CEOs in the Hot Seat

When the country's financial crisis hit hard last fall, Euro RSCG in New York produced open-letter newspaper and magazine ads for client Charles Schwab. The print work starred company founder Charles Schwab, who, in the ad, tried to restore people's confidence in investing. This was followed up with a TV commercial also featuring the CEO.Another CEO, Dan Hesse of Sprint, also plays a prominent role in his company's advertising, as he has since coming on board in late 2007. Rich Silverstein, co-founder of Sprint's agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, says the moment they met Hesse they knew they'd found the linchpin to the wireless company's next ad campaign."He had a really good, revolutionary idea -- he wanted to change the way the plans were devised with a flat rate," says Silverstein. "He was so convincing that we thought he was the one who should explain it. He was able to deliver information in a really credible way."Hesse was introduced to the public last March in a black-and-white commercial that showed him walking down a cobblestone street in New York explaining his flat-rate plan. Since then, he's appeared in five more spots for the company.These CEOs have chosen an interesting time to be in the spotlight. With the news filled with images of overpaid executives flying corporate jets to Washington, D.C., as they plead for government assistance to keep their companies afloat, no CEO at a major corporation-even those not related to the banking or car industries-can count on any goodwill coming his or her way. In fact, a recent Opinion Dynamics poll from Fox News found that 73 percent of respondents felt corporate CEOs were not honest or ethical. Yet several companies and their ad agencies continue to use executives as a marketing ploy.Disconnect, anyone?Apparently, not one that worries the ad industry. While it's a fine line to walk, say industry experts, when done well, using a CEO is worth the risk. All they need to do, they explain, is tread carefully.Fritz Kuhn, director of strategy at The Martin Agency, says, "Given the signs of the times, financial panic, toxic distrust of corporate officers, a lusty urge toward scapegoating, perp walking, the handling of CEOs as pitchperson needs to be done with great delicacy."The upside of getting it right? Presenting "an image of integrity and selflessness in a time when corporate selfishness is at high tide," says Kuhn, can be extremely valuable. "I wager the bank CEO [Leonard Abess of City National Bank of Florida] whom [President] Obama introduced in his recent speech is going to be in an ad soon. That guy is the Captain Sully of CEOs. Hell, put Sully in some ads, too. Isn't a pilot the CEO of a plane?"The most successful historical example of a CEO reassuring a jittery public is, of course, Chrysler's famous Lee Iacocca campaign in the '80s, which turned the CEO into a superstar spokesperson who saved the company from the brink of bankruptcy.In tough times, Kuhn adds, a CEO can be relevant "when [he or she] represents something that is in short supply." For instance, a CEO who is perceived as wise and stable when foolishness and failure are everywhere, he says, can go a long way towards creating consumer confidence in the brand. "That's why Geico's use of Warren Buffett in recent print ads is perfect," says Kuhn of his agency's own work for the brand. "Berkshire is a rock behind Geico and the oracle of Omaha has navigated a few panics in his day."Another important trait some say a CEO needs to star in an ad: vision. Richard Kirshenbaum, co-chairman of Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners in New York, notes that "what it really comes down to is, is this a visionary leader beyond reproach, [who] has the ear of the public and people believe in? It's hard to manufacture that. The loyalty happens with the great visionary entrepreneurs because they have a passion and commitment. Even in the world today, if there is somebody that fills those requirements, then it's not such a bad idea."John Kottmann, evp, co-director of strategic planning at McCann Erickson in New York, which handled Wendy's business for several years, adds that while corporate America isn't faring well in public opinion, a campaign starring a CEO can still serve a brand well if the person "is integral to the folklore of the brand ... is the human embodiment of the brand." Dave Thomas, the founder and CEO of Wendy's, was one such executive (he starred in the fast-food company's advertising from 1986 until he died in 2002), as was Frank Perdue, founder of Perdue Farms, who starred in advertising for his company from 1971 to 1994. Sal Taibi, president of Lowe in New York, which handles advertising for Perdue, cautions that any CEO who comes out and tries to counter specific criticisms, such as inflated bonuses, are inviting even more negative scrutiny. "If CEOs are seen as trying to counter facts, they'll be met with immediate skepticism," he says. "And if their message isn't consistent with the up-to-the minute perception that consumers are hearing in the news, they won't be believable.""Companies are under the microscope more than they have ever been," says Andrew Bennett, co-CEO and global chief strategy officer of Euro RSCG in New York. (Bennett recently co-authored Good for Business: The Rise of the Conscious Corporation -- not yet out -- which in part examines the value a high-profile CEO can bring to a corporate brand.) Despite his agency using the company founder in the Schwab spots, he believes there will actually be a drop-off in CEO-driven advertising. "[Companies] are already in the spotlight. ... To then make the leap and go and be the featured player in the communications, CEOs are going to think about it a lot more. The downside is a lot greater than the upside."But using Schwab, Bennett says, made sense. "As the crisis deepened, we had a decision to put him on TV so that he could deliver a more impactful message," he says. "And the fact that he was communicating with the public, speaking with authenticity and confidence at a time of crisis was very well received."Mike Goff, vp of corporate marketing at Sprint, says the company knew it was taking a risk casting its chief executive as the star of its campaign. "We've taken great pains to put him in situations where he's truly a man of the people," he says. "We're not trying to put him in a board room or put him in situations where he is a stereotypical CEO."Of course, one of the greatest risks in putting Sprint's Hesse in front of the camera was that he is not a recognizable celebrity such as Apple's Steve Jobs or Microsoft's Bill Gates. And using someone unfamiliar can lead to spectacularly bad results. In 2006, for instance, DaimlerChrysler chairman and CEO Dieter Zetsche starred in a campaign out of BBDO Detroit in which "Dr. Z," as he was called in the ads, went to people's homes and answered questions. The mustached, German-accented engineer left consumers befuddled. Some thought he was an actor. Those who knew he was a CEO found him to be more of a caricature than a business leader. Sprint's Goff says Hesse started out as "a calculated risk" (analysts and investors had reacted positively to early news that Hesse was taking the reins of the company). But it wasn't until the first spot generated positive consumer feedback-it invited consumers to e-mail Hesse directly -- did they know it would work. It was then that Sprint and the agency felt confident in continuing the direction of the campaign."People really felt positive about hearing directly from him," says Goff. "He has a manner and tone that resonates with people." Goff also credits the ads' success to the way Goodby allowed Hesse to be himself. "The last thing we want him to do is act," he says. Goodby's Silverstein adds, "[Hesse] comes off charming, doesn't try to be a huckster. We shot it in an elegant way. ... He's a populist. The man you see is the man he is."Since the climate has changed drastically in nearly the year since Hesse first started appearing in commercials, Goff says they are continually monitoring public opinion to see "if the trending negativity is creeping into it." But so far, he reports, the company has not seen any evidence of "CEO backlash tainting."In fact, Goff says this campaign is the most successful one the company has produced since its merger with Nextel in summer 2005. "We have not done advertising as successful as this work in terms of brand recall, campaign sustainability," he says. "No work has been as positive as this."

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CEOs in the Hot Seat

Eleftheria Parpis

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Eleftheria Parpis