PR Week_Reputation Management Strategies_Blue Rubicon

8/7/2019 PR Week_Reputation Management Strategies_Blue Rubicon

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pr-weekreputation-management-strategiesblue-rubicon 1/14

INSIDE TRACK in collaboration with

8April20l1

PRWee}{

Views from our expert panelNICK HINDLE GREG DAWSON STUART BRUSETHMcDonald's Vi rgi n Atlantic Shell

FRASER HARDIE LAUREN BRANSTON VANESSA CANZINIBlue Rub icon Coca-Cola eBay

GLENN MANOFF GRAHAM MCWILLIAM CATHERINE MAY

° 2 BSkyB Centrica

SOPHY SILVER PHIL THOMSON SPENCER LIVERMOREFacebook GSI( Blue Rub icon



Introduction

B ra n d s h e d in g o o d re

welcome to PRweek'slatestventure.lnsideTrackisa new series ofsupplements thatwe areputting togetherwith agency BlueRubicon.We'll bebringing you opinions on the biggestPRissues ofthe day from some ofour leadingin-house communicators.Webegin the series with a look at reputation

management,valuedatapremiuminthecurrent political and economic environment.

FromMcDonald's comms- fuelled reinvention to eBay's journeyfrom online auction house tomajor retail force,you'll find originalinsight in these pages.We have brought togetherviews from commsprofessionals who have faced weighty challenges and foundsolutions that offer inspiration and ideas to others.Watch out forthe digital campaigning and behaviour change

supplements later this year.

Cla i reMurphY,consu l tan t ed ito r

More than ever,reputation management is

seen asa crucial part ofrunning a company. It'sa complex business.There are a thousandshades ofgreythatrnake up the soft cloud ofsentiment around any organisation.As a leader in reputation management,we

wanted to create a platform forour clients tosharetheirviews and learnings more widely.Sowe approached PRweekand talked with

peopleweadvisedayin,dayout,includingVirginAtlantic,Facebook,McDonald's,02,Coca-Cola,GlaxoSmithKline,eBay,Shell andCentrica.We thought itwould be interesting to hear from BSkyBtoo.The result isa rich combination ofexperience and opinion from

some ofthe very best in the field.

FraserHard ie, sen iorpar tner,Blue Rubicon

PRWeel{

ContentsFEATUREClient viewFixing McDonald's tarnished reputation in the UK

4

FraserHardie. BlueRubicon 8Companies should notfearrevealingtheirgeneticcode

GlennManoff. O 2 9Howdoesyourcompany's reputation measure up?

SophySilver.Facebook 10Managingyourbrand on socia l networking sites

GregDawson. VirginAtlantic 11Reputation management isn't just for results time

LaurenBranston.Coca-Cola 12Private and publicfirmsworktotacklesociety's ills

Graham McWilliam. BSkyB 13Sky attracts new customers with its a rty offerings

PhilThomson. GlaxoSmithKline 14Comms teams lead a pharmaceutical shake-up

Stuart Bruseth.Shell 15Firms that share content with stakeholders wi II thrive

VanessaCanzini.eBay 16Neverlosesightofwhatmakesa brand special

Catherine May. Centrica 17Aconvincing messagewill balance out the naysayers

FEATURENewthinking 18Howcompanies can use the tools of politica l comms

Edito r- i n- C hie f. B ra nd M e di a D a nn y R o ge rs C o ns ul ta nt E di to rC la ir e M u rp hy P ro du ct io n E d it orA iis on L ov e S u b- Ed it or R ic ha rd S imm on d s',fiIIl"WNArt Editor S arah B ald win C om me rcial D _lopm ent D irector Lu ke B urle y A dvertisem ent M anage r Lyd ia H and le y Prod uction C ontrolle r ..K ev in C o nr oy D e pu ty Production Ma na ge r G a ell e M o nin Deputy Head of P ro du ctio n L au ra M cC le nn on P ub lis hin g D ire cto r R ac ha el::,rm;f~~:~~7~~:'..,"S ti lw e ll C EOK e v in C o st ell o R e pr o FMG P ri nt, L on do n N 1 P ri nt in g S te ph en s&.Geo rg e P ri nt G r ou p , G o a t M i ll R o a d, D ow la is , M e rt hy rTy df il , M i d!S"'400'r"'lIo..~1-G lamorgan CF48 3TD . Published by H aymariket Profe ssional P ublications Ltd , 17 4Hammersmith R oad , L ondon W 67 JP. '-"II".~ J""""

N o partoft hi s p u bl ic at io n m a ybe r e pr oduc ed w i thou t t h e p e rm i s si ono f the publ ishers .© Haymarke tB u s i n e s sPublicationsLtd. P R ' M ! e k i sa regis tered trademark . :::" '...;:.::-,!:"'~

8April2on PRWeek 3



Client view

Nick Hindle, McDonald's UK vice-president communications,describes how the burger giant has resuscitated its reputation -and won over one ofthe brand's harshest critics, Jamie Oliver

raging inthe UK,writing anew bookcalled chewOn This.Allthis alongsideJamieOliver'scrusadeforhigherqual-ityfood.McDonald'shad becomethe poster

childfor obesity.Criticsgleefullywroteoff the brand and every piece ofbadnewswasleapton.Wefoundout thehardwaythat no-

onehas ahistorical righttobe success-ful.We ignored the operating funda-mentalsfortoolongandfailed tode1iver

continuousimprovements.Wefocusedon the small quest ions and were indenialaboutthebig ones.

iveyearsagowe wereintrouble.Wehadlostcontrol ofour brand,growth had evapo-ratedand ourUKprof-i ts had nosedived.

Wehad gone from leader to laggard.From successful, growing and ext-r em el y p op ul ar t o o ut o f t ou ch .Inside the business, confidence waslow-a resultoftaking blowafterpub-licblow.

Theinfamous Greenpeacetrial wastotal ly misjudged and became thelongestciviccaseinUKhistory-astormina teacupbecame atipping point forthebrand.Then Fa s t F o odNa t i o nbec-amea worldwidebestsellerin 2001 and'McJob'entered the dictionary,definedas a dead-end jobwith no prospects.Morgan Spurlock produced his docu-mentary S u pe r si ze M ein 2004 and

~ scoopedan Oscar.~ BruceWillisand KrisKristofferson~ werelinedupfortheHollywood takeon~ F a st F o od N at io nand i ts author Eric~ Schlosserleapton the obesity debate

I, voucan'tadvertise your

way out of operationalproblems

Rebuilding reputationSincethen, wehavelearned alot abouthowyou rebuild brand reputation.First,youneedto belong-sighted and

seethe bigger picture. Rediscoveringstrategy isvital to rediscovering yourvoice.Youmust strike a newbalancebetweensalesandinvestinginwhoyouareandhowyou communicate that.second,youhave tobe honest about

howmuch anegativesentiment costs

you.Wecrystallisedthe costobrandequityandlosing salenal piece ofwork byAccenumber wassubstantial-cal l that made managementheyhad tothink differentlythe core ofthe issue,orfacdecline.Third,advertising isnot t

Youcannot advertiseyourwoperational problems. If thdamental disconnect betw

yousayandwhat your custevery day,you underminehaveto f ixthe fundamentahonest aboutwhatyou areanWehavemade more chan

menuinthepastfiveyearsthanvious 30. Wewent right totthebusiness, offeringmoreccuttingtheamountoffat,saltainoldfavourites.we overhauMealsandwe havebecomebiggestUKsellersofcutfruicarbonated drinks have bmost popular choices withparents . All chicken becam

8April2011 PRWeek



ientview

Openfanns16 ,000 farms inthe UKsupply beefto McDonald's

Westar ted communica ting thea t weuse only Bri ti sh and Iri shom more than 16,000 farms andllthe eggs arefree range.t work continues today.As par tr O ly mp ic s po ns ors hip p ro -me, weare taking journalists andolders to seewhere the ingredi-ourcoremenucomefrom.e than 800of our 1 ,198 res tau-have been t ransformed bysofterg, designer furniture and natu-ater ia ls . S tr ik ing new imageryarted appearing inthe media.rth, you have to communicatent ly when t rust i son the f loor.re executing change in agold-owl and trying to communicate

incrementally in a waye d t o b u il d a p ic tu re o f a n ewnald' s. However, we were a lso

defensive about the issues.combination wasnot deliveringfwewere honest, wewere suffer-thbyathousandcuts.Wehadtoe direc tion . Wehad to s tep for-and challenge prejudice, correctrate a llegat ions and debate theant i ssues in the open.scannot bedone defensivelyorbyng f ingers a t c ri ti cs . We recog-t ha t a p ro gr es si ve c ompany i sand f rank . This meant inv it ingement, admit ting fai lings, andng doors toscrutinywithout fear.eded tobe more confident ofwho

k 8April2011

wewere and make some bigmoves.Wechanged fromwhat Iwould cal la

1+1+1incremental comms strategy too ne t ha t i s mor e l ik e McDon al d' ssquared . In a negat ive environmentwith low trust , 1+1+1does not equalthree.Everythingyou doisdiscounted.

Chalienging'Mcjob'Wenowwork ontwo levels.we looktocreate step changes inreputation with'big moves '. These are new develop-ments - not necessari ly the most s ig-nificant commercially, but iconic andillustrative ofa wider transformation.They are where weinves t to surpr iseand force re-appraisal.Below that is'newsflow', which del-

iv ers rei nf orc eme nt a nd p ro of o fchange toa l l s takeholders ina joined-upwayusing allmedia channels.

so,ifthe bigmoves arethe twists andt ur ns i n t he McDon al d' s s to ry - t hethings tha t grab the a tten tion -news-f low ofproof poin ts adds depth , c red-ibilityand personality(see box).We a ls o wor ke d h ar d o n i nt er na l

comms. Our employees are the emb-odiment of the McDonald' s brand , soh it ti ng b ac k a t t h e 'Mc Jo b' j ib e wasimportan t to rebui ld pride and drivereputa tion . with the suppor t of69percent of the Bri ti sh popula tion and thebacking oftheCBIand the skillsminis-ter,wecha llenged the oxford Engli shDictionarydefinitionof aMcJob.

I'VOU have tocommunicate

differently whentrust isonthe floor

I twas ahigh-prof ile campaign tha tt ou re d t he c ou nt ry r ai si ng t he i ss uewith MPs and local s takeholders andcollecting 105,000signatures. It madebig news local ly and nat iona lly. Job

swaps were s tepped up and thi rd par-ties mobilised tocomment.Wemade itpossible totake orre-take

bas ic qua li fica tions -maths and Eng-lish GCSE- through the companyint-ranet.McDonald's became an accred-i ted examina tion body.Today we arealsothe biggest provider ofapprentice-ships in the UK and werecent ly ann-ounced thatwewill train zo.ooovolun-teerGamesmakers forLondon 2012.Coffeewas an importan t symbol of

McDonald's modernisation. Outwentfilter coffeefrom the pre-latte age,tobereplacedbyRainforestAlliancecappuc-

Freewi-fiI tw as a s imi la r s to ry when we s p en ta lmo st £ lm i ns ta lli ng wi -f i a t o urr es ta ur an ts . Not a b i g d ea l, b ut w it hc ompe ti to rs c ha rg in g £ 5 a n hou r wemade i tmarket -changing bygiving i taway. Big news.Each of these developments had to

becommunica ted with ambit ion . TV,radio,national and local press, and on-line coverage properly integrated withpublic affairs and marketing.We deep-

cinos and espressos with organic milk.I twas not cheap ,but a tless than £1.50acupitwas greataddedvalue forthecus-tomeranditletustalkabouttransform-ingthewholemarket.Wewentbigwith

the announcement. Las tyear wesold100million cups ofcoffee.

ened credibility and built momentumwith high profile business interviews.AtMcDonald 's we l ike to measure

ev eryt hi ng . Ni net een q ua rt ers o fg rowt h, a 2 0- po in t imp ro vement i n

trust scores since 2006,and 80millionmor e c us tome rs i n 2 0 10 t h an i n 2 0 09told us ourchange ofapproach iswork-i ng .Bu t, f or me, t he c ha ng e i n moodaround the brand ismore s ign if ican t.Jamie Oliverrecently said in anationalnewspaper: 'Ican't believe I'm tellingyou that McDonald's UK h as come al on g way, b ut i t p r ob ab ly p ut s a l o t o fgastropubs toshame:McDonald's couldn't quite believe it

either. Hemay not be absolutely lovin'i tbu the ishearin' it ,see in ' i t andsayin 'it...and that isan important milestoneonthe road back tobrand health.

SuccessMcDonald's hasenjoyed 19quartersofgrowth

Getting the new message out

A bigpart ofour newthinkingwasa change in tone toa moreopen,acknowledging and humble style.Awebsite called'Make upyourow

mind'was launched. Tacticalads ranwith the line'Everything McDonald'squestionable', invitingthe publicto askanyquestions they wanted througsite.We offered peoplethe opportunity to bequalityscouts andto come bthe scenes andsee forthemselves. Mums investigated the supplychain, mfilmsand interviewed farmers. They posted what they sawonline.Wealso chose togo public for thef i r st time anywhere with one of

McDonald's biggest critics. InMay2006 ourCEOSteve Easterbrook tookina debate with F a s t F o o dN a t i o nauthor EricSchlosser, not insome quibackwater, but right atthe heart ofBBCcurrent affairs on Newsn igh

I t ran l iveas a20-minute segment a t the top of the programme. I tmagoodlVand i twas a turn ing point for McDonald' s in the UK.I t said thered iffe rent leader in thi s bus iness and hewas going to beopen and drive idifferent direction. That message was heard loud and clearacross the mandthat was criticalto getting traction inour turnaround. Itwas acalcugamble that paid off.We followed Newsn igh twi th regular discursive slots with Simon Ma

5Live,JeffRandall on Sky,the To d a yprogramme and To n i gh t w i t hTrevMcDona ld .Inparallel, we openeddia logues with the red tops andagreed to letTheSunjournalistswork some shifts inrestaurants.

Onehundred brandambassadors were recruited andt ra ined to beadvoca tes in theregions charged with developingrelationships with councils, MPs,community groups andthemedia. Theywere allfranchisees-local business people with localcommunity interests at heart.

8April2011 PRWeek



ue Rubicon Fraser Hardie Glenn Mano

T h e re p u ta tio ngainmpan ie s t ha t r ev ea l t he ir g en et ic c od e a dd h un dr ed s o fm i ll io ns o f p o un ds t o t he ir v al ue

r ea t compani es a restrongly different-

iated and, typically,wel l t rusted. Theirvaluations are higherbecause the market

bel ieves brand strength and cleardifferentiation will deliver higherfuture earnings. Their reputation ispart oftheir competitive advantage.Bui ld ing r eput at ion t hr ough

effectivecommunication that betterd iff ere nt ia te s a c omp an y i s astrategic investment in a busi-nessasset.Communication thatst re ng the ns re pu ta tio n i sf ar mo re v alu ab le t ha n isrecognised.

It isan enabler that allowscompanies to expand faster,use technologies differ-ently orgain accessto re-sources - people, capitalor assets - previouslybeyond their reach.

Conversely,aweakreputation increasespol it ic al and r eg -ulatory r isk, raises

t he c ost o f c ap it aland drives operating

expense.However,communicators

lackbeliefthat they candeliveratangible reputat ion dividend.Activitiesare seenas acost rathert han an i nves tmen t. Thi s s et sup the wrong decision-making

I dynamic . The empha si s i s onmanaging budgets rather thaninvesting for maximum share-holderreturn.Investment should reflect the

value ofdifferentiation, but oftenthere isn 't enough t ime and moneydevotedto strategicthinking tocreate

clarity onpositioning andto defineacoherent, complete corporate narra-

tive.Often narrative lacks insight intooperating intangibles. It isnot deepenough ordeliveredwith enough cre-ative flair orcampaigning energy tomakedifferentiation stick.Reputationmanagement has tobe bui lt onthef oundat ions o f s tr ong s tr at egy,a compelling narrative and powerful,creative storytelling.Thereality issomething different.

Corporate communications is domi-

I, companies thatopen up are

valued more highlythan those tha t don 't

nated by three things: explainingstrategy,structures and restructures;reporting results against a matrix oftargets (including social responsibil-i ty); and protect ing reputat ion bymanaging away risks andthreats. Allofthat isvital- itprotects, itexplainstopline direction oftravel andit pro-vides evidence ofprogress. Buthowoftendoesit cement differentiation?Many argue that reputation man-

agement isjust toowoolly,and lackssupporting empiricalevidence.Iagreethat wemust crackthe analytics butwealso needto lookat itdifferently.Research shows that companies

that open up,telling arich,deepstory,are valued more highly than thoset ha t don 't . The marke t r ewardssystematic, deeperdisclosure ofoper-ational detail.OxfordMetricaanalysishas shownthat goodcommunication

increases share price byabout eightpercentayear.There'sa realincentive torevealthe

genetic code that governs howyourcompany delivers on a strategy and,ultimately,where the financial resultscomefrom.That's a greatopportunityforreputation managers,but it meanstaking a more balanced, robust andcreative approach.

It also means winning argumentswith finance directors and investorrelations folk.They'll say:'Investorsaren'tinterested in softstuff;focusonthe management del iver ing on tar-gets.'Lifeisnot that simple.The 'softstuff'has aprofound impact onreve-nue growth, efficiencyand profits.Reputation management and cor-

porate communications should, inlargepart,be about making your nar-rat ive stick with those who matter.Let the world see more deeply intoyourcompany and help stakeholdersunderstand the genet ic code thatmakesyourcompany different.

It isnoteasy,but failing todeliverawhole company narrative - onethatembraces culture andtalent develop-ment, brand and category manage-ment, the process of innovation, cus-tomerand supply chain relationshipsand soon-leaves outsiders toseeinthrough anarrow window ofmetrics.It leavescompanies undervalued andcreates an unforgiving andbrittle rel-a ti on sh ip between manager andshareholder orstakeholder.Wecanaddhundreds ofmillions to

t he val ue o f compani es s imply bymaking them better understood.woolly? I'dcallit agoodreturn on

investment.

Fraser Hard iei s sen io rpar tne r a tBlueRubicon

Offth e c o v e ra g e dAim for a bo lde r commun ica ti on s s tr at egy by measu ri ng your o rgani sa ti on 's r epu ta ti o

confess I used tothink verylittle about

reputation. Iwas toobusy communicating- c re at iv e PRcam-paigns, stakeholder

meetings, keeping employees onsong,working with charity partners,CRreporting...Indicators showed goodresults and

I shared these results regularlywiththeboard.Naturally this included pic-tures,great stories where webeatthecompetition, plenty ofmediacoverageand return on investment f igures .Everyonewashappy.B ut I w as r unn in g b lin d. I h ad

stacks ofoutputs but I simply couldnot tel lyoutheir impact onthe out-comes that mattered most - reputa-tion andtrust.

It wouldbe anoverstatement tosayIwas abusy fool.Iwas more like theoldsailorguided by themoon andthecurrents -tapping into intuition bornofexperience. Iwas cautious, lackingan accurate compass ormodem tech-niques toplot abolderstrategy.I wasn' t naive about reputat ion

management. Ihad arobust risk reg-ister and knewwhat threatened ourcompany's reputation. I assignedval-ues and owners, put sound plans inplace and ensured wewere preparedforanypotential crisis.Butonething wasmissing- oppor-

tunity. Reputat ion managementapproached as 'risk management'missedthe obvious- sustained repu-tational improvement. I nowrealisethis isthe singlemostvaluablethingwecommunicators cando.

~ It sounds obvious but it requires8 n ew d ata , new i nsi ght s a nd n ew~thinking. It meansgetting offthe'cov-~erage'drugandadding inmoreslowly

evolving reputational metrics builtfromdeeper thinking and consistent

coreprinciples.Imagine twospecialadvisersto thePrime Minis ter. One reports everyweek on med ia s co re s and how todrivethem higher, the other onvotertrust andhow tobuildconfidenceoverthemedium term.Which areyou?IfI have onepieceof advice,it's to

spend money on good reputation-tracking data.At O 2we useRepTrak,although there arevarious optionsandI'm notarguing fora singlesolu-tion.Wegetequallyimportant insightfromsocialmedia tracking and directinteraction with customers. MPsur-veys,brand tracking, journalist feed-back,and ourown employeesarecriti-calsourcestoo.Wegetspecificdataaboutwhat the

public thinks ofourbrand andreputa-tion rather than just ourcustomers'views of service. Marketing teams

1, I f I have onepiece of advice.

it's to spend money ongood tracking data

may begoodat the lat ter but not thef orme r. Hav ing bot h p rovi de s anadditional insight.

If your reputat ion isbet ter withyou r cus tome rs t hen you have anopportunity to tell the wider publichowandwhyyou exceedexpectations.Ifyourcustomersrank youworse thant he pub li c, g et you rs el f i n f rontofyour board quickly. Youhave setexpectations you're not delivering.Something has tochange.

GlennManoffisdirectorofcommunica tions andcorpora teaffairsat02

Reputation datagivesyou informa-t ion about where yourreputat ion isstrong, averageand weak- in forensicdetail. It includes detail about howeach a spec t o f r eput at ion r anksaga in st t he o th er s, i n a ll s ec to rs ,across countries , and in people'sr at iona l and emo ti onal m inds .Overtime yousee cleartrends.That'sc ru ci al f or p lann ing and s ee ing i fcorrectiveactions areworking.Afew years ago we saw sustain-

abi li ty and cit izenship growing inimportance beyond the CSRandcommunity investment stuff.Therelativelyfewcompaniesthat wereu nd er ta ki ng amb iti ou s p ro -grammes were delivering an acc-elerating win-win forsociety andtheir ownbrands andreputations.Wehada proudtrackrecord,butitwasn't having much reputationalorbrand impact. The same wastrue formost companies.Taking new reputational data

and analysis to the boardopened t he doo r f or b re ak -through thinking. Ourstrongvaluesand social commitmentwerealreadythere,but nowwecould make a clearer case forgoi ng fur th er, f as te r w it hgreater communicationsfocus.What fol lowed was more

than afewinitiatives. It wasamulti-year transformationplan with leadership ambi-tionglobally.Thatwasn't riskdriving change (there wasl it tle r isk in fact) . It wasopportunity.



Facebook Sophy Silver

I, Engagingwithcritics enables

brands to understandthe issues that matter

to their customers

T h e sw a y o f s o c ia n e twBrands that manage their reputations on social networking sites are reaping the rewards

hen Mark zuckerbergfounded Facebookseven years ago in aHarvard dorm, no-one could really haveknown that it would

turn into a social utility enabling halfa billion people to connect with theirfriends,share information and experi-ence the internet. Facebookis helpingthe internet change from an informa-tion web to a social web - from the

wisdom of crowds to the wisdom offriends. In the UK alone, 30 millionpeople now live in a world where'liking' something has taken on anentirely newmeaning.This growth has been driven not by

complex technology, but by people,and the ways in which they like tointeract. This is about a fundamentalneed for everything we interact withtobe social,tobe experienced with thepeoplewe know and like.It was not too long ago that people

used to add their pictures to photo

lOPRWeek 8April2011

sharing sites.They gave people a wayto archive their images, but they wereawkward to share with the peopleyouwanted to see them. When Facebookfirst launched its photos application,it did something different - it let peo-ple tag their friends, creating a socialexperience that sparked sharing andconversation. Now,people add morethan 100 million tags to photos onFacebookeveryday.Facebook'sgrowing sizehas made it

a shorthand for'everything on the int-ernet' and that brings with it reputa-tional issues. Similarly,when the int-ernet became widely available, someblamed its existence for the ills oftheworld.TodayFacebook is in a similarsituation. It is a communicationsservice, and a house party that getsout ofhand isnot a 'Facebookparty'.Itis just a house party.While Facebookis based around the

way people have alwaysbehaved,ma-jor technological shifts can makesomeuncomfortable.The debate about

privacy - and the security ofpersonalinformation in particular - is moreimportant today as a result. Facebookleads the sector in these areas by giv-ing the people who use the site themost powerful tools to control theirdata, their identity, and their safety.Our reputation is built on how thepeople who use Facebook feel abouttheir everydayexperience.Those reading this may be more

interested in how they manage their

brand's reputation on Facebook.Theweb is being reorganised, with peopleput at its heart. Successful businessesare now social bydesign, sowe mustcreate and nurture brands aroundpeople and the things they careabout.Somebrands are already leading the

way,creating lasting connections topeople and developing inspiring andrelevant creative content that peoplewant to share with their friends.Facebookis a blank canvas forcreativeideas that get people talking and

sharing. Its value to marketers lies inthe ability to spread your message asthe people connected to your brandengage their friends.

It isn' t just about engaging yoursupporters. Facebook can help youreach critics too. Just as a personexcited by a new advert or jacketmight want to tell their friends, ifsomeone hasn't receivedwhat they'vebeen promised they'll want to com-plain about it too.Engagingwith crit-

ics on Facebookenables brands to un-derstand the issues that matter totheir customers, and evolvetheir busi-ness to meet expectations.As managing the relationship bet-

ween brands and their audienceson Facebook becomes increasinglyimportant, the most successful brandsshow an understanding that to man-age reputation effectively, we firsthave to manage conversations.

Sophy S il ve ri sh eadof commun ic a ti on s,e rI reland a t Facebook



Greg DawsonVirgin Atlantic

B u i d re p u ta t io n s e v e rywhy do many comms directors confine corporate reputation management to results time?

t interests me whenI seeestablished com-munications direc-tors dismiss the vol-ume game whentrying to influence

corporate reputation. It seems thatthe default position remains position-ing the company well at results time.But every day there is an opportu-

nity - and an urgent need - to pushthe agenda.With the proliferation of media

channels, driven by the runawaygrowth of social media, reputationequity is always changing, and thatdemands a proactive approach to keepbrand reputation on track.During my time at private equity-

backed Travelodge, we looked at thekey value drivers of the business toensure our corporate reputationachieved the highest possible value.

These 'value creators' - prescribed bybanks and other private investors ofcourse - centred not only on the busi-ness model, strategy and financialtrack record, but also on quality ofleadership, brand credentials, industryregulatory environment, innovationand reputation as a 'goodemployer'.Alreadyyou can see that the corpo-

rate narrative required to shape thatset ofvalues needs tobe much broaderthan the last quarter's numbers. Infact, these needs create opportunitiesfor the comms teams tobe talking tomany different sections of the mediaon aweeklybasis.Having increased awareness ofthe

Travelodge brand from 70 to 99 percent in three years - and moved itscorporate reputation in some ofthesekeys areas - I know it takes a consist-ently intense media relations effort tocreate relationships and seek oppor-tunities for regular stories, commentor profile interviews.Toreach a range ofmedia you must

spread your comms teams' reachinside the business. They must bec-ome news hounds who understand

Views in brief

Wh ic h h is to ric al f ig ure w ou ld h av e b ee n a g re at re pu ta tio n m an ag e!?L io ne l L og ue - v oic e c oa ch to K in g G eo rg e V I. H is s en sitiv ity to h is s ub je ct, th ec ou ra ge o f h is co nvic tio ns a nd th e a bility to pro vid e le ad ers hip to th e K in gh elp ed to g alv an is e th e B ritis h Emp ire th ro ug ho ut th e S ec on d Wo rld Wa r.Wh ic h o rg an is atio n h as tu rn ed a ro un d its re pu ta tio n in th e p as t y ea !?IlV has tak en g re ate r s teps th an m os t. T he link -up b etw ee n A dam C ro zier a ndA rch ie N o rm an is e x citin g b ec au se th ey h ave b ee n le ad ers in th e c on sume rin du strie s fo r s o lo ng . C hie f e xe cu tiv e A dam C ro zie r h as a re co rd o f lig htin gfire s u nd er b ra nd s a nd h elp in g p eo ple re dis co ve r th eir s en se o f pu rp os e.

every comer ofthe organisation andcan build relationships with internalstakeholders so they impart theirknowledge and expertise.When this is achieved, the comms

team carries the core intelligence ofthe business and can attack and def-end its corporate reputation depend-ing on the media, consumer and pol-itical agendas. I have always foundthat a significant news flowisthe bestwayto defenda reputation. If youhavbad news or reputation sensitivitieshanging overyour organisation, theworst thing you can do is cross yourfingers and hope.The next stage is when your set of

widely dispersed communicatorsbecome sensitive to opportunities inthe divisions that they are mining forinformation. This is where my busi-ness,VirginAtlantic, comes into play.If your communicators can coach

your organisation's directors to bec-ome confident spokespeople, they arethen talking indirectly to their cus-tomers. The next step is to relay con-sumers' responses back to the com-pany through the increasing numberofchannels that are provided by socimedia.If a business is to become truly pro-

gressive, it will act on the feedbackdelivered by social media and embarkon awonderful conversation with itsconsumers. This will help shape itsbusiness offering.This approach takes all ofthe ele-

ments I have described above,but alsothat sometimes elusive quality, lead-ership. virgin Atlantic's brand enjoysits status because the company hasbeen built on strong communicatorsand brave leadership.The willingness to challenge con-

vention onbehalf ofthe consumer isapowerful part of a company's DNAgalvanising theworkforceand sealinga bond with customers.

G r e gD aw s o n i s d i r ec to r o Jc o r po r ac o mm u n ic a tio n s a t V ir g in A tl an ti

8April2on PRWeek 11



ca-Cola Lauren Branston Graham McWi lliamBS

How to connect for goodvate companies can legitimately work with public bodies to taclde society's challenges

t is no secret thatt he p ub lic s ect or i sincreasingly lookingt o t he p ri va te s ec to rt o h el p t ac kl e s oc ia li ss ue s. Whi le many

e q u ic k t o v i ew t hi s a s a s ymp-f s pen din g c ut s a nd t he ec o-d ownt ur n, t hi s t re nd b eg an

efore the cuts began tobi te .reason? The publ ic sec tor rec-t ha t t he p ri va te s ec to r - a nd

me r b ra nd s i n p ar ti cu la r - c ana wealth of ins ight , exper ti sebi li ty tobui ld an emotional con-

with consumers toa numberlenging social issues.he same t ime, the priva te sec tors tha t to del iver pro ject s tha tan i mp act o ut si de th ei r co res and exper ti se , they need thesector's know-how.e may dismiss such par tner-between the public and priva teasa s in is te r development , bu t

mpany orbrand bui lds i ts repu-a nd t ru st amo ng t he p ub li c

helping toaddress asoc ia l cha l-thi s shouldn 't be considerede. P ro vi de d t he c ompany o rdelivers genuine outcomes thatnot o therwise beposs ib le ,i t i saurn.corpora te par tnersh ips being

yCoca-cola are great examplesthi s approach can work.Des igna ted Driver campaign is

four commitment to promotes it iv e r ol e t ha t s of t d ri nk s c anenjoyable and credible alterna-o a lcohol . Des igna ted Driver,nter ing i ts fourth year, rewardssible drivers overthe Christmasbyoffering those who choosed r in k o n a n ig ht o ut a ' b uy on e,e free' on Coca-cola orDietcoke.wegave away one mil lion f reei n mo re t han 8,000 venues

the UK.e recently, Coca-Cola has par t-with Stree tGames , a nat iona lt hat h el ps yo un g p eo ple i n

8April 2011

Arty Thearts channels have attracted newcustomers who might never have considered paylVthrough a mixture ofperformances and documentaries about arts bod

Moving into a new spacThe sky Arts channels have challenged perceptions ofthe brand and been a commercial succes

n Sky 's e ar ly y ea rs , afamiliar joke was thatt he c ompany 's a tt i-t ud e t o th e o ut si dewor ld was summedup in the famous

M il lw al l c ha nt , ' No one l ik es u s, w edon't care'.Tha t may have been an exaggera-

t ion, bu t i t' s fai r tosay tha t back thenwed i dn 't p ut t oo much t ime o r e ff or tinto act ively managing our reputa-tion. Wewere toobusy building abusi-ness toworry about such things; rec-ognit ion would come with the quali tyo fwh at weput o n t h e s cr ee n a nd s uc -

cess in the marketplace.That think ing may have been r ightfor i t s t ime. But aswe 've goto lder andw is er , w e' ve c ome t o r ec og ni se t heimpor tance ofaproac tive approach toreputat ion management. Like mostb us in es ses , w e u nd ers ta nd t ha t i tmat te rs wh at p eo pl e t hi nk an d s ayabout you. Forgood orbad, reputationh as a n imp ac t o n c us tome r l oy al ty,employee engagement,investor senti-ment and the regulatory and pol it icalclimate.S o i f y ou 'r e n ot t un in g i nt o t ho se

e xt er na l p er ce pt io ns a nd t al ki ng t o

More than money Coca-Cola brings itsmarketing expertise and understanding ofyoung people to itspublic projects

I, we'renotsuggesting that

the priva te sec tor i sa silver bullet

disadvantaged communi ties to par-t ic ip at e i n s po rt s. T he imp ac t o f o u rpar tnersh ip wil lbe t racked and meas-ured byindependent thi rd par ty eva l-u at io n. Ou r fu nd in g w ill h el p t hechari ty expand nat ionwide , and a llowStree tGames to del iver an improveds po rt in g e xp er ie nc e t o mor e t ha n110,000 young people.But Coca-Cola wil l b ring far more

than jus t funds toSt ree tGames . We' rebring ing our marke ting exper ti se andu nd ers tan din g o f y ou ng p eo pl e t ocomb in e t he p owe r o f s ome o f o ur

b iggest asset s with Stree tGames in atruly integrated campaign.

In 2011, we' ll s ta rt t o c re at e a n ewp ro gr amme o f 300 NeighbourhoodFes tiva ls tha t wil l reach about 46,000

people. we' ll bebui ld ing a campaignaround these festivals targeting youngpeople, the ir paren ts , local MPs andother community leaders to celebratesome of the young people involved inStree tGames , rai se awareness of the

chari ty and inspi re more people toge tinvolved at alocal level.Our integra tion of Stree tGames

w it h o th er c ampa ig ns w il l e xt en d t oo ur s po ns or sh ip o f t he London 2012

Olymp ic a nd P ar al ympi c Games .Coca-co la wil l use the exc itement ofLondon 2012 t o e n co ur ag e b ot h p ar -t ic ipat ion and regular a ttendance a tS tr ee tG ames e ve nt s - h el pi ng mor eyoung people to access the wel lbeingand soc ia l benef it s ofspor t in the run-u p t o 2012 and beyond.

B eyond t hi s, w e' ll u se o ur o th erb ra nd s a nd a ss et s t o s u pp or t S tr ee t-

Games where relevant. This will rangef rom get ting inspi ra tional Footbal lLeague s ta rs and Olympians to vis itStreetGames projects, to our sponsor-ship of the Special Olympics, whichw il l e na bl e u s t o b ri ng e xp er ti se t oinclude more disabled teens in Street-Games . We couldn 't do this withoutStreetGames' expertise.There wil l a lways be some people

who view par tnersh ips such as these

w it h s ce pt ic ism and s us pi ci on , a ndwe' re not suggest ing tha t the priva tesec tor i sa s ilver bul le t. But if compa-n ie s s uc h a s C oca -c ol a c an p la yaleg it imate role in tackl ing the cha l-lenges weface asa soc ie ty,and bui ld ap os it iv e r ep ut at io n whi le d oi ng s o,then surely everyone benef it s. Thiscreates the type oflong - te rm and sus-t ai na bl e p ar tn er sh ip t ha t s ho ul d b ewelcomed aspart ofthe solution.

Lau r e nB r a n s t o nis d i r e c t o r , p u b l i c a J f a i r sa n d c o mm u n i c a t io n s , a t C o c a - C o l a G r e a tB r i ta i n a n d I r e l a n d

I, Thechannelshave given people

a reason to considerSky for the f ir st t ime

people about what you do,you' re notonly missing a pos it ive oppor tuni tyb ut ex po sin g yo ur o rg an is at io n t oincreased risk.

For Sky, there has a lso been a c learcommerc ia l imperat ive to shi ft per-ceptions over the past fewyears.Facedwith achal lenging targe t of 10 millionc us tome rs b y t he e nd o f l as t y ea r, w eknew t ha t wewoul d f in d i t i n cr ea s-i ng ly h ard t o wi n n ew cu st ome rsunless welooked todo new things andengage with people in newways.Toput itbluntly, if someone hadn't

chosen Sky already, there was l it tl ep oin t in t ryi ng t o p er su ad e t he m b yjus t doing orsaying more of the same.A t t h e s ame t ime, we r ec og ni se d

tha t consumers were becoming more

d emandi ng i n t he ir e xp ec ta ti on s o ft he c ompani es w it h whi ch t he y d idbusiness. They stillwanted great prod-u ct s a nd g re at v al ue, b ut t he y a ls owan te d t o k n ow t ha t a c ompany wasu si ng t he ir mon ey r es po ns ib ly a ndmalting apositive contribution.Our SkyA r ts c ha nn el s a re a g ood

example ofhowwe have responded toboth of those cha llenges, opening upn ew poc ke ts o f d emand a nd doi ng s oina way tha t contr ibutes v is ib ly to thecommuni ty around us.T he y a re t he UK' s o nl y c ha nn el s

completely dedicated tothe arts, offer-ing everything from uninterrupted

opera a t prime t ime to behind- the-s ce nes d oc umen ta ri es a bo ut ar tsorganisations from across the UK.

The c ha nn el s h av e b ee n a h i t w it hc us tome rs , g iv in g t hem mor e v al uef rom the ir subscript ions and encour-aging them tos taywi th us for longer.They arewatched by two million view-e rs e ve ry mon th , a nd n in e o ut o f 10 ofo ur c us tome rs t el l u s t ha t ' Sk yA rt so ff er s p ro gr ammi ng I c an 't g et a ny -where else'.

They have a lso given people a newreason toconsider joining skyfor thef ir st t ime. Maybe you 're not into sport

or movies?Well,Sky Arts mthe t hi ng t ha t mak es p ayconsidering.o f c ou rs e, t omake a s uc c

c ha nn el s, w e' ve h ad t o g e tan d l et p eo pl e k no w a boWe've done tha t through tmarke ting and PR,but a lsobi nv ol ve d a nd p ar tn er in gorganisat ions to create sonew and distinctive.That haco-producing Antony GormlO t h e r on Trafa lgar Square'p li nth an d wo rk in g w ithleading bookfes tiva ls tobr inthe TVscreen.

Sky Arts has challenged pand encouraged positive reofour brand. It i sno t jus t aingpeople feel warm,it's thecial benefits ofadding new cand being seen tomake apot ribu tion to l i fe in the UK.

And tha t' s surely what rmanagement i sabout - s ta rtthe cus tomer, inves ting towhat you offer them and ccat ing the benef it s tha t fol lo

Gr a h amMcW i l li am i s g r oc o r p o ra t e aJ f a ir s a t B S ky

8April2011 PRWeek



GlaxoSmithKline PhilThomson

A new c o m m s g e n e ra t iIn a period of uph eaval, PR p rofession als are d rivin g ch ange at p harmaceu tical compan ies

he pharmaceuticalindustry is in themidst of enormousstructural change.First, an unprece-dented number of

branded medicines are losing theirpatent protection. This 'patent cliff isthought to beworth $200bn overtheperiod 2008-12.Toput it another way,the industry islosing revenue equiva-lent to the combined market value ofMarks & Spencer, Tesco, Burberry,Diageo, Rolls-Royce and the LloydsBanking Group.These losses coincidewith a decline

in research and development produc-tivity. In other words,the drugs beingdiscovered in the labs are not replac-ing the value ofthose medicines los-ing patent protection. Also,purchas-ing power consolidation - throughprivate sector and governmental

reforms - is squeezing prices.We have responded by fundamen-tally changing GSK,shifting invest-ment and resources to emerging mar-kets, consumer healthcare, vaccinesand biopharmaceuticals. Our productpipeline is promising, with potentialnewmedicines and vaccines forareasofsignificant unmet need such asdia-betes, heart disease, cancers and sev-eral rare diseases.OUrstrategy is not unique; it will be

implementation that makes us suc-cessful. The role of communicationsis not only to articulate change, butto drive it faster and deeper.Sowe are reshaping GSK'scommu-

nications function, adding new skillsand embracing a more open culture.We are moving from a decentralisedorganisation to an integrated group.'connectivity' is one ofour function'skey priorities and I believe it isvital if

we are to share knowledge and oper-ate effectively.Companies and their communica-

tions are undoubtedly under the spot-light.Messages are scrutinised. Short-comings are amplified. Attention is

14PRWeek 8 A p ril 2 01 1

Views in brief

Which histor ical f igure would have been a great reputat ion managerl

EmmelinePankhurst- shefundamentally reshaped the perception ofwomeninsociety.Shecampaigned with passion,understood the value ofnewsandwas adept at getting hermessage across inmultipleways.

Which organisation has turned around its reputa tion inthe past year l

MarkZuckerbergand Facebookhaverespondedwellto the potential negativeimpact of T h e S o c ia lNetwork.

§ limited. This applies as much inside~ companies as outside.~ ForGSK,operatingin morethan 100countries, this means being able toshare resources seamlessly and speakconsistently and powerfully to every-one interested in our company.

It alsomeans ensuring our comm-unication is holistic. This is centralbecause ofthe role trust plays in ourindustry. The enhanced capacity ofGSKto win and retain trust will be asourceof competitive advantage and adriver ofshareholder value.As a result, bringing our ethical per-

formance to life is as important asexplaining our financial performance.Sothe need tobuild and renew trust ishardwired into our thinking and plan-ning, whether it is related to the acq-uisition ofa company orour 'open lab'innovation to encourage collaborationon new treatments formalaria.

This is no easy task and it requirescommunicators with versatility,judgement and empathy. It meansinvesting in our people is critical. Incommon with many communicationsorganisations, I suspect, we've notsystematically developed our people.That is changing.We'reinvesting in

a globalcommunications competencyframework sowe can respond to skilldeficits individually and invest infunction-wide training. We are alsolooking to move our people arounddifferent communication disciplinesand audiences. An example is movingtalent from brand and product com-munications to investor relations.These changes are being made to

help create a sustainable businessthat will bring more new medicines,vaccines and products to patients andconsumers around the world. Com-municators reading this know thatour expertise is at the heart ofrealis-ing this change. We are embracing it,challenging it and championing it.

p h il 'I 1wm s o n i s s en io rv ic e -p re sidg lo b al c o mm u n ic a tio n s a t G l ax o



Shell Stuart Bruset

Views in brief

Wh ic h h is to ric al f ig u re wo uldh av e b ee n a g re at re pu ta tio nmanager?

William Wilberforce campaignedagainst vested interests and wasstoic inthe face ofadversity. Hedevised radical ways to promote hiscause. Pamphlets fullof eye-witness test imony were used,showing captive Africans packed inthe ships. There were sugarboycotts, petitions, and marches.Wh ic h o rg an is at io n h as t ur ne daround its re pu ta tio n in th epast year?Toyota ismaking every effort toregain the public 's trust after i tsproduct recall. Ithas used socialmedia to build dialogue with thecustomers affected. Transparency,openness and dialogue have helpedthem rebuild trust.

P rep a re fo r o u r s h a red fCompanies m ust learn to share content and build new relationships w ith their stakeholder

n 2010 a string ofseemingly unrelatedevents transformedthe global media land-scape.At first glance,one might wonder

what the launch of the iPad, the BPMacondo oil leak crisis and Wikileakshad to do with one another.

Together these moments led to afusion of content publishing onlineand realised the promise of a new,real-time, hybrid media landscapethat is truly global.

For communicators, the implica-tions are momentous. If, as a profes-sion, we continue to think in the silosofthe tradit ional world ofprint media- TV on one hand, and the emergingworlds of social media, Facebook andTwitter on the other - we risk missingthe biggest opportunity for communi-cation professionals in a generation.We live in an era in which change is

so rapid that sometimes the present isonly visible once it is past.

We are entering a new phase in thedevelopment of the information age.It is having a profound effect on themedia and information industries -and, crucial ly, on how our stakehold-ers receive, share and publish infor-mation about us.

Don Tapscott and Anthony wil-liams, in their recent book Macrowiki-nomics,said the internet is no longerabout surfing, passively reading, orwatching. It's about 'sharing,socialis-ing,collaborating,and most of all,cre-ating [content] within loosely con-nected communities'.

Newspapers and broadcasters areredefining themselves accordingly.Eye-witness accounts and footage -often shared on the web - drive cover-age and are playing a growing rolein shaping the agenda of the tradi-tional media.We are seeing an increase in par-

ticipatory news as the media becomemore dependent on people's eyes andears to enable them to break news.

At the same time, publishers andbroadcasters are pushing to incorpo-rate live web feeds into their news sto-ries and, further, to present data innewways.Much of this is being done in col-

laboration with the audience - pub-lishers are opening data to the worldso readers can playa part in the devel-opment of stories.

In a world in which content is thestrongest currency, we are seeing theemergence of what might be called agift economy. There are many ways ofsharing (or gifting) content such asvideo, audio, photographs or datawithin social media networks bet-ween friends, orwithin communit iesand the media.The companies that are best able to

share valuable data and conten t withtheir stakeholders will be those thatgain clout and respect in such a gifteconomy.Media relations functions must

reflect this new external world:

• The discipline must develop newmodels for launching stories anddriving them across a range of d igitalplatforms.• We need to establish differentalliances and new ways of distribut-ing content with media partnersonline.• We need to participate in commu-nity dialogue on digital platforms,driving tweets across communitiesto alert them to fresh activity andcomment.

There is a considerable opportunityto narrow the perception gap andbuild new relationships with ourstakeholders that are more direct,open and transparent.We must not be held hostage by the

past but embrace the future and cre-ate our own digital newsrooms oftomorrow.

Stuar t Bruse thisvice-president ,Shellgmedia rela tions, and afoundermembeSoci alMed iaLeader sh ip Fo rum

8April2011 PRWeek IS



eBay Vanessa Canzin i

Don't ose the brand magicIt is crucial to reshape a brand to reflect reality, but never lose sight ofwhat makes it special

few weeks ago I wasbrowsing eBay insearch of a leavinggift for a colleaguewhen I stumbledacross a book with a

title that made me smile: W ha t G ot Y ouH ere W on 't G et Y ouThere.I immediatelyhit the 'Buy it Now' button and ref-lected on how perfectly this summa-rised the challenges of developing abrand reputation strategy at eBay.Redefining a reputation is no easy

challenge.This is especially true whenyou are one of the most recognisedbrands in the world.eBay became one of the world's

most loved brands by making shop-ping fun, giving everyone the oppor-tunity to buy and sell globally fromtheir living rooms.The novelty of auc-tions made shopping a game, withcompetitive spirits battling to defeat

their rivals.Yetthis image doesn't ref-lect the reality of today's eBay.Now,auctions make up a shrinking minor-ityof sales,and the hobby sellers ofoldsell alongside thousands ofSMEsandthe biggest high street brands.The challenge is to ensure percep-

tions keep pace with the evolvingreality,but without losingwhat madethe brand special in the first place.If done sincerely and with long-

term commitment, a brand reputa-tion strategy should achieve twothings. First,it should highlightwhereyour company is strongest - the cred-ible territory onwhich to engageposi-tively with stakeholders and cust-omers. Second, it should seek tocontextualise your issues - the thingsyou'd rather were not associated withyour brand but are.For eBay, it was clear that our

strongest asset was the 160,000 entre-preneurial businesses thriving on oursite.With no-one else able to articu-late the challenges facing online ent-repreneurs, this was a rich and credi-ble place for us to occupy. A strategythat focused on championing the

16PRWeek 8 A p ri l 2 01 1

~ needs and concerns ofthe firms thatu power the UKeconomy gave eBaythe~ ability to forge strong relationships

.~~~I across an array ofstakeholders, politi-cians and media.Crucially, this strategy has proven

beneficial in contextualising the iss-ues that inevitably arise. We haveshown that a focused strategy canhave a positive effect on issues man-agement. Since we launched the On-line Business Index (ourbarometer ofthe performance and attitudes ofonline SMEs)in March 2009, we haveseen a 50 per cent reduction in nega-tive coverage in the UK, and a 66 pecent reduction in Germany.As a global phenomenon that grew

up in the public eye, it hasn't alwaysbeen easy for eBayto separate itselffrom the early days ofthe internet andthe issues that come simply byvirtueofthe fact that itwas the first.

If the first decade for eBay wasabout defining the standards for glo-bal e-commerce, then the next decadewill be about defining the new retail- the way in which online and offlineshopping is evolvingand blurring.Thepace of this convergence demon-strates how consumer behaviour isundergoing another revolution simi-lar to the one that created eBay 1

years ago.Just as established brandshad to shape up when the internetarrived, we understand the need toadapt and grasp the opportunitiesaround mobile, digital, local and soc-ial.Andwewant to lead, not follow.eBay has demonstrated that it is

possibleto reshape andbuild a reputa-tion while losing none ofthe magic ofa brand that is universally loved. It inot an easy thing to accomplish, andthe number ofbrands that continue tofocus their comms on the issues thatundermined their reputation in thefirst placemakes the point better thanany book I stumbled across on eBay.

Views in brief

Which historical figure would have been a great reputation managerlN i cc olo Ma ch ia ve lli . T he u nd is pu te d m a ste r o f u nd er sta nd in g r ep uta tio nm an ag em en t, M a ch ia ve lli 's te ac hin gs inThe P r in c ec en tre o n d ec is io ns , h owthe y a re m ad e a nd h ow the y a re pe rce ive d b y t ho se a ro un d u s. H e e spo us edthe need to pick a side depending on w hat you w anted that decis ion to sayabout you and w isely stated that every issue or debate comes dow n to w h ichs id e y ou c ho se .As w ith an y re pu ta tio n, h ow eve r, it is s ha pe d b y th e opin io ns ofo th ers a nd s ad ly h is to ry h as tra du ce d h is re pu ta tio n, le av in g h im v ery m uc hm is unde rs to od. Sound f am il ia r? Va n es sa C a n zin i is h e ad o J co rp o ra

E u ro p e a t e B a y



Cathe rine MayCentrica

Views in brief

Wh ic h h is to ric al f ig u re wo uldh av e b ee n a g re at re pu ta tio nmanagerl

D an ie l D efo e w ou ld h av e b ee n af an ta st ic r epu ta tio n manager.H ew as a n o rig in al th i nk er w hou nd erstood both how to m anag eg ove rnm ent and how to e ng ag et he g ene ra l public .

Wh ic h o rg a nis at io n h as t ur ne daround its rep utatio n in th e p as tyearlThe London O lympic s O rgani singC ommitte e has p rove d that w e c anbe su cc e ss fu l a t d e liv er in g ma jo rp ro je c ts i n t hi s c oun tr y, d e liv e ri ngv en ue s o f whic h o ur c ap ita lcity willbe proud .

We n e e d re a s o n s to b eMessages about a business m ust feel authentic and be supported by the company's em ploye

hake speare's Othelloprovides us with afantastic example ofthe importance ofreputation - and howeasy it is for the per-

ceptions ofothers to be a mismatchwith reality.with a fewwell-targetedwhispers delivered over a jug of ale,the villain of the piece, lago, makessure his comrades believeDesdemonaandCassioare having an affair.Within

minutes the rumours are an acceptedfact in the minds of the players andCassio is left to cry: 'I have lost myreputation! I have lost the immortalpart of myself, and what remains isbestial:In the zist century we don't often

think ofpersonal or corporate reputa-tion in the rather spiritual terms Cas-siouses,but nothing elsehas changed- our reputations are still dictated byhow others see us. Unfortunately forthose of us in businesses, what ourstakeholders choose to focus on today

may not be our greatest strengths. Inthis era of information overload wecan only exert control over our owncommunication channels. Stake-holders, especially those outside theorganisation, will see and hear infor-mation from many sources.Asguardians of corporate reputa-

tion, our challenge is twofold:first,wehaveto make our own channels - ourbriefing programmes, websites, presspacks,case studies and B-Roll- as con-

vincing as possible; and second, wehave to dowhat we can to minimisedissenting voices.Rising to meet these challenges is

not simple - the first impulse ofmanystakeholders when they think of abusiness is to distrust it. In recentyears many businesses have let theircustomers, investors and employeesdown, shattering the trust in big com-panies that had been built up overgenerations. Not every business wasguilty,but all will have to livewith thechange in attitude it has brought.

Businesses with great comms andcorporate affairs teams are workingon these challenges today.The best ofthese teams are creating a strong webof personal relationships with theleading voices in their stakeholdergroups. They are making their mes-sages, and their channels, relevantand convincing for these individualsand groups, and they are creating asense oftrust in the information theyprovide. It is this trust that will help

their stakeholders listen to the factsabout their business and find it to bean organisation they can trust.Without a strong reputation, with-

out the trust ofstakeholders, our busi-nesses cannot flourish.Their strategy,their engagement, their approach,every step ofthe processes they usewill be doubted and questioned. Anysuggestion ofbad practice or unethi-cal behaviour will be magnified,tweeted and blogged.

It is alsocritical not to lose sight ofinternal stakeholders. Everyemployee

is an ambassador forthe organisation,and views from the inside can doenormous harm when those views areconsidered to be objective and inf-ormed by experience. By engagingeveryone to at least discuss the issues,and giving them a forum, the nega-tives at least become what DonaldRurnsfeld called 'known knowns'.No business is perfect. But the

extent to which employees will talkexternally about positives,rather than

negatives, is a good measure ofhowwellreputation management isbeinghandled throughout the enterprise.Everyone - internally, externally,

from the most powerful opinionformer to the employeetelling a friendwhat a goodcompany they work for-needs reasons to believe. It's aconstant challenge - and there's a lotto manage. But have the stakes everbeen higher?

CatherineMayisgroup di recto roJcorporate a ffa i rs a tcentrica

8April 2011PRWeek 17



ew thinking

Wi n n i n g

h e c o rp o r a teI

c a m p a i g nt oo ls o f p o li ti ca l s tr at eg y c an h el p b us in es se s s ol ve

ir r epu ta ti ona l cha ll enges , s ay sSpencer Livermore ,ec to r o f s t ra te gy a nd p la nn in g a t B lu e Ru bi co n

n awo rl d i nwh ic h c ha l-l en ge s t o r ep ut at io nemer ge f as te r an d a remore unpredictable thanever,businesses often facea n o ve rwhe lm in g p re s-

o ' ju st d o s omet hi ng ' - t o mo vet to the execution phase ofa cam-Our advice is to res is t thi s tempta-n order to shape sentiment rathercontinual ly chase i t, corpora te cam-

mus t b e u nd er pi nn ed by i n ve s-mor e t ime i n s tr at eg y, n ot l es s, s owhen t he e xe cu ti on p ha se c omes ,vers maximum value for thes budget.Blue Rubicon , webelieve tha t anewic approach is needed to help ourrespond to th is pressure. Our app-fuses the strengths ofcommunica-s trategy - drawn from the wor lds ofsing and PR-wi th the approachestica l s trategy, and combines themngle offer.le the s trengths of communica-s trategy might bewell known, why

does the addit ion ofpoli ti ca l s trategy addsomuch value when i t comes tohe lpingclients respond tothese pressures?The a nswe r i s t ha t p ol it ic s f ac es t he

same, i fno t greater, p ressures for imm-e di at e a ct io n, c on te nd in g w it h t he d e-mand fordaily approval. Successful politi-c al s tr at eg is ts w in t he ' pe rman en t'c ampa ig n b y und er pi nn in g a ll a ct io nwith a c lear s trategy, executed in a disci -p lined way.This approach to s trategy for-

mation and executionisincreasingly seenasre levant tobusinesses fac ing the ir own

strategic challenges.

Harsh environmentThe pol it ical s trategy approach has beenforged in the harshes t ofenvi ronments :pol it ical communica tors have long had tocontend with an exceptional combina-tion ofextreme factors.

F ir st , n owhe re i s t he c on sume r l es sw il li ng t o l is te n t ha n i n p ol it ic s. Bom -barded by seemingly undifferentiatedmessages they often f ind hard tore la te to,p ol it ic al c on sume rs a re mor e c yn ic al ,

1'!'I°whereIS the

consumer lesswilling to listenthan in politics

ek 8 April 2011

s ce pt ic al a nd d is tr us ti ng t ha n t ho se i nany other sector.Second, the media environment is more

r ou ti ne ly b ru ta l i n p ol it ic s t ha n i n a nyother sector. Political brands areevaluatedevery day,have to prove themselves everyday,and are under a ttack every day f rom ahost ile media , often with i ts own agenda.

Thi rd , pol it ics i s uniquely focused onbeating the competition. Your reputationisonly ever relat ive to tha t ofyour oppo-

nents , c reat ing a competi tive environ-ment unparalleled in itsferocity.Finally, the win-or-lose, winner-takes-

a ll nature ofe lect ions rai ses the s takes.This s ingle moment ofdefini tive judge-ment shortens the t imeframe and sharp-ens the imperat ive to inf luence a tt itudesand behaviour.Tosurv ive in this harsh environment ,

success fu l pol it ical s trateg is ts have per-fec ted a process tha t can quick ly del iverextraordinary strategic clarity and disci-p li ne - a nd whi ch we a re u si ng t o d o t hes ame f or b us in es se s a s t h ey s ee k t ow intheir permanent corporate campaigns.

S owha t a re t he s te ps i n t hi s p ol it ic alstrategy process?

It begins byensuring s trategy isgenu-inely driven byaudience insight. Startingwith ac lear focus onwho the targe t audi-ence is,wedr il l down unt il wehave adeepunderstanding ofour targe t audience' sbehaviour and what might change i t.Thishelps ensure tha t acontinual l ine ofs ightto the ult imate audience ismain ta ined a tall times during the campaign.

Strategic positioningOnce the targe t audience is identi fied andunderstood, wework towards developingthe strategic 'positioning', whether fortheorganisation, product orbrand. Thevalueofposi tion ing is tha t i tdef ines the ter ri -t ory fr om wh ic h, in a c omp et it iv eenvironment , you can win the argument.Rather than t radi tional ' is sues manage-men t' - w her e yo u fi gh t o n y ou r o pp o-nents ' t er ri to ry and allow them to def inethe terms of the debate -pos it ioning iden-t if ies the ground from which you can win ,meaning your existing brand ororganisa-

tional attributes canbecome assets ratherthan liabilities.with the s trateg ic pos it ioning agreed,

wenow adopt the same discipl ined adher-ence to execution tha t the bes t pol it icalc ampa ig ns t ak e f or g ra nt ed . Todo t hi s,strategy must becoherently articulated int he f orm o f a n ar ra ti ve t ha t d ri ve s a ndunites allcommunications. This mattersbecause,in essence,a campaign isa battlefor dominance between two competingnar ra tives - every day dominated byyourn ar ra ti ve , y ou w in ; e ve ry d ay s pe nt o nyour opponents' narrative, youlose.

F inal ly, we implement thi s nar ra tiveusing the cri ti ca l fourth s tep: messagediscipline, the application ofa consistentmessage across a ll channels, with ac learunderstanding ofwhich words touse andwhich to avoid,transforming itsimpact.

So,with reputat ions made and brokenfas te r than everbefore ,we l ive in an era ofthe permanent corpora te campaign. Thecha llenges faced in bus iness and pol it icsa re n ow so a li ke t ha t t he s ol ut io ns mus tbe too.

Applying the toolsof political strategySuccessful politicalstrategists have perfected a prthat canquicklydeliverclarityand discipline. Herethree examples from the toolkit we usewith client• O wn t he w ord . Inorder to answer the mostfundamental strategic question - where to positioonese lf - wework with ourc lien ts tod is ti l theesstheir brand into a singleword. This istheword theyseek to own, defining the territory from which theyfight ina competitive environment. Byowning asiword, provided itisboth credibleforthe organisatiodifferentiating from their competitors, we achieveon future direction.• War g am in g.

Everyorganisation orbrand livecompetitive environment. TheWarGaming tool foto think likeyour competitors, identifying positionalreadyowned bythem. Thisstress-tests yourdesiposition ingagai nstthat ofyouropponents, exposweaknesses that might not have been identified.• Wor ds t o u s e, w o rd s t o a v oi d. Wenow havpositioning, competitively tested. Next,we mustart icu late i t inawaythat works forour ta rge t audcritical because theway consumers talk about anwillbe very different from the wayan organisationabout i t. I fnarrat ive i s the s tory wewant to tel l,messaging isthe specificwords we useto tell it.Todetermine the words to use and the words toavoidesign the right language forthe specificaudience,compelling sequence formessaging and a hierarchguide frequency ofuse.

Fus ing the bes t o f bo th worldsP oliti ca l s tra te gy C om mu nic at io ns

1 Clarity o f target 1 Clarityoftargetaudience audience

2 J oi ne d- up , e nd -t o- en d 2 Cen tr al i de aview o f campaign complements ans tr at eg y whe re c en tr al amp li fi es a ll o t hei de a dri ve s al l ot he r i ni ti at iv esactivities

3 Con st an t f oc us o n t he 3 Rel en tl es s f oc uscompetition uncovering bran

strengths

4 S to ry te ll in g t hr ou gh 4 S impl ic it y o f cr ean ar ra ti ve a s e xp re ss io n i de a a s e xp re ss ioof strategy strategy

5 Discipl ined applica tion 5 Novel ,engagingo f co ns is te nt mes sa ge a pp li ca ti on o f crac ro ss a ll c ha nn el s i dea a cr os s a ll c h

& Five-yearelectoral cycle & Long-tenmbranth at mu st s ti ll d el iv er t ha t mu st d el iv edaily approval business results e

8April 2011PRWeek



PRWeel{INSIDE TRACKi nco l labora t ion wi th

Documents

PR Week_Reputation Management Strategies_Blue Rubicon