Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey apologized on Twitter over a now-deleted tweet that spoke in support of Hong Kong protesters. Dean Crutchfield, CEO of crisis advisory firm Crutchfield and Partners, and CNBC’s Eric Chemi join the “Power Lunch” team to discuss. Here’s the link.
Category: Advertising
PR Week – How the NBA made a no-win situation worse
“Agency experts, including a former communications executive with the league, say its initial public response inadvertently juiced the crisis….
With that in mind, Dean Crutchfield, CEO of Crutchfield + Partners, says the NBA should have exercised another option: dismiss Morey. Crutchfield says other employers would find rogue commentary of a sensitive geopolitical nature grounds for termination, especially if it was about a critical and growing geographic market, regardless of how well-meaning the message.
“If a senior executive and important representative of Apple came out with a remark like that about their most successful business unit, that executive wouldn’t be there anymore. It simply wouldn’t be tolerated in a corporate environment,” states Crutchfield. “It was one man, one tweet; they should have fired him and fired him fast.”
If they had, instead of making a statement about democracy and free speech, the NBA would have addressed business protocols and guidelines in relation to social media.
“The statement would read something like, ‘This is not how our people behave on social media, uncontrolled and with no regard for their professional responsibility. His personal opinion should have been kept to himself given the platform he has being part of this organization,’” says Crutchfield.
FT – Nike risks being dragged into China NBA dispute
Financial Times reports on a new perspective on NBA v. China spat…Few western companies have more at stake than Nike in the fallout from an American basketball executive’s tweet about Hong Kong.
Here’s a link to the article. My POV is that “despite demands from the likes of Mr Rubio, he would advise the company to stay quiet. “Nike didn’t create this war,” he said. “Any crisis manager would say the same: avoid, avoid, avoid.” The episode could yet work to the company’s advantage, he added. “If they play it right, they’re going to sell a lot more merchandise.”
CGI models and future of fashion industry
Fad Or Fixture: How Relevant Are CGI Models To The Fashion And Beauty Industries?
The question is, do CGI models hold true value for such businesses, or is this just a fad? Is such a move merely about gaining from some of the hype such models currently present? Or can it in fact drive ROI for the brands making use of them long term?
Following on from the Fashion shows in NYLON I spoke with CGTN’s Rachelle Akuffo about growing popularity of CGI models. Here’s the link.
Rebranding? Keep An Eye On These Eight Important Things
Great article from Forbes that sheds some useful insights on why and when to rebrand…
“Rebranding can be a good way to better reflect your company’s current focus and growth, but the process must be handled with the utmost care. Otherwise, you risk alienating your existing customers while failing to attract any new ones.“
Flags, Race, Liberty
Was pulling the sneaker the right thing to do? For some, it was a racist sneaker for others an icon of history. Did Nike do the right thing? Why did they get there in the first place? So many questions and so many media impressions. Here’s what I shared on CNBC Squawk Box.
Behind Instagram-friendly photos, an e-cigarette company collects valuable data
The exponential growth of the e-cigarette industry has led to a race among a variety of companies to gain market share and brand recognition. Here’s my POV with NBC News:
The messaging has worked. “It used to be sexy to smoke a cigarette. Now, it is cool and sexy to smoke an e-cigarette,” said Dean Crutchfield, founder and CEO of Crutchfield + Partners, a market growth and development consultancy. “It is a fascinating market for brand marketing because of the uniqueness of that category. And data is absolutely necessary.”
As the industry continues to grow, Crutchfield said the grab for consumer data is about finding a way to measure the “influence, reach and engagement of e-cigarette marketing…The companies are testing this on teens. It has huge and rapid appeal,” he said. “This is the guinea-pig generation.”
Here’s the full article.
Brands are not owned they’re borrowed from the customer
Here’s Who Could Lead Uber Out of its Scandals
…Who can steer Uber into a new chapter? JP Mangalinda at Yahoo asked me who should be the COO Travis was looking for. I recommended a woman. Here’s why:
Read more with Yahoo Financial.
Taxi!
It’s Cannes and it’s all about Prizes for Great Campaigns…
and great parties!
As you’ll see the secret of great campaigns is that they’re smart, succinct and hold surprise.
http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/festival/
PUNCH & KISS 