What's the Most Risky Thing You've Done in Your Career?
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There’s risk and then there’s reward. But they don’t always intersect. We asked participants at the Ad Age Brand Summit in Detroit this week about the riskiest brand moves in their careers. Some got the reward and some did not.
Rob Schwartz, CEO of TBWA/Chiat/Day New York, said his biggest risk was undertaking Pepsi “refresh project,” a 2010 initiative by PepsiCo to award $20 million in grants to individuals, businesses and nonprofits that promote a new idea that has a positive impact on their community. “We took money off the Super Bowl, a property Pepsi had been on for almost a quarter century, and we put it into a different idea,” he said. “How could you possibly take Pepsi off of the Super Bowl? I think it paid off because it showed there was another way for brands to operate: Not just in mass media, but they can really get into their communities.”
Allison Manswell, senior consultant, Cook Ross, didn’t hesitate when considering the biggest risk she’s ever taken in her career: It was deciding to write a book about race in the workplace. She faced some pushback and people suggesting she diversify the book, but she stuck with what she wanted to do. “It was probably one of the best decisions of my career.”
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