My proposal:
1 or 2 SWU certs for DMs annually.

My reasoning:
CX is going to lose MPOs, aka people who may steer discretionary business CX's way.
1.) Good opportunity to win back business and show how CX isn't as indifferent to its elite pax as it was in 2007-2008. I know two DMs who are losing it this year, and neither of them care because "it means nothing anyway." Hmmm.
2.) Good opportunity to stick it to SQ. SQ hollowed PPS, I think partially on the assumption SQ was just plain awesome (indeed partially true) and also on the flawed assumption that the world economy would not see de-leveraging like it did. In essence, the days when airlines no longer competed just on price point and business customers would perpetually pay more for a superior J product were before us. It will take time for SQ to realize this and then redo PPS to be more customer-friendly...so now is CX's chance to steal business customers, people paying full Y and J fares.

The guaranteed ISM greeting isn't going to make me go out of my way to schedule something else and ensure I fly CX. For me, one of the reasons I don't give all my revenue to CX (now that it seems service is improving again) is because some of the benefits decline in value in a down economy, aka guaranteed J seat and op-up. I like flying SQ's J, and the slant of LX's or Qatar's J that isn't bad enough to reschedule my final meeting at a CX destination instead. However, I might be more willing if I knew I had one or two SWU certs left, and I could possibly score a J-F upgrade. I think getting to sit one class higher is really something people would go out of their way for, especially since with CX there really is no other way except to pay a lot of $$$ or miles, or get lucky with an op-up.

They could not guarantee anything until departure time, do whatever it takes to make it as unobtrusive as possible to CX. Is this the slippery-slope down the path of US airlines quality? I don't think so. There is so much more competition in the US coupled with a higher cost structure that I think CX could maintain the integrity of the premium cabins they're looking for, while giving a very valuable incentive to their top fliers.