These last couple of weeks have been extra busy due to the Swine Flu situation. I look after the Strepsils brand which is a sore throat product and there has been a viral joke email making the rounds about Strepsils. We obviously didn’t create this and wouldn’t ever take advantage of a serious health risk. We have been working with our PR agency daily to monitor the media and inform journalists that these joke emails were not condoned by RB.
The PR situation is slowing down now so I can get back to my day job. I say ‘day job’ but every day is completely different.
This week’s a good example as unexpectedly our CEO (Bart Becht) has challenged one of our recommendations for the brand. We really believe in our proposal so we’re going to prove it to him. That’s the good thing about RB: it’s not hierarchical and you’re encouraged to fight for what you believe in and not give up, so I’m not. I’m now writing a presentation for our General Manager to present and gain alignment from Bart. Lots of pressure to get this one right! If Bart still doesn’t go for it, we’ll have to come up with a whole new plan in record time to still deliver our targets for the year. The big meeting’s next week so I’ll let you know how it goes and if he’s aligned to our recommendation.
Tags: brand challenges, ceo, hitting targets
