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iJobs: The End of An Era?

Dave Siekanowicz - Thursday, August 25, 2011



Late last night news broke that Steve Jobs was stepping down as Apple's CEO effective immediately. Jobs made the unexpected announcement in a letter addressed to Apple's Board of Directors, following which he was elected as Chairman of the Board while Tim Cook became the company's new CEO. End news flash here- sorry, that was quite impersonal. 

Normally most people wouldn't pay attention if a CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation stepped down, but then Apple isn't just any big corporation and Steve Jobs has to be one of the most unique CEOs of all time (next to Leanne and Alan of course). But so what? The machine that is Apple has many parts all working together to imagine, design, create, manufacture and carefully brand new products which are then sold at a ridiculous mark up. How much of a difference can ONE person make? Even though nothing has changed between last night and this morning, having heard news of Jobs' sudden departure Apple's stock has dropped 4%. 

Yet weirdly enough, there's something about Jobs and his approach to technology, communication and relationship. Now I don't mean to come off as an Apple Fan Boy, but just watch Pirates of Silicon Valley and you'll see what I mean. Reflecting on Jobs' career in light of our industry, I'm amazed at just how much of an impact products such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod have had on the development and use of social media. 

As far as Apple branding goes, Jobs was the perfect representation of the company. What good branding seeks to accomplish is replace the face and persona of the perfect shop keeper whom the local customers trust to recommend and sell the best possible product. As far as branding and CEOs are concerned, Jobs fit apple perfectly. Apple would have done well to keep him on as the face of their company while someone else ran the show behind the curtain, but I doubt Jobs would have taken that well. People trust a known face, they have accept Steve Jobs and had identified with his ideas. Tim Cook has some big shoes to fill, I hope he's half the presenter Steve was. 

 Dave Siekanowicz

 


 






Should all CEO's Blog?

Alan McLaren - Tuesday, July 21, 2009



The simple answer is, it depends. 

One factor to consider is the purpose of the blog. 

Is it to communicate with:

  • Staff
  • Partners 
  • Prospects 
  • Clients 
  • Shareholders

If you are a public company CEO, you need to be very diligent as to what you write. You cannot comment on things that may move the stock.

Is it to build your personal brand? 

Most public company CEO's stick to some area of expertise like Jim Estill of New Horizons. With respect to Jim's blog, he focuses on leadership and has quite a following. He is highly respected because he delivers value to his readership. This value word is key in social media. 

It can be challenging for him to blog about happenings at Nu Horizons all the time, because there may not be items of interest for his audience. Jim has chosen the personal brand route and that works for him. 

Other considerations for blogging are time and desire 

Many CEO's don't want or need one more thing on their to do list. They need to see the value of blogging in order to deliver value. So, trying to convince all CEO's to blog is an uphill battle

even after outlining all the clear benefits of:

  • Brand building of the corporation 
  • Personal Brand building of the CEO
  • Effective employee communication 
  • Positive effect on organic search for the corporate web site
  • Free Public Relations
  • Low Cost
  • Direct communications with stakeholders
  • Differentiate from your competition

Those CEO's that are ready to blog, will. Some may use ghost writers which is OK as long as the content reflects their views. Authenticity is critical in social media and you always hope that what you are reading is the real deal.Todays world of blogging serves many purposes, but it starts with a clear vision as to why you are blogging and to whom. 


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