Crisis Issues and Reputation Management

Sherlock Communications > What We Do > Crisis Issues and Reputation Management

How people see your brand can decide its future. That’s why crisis issues and reputation management is a subject that every company should be aware of and embrace.  

Let’s examine why this is the case. A company’s reputation is influenced by a variety of factors such as employee work-life balance, customer service, social dialogue, approach to social and political problems, relationship with the environment and more.

Seems obvious, right? Nonetheless, almost 7 of every 10 company owners have faced at least one corporate crisis in the last 8 years according to PWC. So there is more to this matter than meets the eye.

What is Brand Reputation Management?

Corporate reputation is an invaluable asset with an appreciable impact on a company’s bottom line and it’s omnidriven. This means that you should be concerned how each of your stakeholders see your brand, not just your customers.

Now, the management world needs to get to grips with this concept to build a strong and positive opinion of their brand, avoiding traps and unpredictable situations along the way. 

To build a plan, it’s important to reflect on all the possible reasons that can cause a crisis. Identifying these reasons helps to think of ways to avoid them, because it’s much easier to manage your brand’s reputation than its crisis reputation. 

Knowing the threats that can potentially hurt your company, open your team’s eyes to look for problems, solutions and ways to protect and strengthen the brand. 

What are crisis issues and how can they happen?

Every brand that displays a bad attitude towards someone or something is likely to suffer from a reputational crisis.This occurrence can change people’s opinion of the company, and affect their decisions towards it, like boycotting their products or even terminating a contract or partnership.

Other incidents that can disrupt your brand’s identity include:

  • a social media post made by an employee or a customer about your company;
  • a B2B client that didn’t appreciate your company’s behavior, and shared it with other businesses from the same corporate market;
  • sub-par customer service or/and product quality;
  • controversial or inconsistent messaging (i.e. saying one thing and doing another);
  • substandard (or non-existent) social or environmental initiatives;  
  • lack of respect for customers’ privacy, i.e. using their data without consent.

In this scenario, there are some questions which you and your team can ask to identify whether a crisis or reputation issue is on the horizon — or is already taking place.

  • Are your company campaigns usually misinterpreted by your audience? 
  • Have you or your brand been involved in prior scandals? If so, do negative rumors persist? 
  • Do your employees have good working conditions? 
  • Are your customers satisfied with the quality of the products or services offered? Do they demonstrate this satisfaction? 
  • How is the health of your company’s finances?
  • Could an imminent image crisis be in store for your company?

As previously noted, the presence of social media and the online news industry can aggravate these situations, due to their reach and credibility. So, the best way to reverse the problem is also through communication tactics, such as media relations and message development.

Why is Reputation Crisis Management so important?

To understand the importance of this subject, consider the following exercise: imagine that an employee of your company has mistreated a customer. Unsatisfied with the employee’s approach, the customer then makes a complaint about the situation on social media. Now most of the people who saw their post are refusing to buy any of your brand’s products. 

What could you have done to prevent this from happening? And what should you do now?

It’s unfathomable to think that one employee can ruin your brand’s reputation, right? But incidents like this happen all the time, and companies have to be prepared to deal with unpredictable situations, both online and offline. 

And that’s why having a dedicated consultancy that will deal with crisis issues and reputation management is key to overcoming bad publicity. 

Why does it matter in Latin America in particular?

From data breaches to hacks and outages, criminal activity to political upheaval, industrial accidents to attacks from third-party groups, Latin America is no stranger to crisis, and companies operating in the market need to be alert to the potential reputational risks involved.

The reality is that, in today’s global and hyper-connected world, crises can quickly spread across borders, and international brands need to be able to manage and respond to risk not just in one territory, but over many.

If your company is going through this right now, don’t panic. Stop, take a breath and think: how can you turn this around? Better yet: how can we, as a team, turn this around? There is always a solution, and we are here to guide you.

How can we at Sherlock Communications help?

As always in crisis communications, and in Latin America, failing to plan is planning to fail. As a genuinely international PR agency, our domestic and overseas expertise allows us to work with your local and international teams to:

  • Conduct risk assessment audits;
  • Anticipate and develop crisis response plans and toolkits for best- and worst-case scenarios;
  • Identify, train and create access models for a crisis response team of in-house spokespeople;
  • Create effective monitoring and notification systems;
  • Develop nuanced and culturally appropriate holding statements, and emergency paid search campaigns around negative keywords;
  • Conduct proactive media and social media outreach for right of reply;
  • Oversee internal engagement and reassurance campaigns;
  • Offer post-crisis analysis and ongoing reputation recovery measures.
[Contact us to learn more]
Copyright © 2024 . All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Site Map | LGPD Privacy Policy | Human Rights Policy | Health Safety Policy | Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption Policy