MEDIA STYLE: It's OK Phil, you can relax now

Just this week we published a feature article on some of the problems we think could be holding back traditional media companies from getting their whole leg wet in this digital media thing. We mentioned that a lot of these corporate media execs are totally out of touch with the very people they depend on to report good news to the pigs on Wall Street. As a media exec your image is also important. You have to appeal to the pigs on Wall Street as well as to media circles and your underlings. Some of you however tend to go overboard by taking the corporate image thing too far, totally crossing the line from media exec to Wall Street banking old timer. Perfect example of this is the picture accompanying this post. The pic is of Viacom CEO Phil Dauman. Now if we didn't know who this dude was, we would think he was some dude from the stock exchange or something. Dress it down a bit Phil. Lose the cufflinks, and get a black leather jacket for casual Fridays. If you really want to generate new interest in Viacom, wear a black leather jacket, jeans and black turtle neck to the next media speaking event you attend. The talk of the week will be about what you wore as well and your company, which could lead to a little spike in your stock price. Show that you're comfortable and not some choked up corporate yes man. Your employees will respect you more when they see that you are human just like them.