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Marvel is on Comixology Unlimited, which means Comixology Unlimited subscribers can now access Marvel titles. This is probably gibberish to people who do not read comic books, but trust me, it’s a very big deal for anyone invested in the comic book world. For everyone else, it’s a lesson in how content publishing is changing.
Comixology Unlimited is basically Netflix for comic books. Comixology Unlimited is an offshoot of Comixology, an online store for digital comics, but Unlimited uses a subscription model. Marvel is a major brand in the comic-book world. For six USD a month (the service is not yet available in Canada) users have unlimited access to a practically endless library of rotating titles. It has practically everything from superheroes, to manga, to graphic novels — just no DC, and a up until this month, no Marvel.
Many comic book fans, digital planners and businesses strategists never thought this day would come. The fact that Marvel is now on Comixology Unlimited shows how the power dynamics between aggregators and publishers have changed, thanks to digital media.
The Internet is vast and overwhelming, making aggregators a necessary step between publishers and consumers. This means reaching people involves researching the type of users or customers you want, learning where and how they prefer to interact with similar content, and optimizing your content so your audience can find it. Advertising will only go so far. People will want something, but if it’s not available in the most convenient form, they’ll settle for something close. For example, they will want to watch a certain show, but if it’s not on Netflix, they often end up settling for something similar that is available through the streaming service.
To grow an audience online you need to make sure people can find your content in the easiest way possible. Increasingly, this means putting your content in an aggregator, like Netflix. In this instance it’s Comixology — just like TV shows need to be in Netflix and websites need to be in Google, (eventually) comic book publishers will need to be in Comixology Unlimited.
So why did Marvel decide to join up? It’s not like they need the money — you might have noticed they make some pretty big movies. This month, more people will watch the second installment of Guardians of the Galaxy than will download Comixology Unlimited’s app for the entire year. But, while Marvel has media channels beyond comics, Comixology has done some very good work winning over comic book readers, which is slightly different than winning over comic book fans. Despite having Mickey Mouse and Robert Downey Jr. in its corner, Marvel still has to play the aggregator game in order to reach the users it wants — in this case, people that actually read comic books.
Marvel is not putting its entire catalogue on Comixology but it’s a very good selection. Comixology deserves a lot of credit for making this happen. Perhaps knowing it would not be able to offer Batman or Spider-Man, Comixology Unlimited went for all the other publishers. This was a smart move: people who like more obscure titles tend to be more devoted readers and are more likely to first, stay subscribed to Comixology Unlimited, and second, try different titles from another publisher recommended through the app. And for Marvel, this also makes sense. By offering some of its most popular books to the most engaged reading audience, Marvel increased the likelihood that one of these people will read one of its books and eventually become a devoted Marvel customer.
The applications for public affairs are obvious. With a world of practically unlimited content options, publishers have to identify their audiences. With Marvel, this means recognizing that not all comic book fans actually read comics, and even that not all comic readers buy digital editions. Marvel’s first wave of Comixology Unlimited titles are deliberate. Marvel didn’t join Comixology Unlimited to reach just anyone. It wanted digital comic book readers.
This is obviously good for Marvel and it also helps Comixology Unlimited grow by attracting users from Marvel’s considerable audience who might be looking to read less mainstream comics. For many, Marvel joining Comixology Unlimited is a victory for the little guy. The smaller digital reader/aggregator got buy-in from one of the industry giants. In a way, the new X-Men will have the same prestige as the latest issue of Saga, which is cool for comic book readers, but Marvel probably doesn’t see it that way. What it sees is an opportunity to use an aggregator to grow its audience.
The alt-right is an ambiguous term often used to describe a loose coalition of cultural conservatives, economic nationalists, white nationalists and a mix of other ideologies. They were Trump’s most virulent supporters and played a significant role in campaigning for Trump in the primaries and general election. Trump has, however, alienated his alt-right base since taking office.
While difficult to nail down, the alt-right’s policy principles centre on three key points: 1) opposition to immigration and multiculturalism; 2) support for free markets but opposition to free trade; and 3) opposition to overseas military intervention, particularly for the practice of “nation building” and “humanitarian” missions. Trump’s platform fell in line with these key points and the alt-right became fervent followers of the candidate they dubbed as “Daddy” or “The God-Emperor.”
As President, his appointments of Goldman-Sachs employees to key cabinet posts initially gave his alt-right supporters pause. Claims the border wall would take longer than anticipated to build made them nervous. But when Trump ordered airstrikes on a Syrian air force base after the gas attacks in Idlib, huge swaths of the alt-right turned on him.
In the wake of the bombings, Richard Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute think tank and most famous, perhaps, for his “Heil Trump” speech in Washington, D.C., described the military action as a “sad, shocking and deeply frustrating moment.” Red Ice Radio, dubbed the “CNN of the alt-right,” declared its hosts officially off the “Trump Train.” Alt-right members vented on blogs and forums that bombing Syria was what “Crooked Hillary” wanted, and they worried Trump had fallen under the sway of the very globalism he had claimed he would end.
In the mainstream media, Trump’s actions were lauded. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria declared that Trump was finally “a real President.” NBC’s Brian Williams quoted Leonard Cohen in describing the “beauty” of the bombs. For many opinion leaders who opposed Trump’s election, his response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria was a positive first step in the potential reformation of an otherwise disastrous presidency.
Trump’s attempt to pivot is a precarious one. He campaigned on a tough-guy message of “bombing the hell” out of ISIS and “doing a whole lot worse than waterboarding” to suspected terrorists, while also lambasting George W. Bush for the Iraq war and Clinton and Obama for the intervention in Libya. Mainstream opinion worried that Trump would be too close with Putin and wouldn’t use military action to stop dictators killing their own people. Liberal and centrist Americans doubted Trump had the composure to be president. His alt-right supporters either overlooked or actually enjoyed this aspect of his personality, and cheered on his supposedly isolationist message.
Now all that has changed. Increasingly, the alt-right are becoming opponents of Trump. Even Breitbart – the publication previously run by Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon – has started publishing articles that are critical of the President, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump.
Trump has seriously alienated his base with his attempt to broaden his support among mainstream Americans. Most Americans opposed Trump because of his personality, not because of his anti-interventionist foreign policy. Boorish, impulsive, and inappropriate, many saw Trump as a man wholly unqualified to be president during his campaign. Since taking office, he has done little to assuage those fears — he Tweets at all hours of the night and makes public pronouncements that directly contradict those of his staff and cabinet. Regardless of his actions in Syria, Trump is still seen as an incompetent executive.
This is most apparent with the outcry against Trump’s (perhaps accidental, perhaps not) leaking of classified information to the Russian ambassador during a meeting in the Oval Office. Trump’s loose lips have only further cemented the opinions of his detractors. Now, Democratic lawmakers are actively calling for his impeachment.
Even if his personality was not a concern, Trump continues to enact a host of policies diametrically opposed to liberal values: repealing Obamacare, gutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate change research department, and banning foreign aid funding for pro-choice and family planning organizations. Trump’s actions in Syria may have won him praise among liberal and centrist Americans — particularly those in the media — but changes to his foreign policy are unlikely to overshadow these other policies.
The alt-right supported Trump because of his policies — the policies liberal America found so abhorrent during the campaign. His promises to build a wall between America and Mexico, deport illegal aliens, and to “end the false song of globalism” were what attracted the alt-right initially, but Trump has yet to enact these policies, and failing to do so risks alienating his core supporters.
Without the support of the alt-right, Trump risks motivating an extremely active and internet-savvy community to oppose him. MAGA memes, Pepe the Frog, and flame wars were all pumped out by the online mob of Trump supporters during the presidential race. Likewise, as more conservative Americans move to alternative media like Breitbart, Trump’s public clashes with Steve Bannon could turn the reliably pro-Trump publication into an anti-Trump propaganda machine.
After elections, politicians need to turn from their base and focus on policies that will improve the lives of all citizens. Trump is attempting to do this, but politicians also need to give certain concessions to their base to ensure these voters don’t abandon them at the next election. This is where Trump has fallen down. Both his travel bans have been struck down by the courts and his Obamacare replacement bill was pulled after not having sufficient support among Republicans. To the alt-right, Trump seems increasingly like a traditional Republican and the swamp seems far from drained.
If Trump continues to alienate the alt-right, he risks being left with no voter base in the next election (let’s not forget he won critical swing states by incredible thin margins) and could lose Senate and House seats in 2018. Liberal and centrist Americans have no reason to vote for a candidate whose presidency they see largely as a sideshow, while his alt-right base will have no reason to campaign for a candidate it sees as unable or unwilling to act on the promises that were attractive the first place. While some in the alt-right continue to hold out hope that the president is playing “4D chess” and will someday implement all the policies he campaigned on, most seem to have come to the conclusion that so many Americans had before the election: Trump is dangerously unpredictable and his word is never his bond.
Machiavelli tells us in The Prince there are three classes of intellects: “One which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless.”
For many watching the Conservative leadership race, it is perhaps too easy to divide candidates into these categories: those who are charismatic personalities running without substance and those who are brilliant thinkers running without any understanding of the base. The more pessimistic will even open up Machiavelli’s third category for those who lack both.
This is where the great divide becomes apparent between hacks and wonks. For hacks in this race, you edge out the competition by sticking to your polling data and securing the most memberships for victory. For wonks, taking the time to make your case and demonstrate you have a fresh, measured approach to reboot the party will mean not just seizing the day, but securing a legacy.
So who wins? Is it that black and white?
The Eternal Contest
For those unfamiliar with these terms, in the political world, a “hack” is someone hands-on, interested in strategizing and deploying tactics like a military general on a campaign. They enjoy a good fight, unafraid of getting down in the mud with their opponents and battling hand-to-hand. They like style, have tact, and pride themselves on serving the proverbial kool-aid to mobilize their base of supporters.
A “wonk” is someone who is more cerebral, interested in good ideas and evidence-based policy. They are intellectuals in their own right, well-versed in the principles of ideology. They believe the survival and advancement of the movement is their sole charge and prerogative. They pride themselves on being trusted advisors, believing a long-term vision will ultimately win out over ad hoc tactics.
And for as long as anyone can remember, these two archetypes have set themselves to the purpose of forever mistrusting the other. Think Kissinger and Brzezinski. Anne-Marie Slaughter and Hillary Clinton. Roland Paris and Gerald Butts.
A Study in Scarlet
This is why Andrew Coyne’s piece in The Walrus misses the mark on how to save the Conservative Party. Coyne mourns the perceived death of conservatism under the Harper government — the caving to boutique tax credits and corporate bailouts. According to him, these policies deviated from the traditional conservative ideology espoused by grassroots Conservative Party members, such as small government and flat tax cuts. .
However, running on an intellectual platform that defends a return to classic liberalism doesn’t resonate with the average voter. If you are seeking to activate all of the enlightened small-c conservative out there (hint: they are few), you are going after a fairly niche market.
This is not to critique the tenets of classical liberalism. In fact, they should be revived, but not in an ivory tower. What is fundamentally missing in the piece and what Andrew Coyne will never understand is that you cannot divorce intellectualism from political reality without political cost. Just ask Michael Chong.
At the same time, personality without substance does not conquer the day. For decades, Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government have pursued strategies at the behest of highly vocal interest groups that involve short-term fixes and policy announcements made on the fly. With the Premier’s popularity at an all-time low, in 2018, the electorate is poised to do what they do best in a democracy: reward those with good ideas and punish those without.
Similarly, those who think that the leadership of the Conservative Party and the country can be achieved at the hands of a few good strategists will quickly learn that the demands of leadership and governance require vision and informed decision-making. Winning a few battles against your opponents does not score you points in the war for hearts and minds.
What is certain is that the conflict between hacks and wonks inevitably leads to weakness in any political party. A party that isn’t good at selling its ideas is no better off than a party with nothing to sell. When you pit hacks against wonks, everyone loses.
A Marriage of True Minds
Conversely, if your organization can build an environment where hacks and wonks can co-exist and even thrive, you become a formidable force — whether that’s the business, political, or social world in which you operate.
But how does one get the Montagues and Capulets of the modern age to see eye to eye? How do you engineer a marriage of true minds?
First off, both must be empowered to provide their valuable insights and direction into the leadership of your organization. Make sure both archetypes have a voice at your table and in your war room. Learn to mesh those ideas and strategies to help achieve your ultimate goals, whether that’s campaign victories, business expansion, or fundraising targets.
Second, facilitate cross-pollination of expertise. Help your wonks understand how and why strategy and tactics can be important to helping them get their ideas to the table and into practice. Mentor your hacks into seeing the bigger picture and understand how evidence-based, well-crafted ideas can help their organization succeed.
Third, encourage mutual respect. Readers may well roll their eyes at this seemingly mundane idea, but you’d be surprised how often wonks and hacks will shut the door on each other unless someone is there to keep the doors wide open. Give your wonks and hacks opportunities to openly prove their value to your organization, earn the respect of their colleagues, and great working relationships will follow.
At the end of the day, you will no longer have hacks and wonks. You will have a formidable team of what Machiavelli would only describe as true virtuosos.
TORONTO – (May 4, 2017) – The Ivey Business School at Western University, and Navigator, Canada’s leading high-stakes communications firm, are pleased to announce a groundbreaking executive development partnership that will bring together Canada’s prominent business academics and communication experts in a proprietary reputation risk management and recovery program for senior executives.
“We are very excited about the power of the partnership with Navigator,” said Mark Healy, Ivey’s Executive Director of Executive Education.
“Managing reputation risk is now a core competency for any business leader. This program will prepare executives in a manner that goes beyond the classroom and puts our executives on the front lines of managing risk in a real-time, immersive setting with Canada’s leading experts in communication and reputation risk,” Healy added.
Reputation risk has a material impact on a company’s performance and position in its industry. The Ivey-Navigator program uses simulations and case studies to prepare executives with the strategies and tactics to plan, respond and recover from any situation that could adversely affect their company’s reputation. Participants will be instructed by a team of professors, business leaders and communications experts.
“In 20 years of working with Canada’s top corporations and CEOs, we have never seen as many business leaders and board directors identifying reputation risk as a leading business challenge,” said Jaime Watt, executive chairman of Navigator. “Our partnership with Ivey—the first program of its kind in Canada—will bring together experts and academics to provide an intensive readiness and assessment program to manage reputation risk.”
The program features practical exercises in which participants engage in the planning, response and recovery during a situation where reputation is threatened. Participants will work through simulations and case studies from a variety of stakeholder perspectives. This program equips participants to manage reputation-defining moments in order to build trust with the stakeholders that matter most.
“An organization’s reputation can be thrust unexpectedly into the spotlight by a rogue employee, a Freudian slip of the tongue, bad leadership, a major organizational shift or challenging business results. This program provides a ground-breaking approach to preparing executives for those major moments when their organization’s reputation is on the line,” said Gerard Seijts, professor of organizational behaviour and executive director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at Ivey.
Starting in fall 2017, Ivey and Navigator will provide a five-day comprehensive risk management program for business leaders delivered at the St. Andrew’s Club and Conference Centre in Toronto.
Navigator is Canada’s leading high-stakes public strategy firm retained by clients when they can’t afford to lose. Navigator was created by public affairs and government relations practitioners who recognized a market need for an organization that truly understood how to develop a winning, overarching plan, bringing together research, planning, stakeholder outreach, communications and government relations tactics. Navigator has grown to become a diverse firm with consultants from a variety of backgrounds including journalism, public opinion research, politics, marketing and law.
Navigator serves clients from offices in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Ottawa and London, UK.
About the Ivey Business School, Western University
The Ivey Business School (www.ivey.ca) at Western University is Canada’s leading provider of relevant, innovative and comprehensive business education. Drawing on extensive research and business experience, Ivey faculty provides the best classroom experience, equipping graduates with the skills and capabilities they need to tackle the leadership challenges in today’s complex business world. Ivey offers world-renowned undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as Executive Development at campuses in London (Ontario), Toronto and Hong Kong.
If you’re the CEO of a public company, you already know that your company’s reputation accounts for more than $1 in every $5 of shareholder value. You know that a company’s reputation is seen as the cornerstone of its corporate value. And, you’re probably familiar with Warren Buffet’s famous mantra: ‘we can afford to lose money ‘ even a lot of money. But we can’t afford to lose reputation ‘ even a shred of reputation.’
Your company’s reputation (and your personal reputation) should be managed like a priceless asset and protected as a matter of life or death. One survey found that 53 per cent of companies that experienced a crisis still hadn’t returned to their pre-crisis share prices a year after the incident. How a company responds to a crisis can make or break its reputation.
To help you prepare for the unthinkable, I’ve compiled this list of different high-profile crises. This list is in no particular order and isn’t intended to offer any definitive lessons. Rather, it’s to get you thinking. Things can go wrong (or right) in unexpected ways — is your team prepared?
PR Crises To Help You Prepare
1. Aggressive Media Relations
Uber provides a lesson in how not to handle media: In 2014 Uber executive, Emil Michael, suggested that Uber should consider hiring a team of opposition researchers to use the company’s customer data to dig up dirt and spread personal details about a journalist who had criticized the company. This was a serious threat — the app contains personal details like ride data, home addresses, work addresses, daily routines, and credit card information.
Michael thought he was commenting off-the-record. He would release a statement expressing regret for his comments and underscoring that they did not reflect the company’s views. It was unfortunate timing for Uber, as the comments came at a time when the company was trying to improve its media relations and its management team’s image.
2. Angry Consumers
In July 2011, Netflix emailed customers with news that it would unbundle its video streaming and DVD service to create two separate packages. The changes would increase the price for DVD customers. Under intense pressure, and in reaction to venomous consumer feedback, that separate DVD service, Qwikster, was cancelled within a month of its launch.
The company’s share price plunged and Hastings gave up 50 per cent of his stock option awards for the year. Netflix had to go on an apology tour. CEO Reed Hasting said, ‘I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation. Many members felt we lacked respect and humilityﾅ.That was certainly not our intent.’ Some reporters likened this mistake to New Coke. Ouch.
3. Angry shareholders
Aviva became the first blue chip company to receive a ‘No’ vote from it shareholders on matters of compensation after the credit crunch. Management at the insurance giant had their tails stuck between their legs after their multi-million dollar bonuses were rejected by investors at their annual general meeting.
In 2009, the company’s chairman, Lord Sharman, was also roasted by one shareholder for failing to fire chief executive Andrew Moss after an office affair was revealed. The AGM was seen as a turning point — shareholders were finally taking concrete measures to protest bad management.
4. Vendor failures
California-based Conal Footwear found itself in a tough spot after a Reddit thread erupted. A user shared an image of tread marks from the company’s new pair of boots. The problem? The soles left swastika imprints. This appeared to be an honest mistake made by one of the company’s manufacturers, but the pic went viral, with 116,000 votes and 5,100 comments appearing on the Reddit thread alone. Within days, the photo had more than four million views.
Things took a turn for the worse when neo-Nazi groups began endorsing the product. It didn’t help that the boot shared a name — Polar Fox — with a WWII military operation. The company responded as best it could, recalling the boots within 48 hours and issuing a statement on the homepage of its website rather than bury it in the media room.
5. Disgruntled employees
In March 2012, Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith penned a damning resignation letter, which The New York Times published. In the letter he excoriates the firm’s culture: ‘When the history books are written about Goldman Sachs, they may reflect that the current chief executive officer, Lloyd C. Blankfein, and the president, Gary D. Cohn, lost hold of the firm’s culture on their watch. I truly believe that this decline in the firm’s moral fiber represents the single most serious threat to its long-run survival.’
The problem, Smith added, was that the firm cared more about making money and less about taking care of its clients. ‘I attend derivatives sales meetings where not one single minute is spent asking questions about how we can help clients. It’s purely about how we can make the most possible money off of them. If you were an alien from Mars and sat in on one of these meetings, you would believe that a client’s success or progress was not part of the thought process at all.’
The letter trended on Twitter the morning it was published and spawned at least one clever parody: ‘Why I’m Leaving the Empire, by Darth Vader.’ It was a bad day for the much-maligned firm. On top of Smith’s letter, stakeholders and investors chastised Goldman Sach’s response in the press for being ‘Too little, too late.’
6. Executive succession
The most skilled PR practitioners nip a crisis in the bud before it becomes one.
Normally, the unexpected death of a charismatic and successful CEO would send share prices reeling. Total, a French oil company, avoided the drop by announcing a new CEO the next day.
CEO Christophe de Margerie was killed when a drunk driver drove a snowplough into de Margerie’s corporate jet at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. The plane was engulfed in flames and all four people onboard died. The new CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, had long been exposed to media and investors and was a respected entity. The transition was smooth, and the share price unaffected.
7. False accusations
In March 2005, a Wendy’s customer in San Jose claimed to have found a finger in her chili. One month later, a San Jose Police Department investigation revealed Wendy’s was not at fault and the district attorney charged the customer with attempted larceny.
Despite this result, Wendy’s was left with the unenviable task of rebuilding trust with its consumers, without reminding them of the finger. To compound matters, the finger itself stayed in the news: yes, the accuser would face criminal charges for trying to defraud Wendy’s, but the source of the finger she placed in the chili was never revealed.
8. Natural disasters
In March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan’s northeastern shore. It’s the most powerful recorded earthquake to ever hit Japan. The subsequent tsunamis wreaked additional devastation across three coastal prefectures, wiped two towns off the map, claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than half a million people.
The Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara city was one of many business hit by the quake. Throughout the 10 days the refinery was engulfed in flames the company provided regular updates, expressing ‘the sincerest apologies for the problems and unease caused to the nearby residents and to all those concerned.’ They ensured residents that ‘every action will continue to be taken to resume normal operations as soon as possible.’
9. Fraud
In 1998, Henry Silverman, a private equity investor at Hospitality Franchise Systems, led his company into a disastrous merger. The $14 billion deal with CUC International formed Cendant Corporation, but the honeymoon was short-lived. Shortly after the merger, Cendant uncovered a massive, decade-long accounting fraud at CUC International. CUC’s top executives had been preparing false business statements. The total estimated cost to investors was over $19 billion, making it one of the largest financial scandals of the 1990s.
10. Government investigation
In 1998, Bridgestone began receiving complaints about its Firestone tire treads’ tendency to separate, often resulting in horrible accidents. For two years, the company refused to admit there was a real problem. Instead, Bridgestone attempted to blame customers and pointed the finger at Ford. Motor Co. (which used many of the tires). The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a large-scale investigation, and finally, on August 9, 2000, the company issued a recall.
Bridgestone issued a recall for 6.5 million tires — the second largest in U.S. history at the time. The NHTSA eventually announced that the faulty tires resulted in nearly 200 deaths and more than 700 injuries.
11. Cyberattack
In 2014, Sony Pictures was the victim of a cyber attack that leaked emails and forced the electronic release of upcoming films. The government of North Korea spearheaded the hack in response to Sony’s upcoming movie, The Interview, which included the assassination of North Korea’s leader. Apparently dictators don’t like being made fun of. In any case, as the leaks continued, and the gravity of the breach became apparent — largely through leaked emails in which senior executives insulted Hollywood stars — the company remained mostly quiet. It took Sony more than a week to issue substantive comments on the matter. The breach was humiliating, exposing, pay disparities and personal feuds.
Sony followed-up by firing its senior communications executive and threatened reporters against using the information from the hack with legal action. The studio drew President Obama’s ire for cancelling the release of The Interview: “We cannot have a society in which some dictators some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States,” Obama said. “Because if somebody is able to intimidate us out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing once they see a documentary that they don’t like or news reports that they don’t like. That’s not who we are. That’s not what America is about.” Sony insisted that ‘we have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered, we will not back down,’ before releasing the movie on various digital platforms.
12. Product tampering
In 2010, a couple from Suffolk County, NY, decided they did not want to pay $1.40 for a pack of Jell-O. The couple developed a scheme in which they bought the pudding, replaced the Jell-O powder with a mixture of sand and salt, and then returned the package to the grocery store for a refund. They managed to hit up four stores with 50 fraudulent packages of pudding before getting caught. A customer who bought one of the fraudulent packages complained to the grocery story and surveillance video led police to the criminals. While the story received national attention, the issue was mostly seen as an isolated incident and Jell-O managed to avoid becoming the story.
13. Proxy contests
Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz launched a high-profile proxy campaign against DuPont in 2015, painting the chemical company as an underachiever (even though DuPont had a total shareholder return of 266 per cent over the previous six-year period). Within three months of his campaign launch, Peltz’ narrative appeared to be gaining traction. DuPont’s share price rose five per cent after the Institutional Shareholder Services advised DuPont shareholders to vote for Peltz to join the board, leading to speculation that Peltz’ presence would boost the company’s value.
In the end, Peltz lost, which came as a surprise to most observers and analysts. Despite his winning record as an activist shareholder, Peltz failed to secure the backing of a sufficient number of institutional investors and retail investors. Investors came to the conclusion that DuPont’s CEO was already making the type of pro-shareholder moves that activists try once they get on the board.
14. Rumours
In 1993, Pepsi had to deal with a scary rumour: a syringe was found in a can of Diet Pepsi in Washington State. Within one week, there were more than 50 reports of tampered Diet Pepsi cans across the country.
Both Pepsi the FDA were confident the reports were outright lies (they were). The company came out hard, staunchly defending itself to kill the rumour. This approach only works when you know the facts are completely in your favour. Pepsi produced four videos throughout the crisis, including a detailed review of its canning process, and eventually, security footage of a Colorado woman putting a syringe into a can of Diet Pepsi behind the store clerk’s back.
CEO Craig Weatherup took that evidence to the airways, appearing on news stations — with the explicit support of the FDA — to assure the public that Diet Pepsi was safe for consumption. Within two weeks, the rumours fizzled out and the FDA made multiple arrests for false reports. While sales dipped two per cent during the crisis, Pepsi recovered within one month.
15. Sexual harassment
David Davidar left Penguin in 2010. The company announced that Davidar was leaving to pursue ‘his successful writing career and other projects.’ The real reason for his exit remained a mystery for a couple days until new facts came out: a recently-dismissed Penguin employee had filed a $423,000 lawsuit against the company, and a separate $100,000 suit against Davidar. The employee alleged that she was fired after complaining of sexual harassment from her boss. She claimed damages from Penguin for wrongful dismissal and the ‘harsh, vindictive and malicious’ way the company treated her after she complained about Davidar. Penguin said the employee resigned from her position after ‘having declined to pursue other career opportunities within the organization.’ The lawsuits were settled quickly thereafter.
16. Special interest groups
In early 2010, Greenpeace launched a campaign criticizing Nestl’s palm oil sourcing practices. It rolled out a ‘Take a Break’ ad campaign that went viral. It featured an office worker gnawing on an Orangutan’s finger instead of a Kit Kat Bar. The tagline? Kit Kat Killer. The response? After its Facebook page was overrun with comments about its palm oil sourcing practices, the company posted the following message:
‘To repeat: we welcome your comments, but don’t post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic—they will be deleted.’
According to Greenpeace, Neslt’ also successfully had YouTube remove the ad campaign from its platform, citing copyright concerns. Nestl’ denied the claim, but said ‘we notified YouTube about the campaign video’s infringement of the visual identity of our Kit Kat brand. The video is now back up and we will not submit the form again,” a Nestl’ spokesperson told CNN.
Within 10 weeks, Nestl’ announced it would stop sourcing unsustainable palm oil.
17. Trademark infringement
In 1999, the Washington Redskins lost their trademark protection because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled the name was disparaging to Native Americans. While the football club was under no obligation to change its name, it lost the ability to prevent counterfeit Redskins merchandise from being sold in the country. The team has since spent the better part of two decades appealing various court decisions on related matters. In October 2016, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Team’s legal challenge.
18. Unethical behavior
Once the poster-child of the post-financial crisis banking world, Wells Fargo’s relied on its ability to cross-sell more profitable products to its customer base. This would prove to be bit of a mistake. Executives sought to drive growth by putting undue pressure on its employees to hit sales quotas. Many employees took to the challenge by fraudulently opening customer accounts. Most of these accounts were closed before customers noticed, but in other cases consumers were hit with associated fees or took hits to their credit ratings.
Wells Fargo fired about 5,300 employees who engaged in illegal tactics, and was forced to return $2.6 million in ill-gotten fees, and pay $186 million in fines. But the biggest hit Wells Fargo will take is to its reputation, as the media and government officials spent much of the year slamming the bank for its fraud. CEO John Strumpf stepped down—with a $130 million payout.
19. Whistleblowers
In 2013, a whistleblower exposed a practice whereby Princess Cruises would discharge gallons of polluted bilge waste along the British coast. The cruise company used a device known as a ‘magic pipe’ to bypass on-ship water treatment systems and unloaded wastewater directly into the ocean. The company was fined $40 million dollars—the largest of its kind. Investigators also discovered that employees covered-up these illegal practices before investigators could get on board.
The cruise line published a written statement, as well as a YouTube video from its president. The company said it was ‘extremely disappointed’ that employees had violated company policy and federal law regarding discharge of pollutants. The cruise line added that it cooperated with investigators after the magic pipe was unveiled in 2013 and had taken numerous steps to fix the problem.
‘Although we had policies and procedures in place it became apparent they were not fully effective,’ the statement said. ‘We are very sorry that this happened and have taken additional steps to ensure we meet or exceed all environmental requirements.’
20. Organizational misdeeds
We can look to the Wounded Warrior Project for this example. This big U.S. charity fired its top executives after an investigation into accusations of lavish spending on parties, travel, and hotels, as well as exorbitant salaries. Over the course of a four-year period, CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano spent more than $800 million in donations on these lavish expenses. As one former employee (and veteran) put it ‘Going to a nice fancy restaurant is not team building. Staying at a lavish hotel at the beach here in Jacksonville, and requiring staff that lives in the area to stay at the hotel is not team building.’
WWP would subsequently close nine offices, fire half of its executive team and redirect millions in spending to mental health care programs and partnerships as part of an organizational overhaul.
21. Corporate misbehaviour
Tesco has a bad habit of getting into corporate misdeeds. In 2014, it was mired in an accounting scandal which coincided with food safety scares and chronic financial underperformance. It has become the poster-child of corporate misbehaviour, dealing with high executive turnover. In 2016, the company faced legal action by a group of investors seeking ﾣ150m for losses related to the 2014 accounting scandal. This, in the same year the Serious Fraud Office charged three former Tesco executives over the same accounting scandal. And that was before the FCA investigation ever concluded.
22. Management Deception
Companies face a crisis of management misconduct and deception when management indulges in deliberate acts of illegality, concealing or misrepresenting information about itself and its products. The Satyam scandal—’India’s Enron’— serves as a poignant example. In 2009, the company’s chairman resigned, confessing that he had manipulated account’s to the tune of $1.47 billion. In the immediate aftermath, investors lost as much as $2.2 billion as the company’s shares tanked. Six years later, the former chairman was convicted with 10 others. The Indian arm of PwC was fined $6 million by the SEC for not following auditing standards in their duties related to the accounts at Satyam.
23. Racism
One of the more famous cases dates back to the mid-1990s. Six of Texaco’s African-American employees sued the oil company for racial discrimination after damning conversations between executives revealed a propensity to belittle minority employees in racist terms. As the news broke, Reverend Jesse Jackson became Texaco’s most vocal opponent, calling for a boycott. CEO Peter Biljur issued a public apology, deploring the insensitivity of the taped remarks and placed the company’s equal-opportunity programs under review. He also commissioned an investigation by an outside lawyer. The executives in question were suspended pending the result of the investigation. He and his team then went on tour, visiting all branches and company offices to apologize to employees. The company then hired Uniworld Group to run an ad campaign to douse the flames. Jesse Jackson would soften his view in light of the company’s proactive handling of the crisis. Texaco settled the suit, agreeing to pay $176 million and Biljur implemented additional discrimination checks for executives and managers.
24. Bankruptcy
2001 was not a good year for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. With soaring wholesale power costs outpacing retails prices (the result of California’s 1996 deregulation law preventing higher costs from being passed on to consumers), and a drought that reduced the amount of hydroelectric power combined with delays in new power plant approvals, the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The crisis cost the company $40-$45 billion. It would emerge from bankruptcy three years later after paying $10.2 billion to its creditors. As part of the restructuring, the company’s customers had to begin paying above-market prices for several years, to pay off the debt.
25. Workplace violence
In 1986, Patrick Henry Sherrill, a 44-year-old mail carrier from Edmond, Oklahoma who was known as a troublesome employee showed up to the post office in his uniform with three pistols and a bag of ammunition. For 15 minutes, he went on a murderous rampage, killing 14 coworkers. In the two decades since Sherill’s rampage, the U.S. Postal Service has tried to prevent worker violence, but there have been other attacks. Nearly 50 people have died in post office violence since the 1980s.
26. Environmental disaster
This list wouldn’t be complete without mention of the Exxon Valdez tanker spill of 1989. The ship ran aground, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The oil damaged more than 1,300 miles of some of the most remote and pristine shoreline in the U.S.
The company was very slow to contain the spill, refusing to communicate openly about the incident. Exxon Chairman Lawrence Rawl was immensely suspicious of the media, and reacted accordingly. Media coverage escalated while Exxon dodged the media. The Chairman refused TV interviews, saying he had no time for ‘that kind of thing’. A company spokesperson misrepresented the extent of the spill and clean-up efforts. More than a week later, the company eventually held a press conference. Small pieces of good news claimed by the company were immediately contradicted by the eyewitness accounts of the present journalists and fishermen. Rawl gave a live interview and when asked about the plans for the cleanup, said it was not his job to read such reports, placing blame for the crisis at the feet of the world’s media.
Nearly three decades later, the sound’s coastal ecosystem is permanently damaged—thousands of gallons of oil still pollute the beaches.
27. Product Safety
In 1996, Odwalla juice experienced an e-coli outbreak. One child died and more than 60 people in the Western U.S. and Canada became sick after drinking the contaminated juice. Sales plummeted 90% and Odwalla’s stock price fell 24%. Customers filed more than 20 personal-injury lawsuits, and it looked as though the company would never recover. But Odwalla provides a case study on how companies can rebound if they handle the crisis effectively.
CEO Stephen Williamson ordered a complete recall of all (potentially) contaminated products from 4,600 retail outlets, forming internal task forces to execute the recall within 48 hours, and at a cost of $6.5 million.
In all his media interviews, Williamson expressed sympathy and regret for all those affected, immediately promising to pay medical bills. He conducted daily company-wide conference calls to give employees the chance to ask questions and get the latest information. Within 24 hours, the company launched a website (remember, this is 1996), which received 20,000 hits within 48 hours. The company spoke openly and frequently with media to provide updates. These proactive communications efforts, in conjunction with the swift recall went a long way to building goodwill.
28. Mysterious circumstances
In March 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared, carrying 239 passengers onboard. Given the nature of the crisis, the airline struggled to effectively manage the crisis. It took the airline 16 days to send a text message to relatives of the passengers on board. The message was received as inappropriate, impersonal and detached. However, to the airlines credit, it established daily media briefings, published daily statements, and provided a focal point for the public to get the latest information.
From October 2014 through January 2017, a comprehensive survey of 120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi) of sea floor about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) south-west of Perth, Western Australia, yielded no evidence of the aircraft.
29. Terrorist attacks
Months later, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukrainian territory, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew onboard. The plane was brought down in an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The attack received enormous media attention due to the nature of the previous crisis, the geo-political issues between Ukraine and Russia, and the violent nature of the crisis.
Within one hour of the crash, Malaysia Airlines tweeted confirmation that the flight had lost contact over Ukrainian airspace. The response was speedy, and included a statement with greater detail on the exact waypoint when Ukrainian air traffic control lost contact with the Boeing-777. It also hired a PR agency to handle crisis communications, taking care to communicate its financial assistance for each victim’s next-of-kin, offering to fly relatives to ‘Amsterdam or wherever appropriate to be able to continue the grieving process.’ Learning from the MH370 experience, the airline stayed in daily contact with relatives and provided 100 caregivers to help with support and counseling. It’s just too bad the company followed this up with an ill-advised ‘Bucket List‘ campaign.
30. Offensive Commentary
Air China’s editorial team published an article in its inflight magazine that warned passengers about visiting certain areas of London. ‘Precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people.’ The editorial naturally prompted derision and outcry among London MPs and residents.
‘I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements,’ said Mr Sharma, the Labour MP for Ealing Southall. She invited Air China reps to visit her constituency ‘to see that a very multicultural area is safe, and would be of great value for those visiting London to see.’
