Do Not Let Your Corporate Guard Down

A post from my friend Jean Luc Devissche of an article by Bloomberg – link here – just seemed to crystallize a fact about multinational companies I encounter time and again in my role as advisor: while global attention in 2020 was strongly focused on the pandemic and its multiple effects, several PR “blunders” did not escape heavy scrutiny by the media. The fact is that, whether ill-planned, ill-timed, ill-executed or all the aforementioned, many corporations still struggle with challenging – and sometimes self-inflicted - reputation issues. Probably even more so now than ever before.

Corporate reputations are delicate entities. They require a lot of attention, thoughtfulness and a continually evolving story line that fully parallels the evolution of the business. With fast-growing social media networks and with rapidly changing consumer (and stakeholder) profiles, the best companies need the best Marketing and Communications people just to keep up. But the absolute best corporations will use the absolute top talent to turn those departments – long thought of as mere “cost centers” – into value creation units.

Corporate brands and reputations are probably the greatest assets any company owns. The brand is perhaps somewhat easier to manage as it is fully expressed by the company itself. You can say “I am the good brand”, “I am the healthy” brand, etc. Your brand is, essentially, what you tell other people you are. For the most part, that is under your control.

Reputations, however, are comprised of what other people think of you. It is the sum of what people perceive about you based on everything you and others say about yourself. All you can control is what you say, what you do and how you do it.

Great reputation management, now and in the foreseeable future, is about telling a strong, engaging, and truthful corporate story that reflects your company's DNA. To help companies avoid some of the mistakes of the examples described by Bloomberg in the article, let me outline what I believe are three essential reputational pillars that should be at the very core of your company storytelling:

1)     ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH:

At least two of the five cases mentioned in the article were the result of companies not being one hundred percent truthful or not keeping their promises in the mid-term.

More than ever, the public requires transparency and, consequently, there are countless ways by which people can validate information about a company. Conversely, there has probably never been such widespread ease to create fake news. Anybody, anywhere, can write a lie about you and quickly make it go viral.

In both cases, the best way to avoid any of the pratfalls is to build your company’s stories by firmly anchoring them on irrefutable truths. Even if being fully honest, at some point in time, is not very flattering to yourself, it can earn you the trust from your stakeholders and from the general public. Even those who do not necessarily like or buy your products/services can respect you.

Having a respected brand will go a long way in helping your company in every way.

2)     WORK WITH PARTNERS WHO SHARE THE SAME VALUES

Working with the ever-expanding social networks means your company may have almost limitless channels to tell its story and thus reach far more people in a more targeted way than was previously possible.

However, the telling of your story by partners (employees, business partners, digital influencers, etc.) only fulfils its potential (with more or less limited risks) if your company’s values are also firmly embraced by them. If you do not like the way other people tell their own stories, you do not want them helping you to tell yours.

It is not a question of who is right or wrong, is just a question of what´s right for your company and for your brand. Remember, whoever is telling your story is exerting an influence on how you are perceived.

3)     YOU SHOULD LEAD THE TELLING OF YOUR STORY

Seems simple enough but, throughout the years, I have seen a substantial number of companies that do not hold the reigns in crafting and conveying their messages, and become hostages of what other people say about them.

Telling your corporate story requires a strong strategic plan (if the business is not sound, no great story will hold up), a skilled, business-savvy communications team that can generate a killer communications plan and the full corporate commitment to execute those plans with passion and intelligence.

More than anything, your story must reflect the actions of your company very accurately. This can get complicated as this requires that multiple spokespeople and their messages embody the core corporate values. Yet, this is well worth the effort to get right as the uniqueness, certainty, and the enthusiasm of that one corporate voice will be the most compelling and engaging factor in creating a successful relationship with your stakeholders.

These are only a few, simple but effective pillars. The main point is that communicating in an engaging way, with clarity and transparency will not only help avoid some “PR blunders”, but they will also help build reputation on solid ground. The fact is: you simply cannot afford to let your corporate guard down when it comes to communicating with the world.

Reputation can be a powerful value driver. The only way your company can reap the benefits and avoid being knocked out by its own efforts is to communicate smartly, transparently, and compellingly.