Reputation Management Destroy or Salvage Reputation? Through their - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Reputation Management

Destroy or Salvage Reputation? Through their actions following a crisis, brands decide if they destroy or salvage their reputations. And of course, their partners matter too – specifically their PR firms.

DO YOU DESERVE GOOD REPUTATION ?

SeaWorld Situation: • Blackfish released in 2013 – worldwide release on CNN • reputation trouble can have a major impact on a company's bottom line, profits have dropped by as much as 84% • Attendance at 11 parks dropped 4% • Stock fell more than 40% Fail: • SeaWorld carried out a social media Q&A with hashtag #AskSeaWorld • Encouraged fans to ask any questions on SeaWorld and its animals • Questions asked went unanswered • Fans turned on the company and used #Emptythetanks and #AnswertheQ

What did we learn from Sea World? • Consumers increasingly supporting organizations that align with their values - leaving behind those that don’t • Feeding the fire does not help - When SeaWorld fought blackfish, its efforts backfired- drawing more attention to the documentary • Multimillion dollar positive reputation campaign & better environment for Orca’s will help but not achieve the total goal • Unless Sea World changes its business model - no orca’s in captivity - tough to regain the reputation

Tin inder Situation : • Vanity Fair article titled, “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse” Fail : • Tinder shares “Tweet Storm” (series of related Tweets) • Response deemed “ cringeworthy ” • Gave additional attention to the Vanity Fair story, further polarizing brand

Lululemon Situation: • Lululemon released see-through pants at $98 • Immediately issued a recall • Promised to have pants improved and on shelves within 90 days Fail: • Co-founder Chip Wilson interviewed on Bloomberg TV • He blamed “women’s fat thighs” for the transparency issues

Lululemon Lululemon founder Chip Wilson

Case Studies

Salvage Reputation The following slides show examples of brands that salvaged their reputation with their PR decisions and beyond.

Coca-Cola Situation : • The New York Times claimed Coca-Cola funded obesity research • Research attempted to disprove link between obesity and diet • Tried to shift the problem to lack of exercise Success : • CEO Muhtar Kent wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal • Outlined company’s response and publicly admitted misstep • Took accusations head on while defending the company • Explained how the company will act moving forward

Under Arm rmour Situation : • Created new speed skating suits for 2014 Winter Olympics • High-tech performance edge for U.S. speed skating team • U.S. team stumbled in early races • Many blamed flaw in the suit design Success : • Publicly supported team’s decision to use older suits • Reminded the public some skaters in new suits had great times in pre-race heats

Chipotle Situation : • Shortage of carnitas because a supplier was violating Chipotle’s core animal welfare standards • Unable to supply more than one-third of restaurants Success : • Announced some stores would go without carnitas on their website • Brought attention to values on caring for animals • Reinforced their values through media attention • Transparency allowed them to control conversation

Colnago Situation : • Instagram image considered offensive to women • Sexualized the woman in the picture • Portrayed that women don’t actually ride bikes because of her position and lack of shoes • Negative comments came pouring in • Didn’t think about how different cultures would react Success : • Quickly apologized on all social channels • Removed the original post

Colnago Apology on social media accounts • “Colnago deeply regrets the recent posting of an image and accompanying social media post that is offensive to women, and not at all appropriate. Colnago has long- supported women's cycling and continues to provide such support, we do not condone sexism, on or off the bike, and sincerely apologize for posting the image. Our social media policies have been clarified internally to prevent such posts from happening in the future. We respect all members of the Colnago community, and we appreciate the needed feedback many have provided to us on this matter.”

U.S. Political Campaigning U.S. political campaign is an another example of reputation management. “Bullies” usually lose reputation and the attacked ones, if able to defend themselves, gain plus point.

Donald Trump V. . Carly Fio iorina "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president ?!"

Meet Th The President of f Gaffes: : Donald Tru rump The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc. She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You He's a war hero because he was could see there was blood coming out captured - I like people that weren't of her eyes, blood coming out of her captured, okay? wherever. (About Senator John McCain ) (About Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly) But Trump can’t get away with his gaffes all the time….

Donald Trump’s Average Polling Results Between May – November 2015 Among All ll U.S .S. . Voters Oct 21 – 32.4% Sep 8 – 32.9% Aug 4 – 24.9% Sep 22 – 25.7% July 20 – 21.9% Aug 10 – 23.1% June 15 – 2.3%

Hillary Clinton’s Average Polling Results Between May – November 2015 Among All ll U.S .S. . Voters April 19 – 64.2% Sept 23 – 42.5%

Hill illary ry Cli linton and Benghazi Crisis: • On September 11, 2012, American diplomatic compound in Benghazi was attacked by Islamic terrorists, killing U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, one foreign service officer and two diplomatic security officers. • Ambassador Stevens was the first U.S. Ambassador killed in line of duty since 1979.

Hill illary ry Cli linton and Benghazi Accusations by Republicans: • Secretary Clinton lied about the true extent of al-Qaeda's involvement in the attack. • Secretary Clinton ignored security needs in Benghazi the months before the attack. • The administration did not do all it could do to prevent the attack. • The administration downplayed or manipulated the facts in order to protect its image.

Hill illary ry Cli linton and Benghazi 8 Investigations on Benghazi in The Congress, mostly led by Republicans, since 2012

Highlights from Hillary Clinton’s 11 -Hour Gril rilling on Benghazi

Th The Af Aftermath of f Be Benghazi Hearing: : Hill illary ry is is th the Cl Clear Winner 84% 84% of swing voters had said they were not satisfied with her responses to questions about Benghazi. In the latest survey, only 40% 40% said so. 72 72% of Democratic voters said they were now satisfied with Clinton's responses to questions about how she handled the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. That's up from 58% 58% before her testimony. Clinton's lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont among primary voters also grew slightly, the poll found. It now stands at 62% 62% to 31% 31% according to WSJ/NBC poll.

Thank You