A recent study by FTI and a Washington Business Journal article on the CEO as the embodiment of the company or organization’s brand got us thinking. Since CommCore works in both camps – proactive communications for media interviews and presentations, and reactive crisis communications and reputation protection, we will devote 2 issues of The Observer, our monthly newsletter, to this topic. This month we will focus on proactive communications, next month on responding to crisis.
Proactive:
If the company’s owner or CEO is the brand, for example, iconic ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, he/she should be in the public eye. Company stakeholders like to see the CEO out front at conferences, in ads, and in the media. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were on the label of every single carton of ice cream they sold. Victor Kiam is another memorable example; he was the man who bought Remington Shavers and then became the face of the company, using the slogan: “I liked the product so much, I bought the company!” Frank Perdue was a great CEO and pitchman. Elon Musk, like him or not, is the face of Tesla and car buyers support his vision and guts.
For larger companies and companies who want to build a bigger brand, a deeper bench of spokespeople is usually necessary. Your CEO can’t be at every event, ribbon-cutting, or announcement. Other leaders and paid spokespeople should be showcased at product launches, conferences, and key policy forums. Kevin Plank was a great out-front CEO for Under Armour during its origin story. After the company became a juggernaut, he was less important to the success of each new product.
When creating a proactive communications presence that includes your CEO (or not!), CommCore recommends you to keep several key points in mind.
Do’s:
- Think about objectives for customers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders. If having the CEO out front is the right move, go forward.
- For all spokespeople, develop multi-media plans for Social Media, Advertising, Influencers, and business media.
- Plan the communications and prep the CEO for interviews. Even for positive communications where your reputation isn’t necessarily under attack, there will be challenging questions.
- Seek outside experts to evaluate and ‘poke-holes’ in your plan.
- Invest time in messaging, Q&A documents, and standby statements.
Don’ts:
- Don’t put the CEO out front just because she/he wants to be the face of the company/product.
- Don’t assume your company is inoculated from pushback or criticism from the public or investors just because of the CEO title.
- Don’t forget to monitor the media and social media for comments and decide whether a response is needed.
Schedule Your Employee Communications Skills Training
Do you have staff in management or leadership roles who could benefit from communications skills training? Are certain members of your team increasingly in the public eye – either internally or with external stakeholders, or the media? Those who often facilitate meetings, have frequent public speaking engagements (presentations, panels, short speeches), and spokespeople who appear on radio, TV and/or digital media interviews will benefit from this type of professional development.
We offer communications skills training programs for:
- Your Executive Management Committee
- Managers
- C-Suites and Division Leaders
- Spokespeople
- Salespeople
- Marketing, Legal, IT, HR, Security, Finance
- PR, Communications, Investor Relations, Public/Government Affairs
- Operations Staff
We offer Executive Coaching for:
- Your Executive Management Committee
- Managers
- C-Suites and Division Leaders
- Spokespeople
- Salespeople
- Marketing, Legal, IT, HR, Security, Finance
- PR, Communications, Investor Relations, Public/Government Affairs
- Operations Staff
Contact Us:
We can put you in touch with the right person to help with your specific communications skills training challenge.
To schedule a training or get answers quickly, call us at (202) 659-4177 or email info@CommCoreConsulting.com