“Consistent surveillance of your online presence enables you to identify potential issues early on and address them proactively.” – Forbes
Reputation is no longer a gradual process; it’s a volatile asset that can transition from iconic to infamous in an instant.
One bad review or an ethical misstep can tarnish even the biggest brand’s reputation. But here’s the hidden truth: brand reputation management isn’t just about PR crisis control; it’s more about shaping the audience’s perception before a crisis emerges.
In the past, several brands thrived due to effective reputational management strategies, while many others crashed due to reputational crises. In the 1990s, Apple Inc. was on the brink of bankruptcy. Later, the company repositioned itself as an innovator and became a global icon by focusing on user-friendly technology and inclusivity.
So, how exactly did Apple respond to the reputational crisis? The answer is simple: through some strategic branding decisions and audience sentiment analysis. Let’s understand the significance of brand reputation monitoring in ensuring profitable business ventures in the next section:
The Anatomy of Online Brand Reputation Management – Internal/External Factors
Beyond simply managing public perception, reputational management is key to maintaining a positive brand image. A reputation crisis can emerge in a matter of seconds and leave irreparable damage to the brand if not handled strategically.
The unethical business practices, involvement in legal issues, and corrupt branding can trigger a long-term reputational crisis. Therefore, developing a comprehensive brand reputation strategy guides companies to ensure ethical leadership through proactive market communication.
Proactive assessment of the reputational issues and formulation of a compelling brand reputation management strategy shields the company against negativity, but simultaneously, it is important to identify the internal and external factors that trigger the crisis.
Internal Factors
The internal dynamics of the company’s ethical operations, leadership tactics, and employee engagement strategies greatly dictate how the audience perceives them. Positive and ethical leadership enhances the overall level of reputational trust among the customers and stakeholders.
“Culture isn’t just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.” – Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (Former IBM CEO)
Overall, how well a brand functions during a crisis influences the audience’s external perception and can seamlessly prevent the reputational and PR crisis.
External Factors
Since no brand exists in isolation, it is essential to analyze how the world reacts to a certain campaign and brand initiative. Factors like customer feedback, competitor practices, and media coverage can severely influence the overall public perception of a certain brand launch.
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.” – Jeff Bezos (Founder of Amazon)
The testimonials published on social media channels and websites, whether positive or negative, have a significant influence on how a brand’s product is perceived by the audience. Moreover, well-placed media coverage and evolving industrial trends effortlessly help companies understand the accurate public perception.
However, public perception is not the sole external factor that affects brand reputation; companies must thoroughly evaluate the audience sentiments to cater to the problems concerned in a timely manner. Therefore, consideration of the internal as well as external factors greatly shapes the brand reputation analytics.
Case Studies of Brands Thriving Through Company Reputation Management
It is no surprise that a brand’s image can be exploited in an instant, but the real test lies in how they decide to make a comeback. From PR crisis to consumer backlash, some of the world’s renowned brands have walked a tightrope of disaster, only to emerge stronger than ever.
Wondering how these brands turned the tide? Let’s assess the real-life stories of companies that transformed crises into roadmaps to reputational recovery:
Nike
Over the years, Nike has faced several reputational crises, with the sweatshop scandal being the most severe one observed in the early 2000s. The company’s poor campaign management led to massive public outrage. To address this reputational crisis, Nike strategically integrated data analytics to provide a more personalized customer experience.
Nike utilized data analytics to understand audience sentiments, allowing for more specific marketing strategies and improved brand reputation. The company later outsourced data analytics to predict consumer purchasing behaviors in order to streamline brand reputation management.
Pepsi Co.
In 2017, Pepsi Co. faced intense backlash due to the trivialization of social movements, cultural insensitivity, and exploitation of activism. In response to such backlash and reputational damage, Pepsi issued an apology by admitting that they had missed the mark this time.
Later, Pepsi Co. worked to enhance its internal review processes to ensure that culturally diverse teams were involved in campaign approvals. Additionally, Pepsi Co. emphasized more strategic celebrity endorsements in ways that aligned with the brand’s energetic identity.
As a result, the company successfully repositioned itself by focusing on real-time customer insights and feedback to prevent future reputational pitfalls. This was made possible since public opinions were prioritized before the formulation of any future campaigns.
H&M
In 2018, H&M faced severe backlash due to its racially insensitive campaign, featuring a Black child wearing a hoodie with the slogan “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.” This led to massive public outrage and social media campaigns bashing the brand for its inconsiderate actions.
One Twitter user wrote, “What universe do you live in that makes it okay to flaunt your racist ways in such an epic portion.” In response to this massive mayhem meltdown, H&M issued a public apology, removed the product from their website, and appointed a diversity leader to streamline the company’s corporate culture to combat future PR crises.
With time, H&M started tracking the spread of controversy across social media platforms and news outlets to identify accurate audience sentiments surrounding the turmoil.
Winning Strategies for Brand’s Reputation Management Monitoring
It is inevitable that the brand’s reputation isn’t just built on what you say, it’s shaped by what the audience has to say about it. A single PR nightmare and a viral tweet can make or break a company. But fear not, with the right game plan in place, brands can seamlessly turn the crises into comebacks and understand the audience narratives. These strategies are:
- Regular Reputation Monitoring: Brands need to keep track of their campaigns like a hawk. During the campaign’s life cycle, it is crucial to regularly address negative reviews and give the company’s credibility a glow-up by calling out the fake news.
- Prompt Responses: One of the effective strategies for brand reputation management is to respond quickly to complaints when they roll in instead of ghosting them. Timely acknowledgment of the issues boosts the brand’s credibility and generates positive word-of-mouth across different media outlets.
- Continuous Audience Engagement: When it comes to mitigating the reputational crisis, audience engagement isn’t optional but necessary. Through feedback sessions, review monitoring, and comment assessment, companies can convert casual followers into loyal brand advocates.
- Partnership with Reputable Influencers: Maintaining professional business relations with reputable influencers can sprinkle stardust on your brand. This requires tracking down the reputation and credibility of renowned influencers through effective media monitoring.
- Focus on Quality Content: Compelling social media posts, blogs, and videos aren’t just fluff. These are, in fact, the brand’s best armor against the reputation crisis. Through the posting of this content, brands can showcase their expertise and build trust among the target audience to prevent any damage to the company’s credibility.
Best Ways to Build a Brand Reputation Analysis Plan
When it comes to preparing for reputation crisis management, it is crucial to understand whether your brand will rise like a phoenix or crumble like a deck of cards when a disaster strikes. Therefore, the establishment of a bulletproof Crisis Management Plan is the brand’s biggest survival guide, and here’s how it’s done:
Assemble the Crisis Squad
For an effective and credible reputation management plan, the company must assemble a crisis team to seamlessly handle problematic situations. This lineup should include:
- Executives who set the game plan.
- HR heroes who handle the internal turbulence.
- PR pros who swiftly control the media storm.
- Analysts who keep track of the audience sentiments and cut through the media noise.
Formulate Communication Strategies
Brands need to get their messaging right through internal and external communication building. Internal communication is important to keep the employees in the loop through timely meetings and swift emails.
Additionally, external communication is pivotal to crafting adaptable statements and controlling the narratives before the internet complicates it for the brand. While it is necessary to craft a compelling branding and marketing strategy, brands should prioritize updating the crisis management plan regularly to keep up with the latest trends.
Shield Your Brand From Reputation Crisis – Media Watcher Has Got You Covered
A brand’s reputation can either make or break the company’s success. During a new product launch, brands need to be extra cautious about the audience’s perception and sentiments to prevent the probability of losing the customer’s interest and falling into partnerships with non-reputable influencers.
Take control of your brand’s reputation with Media Watcher’s compelling media monitoring and reputational crisis management strategies. Media Watcher helps the brand access precise media insights from any country through compelling cross-language understanding.
By screening the clients and influencers against adverse media channels of the brand’s choice, Media Watcher seamlessly filters through the noise in real-time by accessing data from 5000+ credible sources and 10+ years of historically accumulated data sets.
