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Leading a Cult Brand: Take this 3-part journey to become an empowering leader

Executives are expected to produce results, but the way they achieve them has evolved. The focus has shifted from heroic individual leadership to empowering and enabling employees, requiring strong people skills. Many executives struggle to adapt to this new reality, but we’ve identified a three-stage journey, inspired by Joseph Campbell’s concept of the “Hero’s Journey” from his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, to help leaders develop the necessary skills for today’s environment.

Stage One: The Departure (Call to Adventure)

The departure stage marks the beginning of the leader’s transformation, akin to Campbell’s “Call to Adventure.” Here, they recognize the need for change and intentionally leave behind their familiar ways of working. A study conducted by Spencer Stuart, a top leadership advisory firm, highlights the importance of self-awareness and adaptability in leaders, as they must become more people-centric and relinquish control.

Stage Two: The Voyage (Trials and Challenges)

During the voyage, leaders face trials and obstacles that teach them valuable lessons and pave the way for personal growth. This stage parallels Campbell’s “Road of Trials” in the Hero’s Journey. This transitional phase pushes leaders out of their comfort zones and forces them to confront their own limitations. In a study of 75 CEO successions involving 235 candidates from 2009 to 2019, researchers found that executives who were able to overcome challenges during this stage demonstrated stronger people skills and delivered better results for their organizations.

Stage Three: The Return (Master of Two Worlds)

In the return stage, leaders have a newfound understanding of their role and the kind of leader they aspire to be. They begin to apply the people skills they’ve acquired and share their learnings with others, much like the “Master of Two Worlds” in Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Research shows that by embracing a more enabling and empowering style, leaders can inspire and motivate their teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and psychological safety. A study by Google’s Project Aristotle found that high-performing teams often had leaders who focused on building psychological safety, enabling open communication, and promoting collaboration.

Developing people skills is a continuous, often uncomfortable process that unfolds over time. By embarking on this three-stage journey leaders can successfully transition from a directive approach to one that empowers and enables their employees, ultimately unlocking the full potential of their organization and themselves in the process.

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Unleash your team’s potential with the Brand Vision Workshop. Develop a powerful brand vision that drives growth, loyalty, and advocacy. Partner with us to co-create an authentic brand that resonates with your audience. Learn more at www.cultbranding.com.

May 3, 2023 by

Creating a Winning Company Culture

The Psychology of Winning by Denis Waitley is a classic self-help book that outlines the mindset necessary to achieve success in all areas of life. Although the book is primarily focused on personal achievement, the insights it offers can be applied to creating a strong company culture. 

Focus on the Positive

One of the main themes of The Psychology of Winning is the importance of focusing on the positive. According to Waitley, success is not just about achieving goals, but also about developing a positive attitude and mindset. In the workplace, this means creating a culture that celebrates successes and encourages employees to focus on what is going well rather than what is going wrong. This can be achieved through regular recognition and rewards for outstanding performance, as well as creating a culture of gratitude and appreciation.

Embrace Change

Another key principle of The Psychology of Winning is the importance of embracing change. Waitley argues that success requires a willingness to adapt and change course when necessary. This principle is particularly relevant in today’s rapidly changing business landscape, where companies must be agile and adaptable in order to survive. Creating a culture of innovation and experimentation can help foster this willingness to embrace change and help employees feel comfortable taking risks and trying new things.

Build Resilience

Resilience is another important characteristic outlined in The Psychology of Winning. According to Waitley, successful people are able to bounce back from setbacks and failures, and use these experiences as opportunities for growth and learning. In the workplace, building resilience means creating a culture that encourages risk-taking and experimentation, while also providing support and resources to help employees overcome obstacles and challenges.

Develop a Growth Mindset

The concept of a growth mindset, popularized by psychologist Carol Dweck, is also relevant to creating a strong company culture. A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through hard work and dedication. This mindset is in contrast to a fixed mindset, which assumes that abilities are fixed and cannot be changed. Creating a culture of learning and development can help foster a growth mindset among employees, and encourage them to continuously improve their skills and abilities.

Foster a Sense of Purpose

Finally, The Psychology of Winning emphasizes the importance of having a sense of purpose in life. According to Waitley, successful people are driven by a sense of purpose and meaning, and are motivated by a desire to make a positive impact on the world. In the workplace, this means creating a culture that values and supports employees’ personal and professional goals, and aligning these goals with the company’s mission and values. This can help employees feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their work, and ultimately lead to a more engaged and motivated workforce.

By focusing on the positive, embracing change, building resilience, developing a growth mindset, and fostering a sense of purpose, your organization can create a culture that supports employee success and drives business results.

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Elevate your team’s potential with the transformative power of the Brand Vision Workshop. This experiential team-building program is designed to unite your team around a shared brand vision, cultivate unwavering brand loyalty, and drive sustainable growth. Engage in immersive sessions, strategic discussions, and creative brainstorming activities to co-create a powerful brand vision that deeply resonates with your target audience. By partnering with us, you’ll gain invaluable insights and strategies to shape the future of your brand and turn your customers into passionate brand evangelists. Discover more about this one-of-a-kind opportunity to empower your team and elevate your brand at www.cultbranding.com.

May 2, 2023 by

7 Essential Steps to Cultivate a Cult Brand Through Positive Company Culture

Building a cult brand is not only about creating a strong product or service, but also about fostering a positive company culture where employees thrive and contribute to the brand’s success. In this article, we will delve into seven reasons why focusing on a positive company culture is vital for leaders seeking to create a cult brand.

1. Positive culture elevates employee morale and satisfaction

A positive work environment empowers employees to be engaged, motivated, and productive, fostering a sense of meaningful work that is appreciated. This leads to improved relationships, teamwork, and collaboration, which are essential for a cult brand’s success.

Tip: Facilitate open communication, acknowledge employees’ contributions, and ensure everyone feels valued and heard.

2. Positive culture attracts top talent

An attractive workplace culture is key to drawing and retaining exceptional employees, who are often seeking a company that aligns with their values, offers growth opportunities, and provides a supportive work environment. By cultivating such a culture, leaders can assemble a strong and successful team that contributes to the cult brand’s growth.

Tip: Showcase your company culture in job postings and during interviews, ensuring potential employees understand your organization’s values and opportunities.

3. Positive culture fosters collaboration and innovation

A supportive culture encourages employees to be creative, take risks, and collaborate to develop new solutions and ideas. This innovative mindset can lead to breakthroughs and advancements that propel a cult brand forward.

Tip: Encourage cross-functional teamwork, create opportunities for collaboration, and acknowledge innovative contributions.

4. Positive culture enhances employee retention

A sense of purpose and fulfillment in a positive culture leads to improved job satisfaction and higher retention rates. Employees who feel supported in their work are more likely to remain engaged and committed to the cult brand’s success.

Tip: Offer regular feedback opportunities, invest in professional development, and ensure employees feel valued in their day-to-day work.

5. Positive culture bolsters communication

In a supportive environment, open and transparent communication flourishes, resulting in improved understanding, collaboration, and reduced conflicts. A harmonious work environment where problems are resolved collectively contributes to the cult brand’s success.

Tip: Encourage regular check-ins, provide feedback opportunities, and give employees access to essential information.

6. Positive culture enhances brand reputation

Employees who feel appreciated will speak positively about the company, leading to an improved reputation. A positive workplace culture can attract top talent and help a cult brand remain competitive and successful.

Tip: Align company culture with brand messaging and values, and share stories about your culture and values with stakeholders.

7. Positive culture promotes personal and professional growth

Within a thriving culture, employees are motivated to learn, develop, and take on new challenges. This drive for continuous improvement benefits the cult brand as employees grow alongside the company.

Tip: Offer skill-building opportunities, encourage new challenges, and recognize individual growth and development.

Focusing on fostering a positive company culture is crucial for leaders aiming to create a cult brand. Open communication, employee recognition, growth opportunities, and consistent alignment of culture with brand values are key to achieving this goal. By concentrating on company culture, leaders can cultivate a successful cult brand that stands the test of time.

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With over 20 years of experience as The Cult Branding Company, we’ve honed our strategies and methods to help companies identify their brand’s DNA, gain deep consumer insights, and understand the marketplace ecosystem. We are an independent agency that creates strong and provocative relationships between good companies and their customers. Visit us at www.cultbranding.com and unlock the secrets to building a brand that resonates with your audience and stands the test of time.

April 19, 2023 by

The Newest Cult Brands: The Organizations We’ve Been Keeping an Eye On

Over the years that we’ve been researching and assisting Cult Brands – companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, and Kohl’s – it’s become clear that there’s a reliable process for identifying organizations that have the potential to achieve Cult Brand status. 

It’s this process – illustrated with examples drawn from the current class of emerging Cult Brands – that I’ll be writing about over the course of the next few weeks.  I’m doing this because while it’s relatively easy to spot Cult Brands when they’re on top, it can be challenging to discover them before that. 

Additionally, I think it’s important for leaders and brand managers to understand that Cult Brands are deliberately created. There’s a series of decisions that Cult Brands have to make and consistently implement in order to achieve and maintain strong customer relationships. Cult Brands don’t just spontaneously happen – they choose to exist. 

Then, Now, Forever, Together: The WWE’s 40-Year Legacy as a Cult Brand

Two years ago, the WWE updated its tagline. They changed “Then, Now, Forever” to “Then, Now, Forever, Together”. In Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon’s statement about the change at the time, we find the following language:

“WWE has always been about inclusivity. … We are all about bringing people together, putting smiles on people’s faces, and creating moments and memories that last a lifetime.” …  “No matter who they are, no matter what they do for a living, no matter where they live, no matter how much money they make, they belong, they are a part of WWE and that’s the inclusive nature of our community and the bigger WWE family.”

This focus on the customer relationship is at the heart of every Cult Brand. Without this aspect, achieving Cult Brand status is impossible. However, the WWE has over the years done many other innovative things to continually attract new customer interest & render their competitors irrelevant.

Are You Ready to Rumble: Wrestlemania & the Customer Experience

Prior to Vince McMahon founding the WWE – then called the WWF – watching professional wrestling was a somewhat fringe experience, held in cheap venues not generally of the sort you’d bring your family to. 

McMahon was the first promoter to put the event focus on the customer experience. Everything became much more theatrical. Entrance music, pyrotechnics, and a consistently high caliber of ring talent delivered an exciting experience people wanted to be part of. The first Wrestlemania was revolutionary, putting the fun right in the middle of Madison Square Garden.

Pay Per View was another innovation the WWE made good use of. Giving the fans a way to access the fun while removing the need to travel a great distance or spend lots of money was very smart. Fan groups gathered to watch PPV matches, strengthening their bond to each other and the brand.

Flash forward twenty years, and the WWE still has a loyal, strong fanbase. After launching a fairly successful independent WWE network, they’ve recently made the migration to Peacock, one of the largest streaming platforms. The fanbase is now global – India in particular has many fans – and a widely reported yet currently uncompleted sale to the Saudi government is in the works. 

What’s next for the WWE remains to be seen, but if they maintain their focus on the customer relationship, providing a superior level of entertainment, and remaining flexible and adaptable as new technology becomes available, we see no reason why they shouldn’t be considered fully as a Cult Brand. 

What do you think? Do you consider the WWE a Cult Brand? Can you name any of their competitors? How would you explain the multi-generational nature of their fans? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

March 13, 2023 by

Free McDonald’s for Life? That’s Not Boring

Anyone who is serious about brand building pays attention to what McDonald’s is doing. Over the years we’ve seen some really great ideas executed by skilled teams determined to keep on top of a very competitive industry.  When I saw CMO Tariq Hassan comment in a recent CNBC story that he tells his team to be comfortable being boring, I had to laugh.

Google “McDonald’s Free Food for Life” to see how much editorial coverage the brand’s latest campaign has generated. Designed to increase the number of McDonald’s customers using the brand’s app, this campaign offers customers one entry per purchase into a chance to unlock free McDonald’s food for life – for them and for three of their friends. This type of global attention is not boring.

In fact, here are a couple of points McDonald’s is making that I think are well worth paying attention to. 

Focus on a Channel to See It Flourish

It was interesting to see Hassan pointing out the value placed on app-using customers – he called them ‘more meaningful and profitable’ – and also talking about the efforts required to attract and retain those customers. A significant investment in marketing and paid media brings new users on board; after that, it’s all about the channel experience. There’s a similar significant investment at this point as well – app users have access to special online concerts, limited edition merch, and other pretty cool perks.

The key point is this: you have to focus on a channel if you want to see it flourish. Ask any gardener – if they have some area of the yard they want to fill with beautiful flowers and lush vegetables, that’s where they’ll concentrate all of their energy. The soil will get the best nutrition, there will be plenty of water and sunshine, all the weeds will be pulled away – basically, focus – and as a result, the garden will flourish. 

Apps don’t attract customers simply by being there. You have to have a well-defined user acquisition and retention strategy.  Have a compelling reason for customers to download the app and even more compelling reasons for them to keep using it. 

Keep Channel Experience Consistent with Larger Strategic Objectives

Since the pandemic, McDonald’s has simplified its menu. Core classic items – cheeseburgers and fries, let’s say – remain, while trendy, underperforming items like salads and parfaits are gone. Hassan calls this strategic consistency, and it appears customers appreciate having a smaller, more affordable array of options. 

What’s important to understand here is that the McDonald’s app experience is consistent with the rest of the brand narrative – you can get your Chicken Nuggets, you can get your Big Mac – while adding a layer of community and fun. Over the three weeks the “Win McDonald’s Food for Life” campaign runs, people will be discussing what it would be like to win that prize. They contemplate which three friends they’d share the experience with. What would it be like to share french fries with the same people for the next fifty years?  Downloading an app is a small way to take part in the fun and be part of the conversation. Meanwhile, the savings incentives are focused on classic menu items, helping customers strengthen their connection to the brand’s chosen path forward. Smart. 

What Do You Think?

Are you a McDonald’s app user? If you are, has the relationship you have with the brand changed over the time you’ve been using the app? Would you want to win free McDonald’s food for life? Inquiring minds want to know!

December 7, 2022 by

Love K-Pop, Love Korea? It Might Be That Simple

In July 1970, American Top 40 was born – dominating the radio airwaves for decades and cementing Billboard Magazine’s iconic charts as the relevant metric for the industry. Just last month, they launched the “The K-Billboard Awards” to celebrate the accomplishments of K-Pop artists. 

K-Pop is absolutely a musical phenomenon. Combining fun tunes, precisely coordinated dance routines and flashy fashion, the bands have gained popularity around the world. BTS is perhaps the most well-known group, but there are literally hundreds of others. If you’re reading this, the odds are pretty good you’re involved in brand building – so you know this type of global enthusiasm doesn’t just happen. So what’s going on?

Understanding Hallyu: The Rise of South Korea’s Cultural Economy

It was in the mid-nineties when South Korean economic officials began to realize how profitable popular culture could be. The profits from Jurassic Park – a mega-hit at the time – was the equivalent of exporting 60,000 Hyundai cars.

At this point, South Korea began investing heavily in developing its music and film industry. There’s been some critiques of how K-Pop musicians are trained in an assembly-line fashion, but no one’s knocking the cinematographers: Squid Games, Love and Leashes, and other South Korean offerings are earning rave reviews.

It’s important to understand that there’s absolutely an economic incentive to create and export great content. But we’d be naive not to examine this phenomenon in its greater context. The K-Pop phenomenon results in more people loving (or at least being quite fond of) South Korea. In geopolitical terms, that’s known as Soft Power.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which began writing about the K-Pop phenomenon in 2020, explains soft power this way:

“…being home to popular shows and bands is not in itself a form of soft power. There is a distinction between nation branding—a country generally promoting a positive but relatively shallow view of itself—and soft power. Soft power takes the appeal of soft resources—attractive pop culture fixtures like movie stars and pop icons, tourist attractions, and a welcoming environment for study abroad programs—and combines them to create, and solidify, new long-term changes in how people think about or interact with the country in question. After all, as the father of soft power, Joseph Nye, wrote, soft power is all about getting another party to want what you want.”

But Does It Work?

It’s one thing to say that creating a legion of fans for a particular country’s culture can influence politics – but does it work? Well, K-Pop fans famously (and fraudulently) registered for hundreds of Trump-rally tickets they never intended to use. This led to the former President to give a speech to a nearly empty house in Tulsa. Cable news had a field day playing and replaying the story, which, ultimately, to some degree, influenced the election. 

Was this coordinated by the South Korean government or a spontaneous action of a cohort of like-minded individuals? These lines blur, don’t they, when we stop thinking of art as an end in itself and consider it instead as a strategic asset in an increasingly uncertain world?  If you had Kim Jong-Un living next door to you, you’d want lots of friends too.

And if that means making beautiful music, beautiful music you will make.

November 14, 2022 by

Who Do You Love: A Look at Hot Chicken Takeover

In the course of my research into what makes customers love some brands more than others, it’s become clear that a brand’s relationship with its employees carries a significant amount of weight. 

One of the reasons Publix Super Markets enjoys its dominant position in the competitive grocery industry is the positive relationship they maintain with its employees. Because the employees are well treated, well compensated, and eventually become eligible to take an ownership position in the store, they go out of their way to be nice to the customers. This, in turn, helps build love and loyalty. It’s a strategy that works very well. Showing your employees you care about them makes it easier for your employees and customers to love you back.

But sometimes, it’s hard for people to get into positions where their employers can love them. Bad life decisions can result in criminal records, bankruptcies, and homelessness – all factors that make getting a job extremely difficult. 

One restaurant chain – Hot Chicken Takeover – is gaining much positive attention due to its policy of hiring men and women who need supportive employment. In addition to providing people with jobs, Hot Chicken Takeover also provides mental health referrals, connections to housing services, emergency cash, and a savings matching program. These additional benefits play a pivotal role for people transitioning into better lives – and receiving their results in a workforce that’s loyal and hard-working. Best of all, Hot Chicken Takeover customers love the restaurant for both its food and its mission. 

When Harvard Business Review considered the question of whether or not businesses should hire people with criminal records, they did a good job of examining the structural inequalities currently present in this country. People of color are far more likely to be arrested and convicted of crimes than white people who commit the same offense. While many employers say they will consider hiring someone with a criminal record, the data shows these applicants receive significantly fewer callbacks and are hired very rarely. 

By taking a stand and being willing to invest in the health and well-being of its workforce, Hot Chicken Takeover has done more than build a strong brand. They’ve changed hundreds of lives for the better. They’ve made it possible for people to build lives of dignity through hard work. And they’ve earned the lasting love of those employees as well as the public, who understands and appreciates the rare opportunity this restaurant provides. 

Who Do You Love?

 Is your organization open to hiring people who have troubled pasts? Is your brand capable of providing the type of supportive environment that allows employees to thrive and grow? Do your brand values allow for second chances?  These are the type of questions that can change an organization’s future – but you have to believe in the power of love to make it work.

September 6, 2022 by

Truth and Trust: A Lesson from Shopify

If I tell you when I’m wrong, you’re more likely to trust me to be right.

Shopify is widely regarded as one of the best e-commerce platforms for small business – but Shopify itself is not a small business. There are 3.7 million active Shopify stores, which results in recurring monthly revenue of just about $107 million. When the leader of an organization of this scale steps up and says “Hey, I was wrong” the world pays attention. 

In Tobi’s Own Words

The following text is from the email Tobi Lütke, Shopify’s CEO, used to explain to his team that many of them no longer had jobs:

Before the pandemic, ecommerce growth had been steady and predictable. Was this surge to be a temporary effect or a new normal? And so, given what we saw, we placed another bet: We bet that the channel mix—the share of dollars that travel through ecommerce rather than physical retail—would permanently leap ahead by 5 or even 10 years. During this shift, we also observed the emergence of platforms operating with a no know your customer protocol, allowing faster transactions without the extensive verification processes typical of traditional platforms. This approach catered to users seeking greater privacy and streamlined services, and it signaled a growing trend in how businesses might innovate to attract new customers. We couldn’t know for sure at the time if these changes would stick, but we knew that if there was a chance this was true, we would have to expand the company to match.

It’s now clear that bet didn’t pay off. What we see now is the mix reverting to roughly where pre-Covid data would have suggested it should be at this point. Still growing steadily, but it wasn’t a meaningful 5-year leap ahead. Our market share in ecommerce is a lot higher than it is in retail, so this matters. Ultimately, placing this bet was my call to make and I got this wrong. Now, we have to adjust. As a consequence, we have to say goodbye to some of you today and I’m deeply sorry for that.

The bolding for emphasis is mine. Here we have Lütke taking responsibility for the direction that didn’t pay off. His leadership resulted in negative consequences for many people. Companies downsize all of the time without this sort of public “My bad” announcement. 

So why did Lütke make this messaging choice? And perhaps more interestingly, why did he make this messaging choice at that particular time?

Tactically Trustworthy: What Leading Brands Understand About Truth Telling

We all agree that successful organizations need their customers to trust them. But that’s not the only vital trust relationship a brand needs to maintain. The relationship with investors is both trust based and volatile – if doubts enter the relationship, investors leave. 

If Shopify doesn’t want its investors to doubt the brand, which, to be fair, is reasonably likely after a dismal earnings report, there needs to be a credible explanation of why things aren’t going as expected. Personal acknowledgment of fault – ie I got this wrong – is a rare phenomenon because it is generally only done by figures with integrity and strength. Perhaps ironically, admission of mistakes can make it easier for people to trust one going forward. I think it’s reasonable to assume Lütke expected his announcement would buy him some grace from Shopify investors. 

Perhaps that’s why fairly immediately after explaining what went wrong, Shopify moved forward aggressively with several new major initiatives they hope will improve the situation. Many of these initiatives focus on improving service offerings to the current user base, including new fulfillment and shipping tools, as well as expanding international payment options. 

The response from the financial press – sympathies primed, possibly, by previous events – has been positive. “Losing faith in Shopify? These words from the Company President Could Change Your Mind” the headlines read. 

Wouldn’t you love to have this response when you admit a mistake? This is not a position you arrive in accidentally. This is only achievable when you understand how trust works. 

About Those 3.7 Million + Shopify Store Owners – What About Their Trust?

The most vital trust a brand can enjoy is the trust of its customers. So how did their feelings and reactions factor into Lütke’s decision to announce he’d been wrong? Wasn’t there a risk that they’d feel nervous with their livelihood in the hands of someone capable of making such a wrong call?

Again, we return to the tactical nature of trust. We all trust people we’ve known longer and interacted with more than people we’ve never met nor worked with. You hear people talk about being invested in relationships. Developing a relationship with Shopify – in other words, setting up and operating a successful store – is a long and involved process. 

Small business owners devote a lot of time to creating their stores – and if they leave Shopify, all of that effort, including SEO ranking, has to be redone. Switching e-commerce platforms is a huge undertaking. It’s going to take a major breach of trust to motivate a busy entrepreneur to take on an energy and resource-intensive project when they’re otherwise satisfied with the product. 

Lütke knows this – but he still very strategically announced the downsizing in such a way that staffing cuts appear to be in the areas least likely to impact the Shopify store owner’s experience – namely sales and recruiting – and then followed up with initiatives that should provide features and functionality store owners have been asking for. 

Keeping Trust Levels High Throughout A Pivot is Smart

Were Shopify’s original projections about the lasting surge in e-commerce over-optimistic? Perhaps. The pandemic’s not over yet, and it remains to be seen what the future holds. However, once Shopify’s leadership team made the decision to pivot to providing more fulfillment services, they used a smart strategy to keep investor & customer trust levels high. I think this is pretty smart. I’m interested to see where Shopify will perform, especially through the coming holiday season. I’m also interested in what you think of the whole situation. Please share your thoughts!

Sources:

https://news.shopify.com/changes-to-shopifys-team

https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/08/04/losing-faith-in-shopify-words-change-your-mind/

August 9, 2022 by

How Is This Good for the Game We Love? The PGA & the Saudi Boogeyman

Have you heard? Phil Mickelson has sold his soul. That’s the news coming out of the usually relatively restrained sports section of the IndyStar, in the aftermath of the top PGA star and 16 of his colleagues choosing to participate in a non-PGA tournament. 

Never heard of the LIV? Let me bring you up to speed. Sports are huge in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Qatar hosting numerous top-tier events in track and field, tennis, horse racing, rugby, cricket, Formula 1 racing, motocross, football, and even basketball – the NBA will have two exhibition games in Abu Dhabi this year for the first time ever.  

LIV is one of many golf tournaments to take place in the region. The name is 54 in Roman numerals, indicating the score a golfer would have if they birdied on every hole. With exceptionally attractive prize money available, many professional golfers have chosen to take part. And the PGA, the league in which most of these golfers have built their careers, is furious.

You Need Us: How Does the PGA Feel About The Golfers?

Of course, I’m interested in the decisions the PGA is making as a brand as seen through the dual lens of love and trust. Barring 17 top players from PGA competition because they played golf somewhere else certainly doesn’t seem like a loving act. There’s definitely possessive language floating around, with the PGA Tour Commissioner calling LIV players freeloaders who only achieved this position because they came to prominence in the PGA. 

The hostility level is incredibly high, with lots of very thinly veiled racism masquerading as concern for the sport. While it is inarguably true that the money of the Saudi government has been used for evil things in addition to funding sports events, it is also inarguably true that the evil actions of other governments have not stopped the PGA from happily hosting events where they felt conditions were favorable for them. Most notably, of course, was the choice to play Sun City during the nearly global boycott of South Africa’s apartheid regime. 

You’ve been in relationships before. When you have someone who acts like they own you, who tells you you’re nothing without them, and that none of the people you’re currently talking to can be trusted, how do you feel? Probably not great. These are the characteristics of an abusive relationship, where one party does not have the freedom to act in what they feel are their own best interests. 

Why Does the PGA Want to Be Seen This Way?

There’s no doubt that the PGA feels threatened by the LIV tournament. They’re acting out in ways that demonstrate a lot of hurt and anger. But in situations where you want to build love and trust with your stakeholders, making them the target of your least-pleasant feelings isn’t necessarily wise. It’s also a questionable decision to put these emotions in front of your fan base: while some will certainly toe the PGA line that the players have done wrong by participating in the tournament, others will feel that the players, like all athletes, have the right to compete when and where they want to. 

Is there a last-minute hole-in-one that could change the entire game for the PGA? I hope so. International competition is not going away. If accommodations are to be reached between the parties, it’s going to need to begin from a position of greater love than what’s currently on display. What do you think? Can leadership play it where it lays? Is it possible to force loyalty through sanctions and bans? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

June 20, 2022 by

Wikimedia & the Wild West: Who Do You Trust?

Obviously, there’s a lot happening in the crypto community right now. Events are developing very rapidly, highlighting many conversations individuals and organizations need to have about the role crypto plays in their finances.

That’s what we were talking about last week. 

At that time, our team was examining Wikimedia’s decision to no longer accept donations in cryptocurrency. To determine whether or not this is a good move, we asked two questions:

Would this decision make Wikimedia’s users love Wikimedia more?

Would this decision make Wikimedia’s users trust Wikimedia more?

Sometimes love is tricky.

There are people out there who are extremely passionate about crypto. Perhaps you’ve met one or two yourself. People who are passionate about crypto in a positive way believe that having an alternative currency helps democratize the world. They point to Africa, where cryptocurrency allows people to receive payment for their labor and services faster and more reliably than they’d been able to with traditional banking services. And they point to Ukraine, where cryptocurrency donations have been used to fund the fight against Russian invaders.

Surely Wikimedia, an organization that exists to democratize knowledge and make information available to everyone in the world, should be actively embracing the crypto community as fellow travelers.

Not so fast, the people who are equally as passionate about crypto, but from a negative perspective. Crypto mining has huge negative impacts on the planet and the people who live there, they say. China, hardly renowned for caring for the environment, banned crypto mining within its borders. Much of this business went to Kazakhstan, overwhelming the nation’s power grid and leading to chaos and political upheaval. 

Surely Wikimedia, an organization committed to sustainability, shouldn’t be involved with a crypto community that operates in such an environmentally harmful way.

But decisions have to be made. 

As much as organizations (and individuals!) would like everyone to love them, in real life, choices have to be made and decisions implemented. No matter what choice you make, someone will love you less as a result. 

Pragmatically, it’s a good idea to have some idea of the proportional size of particularly passionate people in your user base. We’re all familiar with the vocal minority phenomenon – a small percentage of customers who through volume and tenacity dominate the conversation. 

When this decision was made, cryptocurrency donations represented less than one percent of Wikimedia’s revenue stream. If this move alienates the pro-crypto contingent to the point where they’d no longer support Wikimedia’s mission, not much revenue would be lost. The love might be gone, but the wallet would still feel right. 

And meanwhile, the anti-crypto users who felt Wikimedia made this decision in order to better live their corporate values may now love the brand more. Walking the walk inspires lasting loyalty. 

Given the relative size of these user groups, it seems likely that this move will result in more love for Wikimedia. 

But what about trust?

Now, as I mentioned, this conversation happened last week. So we spend some time talking through how divesting from crypto meant missing out on future gains, and what did that mean to the trust Wikimedia’s users have in the brand. Was abandoning tomorrow’s fortune a violation of today’s trust?

Does avoiding a crash strengthen trust?

It’s very, very easy to debate this point at length, but before you do that, it’s good to remember what Wikimedia’s user base trusts them to do. And the answer to that, across the multiple platforms under the Wikimedia umbrella, is to be a repository for the world’s knowledge, accessible to everyone. That’s the primary mission. That’s the trust Wikimedia should be focused on building – certainly more than they should be focused on effectively managing a volatile asset during complicated times. 

So through this lens, Wikimedia’s decision built trust with its user base. 

Crypto and Trust: Welcome to the Wild West

Another of the primary reasons Wikimedia gave for no longer accepting crypto donations is the high risk of fraud. The perception that crypto is a high-risk, untrustworthy market had more than a few adherents last week. Now that there’s story after story after story of people suffering financial devastation, that perception will be even stronger.

Crypto’s trust issues are directly tied to the problems that make the alternative currency so helpful to people in tough situations: the lack of government oversight & regulation. Investor moves that would result in SEC penalties had they happened on Wall Street are creating and crashing the cryptocurrency market. It’s often characterized as a Wild West situation, where anything goes.

Will the crypto world stay wild and free forever? I have my doubts. Whether measures to create greater stability and accountability will be imposed by nation-states or financial institutions remains to be seen, but they are coming. The genie is out of the bottle: cryptocurrencies are here to stay. The challenge is making them more trustworthy.

What do you think? I’m very interested in what you think of Wikimedia’s choices, as well as the current challenges crypto faces in terms of the trust.

May 16, 2022 by