When a colleague shared a link from Twitter about what recently happened at The Richards Group in Dallas, I was shocked, stunned, and surprised.
Just the week before, I had written about the ad agency’s founder Stan Richards in the context of a new ad campaign that a friend just began with them.
If you aren’t aware – Stan Richards is the legendary adman who founded and ran the largest privately held U.S. ad agency based in Dallas.
Over the last decade, their clients include Chick fil A, Home Depot, HEB, Hobby Lobby, National Restaurant Association, and Motel 6, to name a few. When I worked in the wine industry at Nomacorc, The Richards Group handled our public relations work.
According to internal agency reports, Stan made a racist remark during a creative meeting for their Motel 6 client. Richard’s described a Motel 6 campaign as being “too black” for the motel chain and their “white supremacist constituents.” According to reports, this comment came during a meeting over an idea to celebrate Black artists in a Motel 6 ad campaign.
A few days later, Stan, 88 years old, fired himself from the agency he founded in 1976.
From the agency’s new President:
“In the over four decades, I have had the privilege of working at The Richards Group, the agency has never been party to nor tolerated racism in any form.
We exist to endear brands to all people. Our brand has been tarnished. Like all businesses and organizations, we have a lot of work to do to further societal change. As the person now responsible for all the operations of The Richards Group going forward, I commit to doing everything in my power to stay focused on that goal.
We understand and regret the pain and concerns of all those who were deeply troubled by the words our founder spoke. He can’t take them back. We can only ask for forgiveness and promise to learn and be better. We ask our many friends for understanding and prayers as we move forward.”
Glenn Dady, Principal/Creative Director
I only met Stan once, probably a decade ago. My friend Lars and I were visiting The Richards Group and we had a brief meeting with him. Lars had formerly worked with The Richards Group when he was President of Pergo, the flooring company. TRG handled their advertising.
I’m not in a position to judge what’s in Stan’s heart nor why he made such a stupid and racist comment about his client Motel 6’s customers.
The advertising industry has never fulfilled its promise of diversity. But what happened at this great agency is shocking and a powerful lesson in reputation management. Something I learned about from The Richards Group.
The people I knew at The Richards Group were all stellar human beings. Some have retired and others have moved on to new jobs and businesses. They are smart, kind, and consummate professionals. When I worked with TRG, we spent much of our time working on reputation and perception management. I admired their creative spark and the quality of the talent they attracted.
Reputations Built Over A Lifetime – Gone in a moment
The powerful lesson is that a reputation, once tarnished, never gets back its glow.
Stan Richards can’t hit a refresh button and go back to a time before making these vile comments. It takes decades to earn a reputation, and in seconds, it can dissolve into thin air.
The recent Jeffrey Toobin incident on Zoom is but one more example of a reputation that has gone up in smoke. Trending on Twitter, the hashtag #metoobin appeared, and I knew his career on TV was toast. If you missed this story about the CNN lawyer/commentator, you could read what happened here.
I witnessed a few racist comments by executives I worked with in my career, and it made me sick to think about those moments. These remarks were a signal that I didn’t want to stay at those company and work with those people, and it pushed me to move on and find somewhere new to work.
Seeing someone who worked for years at building their brand, company, and reputation dissolve in a moment is stunning to observe. No amount of public relations wizardry can ever put the genie back in the bottle. You can’t undo the hurtfulness in words. Everyone sees the hate as is.
So, what Stan did is all he could do. He fired himself. Quit. Gave himself a pink slip. He had to go away so that the agency he built over a lifetime had a chance to back and maybe, re-emerge from the ashes.
How Do You Protect Your Reputation?
There is only one way to protect your reputation as a businessperson.
Be kind.
Act with compassion.
Don’t be a bully or say things in private you wouldn’t want to be printed on the front page of The New York Times.
Racists, misanthropes, and haters need not apply.
The marketing world needs human beings with big hearts.
For that matter, the world needs more human beings with big hearts.
Be more mindful. Stop before speaking unkindly of others. Take a deep breath.
Find grace in your every moment.
Need help with reputation challenges?
I can help. You can set up a time chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conver?sation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com. Let’s explore working together today.
Photo by Photos Hobby on Unsplash
