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A CEO’s job description does not include all required criteria to build and maintain a well-liked brand. One main aspect of criteria that is missing is having a personal brand.
Research has shown that consumers are more likely to respond positively to a brand if they know their CEO is influential and correctly demonstrates the brand they are representing. Consumers want to support a brand that mirrors their behavior. The role of CEO brings a company a personal side that people can relate to; people value the idea of a person behind a company versus a business alone. Ryan Erskine wrote in Forbes, “The public may have a fascination with businesses and their success stories, but it’s the people we feel connections to, not corporate entities.”
CEOs are also essentially the “face” of whatever brand they represent. This being said, consumers are more likely to buy/work with a brand if their CEO has a good reputation, whereas they are not likely to buy/work with a brand if the CEO has a bad reputation. Weber Shandwick conducted a study that showed company leader reputation ranked fourth in a list of 14 categories of how company reputation is influenced.
Company and CEO reputation is also important to employees and potential hires. It is no surprise that people want to work for/alongside someone who is well-rounded and educated on their brand.
One example of a CEO that caused issues for their company is John Schnatter, better known as “Papa John.” Schnatter resigned from his position as CEO of pizza company Papa John’s after he used racially charged language on a conference call when talking to the public relations agency, Laundry Service. The conversation took place to teach Schnatter scenarios and how to avoid another public relations scandal. In 2017, Schnatter was caught up in an argument over the NFL national anthem protests and claimed they were “slowing pizza sales.” Because of the scandals he was caught in, the company has faced a decline in consumers. In Feburary CNBC wrote, “In the fiscal fourth quarter, Papa John’s swung to a net loss of $13.8 million, or 44 cents per share, from net income of $28.5 million, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.”
On the other hand, a CEO that has proven themselves as genuine and a strong asset to their company is Jeff Bezos* of Amazon. Harvard Business Review wrote an article in 2013 of a list ranking the best CEOs in the world; Bezos was ranked second. While times may have changed in six years since the article was written, Bezos has still shown significant evidence that he is a well-performing CEO. One of the most notable traits that Bezos encapsulates is being obsessed with customer needs, rather than being concerned by the competition. The development of Amazon Prime is an excellent example of how the customer-pleasing mindset can be executed in a beneficial way. Bezos thought of the idea after realizing that Amazon users loved free shipping. At first, his team was concerned that minimal shipping costs were going to be unprofitable for the company, but later realized this paid off in the long run. Business Insider wrote, “Amazon Prime customers spend an average of $1,300 in a year, nearly twice that of non-members. More than 100 million people globally are Prime members.” Amazon has also now announced they are planning to allow for free one-day shipping for Prime users; this both satisfies the customer and separates themselves from their competition.
In some respects, a CEO has similarities to the power a celebrity influencer can have on a company. Read more about the ways celebrity influencers can make or break your company here.
*Bezos was a prime example of a CEO prior to the scandal involving Lauren Sanchez.