The Eyes Have It

Some weeks are harder than others to figure out what to cover. This has not been one of those weeks. I try to focus on things that are a little out of range of the glaring spotlight. Which means that this week, much as I would like to, I am not going to dive deep into what may turn out to be the greatest messaging and narrative shift of the year, perhaps of the decade so far -- the Harris campaign's wildly successful re-positioning of their opponents as "weird" and "creepy." Monica Hesse at the Washington Post does a much better job than I would have at explaining the power of this simple shift. But there is a lesson in here around simplifying messaging. Trying to get people to wrap their heads around "existential threat to democracy" is really hard. Much harder than reminding folks that people who spend most of their time obsessed with Trans kids and what women do with their bodies is weird and creepy. It's more than just resonating -- it's fundamentally shifting the energy and the polling, and it's speaking directly to youth. Brilliant.

Instead, this week, we're going to look at a CEO who is listening to what's being said about his product on social; a company that took what should have been a positive newscycle and decided to step all over it; and a Silicon Valley legend and hero to many who needs to work on his body language. Here we go...

First up, the CEO of Chipotle addresses a delicate issue in an otherwise strong earnings call. Last week, Chipotle reported quarterly earnings. The popular fast casual chain has been a strong performer recently, materially outpacing the S&P 500 year to date and beyond. And it reported good numbers last Wednesday. But the company has been getting hammered on social media for months now over accusations of reducing the amount of protein in its bowls and burritos. Just one TikTok video has garnered more than 23,000 comments and counting. And the stock price had started leaking downward beginning in June:

To his credit, CEO Brian Niccol addressed the issue up front and directly on the call, and went beyond that, committing to looking at all 3,500 stores' practices and investing in re-training where necessary.

The learning here? Even if the financial numbers are good, pay attention to undercurrents of dissatisfaction, which often pop up on social much earlier than they show up in sales. And don't just address them -- act. Ultimately, whether this is a win or a loss for Chipotle will depend on follow through.

Next, Cohere , a soaring and serious AI startup, seemingly decided that they'd had enough good news for the time being with an oddly timed layoff announcement. Cohere, the Toronto-based AI startup with serious backing and customers, announced on July 22 that they had raised $500m in funding, bringing he valuation of the company to well over $5 billion. Talk about a milestone -- exactly the sort of news that would give the company an easy opportunity to tell its story to whomever it wanted -- everyone was listening. So it's baffling that it would choose the very next day to announce that it was laying off nearly two dozen staffers. I'm not here to debate whether the layoffs were needed or not. Actually, it makes perfect sense that, after securing that amount of funding, a company would take decisive steps to set its strategy going forward, which often means a frank evaluation of where the talent is versus where it needs to be. For hockey players, this is the Wayne Gretzky "skate to where the puck is going, not to where it is" approach. But to do so so closely following the funding announcement changes the story and becomes one of the first three questions asked in any follow on media engagement.

The learning? Really consider all possibilities when it comes to announcing news so closely to a massive funding announcement. Look, this could have been their strategy, and maybe it will just be a blip. But I wonder if they considered announcing the layoffs first, with a fast follow of the funding announcement, to turn the page and get people focused on the positive. I would have at least raised it as an idea.

Lastly, a bonus, as a brilliant and highly admired Silicon Valley legend stumbles in a live CNN interview. Full disclosure -- I have the pleasure of knowing and having worked with Reid Hoffman during my time at LinkedIn. I wouldn't claim that we were close, or that I was ever the main advisor voice to him, but I got to know him a bit. He is every part the genius, thoughtful leader and visionary that people give him credit for. And he deserves all the credit in the world for serving as a counterbalance to the Trump/Vance-worshipping incel-fest that is some other PayPal Mafia like Elon Musk and David Sacks. Just today, he led this announcement.

But today, he went on CNN for a seven minute interview with Jake Tapper, and it went kind of sideways. Hoffman tries selling some messaging about how he compartmentalizes as various personas -- he's a VC, he's an expert, he's a donor -- and expects others to be able to distinguish as well. That's a tough sell. Tougher still is watching his eye movements during the interview. Each time he answers a tough question, he looks up and to his left. Psychologists now seem to believe all that indicates is someone trying to recall or remember some facts. But I believe that most people interpret it as a sign of untrustworthiness in what they are saying.

The learning? When going on a visual medium (TV or social video, doesn't matter), be super mindful of body language, and that includes the eyes. They are the window to the soul.

I'm Hani Durzy, president and founder of Red Dog Strategies, a senior level communications consultancy. We fulfill fractional and interim comms lead needs; handle distinct and specific projects around crisis comms, corporate narrative development, M&A/financial communications, change management, and building editorial content capabilities to augment storytelling; and execute "wellness check" assessments of existing comms programs to unlock the power of the function. If you want to talk, please reach out at [email protected].