Ford Motor and Domino’s pizza have teamed to deliver pizza with a driverless car. It’s a publicity stunt with a purpose. Both companies are trying to learn how consumers will relate to robotic vehicles. In this case, the car will come to the curb and the customer must leave the house, enter digits from one’s phone number and retrieve the pizza from a box in the rear window. At issue is whether customers will accept the added burden rather than having a human deliver the box to the door. The two companies will find out soon enough. Meanwhile the stunt part of the project is garnering Ford and Domino headlines and positioning them at the forefront of driverless technologies. A smart move.
Moral Responsibility?
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, says American CEOs have a moral responsibility to speak out on issues and to support society’s needs. Economic conservatives would counter by stating that the sole role of the CEO is to make money for shareholders. Which is correct, or do the two approaches exist side by side in an uncomfortable alliance? Even a conservative would admit that if a societal issue threatens a company’s bottom line, the CEO should address it. For the most part, though, CEOs stay out of politics and hot button issues, and that is OK. They have enough to do to keep their companies profitable and growing. But, there is good reason for them to address societal issues within the boundaries of their companies. Issues such as diversity and promotion of women and minorities affect operations and company progress. Local community services surrounding hiring and retention are also well within the strict boundaries of corporate profitability. Thus, for example, a CEO should focus on the quality of schools in a plant town so she can be assured of having enough qualified candidates to keep it running. A company can rarely divorce itself from society completely if it wants to succeed. Tim Cook is right about that.
Price Change Reputation Change?
Whole Foods supermarkets, also known as Whole Paycheck because of their high prices, are cutting consumer costs under new ownership. Amazon, the owner, is seeking an image change for the chain and based on wide news reporting, it just might succeed. Amazon can afford to cut prices and go for market share. It can also cross sell in stores, which it is already doing. It will take time for consumers to shift shopping habits but if Whole Foods’ new image of cost consciousness spreads, there is a good chance the chain can change its reputation into a low-cost alternative to regular supermarkets. It might never reach the level of discounters like Trader Joe’s, but it could become a destination for many more weekly grocery shoppers. The PR move of a price change could lead to a positive reputation change.
The Weather Story
Houston is drowned and headlines in the media are weather stories and tales of disaster. It is times like this that the public forms enduring impressions of politicians, the police and rescue personnel. What they do and how they respond is burned into memory. It took years for FEMA to regain its reputation after Hurricane Katrina and the botch of the New Orleans response. How FEMA handles Houston and surrounding communities will be under a media and public microscope. Perception will rule more than fact. That is why President Trump will visit the Houston area tomorrow to show the administration’s concern. One hopes he doesn’t mess up this critical engagement as he did recently in Arizona. Because of the volume of water falling on Texas, recovery will be slow and impressions of the effectiveness or lack of it of government will be imprinted on those who have suffered loss. They won’t forget.
Amateur Psychology
Democrats are engaging in amateur psychology to explain President Trump’s behavior and hopefully, impeach him. This is a move that could backfire. Obsession with Trump might well dilute messages Democrats should be sending to voters. It is hard in the present situation to stay on topic. The President’s erratic behavior and speech are tempting targets. He is anything but presidential and he has succeeded in isolating himself from the electorate and his own party. One still wonders how he was elected in the first place. But, he is not the issue for Democrats. There are plenty of topics the party can coalesce around including fixing the ACA, updating immigration law and re-establishing good relations with nations now estranged from the President. Democrats needn’t spend their time analyzing and consulting the manual of psychiatric diseases. Rather, they should be working on the midterm elections and trying to regain their power in Congress. Trump is self-destructing without their help.
Operation Reputation
The US Navy is working fast to regain its reputation after accidents in the 7th fleet. It removed the admiral in charge who was destined to retire anyway. The act forcing a step down is a symbolic gesture. It would be hard to know whether a commander at that level is indeed responsible for lapses in seamanship that has occurred four times in the last few months. But the Navy’s tradition is the commander is in charge in all cases and responsible. Although the leaders of the two frigates were not on deck when cargo ships plowed into them, they lost their posts anyway and were in effect drummed out of the Navy. Now the Navy is doing a rare stand-down of the worldwide fleets to retrain its personnel and insure that deck officers know what to do. It wants to get rid of the perception that it is the military arm that can’t sail straight and it needs to do that quickly.
Smart Food PR
Panera restaurants are engaging in a practice of smart food PR. The chain is listing the calories for each soft drink it offers on the side of the cup. That way consumers can know just how much sugar they are ingesting. The practice might hurt the company’s business in the short run. Margins on drinks are high, but the CEO is determined to offer healthy choices for Panera’s customers. Some consumers will stop imbibing the highest calorie drinks and others might forgo soft drinks completely. The chain is saying that is OK. Transparency is the better choice for a company like Panera which offers sandwiches and salads. The company believes in the long run its openness will add to the bottom line. Here is a hope that it does.
Not Much To Do
The company that makes the ubiquitous Tiki Torch is embarrassed. Without its knowledge, neo-nazi demonstrators in Charlottesville, VA used the flambeaus in their parade that ended in violence. The company has publicly disavowed the alt-right groups but that doesn’t solve the problem of thousands of photos and dozens of videos showing the protestors carrying Tiki Torches. There is not much to do in a case like this. The torches meant for outdoor parties and fun have taken on an insidious new meaning. Lamplight Farms, the owner of the Tiki Brand, has to hope that the alt-right will stop using its flambeaus in future parades, but there is no way to be certain of that. There is a good chance that if they do use them, the brand will be killed by popular revulsion. “I don’t want that thing in my yard.” It is a PR nightmare.
Out Of Touch
Jerry Lewis, who just died, was as famous for his telethons as his slapstick comedy. But, his telethons were controversial and some said revealed a man out of touch with the disabled. It mattered little to the ones afflicted with muscular dystrophy that he was soliciting money for them. They were unhappy with the way Lewis described them as damaged individuals deserving of pity. Lewis could be faulted for failing to communicate in a way that respected his audience. It is a matter of perception and of reality. The disabled didn’t want to be type-cast, and they perceived Lewis’ pleas as insulting. It mattered little to them that he raised $2.5 billion in his 44 years on the air. It is sad that one who started out to do good gained a reputation for talking down.
Dumb, cont.
How can a politician make this mistake — talking openly to a reporter without going on background or off the record? Steve Bannon did it and now will suffer the consequences. He directly contradicted his boss, President Trump. He openly acknowledged his internal fights with other White House staff. He talked as if he were the President and able to change the White House team at will. Bannon has enemies, plenty of them, and they will use the interview against him. Of course, Bannon might well have known what he was doing and wanted the interview to be on record. There is always that possibility, but it doesn’t look that way and perception counts. Will Bannon avoid the media from here on out or will he continue to lobby publicly for his views? That is a question for Trump and Bannon. Certainly, if the interview was in error, someone needs to explain off-the-record and on-background to him quickly.