the 'Be the Brand' story

While at TGI Friday’s, I trusted our crisis , public and corporate communications for the brand to Senior Vice President Amy Freshwater. Her gut instincts are world class and she chooses her team members, including vendor partners, very carefully. She is a risk taker and a great one. So, when she came to me and said she wanted to evaluate all public relations and media relations efforts, I wasn’t surprised. When she arranged for some of PR’s proven and best to visit us, I wasn’t surprised. When she said she was inviting a person who just started an agency, I was surprised yet she had my full confidence and trust.

Enter derekPR, who was Derek Farley Public Relations (DFPR) at the time. Derek came in understanding agencies from his previous life yet managing the responsibility for a brand out size seemed a little out of his league. Yet Amy knew he was competitive, dependable, scrappy, humble and nimble. Further, she had a hunch and agreed to give derekPR the account.

Our former CEO Richard Snead wasn't crazy about the decision yet agreed to give derekPR an opportunity with and interim basis.  We didn’t exactly explain it to Derek that way. When Richard met Derek, Amy said, “Derek is helping us through the transition of agencies.” When Derek got the full picture, he didn’t change his strategy; rather, he went all in and chose to represent us and us alone. It was an unorthodox approach yet he convinced us he could with "a little help from his friends."

Lots of rookie mistakes to start yet he owned them then found his groove. Amy was always fair and tough, sometimes together and Derek’s respect for Amy made him work that much harder for us. She trusted him and continued to ask more and he always delivered. I think his biggest advantage is that he didn’t know where the ceiling for success was so he just kept on reaching higher ground. That and knowing Amy had given him the shot of a lifetime and we would not let her down.

Then the awards started trickling in. Nothing seemed out of reach. We owned the media landscape under his solid representation. He had a category leadership mindset, which is what we needed and expected. After a couple of years, we decided to recognize him with an award at our annual conference yet we couldn’t find the right category. I asked Amy what makes him different. She answered immediately, “He lives and breathes the brand and wants to be the brand.”

We decided together that was the award: Be The Brand. To my knowledge, that award was never given to another service partner or team member so Derek is truly its sole recipient. I was the next one to give him an opportunity by putting him in front of leaders at my next venture at Applebee’s. Like Amy, I didn’t do him any favors. He just had to prove that he could become another brand. And he did. They don’t make trophies for that.

Sincerely,
Mike