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Contn. Building The CEO Brand Creating The CEO Brand So just how does a CEO build himself as a brand? Just like you would build a product brand (See How To Build Brand CEO). It must start with a strategic analysis of the competitive environment in which the CEO must operate. Doing so involves studying the target audience, competitor CEO brands, differentiation pressures, impact on the corporate brand, and the overall proposition. Says Santosh Desai, Executive Vice-President, McCann Erickson: ''It starts with a germ of truth and then layers are added to it.'' For example, there is no denying that Gates is inherently ''nerdy'', or that Narayana Murthy is at core humble and altruistic, or that Branson is the wild, free spirit he is made out to be. When all of those ingredients have been sifted and put together, the positioning statement is developed. Alyque Padamsee, ex-Lintas chief and now a brand consultant, confirms that a lot of effort is taken in deciding what the CEO should be saying and where he should be saying it. Says Anand Halve, Partner, Chlorophyll, brand and communications consultancy: ''Any image building involves moulding opinion. And usually, there is a team of people that helps the CEO in this effort.'' Showmen, spin-doctors, image consultants, call them what you may, but CEOs are increasingly turning to them for help in their image management. Says Roger Pereira, CEO, Burson-Marsteller Roger Pereira, which has worked on image-building exercises with prominent Indian CEOs: ''An analysis of the CEO's current and desired image is done. Once the desired mindset has been identified, communication is driven towards it.''
Look at the positioning of some high-profile CEOs and the synergy with the company's business becomes evident. Kumar Mangalam Birla, faced with the herculean task of holding together and growing a mammoth group after father Aditya Vikram Birla's sudden demise, has quickly reworked his image from that of a young heir to that of a corporate captain. So much so that he's been able to find his way to the top of important committees such as the one on corporate governance. The measured manner in which he now speaks only reinforces the authoritative nature of image. Points out Alaistair Robertson, Head of Accenture's leadership practice: ''CEOs conduct what I call the 'theatre of the mind', actually rehearsing in private, in their heads, constantly, what they are going to say apparently spontaneously. Their comments come out easily and apparently spontaneously, but in actual fact they are privately well planned.'' In Birla's case, however, he has managed to carefully balance his brand identity. Consider the way in which he has been able to draw young talent and marshal an old-economy group into new areas such as information technology. Notes Padamsee: ''Ultimately, the public falls in love with people, not with companies.'' World wide the significance of the CEO brand is on the rise. In fact, it is being seen as a means to enhance company valuations. The logic: performance drives value and perception enhances it. A company derives base value through its business model, viability of its strategy, long-term implementation of the strategy, strength of the customer base, sales and profitability, returns given to investors, and its projected ongoing success. But there is an increasing argument that proper positioning of the leaders of the company can enhance value. We're not undermining the need for a strong leadership team-depth of leadership with strong sub-brands in the portfolio (like in the case of Shiv Nadar and Vijay Thadani, or Dhirubhai Ambani and his sons, Mukesh and Anil)-is what will deliver performance. But increasingly a lot has come to ride on the reputation of the CEO. Explains Naina Lal Kidwai, Vice-Chairman, JM Morgan Stanley: ''When we took Wipro on the road, we did not just present Premji, but the entire team. But having a strong CEO definitely is an advantage. Today it is not just the CEO who benefits from the company image-the company's image also benefits from a positive CEO image.'' When a financial analyst, fund manager, shareholder, prospective employee, or even for that matter a business writer looks at an Infosys, a lot of what he sees is the CEO in Narayana Murthy. It is his image that distills in. The point: CEOs are personifying the company to its most critical audiences. But like Williamson of Wolff Olins says: ''If the CEO's brand isn't true it will fail.'' The Pitfalls Betting on star CEOs can be dangerous, too. Imagine if Narayana Murthy were to part ways with Infosys tomorrow, or Rahul Bajaj steps down without creating an equally powerful successor, or the Tata group were to be handed over to a non-family professional. Stepping into the shoes of a powerful CEO brand is hard for the successor because she is torn between the need to create her own brand identity and to live up to the image of the retiring brand. Says Robertson of Accenture: ''If the CEO basically 'becomes the company' in the eyes of the press and the shareholders, the danger is that if he or she leaves, then the fortunes of the company may take a dive.'' In fact, in most cases, it is the promoter-driven companies where more CEO brands and their line extensions (read heirs) can be found. In a professional company, a board would think twice before committing time and resource to building a CEO with a limited tenure as a brand. That is why most transnationals in India function without strong faces. How much do you know of P.M. Sinha at Pepsi, Pranab Barua at Reckitt Benckiser, Simon Scarff at GlaxoSmithKline or Carlo Donati at Nestlé? There are those that believe that products, and not CEOs should be built as brands. The trick is in finding a balance that allows the company to exploit the advantage of its CEO's reputation as a support to the company's brands. Says Y.L.R. Moorthi, Associate Professor, IIM Bangalore: ''A good and sensible CEO will keep himself neither too close nor too far from the company.'' A manufacturing company, without the advantage of strong retail brands, may want the CEO brand to be stronger. As Indian companies start paying closer attention to managing Brand CEO, a lot of learnings will get thrown up. It is also possible that some CEO brands may end up working to the detriment of the company. But, by and large, chances are Brand CEO will help reinforce the salience of product and corporate brands not just with customers, but the corporation's range of stakeholders. |
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