Summary
1. At the very least, Dan Hesse’s commercials started to have diminishing returns. 2. At some point, a company has to start worrying about the long-term impact on a CEO’s reputation. 3. It was not as much about people “get[ting] tired of seeing that guy.”
Analysis
As the Wall Street Journal article points out, most of the times using the head of the company in commercials is not effective. However, in the case of Hesse, it seemed to be a pretty good idea. After all, he was named last year the "most influential person in mobile technology" by a wireless technology publication. The problem is that there has not been much upside for Sprint, the corporation. “Brand recall” has not stopped declining business.
In addition, “Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas,” looked like a regular guy. The average consumer responded to his obvious discomfort before the cameras.
Further direct identification of Hesse with Sprint in ads would have eventually had a detrimental effect in that just seeing him on television could have resulted in negative results – after all, he is the guy in charge. With Sprint looking as if it will be struggling for an indefinite period of time, the change in advertising strategy is necessary.
