B Corp newsletter #43: Musk's mouth mars margins
As a B Corp since 2021, one of the first PR agencies in the UK to become certified, our aim is to help other B Corps improve their PR success rates and communicate their environmental and social impact initiatives to the right people in the right way.
Clearly PR was one of the first PR agencies in the UK to become a certified B Corp when it did so in 2021. Since 2022, we have produced the PR for B Corps Newsletter that is filled with hints and tips to help other B Corp business and brand owners, leaders, and marketers, to get more from their PR.
Issue 43
14th February 2025 – Research by academics at the universities of Durham and Bournemouth shows a clear link between the personal brand of the CEO or MD and the fortunes of the business or brand they head up.
There is no better example of this than the announcement last week that sales of Tesla cars have plummeted since Elon Musk got his slippers in the Oval Office.
In fact, one survey shows that 3 in 5 electric car buyers are no longer considering purchasing a Tesla because of Musk’s increasingly controversial reputation. Ouch.
Abercrombie & Fitch has been battling their way back to respectability and consumer trust for almost a decade since its former CEO Mike Jeffries was forced to step down following sex trafficking charges. It took eight years for the brand’s sales to return to pre-2014 levels!
Of course, the strength of a leader’s/figurehead’s personal brand can have enormous benefits. Jobs, Gates, and Branson aside, the likes of Ben Francis (GymShark), James Watt (BrewDog), and Gary Neville (footballer/property developer) have all hired personal branding specialists in the last year alone.
Why?
Because they recognise that having a strong personal brand enhances the reputation of their businesses and increases the influence they have on customers and the sectors within which they operate. This, in turn, can boost bottom line sales too.
We predicted in January that personal branding/executive profiling will be among the top PR priorities for businesses and brands in 2025 and the antics of Musk have reinforced this 10-fold.
Insights to help boost your PR in 2025
Is Tesla’s sales slump down to Musk?
There is no better example in recent times of how the personal brand or executive profile of an organisation’s senior people positively (or in this case) negatively impacts the fortunes of the business or brand they represent, than that of Elon Musk and Tesla.
ESG video series: Part 1 – Do your customers really care about your ‘purpose’?
ESG is not dead, despite what some media commentators are saying. It is alive and well. The challenge is knowing ‘how’ to correctly position your environmental and social impact stories in a way that ensures your business and brand is seen, understood, and reported on in the right way. This four-part series of video will guide you.
Visit the PR for B Corps Newsletter archive for more insights.
