brand marketing blog

The latest “CEO on TV” escapade sees Paul Reynolds, CEO of Telecom NZ begging New Zealand to give his once-mighty monopoly a 2nd chance (referring to the oft-broke XT mobile network).

It reminds me of the TV advert that Cadbury aired last year, when their CEO Mathew Oldham appeared on TV in a pathetic plea to our emotions.

Just like in the Cadbury recovery effort, Telecom is also trying to entice lost customers back by ‘bribing’ them with a free trail (Cadbury gave away lots of free Dairy Milk slabs, presumably because no-one wanted to buy them!)

I wonder if BP could use the same free trial strategy to win back lost customers due to their clumsy and secretive handling (or lack thereof) of the big oil slick. Could we expect a voucher for a free tank of BP Ultimate 98?

I think I’m starting to figure out why CEO’s of big corporates earn such big salaries – they have to ditch all of their personal integrity and mojo to cover up for the almighty stuff-ups by their beloved companies…sad.

But back to Telecom. I remember the good old days when they had a grand monopoly in the NZ telecoms market and that most esteemed Waikato lass Theresa Gattung had the helm. She and her board were so bloody defiant in the face of the local loop unbundling and less than subtly threatened to withhold investment into new infrastructure if they didn’t get their way. Thanks goodness the powers that be took a firm line and didn’t buckle to the spoilt child.

So today in 2010 we have Telecom on it’s knees, appealing to the Kiwi ‘give us a break mate’ soft spot to allow them back into the market. I wonder if we would have seen ‘the lanky one’ on his knees on TV after the XT Network debacle, had they still held a monopoly. Thanks goodness for healthy competition and an even playing field.

Having run an ISP (Internet Service Provider) back in the dial-up days when Telecom ruled the roost, I don’t think I could bring myself to use their network. I’m with Vodafone, but to be honest, they aren’t much better.