Brand and reputation

Reputation is one of the most valuable assets of any business and a key indicator of the strength of a brand.

Inc Magazine highlighted an article this week on rehabilitating damaged brands and reputations. They gave some high profile examples that have had varying degrees of success – Tiger Woods, BP and News Corporation among others.

Of course the very best option is to avoid doing things in the first place that will damage your brand and reputation. And the best way to do that is the keep the promises you make. However, the world isn’t perfect and things can go awry.

In general there are two ways that damage to reputations and brands happen – the blow up crisis event and the death by a thousand cuts. What they have in common is that the causes have their roots in the actions and decisions of the organisation over a long period of time.

Tiger Woods’ long-term indiscretions blew up in an explosive exposé, but his liaisons had been happening for many years, laying the ground for the issue.

BP lacked an appropriate oversight and culture of safety for their operations that eventually led to the catastrophic oil leak in the gulf.

News Corporation policies and drive for the “exclusive” encouraged their people to push the limits of law and propriety that resulted a Parliamentary appearance and multiple police investigations.

Closer to home and without an attached front-page crisis, Qantas have been self-inflicting damage via a decade of management and operating decisions that have seriously undermined their brand and reputation.

So can you rehabilitate a brand and reputation fundamentally damaged by the actions of the organisation?

I think the answer lies in whether the organisation is willing to acknowledge the problems that caused the damage in the first place and make visible changes to address those causes. And in some cases even that won’t be enough.

A recent poll shows that, mea culpas, a stint in therapy and several years haven’t made much of a dent in rehabilitation of Tiger Woods’ reputation with him still being named as one of the 10 most untrusted celebrities in the USA.

The only real protection is to guard reputations like gold and be deliberate and conscious in the decisions and actions you take.

A process I like to use to do this is called “pebble in the pond”. Toss a potential decision or action “in the pond” and then map the potential ripples out as far as you can, both good and bad across all functions of the business.

What you find might surprise you, but it can also protect your brand and reputation from unnecessary harm.

See you next week.

Michel is an independent Brand adviser and advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations make promises they can keep and keep the promises they make, with a strong sustainable brand as the result. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment. You can follow Michel on Twitter @michelhogan