Independent Thinking » Reputation

Bigotry is Not a Business Strategy

Daria Steigman — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:08:07 +0000

You’ve probably heard that Lowe’s pulled its advertising from reality TV show All-American Muslim. The home improvement company says it made a business decision based on its assertion that the show is a ”lightning rod” for “strong political and societal views.”

The show isn’t the problem.

Lowe’s made a reactive decision based on a fringe Florida group’s disapproval of the company’s initial decision to advertise on the TV show. Now, somehow, Lowe’s is surprised by the backlash.

Like most business owners, I choose to work with people and companies I like. And I’m conscious of my brand. And my reputation. I also “own” my choices and my decisions.

So far, Lowe’s has done neither.

Bigotry is not a business strategy. Unless, that is, your strategy is negative PR, a firestorm of media attention, and a lot of customers who won’t be back anytime soon.

Photo by Niloy (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Reaching Offline

Daria Steigman — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:38:38 +0000

It’s clear that more and more people are going online, and that companies and the consultants that advise them are using social media tools to recruit, network, market, sell, build brand reputation, and more. But not everyone is online. That doesn’t mean you can’t use social media tools to reach them.

Check out ReadWriteWeb lead blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick’s list of five strategies for using social media to reach people who still think that Digg is something dogs do and that Delicious is just an adjective.

Oya’s Bad ‘Tude

Daria Steigman — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:08:31 +0000

Even without the economic downturn, most restaurants would be delighted to have a crowd for happy hour. Especially in the last week of August, when much of official Washington is either in Denver, bound for Minneapolis, or just taking advantage of the downtime to get some downtime. Most restaurants–but not Oya.

The Penn Quarter restaurant may look cool and sophisticated, but it’s just a facade. After agreeing to allow IABC/Washington to hold a happy hour at the bar on Tuesday, staff told arriving event organizers that they would have to run one tab, and that the restaurant would add a service charge to every drink. This for patrons buying drinks at the bar. No special room. No extra bartender.

Oya finally dropped that idea, but then they asked event organizers to move the nametags to a far back corner. I guess they were ruining the aesthetics.

After that, I had a glass of water. Then I went to the ball park, where they want my business, said hello to India (my awesome usher), and had a beer.

Business is reputational, and consumers have lots of options. So why would any business opt to make its customers unwelcome?

Brett Favre’s Problem

Daria Steigman — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:11:09 +0000

Brett Favre seems to have forgotten that the NFL is a business. And, from a business perspective, he’s quickly developing the wrong kind of reputation.

Favre has made three key business errors:

He bad-mouthed his employer. It’s not acceptable, and generally not a smart business practice, to trash your bosses. Technically, he let his mom and brother speak for him. That’s even worse.
He threw his colleague under the bus. Sure, he’s a terrific quarterback, but someone else has his job now. Lobbying to come back to work is one thing, but in the process of trying to reclaim his job he’s essentially trying to “fire” his successor. Does he care at all about Aaron Rodgers?
Hubris. He seems to think his employer owes his not only a job, but the job someone else took over when he retired.

I love Brett Favre the football player. His passion, his talent, and his exuberance. But I’m not so fond of the way he’s trying to blackmail his former bosses into shoving aside his sucessor.

Favre might yet succeed in forcing the Green Bay Packers hand. But at what cost to his reputation?