Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) suffered reputational damage last week at an industry cocktail party co-hosted with the Cyber Risk Alliance at the Black Hat USA Conference in Las Vegas. Multiple female models posed at the event wearing Vegas-style cocktail gowns and sporting branded lampshades on their heads that completely covered their faces.  There were a number of negative interpretations of the “look” that pointed to the open misogyny of faceless women’s bodies “branded” by the company. The Las Vegas based marketing company who delivered the experience, Champagne Creative Group, tweeted that this was ‘mood lighting’ but whatever mood they were aiming for was not the mood signaled by attendees who roundly condemned the stunt.

The fallout was swift with many on public places like LinkedIn and private cybersecurity chat rooms decrying the branded models and how objectifying their presence was – surely ‘Booth Bunnies’ had been retired decades ago? The story gained traction globally as it is so strongly visual and it’s August, typically a slower news month.

PANW leadership was then criticized for a slow, tone-deaf response, with the initial communication from seasoned CMO, KP Unnikrishnan, initially pointing the finger at his team’s mis-judgement. It is worth reflecting that company culture flows from the top of an organization and that the brand values of any business are a prime responsibility of the CMO. We do not know if the decision was made by the marketing or partnership organization at PANW but the brand reflection component was clearly missing. There were several reports that members of the marketing team were aware of the impending outfall of this stunt but felt it unwise to raise concerns. That is every bit as worrying as the stunt itself and speaks to a culture at odds with PANW’s own Inclusion and Diversity position, according to their website.

CEO Nikesh Arora finally made a broader apology a couple of days later. Arora has asked for observers to see this as an unfortunate one-off event, but there are obvious corporate and compliance questions that allowed this to happen, and opportunities for the company to re-visit its relationship with inclusivity as a core brand value rather than a page on a website. The Register reports the whole story here.

How did this happen? Some conjectures:

1.      Sloppy or thoughtless approval processes. Most event marketing teams conduct very detailed ‘pre-flight’ meetings where every single element of an event is reviewed with senior management before the show. How broad was the consultation with the team?

2.     No brand reflection. How does this style and tone present the company to its industry and what business objective did this stunt purport to advance?

3.    The stunt is a well-worn path for the marketing agency Champagne Creative Group and the selection of this company as a brand extension needs review. Their brand is to “create interactive experiences that delight, inspire and engage” so where was the brief for the evening?

4.    If the CMO / head of events saw the models, did they understand the potential negative impact or were they caught up in the Vegas glitz? Objectivity clearly took a vacation on this occasion.

What should happen next?

1.      If you claim inclusivity, then project inclusivity. Show don’t tell.

2.     Build inclusivity into corporate values that are then expressed as brand values. If employees and stakeholders live and breathe your values, you won’t have to expect members of an effected group to speak up. Which is unfair in any case.

3.    Women at PANW reported that they didn’t feel that they could speak up about the lampshade models – if this is a sign of a ‘bro culture’ what does the CEO and leadership team need to demonstrate next? Walk the talk.

4.    Develop an ‘allyship’ mentality across the organization. Learn from thought leaders like Karen Catlin.

5.    Use vendors whose values align with yours and brief them well. The best agencies are fully tuned in to your stakeholders and will design events and campaigns to avoid any risks before they happen.

6.    Structural and brand questions should be asked of the organization through confidential third-party polls that provide a litmus of whether the expressed brand values of the company are the employees’ lived experiences.

7.     To what extent does the company understand brand risk and reputational responsibility? How is that communicated to the broader organization?

Corporate apologies are only as good as the actions that follow them. Expect extra scrutiny on Palo Alto Networks at future events and marketing campaigns, but the lampshade attribution is likely to drag on the brand for some time.

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