world--people now make decisions based on how real they perceive various offerings--and the communications about those offerings." I also especially liked the call-out by the symposium proceedings about 'keeping promises', which I've always found to be a characteristic of genuine people. Applying this standard to marketers in both making and keeping promises can be an equally useful way of assessing the 'genuineness' of organizations and brands.

Helen Ostrowski
Chairman
Porter Novelli