In the social media era, the only thing that spreads faster than a wildfire is a company’s reputation. Like individual reputations, corporate reputations can be subject to exaggerations and overblown incidents which unfairly malign the organization with one broad stroke. Recovering can take years.
This isn’t limited to small startups. If you look at the reputations of General Motors and Volkswagen – both of which are embroiled in high profile legal challenges, you see that General Motors has attacked their issues head-on, while Volkswagen has been stonewalling (for a great write-up on this, go here). Chipotle is another example of a company under stress that has lost some of the shine from their reputation.
But some reputational problems can be 100% intentional and self-inflicted, to wit GoDaddy.
What interests me about GoDaddy is my belief that what is true for people is also true for young companies: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
We all remember GoDaddy’s infamous advertising campaigns a few years ago which caused Super Bowl-watching families to dive for the remote due to the overtly sexual (and female-degrading) nature of the commercials. GoDaddy clearly decided to “go big” as they sought to establish their name.
This tack isn’t a new one. Many companies will happily offend or disgust viewers if it cements the “name”. As the old Hollywood adage goes, “I don’t care what they write about me as long as they spell my name right”. I assume GoDaddy was delighted with the outcry and resulting attention since they continued this strategy for a few years.
Thus I was interested in this interview with Blake Irving, the new CEO of GoDaddy (since 2012). My first impression of Blake is that he is a high-quality, principled leader. Here’s an excerpt from the accompanying article that captures the challenge:
The only problem was that GoDaddy had built ultra-high brand recognition behind an advertising strategy seen by some as provocative and salacious. Irving said the ads had alienated potential customers, like women who owned small businesses.
“What I wanted to do was make sure that we did a great job representing women in the way that they deserve to be represented as small business owners,” Irving said.
It’s also personal for Irving, who lost his sister Lori when she was in her 30s. She was a leading expert on eating disorders and the media’s effect on women’s body image, Irving said.
“My promise to her was, I was going to do everything I could in my power, in my technology area, my chosen field, to do as much as I could to forward her work,” he said. “It just turns out that GoDaddy was a place where I could do a lot of that.”
After Irving took over, the company began a campaign of ads that, as Irving describes it, didn’t use women “as an object so much as it did use them as somebody who represents a vast population of Americans.”
“They’re powerful businesspeople that work their tails off to be successful,” Irving said. “It’s just the way that they should be portrayed.”
My expectation is that despite Blake’s efforts, he will never be able to fully undo the first impressions that those ad campaigns created (cemented?) in consumers’ minds. I doubt the new GoDaddy is budgeting Super Bowl ads in their current marketing strategy, and even if they were, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
General Motors and Volkswagen might be able to eventually lure customers to a new understanding of their companies based upon their long corporate histories, but GoDaddy will have a much tougher time. Although I wish Blake every success, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Takeaway: think about how you want people to think of your company when you’re making hard decisions. A personal reputation can suffer untold damage with one stupid decision (Ryan Lochte) and in the digital era the same is true for companies.
Good luck!
I am a business leader in the tech industry and write about leadership, innovation, and personal effectiveness. 