11
PH
OT
O:
F
IR
ST
L
AS
TN
AM
E
ADWEEK® | MARCH 16, 2020
HAVE BOTH
EMPATHY AND
STANDARDS
Empathetic doesn’t
mean soft. It doesn’t
mean that you can’t
hold people accountable
or can’t give tough
feedback—empathetic
just means treat people
like people. I’ve always
tried to be an empathetic
leader and still have
really high standards—
still make sure that
people are performing
and still give people the
feedback when they need
to hear it. That has been
really important and I’ve
had a lot of leaders in
my career who led that
way, so I’ve learned from
observing them and
being led in that manner.
I’ve also had some
[leaders] who haven’t led
that way and you learn
from those areas as well.HAVE A
DIALOGUE
I think a lot of it is just
spending time with
people to understand
both their roles in
the organization and
understand their
personal life, as much as
they’re willing to share,
because that factors
in to the workplace
as well. And sharing
about yourself is really
important too, so that
they feel like it’s a two-
way street and there’s
open dialogue happening.
... I know it doesn’t seem
like necessarily it’s
having a direct impact
to what’s happening
tomorrow or driving
sales next week or next
quarter, but long term for
the health of the team—
and ultimately the
health of the brand, it’s
absolutely critical.STAND OUT IN
THE ATTENTION
ECONOMY
In the past, it’s been
pretty easy for NFL
teams from a marketing
standpoint. You’re the
biggest show in town.
You’re the biggest sport
in America. ... That’s just
not the case anymore.
And that’s something
that both at a league and
team level was a little
bit of a harsh realization.
But it’s the truth because
we’re all living in the
attention economy. It
doesn’t matter whether
you’re an NFL team,
CPG brand, a technology
brand or services brand.
We’re all dealing with the
same issues now, which
is figuring out how to
capture the attention of
the next generation—
and the competition
for that attention is
exponentially higher.HONOR
RELATIONSHIPS
WITH FANS AND
PARTNERS
We recognize that it’s
an honor and a privilege
to have this relationship
with our fans and we
want to make sure that
we do everything we
can to protect and help
nurture it. Levi’s is a
great example. They
are one of our largest
and longest-standing
partners with naming
rights to the stadium
here. They’re a company
that has very similar
values than we have.
With Bay Area roots,
it’s a brand that has
championed diversity
and inclusion and is
really on the cutting
edge of culture and
understanding that
culture. To us, that’s in
perfect alignment with
what we do here.LEAVE YOUR
COMFORT ZONE
Once you spend
13 years in an
organization, the
analogy I always use
is that it’s like being in
a zoo: You know when
you’re going to get
fed, you know where
you’re going to sleep,
you know who’s going
to take care of you.
And being released out
in the wild is a pretty
scary thought because
you don’t know if you’re
going to survive. ... It
took 13 years in six
different jobs for me to
finally get the courage
to go outside. But that
was a really important
decision because what
it proved is that I can
survive in the wild and I
can make it out there.ALEX CHANG
THE CMO OF THE SAN FRANCISCO
49ERS ON LEADING WITH
EMPATHY AND NURTURING FAN
RELATIONSHIPS. BY NADINE DIETZThe Future
Of Fandom in
The Attention
Economy
WINNER’S PLAYBOOK
CHECK OUT THE CMO MOVES PODCAST AT ADWEEK.COM/CMOMOVES