The Sunday Herald asks the question, providing the answer in two articles supporting the opposite answers YES/NO. Tina Korup (managing director of edoMidas Leadership Development) supports the NO party, saying CEO should not link their personality to a product. First of all, says Korup, CEO come and go, furthermore a CEO in ad could impact staff morale ("No CEO should be bigger than the company. As soon as a CEO puts themself in a television advertisement, they’re taking the credit and the glory for the achievements of the business’s hardworking employees. That’s very demotivating for the staff.").

On the other side, Campbell Laird (founder of brand consultancy Three Brand Design) says CEO in advertising can prove very effective for building the brand of a business since today's chief executives have the skills and personality to carry off starring in the company advertising.

One case when it may make sense for a CEO to feature in their ads is when they are also the company founder. In this case the company is generally the fulfilment of his/her personal vision and there is potentially no better person to express that. This was the case for Orek - the vacuum that picks up an 8 pound bowling ball, remember?
As opposed to the entrepreneur, its another story for the professional manager CEO who these days is fulfilling the stockholders' vision. I don't recall seeing Balmer promoting MS Office, for example.

Posted by: Chris Newham at October 24, 2005 02:24 AM

unless you have the profile and gravitas of a sugar, branson or the bloke who bought the company remington...forget it

Posted by: mehboob umarji at January 5, 2006 08:41 PM