Tag Archives: reputation

opinion and insights, planning and prevention

Inoculate the sponsorship of your socially-networked star

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Starlight, star…bright?

Many contemporary superstars – celebrities, artists, athletes, etc. – are embracing social networking to enjoy direct, authentic dialogue with the public.  Today’s icons let thoughts flow through their fingertips, without the primping and protection of publicists or PR handlers.  This is a good idea for the thoughtful, who share information that is complimentary to their image.  However, this is a detrimental idea for those who expose a naiveté, bias or thoughts inconsistent with their image. 

For professionals who manage sponsorships with these stars, social networking creates accelerated risks.  From an issues and crisis perspective, I’ve long recommended “inoculation actions” for sponsorships.  Here are those actions,  applied to a sponsored star who is active on social networks:    

  • Reconnaissance.  When organizations enter sponsorship agreements, they typically take great pains to find iconic figures that embody its values.  The rise of social networking helps potential sponsors know more about these stars than ever before, before inking a deal.  When stars are already active social networkers, they provide great indicators on the benefits/risk of a sponsor’s investment, rather than relying on an agent’s good word.  If the star is not online networking, there’s still a steady “digi-logue river” that can be tapped, through hashtag or fan-page post searches.  Continue reading Inoculate the sponsorship of your socially-networked star →
planning and prevention

8 bullseye tips on social media from the U.S. Army

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Earlier this month, the U.S. Army Social Media Handbook was released to the public.  It is a solid guide of practical tips for anyone engaging in digitally networked dialogue, whether for personal or professional use.

Many of the tips promote networking caution in the interest of saving lives on the battlefield (and at home) and also to save individual and troop reputation.  From a crisis management standpoint, I thought these eight tips were standouts:

1.  “All leaders must communicate social media expectations…” (p. 4)

So many organizations provide protocols that define out-of-bounds online behavior for social networking.  It’s probably equally beneficial to illustrate the expected behavior.  This approach provides the most clarity if the organization is pressed to take corrective actions.

2.  Warnings on geotagging and location-based social networking (p. 5)

These warnings may be obvious to protect troop locations.  Perhaps it is less obvious to consider how this seemingly innocent location-disclosure can harm personal privacy or sensitive corporate information.  As one example, keep in mind that hackers love to collect information – including where you’ve been and when – before they infiltrate.

3.  Online relationships – keep it professional (p. 6)

Following this very obvious guideline can keep many corporate executives out of HR trouble, or out of the courtrooms. 

Army Social Media Handbook 2011
opinion and insights

2011 crisis management trends

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Public Relations Tactics, a monthly publication of PRSA, interviewed me and other PR veterans to solicit 2011 trends.

For those that don’t subscribe, here were my three published prognostications:

  • The “forced transparency” birthed by WikiLeaks (and likely to be copied by many others) will cause crisis management challenges for businesses everywhere.
  • Social networking crisis planning will evolve from “separate addendum pages” to more fully integrated with every aspect of crisis management.
  • The importance of the crisis plan was finally understood last decade; I hope the importance of experienced crisis leaders and teams must be as widely understood in the next.

As an added bonus to my blog followers, here’s one 2011 trend that PRSA did not print:

  • I think Shonda Rhimes’ new TV show (about “crisis PR”) will finally set the record straight on the real world of crisis management:  spinning celebrity stories over a cellphone during wanton make-out sessions in a booth of an expensive restaurant!  YEAH!

 

Were there any trends I may have missed?  Use the comments section below, please.

Jan. 25 update:  Ketchum President Rob Flaherty provides his thoughts on “The Changing Crisis Management Landscape” through this podcast done for American Airlines’ audio series called “The Executive Report.”

crisis response, opinion and insights

Poll: Impact of crises today – deep or shallow?

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Courtesy: Stuart McMillen, based on work by Neil Postman

 

Although penned more than a year and a half ago, I recently stumbled upon a thought-provoking cartoon by Stuart McMillen and based on text by Neil Postman.  I’ve posted two key panels to the left, but clicking there will take you to the entire cartoon. 

In full, it concludes that Huxley’s fears have become more prevalent than Orwell’s, and that the public has an “almost infinite appetite for distractions.”  Information and entertainment overload are thought to be contributing factors.  We are hyperlinked, super networked and gadget consumed.  (For example, how many travelers do you see toggling through email, Twitter, AP news and Angry Birds apps when in an airport?  How many of you are those travelers?  I’m partially guilty.) 

If the Huxley fears are accurate, it raises an interesting question for crisis/reputation managers.  

Does a crisis today have more impact or less impact than, say, a decade ago when bad news came from fewer focal points? 

By example, I’d venture to guess that the public was more informed about the Toyota recall or the Qantas’ emergency landing (caused by a faulty Rolls-Royce engine) than a decade ago.  But is the impact the same as a decade ago?  

Continue reading Poll: Impact of crises today – deep or shallow? →

opinion and insights

Video: my interview with CommPRO’s Brian Pittman

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Earlier today, my interview with Brian Pittman – part of his “DESKSIDE WITH…” series – was posted to CommPRO, a marketing communications industry news hub.   Here ‘tis:

I’ll admit that I thought the final video would have been an edited to 4-5 minutes, but the final product clocks in at a meaty 12:51.   If you haven’t got that much time to spend, here’s what we cover:

  • 00:11:  What I’m working on now – moving organizations from “plans” to “capabilities”
  • 00:50:  Crisis implications/lessons on WikiLeaks on companies
  • 4:21:  Biggest mistakes brands make when bad news breaks (hint:  they’re not aligned!)
  • 6:19:  Common elements of companies that manage crises well through social media  (hint:  they’re aligned!)
  • 8:33:  Crisis preparedness New Year’s resolutions
  • 10:18:  How to align crisis response among PR, advertising, marketing, investor relations and corporate communications disciplines and agency partners  (hint:  get aligned before a crisis happens!)

If you have any feedback on the interview, share it with me below.  (And, yes, I know I need a better webcam.)

Thanks!

Dec. 24 Update:  Crisisblogger (and expert) Gerald Baron was kind enough to refer his readers to this interview on his blog.  Thanks, Gerald!

Jan. 20 Update:  It’s nice to see my European colleague Dirk Popp feature this video interview on his blog.  Thanks, Dirk!