The New CCO Podcast: Paul Argenti & Linda Rutherford - If, When, and How to Engage on Social Issues

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More than ever, we’re seeing enterprises and their leaders speak out on social issues. This era of “woke capitalism” (courtesy: Delaney Tarr of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School) has prompted CCOs to reevaluate if, when, and how their brands engage on social issues, some of which may not have a direct relationship to the business. 

On this edition of The New CCO, we bring you a session from this year’s Annual Conference, where Paul Argenti, Professor of Corporate Communications at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, led a session that put forth frameworks for these critical decisions. 

Linda Rutherford, SVP and CCO at Southwest Airlines, takes the microphone from Paul later in the episode to describe the “traffic light model” she and her team developed to synthesize multiple stakeholder interests during the engagement decision-making process. 

Do you have a story to tell? Share it with us. Please reach out to Justin Pallenik at jpallenik@awpagesociety.com with your CCO story.