“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.
On Monday, the chain with 45,000-plus units globally unveiled what it’s labeling the most extensive launch in company history: a massive brand evolution that affects everything from pictures and colors to function and form. The hefty investment, which began in earnest around two years ago and will take “multiple years to rollout,” will help Subway remain at the forefront of a category it has historically fronted—freshness and quality—and broaden its appeal with younger customers, says Chris Carroll, Subway’s chief advertising officer.
PUNCH & KISS 