The Case of the Contradicting Analogy

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

On the battlefront in the burger wars, Carl’s Jr. has fired a frontal attack on McDonalds. Big Mac meet Big Carl! Carl’s is heralding its newest weapon in a TV spot, saying it’s bigger (more meat) and a greater value, yet less expensive than the Big Mac:

In a recent CNBC interview, CEO Andrew Puzder of CKE Restaurants, the holding company for the Carl’s Jr. chain, was empahatic about Big Carl's price:

Now, consider this next bite because while he says both quality and low price are compatible, his analogy seems to say just the opposite:

Most assume Mercedes is a premium brand and that they would pay considerably more for a Benz than they’d pay for a Ford Focus. The analogy argues against Puzder’s message of greater value at a lower price, thus potentially confusing his target audiences, typically associated with Wall Street in this case.

The Street likes hearing about public companies making more money. Given his analogy, some may be left wondering if the Big Carl is comparable to a Mercedes, and the Big Mac is akin to a Ford Focus, why isn’t Carl’s Jr. able to charge more, and get it.

Mouths that Roared

Friday Follies

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

WARNING! These are not bloopers. They were said intentionally and aired live. If you’re easily offended, lack a sense of humor or just not in the mood, go no further.

But, if you’d like to end your work week with a laugh and have something to come back to when you need to smile, then continue on.

These are some sound bites I’ve collected. Not by design. They just happened on programs I recorded to capture news interviews for my workshops. So, I just was lucky. These do push the envelope a bit, but keep in mind that they all occurred on cable TV…beyond the reach of the FCC and government regulation.

All of these, by the way, occurred on Fox News Channel’s Your World w/Neil Cavuto. Coincidence? Perhaps, or Neil just brings out the best (lines) from his guests.

So, here we go, and if you’ve heard one or more before, it still should be fun to hear them again.

About a year before campaigning even began in earnest for the 2008 presidential election, there was plenty of speculation about Hillary. And one day the New York Daily News ran a front-page story that the then-NY senator was planning to muzzle husband Bill. Cavuto asked Democratic strategist Bob Beckel for his opinion:

Hillary Clinton happens to be the topic of conversation in this next one, too. Dr. Veronica Corpening, an ophthalmologist and author, is married and has three young sons. She also has strong—some would say old fashioned—feelings about a wife’s role in a marriage. Her husband is her first priority, she says, then her kids and, finally, her career. Corpening believes a woman should always be there to support her spouse. She sited several first ladies as good examples of women standing beside their men, but singled out Hillary for criticism. Cavuto challenged her:

Finally, Kinky Friedman, who’s first name might just make some sense after you watch this video. He’s a singer, song writer and leader of the band “Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jew Boys”, and he can be a loose cannon. Friedman seems destined to become the Harold Stassen of Texas politics. He ran in the last Lone Star State gubnatorial race, and lost. Despite that, he says he’s planning to run again. In fact, Cavuto was interviewing him about his future political plans as Friedman came to the rhetorical aid of a (at the time) recently disgraced US Senator:

You've Got 30 Seconds!

Click on this picture!

By Eric Seidel, CEO

The Media Trainers®

Have you noticed how time-constrained live interviews have become on the cable news networks? Tight formats, "hard breaks" and very interruptive news anchors are making it more difficult than ever to clearly make a point.

Typically, you get little if any warning just how quickly they need you to respond before you’re gone and they’re off to something else. So, you need to go into these situations armed with messages you can get in quickly and concisely, even on some of the most complex topics.

For instance, healthcare reform. Now there’s an issue that lends itself to snappy, short sound bites! Well, Southern Co. CEO David Ratcliffe was asked to do just that recently on Fox Business Network.

Telling Ratcliffe they had only 30 seconds left, anchor Alexis Glick asked how healthcare reform will impact his company. Hard to know, the CEO responded, too complex an issue, just like climate change.

By tying in climate change, Ratcliffe slightly repositioned the issue. He targeted specific audiences possibly watching this interview. Perhaps some Congressional leaders and critical committee staffers heard him saying that right now there’s a lot of confusion about both healthcare and climate change legislation. He wants more clarity, and also wants them to understand the economic impact of their actions on Southern Co. and its customers. It was a message that other CEOs for many companies in various industries certainly must've appreciated.

By the way, Ratcliffe said it all in about 32 seconds. Not bad, considering he had no clock to go by and probably no indication he would get a question on such a complex topic with an unrealistic window of time limit. (See for yourself; click on video below.)

Strategy on Using News Media for Positioning

By Eric Seidel, CEO

The Media Trainers®


When news media can give you a boost, as Fox Business Network did for Dunkin Donuts in the picture above, it’s always welcome. But, in their effort to understand, or interpret, your positioning, make sure you stay on your terms, especially if the news media might not say things quite the way you would.

While the T-shirt Dunkin is marketing makes a frontal attack on Starbucks’ upscale (pricey) market position, CEO Nigel Travis lets the shirt’s printed statement speak for itself, rather than further slamming Starbucks at the encouragement of his interviewer.

FBN’s David Asman suggested to Travis that “you smell blood in the water…” especially in light of the recession. Correctly, Travis avoided repeating or even validating Asman's assumption. Instead of going negative, he took the opportunity to reinforce a positive message about his product’s perceived value. (Click on the video below for the 36 second segment.)

One other unrelated note: the reflection in Nigel Travis’ glasses is a distraction that could sabotage his message. A producer or photographer on his end of the camera, or a director back in the FBN control room, should’ve noticed that and corrected it before he was put on the air. But, don't just leave it up to someone else. You should ask if everything looks okay. And men, that definitely includes making sure your tie is pulled tight into the collar, closing the space between the top of the tie and the shirt button.

When Your Words Come Back to Bite You

Rep. Brad Sherman (Dem-CA)

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®


Last November, you may recall, the CEOs of the Big Three carmakers were taken to the Congressional woodshed for flying down from Detroit, each on his own private executive jet.

California Congressman Brad Sherman, taking advantage of some TV face time in committee hearings, set them up for public condemnation, asking if they flew to DC commercially and, if they would be willing to sell their jets and fly home commercially. In both cases, he received a negative response. (Click on video below.)

In truth, the PR damage suffered by the Big Three was self-inflicted that November day, considering that they were in Washington to beg for bailout money. So, the CEOs were sent home with orders to put recovery plans together and return, but not on the wings of their executive perks.

Now, almost nine months later, the worm has turned. Seems Rep. Sherman and many of his finger-wagging colleagues voted in favor of purchasing eight new executive jets for Congressional travel (junkets?). That was twice as many as the Air Force requested to replace old aircraft.

When asked for a comment, Sherman had some unnamed staffer tell CNBC that his vote was for the defense appropriation bill, which included the fancy airplanes for Congress. One must suppose he was suddenly and surprisingly camera shy when it came time to dine on his own words. (Also documented in video below.)

As you may know, the Wall Street Journal broke the story on the Congressional bid to expand its own air force, and they have since been pared back to the original four jets requested by the Pentagon.

When You're Asked About Your Competition

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

When your name is both a subject and a verb, you just might find others trying to bring you down to size.

So it goes for Google. The seemingly ubiquitous search engine does have competitors still trying to emerge from Google’s dust. Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing want a much larger piece of the action. The result is intensive focus on the king of the hill and how it will fend off these attacks.

So it’s been for Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Sitting down with Fox Business Network’s Liz Claman recently at his corporate headquarters (click on the video below to hear/see the full interview), the unflappable Schmidt fielded questions about the assault with ease, respect, dignity and more than one clever retort designed to help differentiate Google and its continuing advantage.

Some examples:

Claman: “What do you think about Microsoft’s entry?”
Schmidt: “Well, it’s not the first entry for Microsoft; they do this about once a year.”

Claman: “So you predict that you will hang onto the number one position here.”
Schmidt: “Well, I certainly hope so. Google is about innovation and we’re not done with search.”

Claman: “I look at Google and I say, well, it’s really hard to knock the top entity off, but Google did it with Yahoo many, many years ago.”
Schmidt: “But you earn that. You don’t buy it with ads, you earn it and you earn it customer by customer, search by search, answer by answer. We believe today we beat our competitors because we’re so focused on comprehensiveness, speed, freshness and having the depth that people really care about.”

The entire interview (below) contains these and additional concisely articulated responses from Schmidt, who welcomes the competition but makes it understood Google’s hold on the hill remains solid and long term.

The Eyes Have It!

By Eric Seidel, CEO

The Media Trainers®

Super sports agent Scott Boras as he's being introduced on Fox Business Network could not have seemed more disinterested; he even gives the impression of being inconvenienced. So why did he accept the invitation?

First impressions often are long-lasting. Note the cocky look supported by body language displayed by Invidi CEO David Downey. This was before the interview about his product that tracks your TV viewing habits by placing a cookie in your satellite or cable receiver.

Advertising executive Jeff McClelland was talking about the advantages of using radio as an advertising medium and must have thought he was on radio. His eyes never came up to meet the camera.

What is loan officer Steve Snider looking at? A script! That's right, he's on TV reading from his notes in response to a question!

Joint Chiefs Chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen has a curious way of addressing questioners. His head turns only slightly, as his eyes seem to communicate a wariness.

Adm. Mullen is consistent. While the shot above is from a CBS Face the Nation interview, this one was at another time on CNN's State of the Union.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also seems to measure his interviewers with some concern, if not outright suspicion. Like Mullen, his eyes move further than his head.

Even while speaking, Geithner never fully commits. He seems as if he's on the defensive.