your ceo is the mayor of your brand

You'd think that this is obvious, and that your CEO is not only the leader of your company, but the most prominent brand ambassador. So why not position them as mayors?

I had the random chance to share a JetBlue flight yesterday with JetBlue CEO David Barger. It wasn't that I recognized him. Or was even looking for him.

He introduced himself to the entire flight, prior to takeoff. And greeted all of the passengers as they disembarked the plane. He could have easily enjoyed a quiet, anonymous flight. Sounds obvious, and like common sense? For many successful brands...yes. But plenty of others don't take advantage of this opportunity.

Why not have the CEO of your grocery store chain announce himself to the store on a Friday morning? Or the CEO of a gas station at the pumps on Saturday? Regular public encounters with the leader of the brand can go a long way in humanizing a company and helping to share a caring image of the brand.

I'm certain that plenty of passengers from yesterday's flight left JetBlue with a smile and maybe even mentioned the chance encounter to their friends. (Or tweeted it.)



Oh yeah - even better: it turns out the JetBlue CEO David Barger is a huge fan of Brand Flakes for Breakfast. You can tell by the way he politely agrees to tell you so. :)