Lindsay Lohan is yet again in news. The 23-year-old actress has filed a lawsuit against E-Trade for $100 million over a Super Bowl ad featuring a “milkaholic” baby named Lindsay. The controversial TV ad features a baby boy apologizing to his girlfriend for not calling her because he was busy trading stocks on E-Trade. Lohan alleged E-trade for breaching of civil rights and use of her name, ‘Lindsay’ and characterization without payment or permission.

This is nothing new for the glam doll who has the habit of being in news for all the wrong reasons; starting from spending a day in jail, her relationship with Samantha Ronson, being shooed away by enraged people in the Paris Fashion Week, Lindsay has it all in her to invite controversy.

If we look back, Tracy Palmer, the Director of Consumer Advertising Sprint, made no fuss when her name was used for the girls character in the sprint ad. So doubts are afloat if this whole controversy by Lindsay is a publicity stunt. The allegations levied by her lawyer also seems inappropriate to stand up in the court.

“Many celebrities are known by one name, and E-Trade is using that knowledge to profit,” Lohan’s lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, said in a statement to the New York Post . “They’re using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn’t they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody’s talking about it and saying it’s Lindsay Lohan.”

The whole drama has done a world of good for E-trade, with thousands of people searching for the controversial commercial online. Wonder why LiLo seems so offended, or is it a mere frustration of hers.  She is in real need of a quality PR and some strategic celebrity reputation management to be in place to regain her lost image as a celebrity rather than as a troubled star.

We, at  Reputation Management For.com, feel that Lindsay has to retain the confidence of the public and should work towards getting back her stardom.  Who will want to sponsor a celebrity who may turn round and sue them later, had she not mentioned anything for the best part the ad would have gone unnoticed, now even we are writing about it now!

We are a very pro-active and believe in taking a preventative measure rather than waiting until negative results start appearing about a company or individual.  We wanted to start reporting on companies and celebrities and ranking them on how good their online PR and reputation management is.  We started with 3 completely different celebs and will be adding to it weekly.

• Jimmy Carr got into hot water about a joke he performed.
• Jonathan Ross got into trouble about a phone call prank.
• John Terry had an affair with a team mates partner

What is apparent is the lack of online presence celebs and companies have.  This is asking for trouble and with search engines becoming faster at reporting news, photos and videos if you don’t take action to protect your reputation online then you are allowing other people to write anything they want about you.  Anyone with a phone is now a journalist, they can blog you, post you, video you and with in minutes have them online.

We can help protect and defend your reputation online, we highly recommend you do this before negative things may appear about you.  It is way more difficult to push negative results down once they are there, by reducing the chances of results appearing on the first page will help soften or eliminate negative stories all together on the first page of Google.

If you need help or want to protect your reputation online then give us a call:

Call: UK +44(0)845 862 1893
Call: USA +1 646 723 3965

or fill out our online enquiry form

Apple iPhone, which was originally launched in 2007 is still grappling with many issues – legal and otherwise. If it were the connectivity issues and  deficient functions and features in its earlier days; now it is  the patents and copy right issues that are plaguing the Apple smart phone.

Apple is grappling with copy right issues with HTC and has taken legal action against the Taiwan based phone maker HTC, alleging that it has infringed as many as 20 patents owned by Apple that are used in the iPhone.

HTC is famous for its many sleek handsets including Nexus One, the first handset to be branded by Google apart from many other  handsets that employ Google’s Android operating system. With Google  defending its mobile handset partner of HTC, it is going to be a tussle between the giants. Though Google is not a party to the law suit, it has decided to throw its weight behind HTC, its partner in developing the Android technology. Google chief Eric Schmidt had resigned last year from the Apple board of directors alleging conflict of interest in the wake of increasing competition between  Google and Apple in Android Vs iPhone competition to wrestle the market share.

At least some industry watchers are rather skeptical of the timing of the law suit of Apple, which surprisingly coincided with the launch of the Android phones and many feel that it could be a delaying tactic of Apple to  slow down the Android market before Google edges them out in the race.  By targetting  HTC, which manufactures a range of Android and Windows Mobile devices, Apple may be trying to put the entire industry on notice and to  ensure its monopoly in this technology. With speculations gathering momentum, the  need of the hour for Apple is to  clear the apprehensions of  atleast some consumers who have started thinking that Apple has gone overboard by clipping others in the fray in marketing its product.

We at Reputation Management For.com feel that  a sound  PR policy will not just protect the domain and the technology of Apple but also can clear the air before the customers start wondering who has stolen whose technology? The need of the hour for Apple is to safeguard the trust and the goodwill reposed in this world famous brand by the millions of apple fans all over the world.

• Apple’s iPad or iSad?
• Apple iPad-How good is the experience
• Buying Kindle after a review

The British catwalker is again in the news for all the wrong reasons. The extent of her temper has invited suggestion to instate sirens and lights to alert those vulnerable souls she hires.  They say ‘When you are with Naomi better don’t say “No”, or else you get a bloody nose. This time it was her 27-year-old-driver, who was boxed and slapped from the back seat of the car in Manhattan. Naomi immediately fled the scene. The driver called 911 and the NYPD was looking for her to be questioned.

Naomi Campbell’s reputation is on the rocks. Just Google Naomi and you will find majority of the websites are related to her bad temper than modeling. She had been in and out of trouble numerous time before, the charges she faced ranges from beating an assistant, hurling mobile at her maid and throwing abuses at British Airways staff.

What is it that makes this sultry siren go wild? Is it because she had a trouble childhood and  struggled in life, so all that frustration has to be taken off by beating up people?   Money is not a factor and she doesn’t seem much bothered about her reputation. Serious loss in waiting and she need to realize that negative comments influences everybody and travels faster than her imagination.  Her recent show to raise funds for Haiti earthquake is over shadowed by bad stories.

Is Naomi Campbell adept to change herself? Half way through this blog I came across the news that Ms. Campbell’s driver has apologized and he is  blaming himself for the confusion. How did this happened? Naomi later issued a statement

I have worked very hard on correcting my previous wrongdoings and I will not be held hostage to my past.

We at Reputation Management For.com feel that this was a great PR move by Naomi because she was able to turn this around while the news was still buzzing. But more than that celebrity management is one thing she may need, to realize success and failure in its true form and reputation management to defend her super stardom status.

Related celebrity posts

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• John Terry and Max Clifford

Yelp Extortion

Yelp, the hub for disgruntled clients to put in scathing reviews is now facing class-action lawsuit. The allegations against Yelp is that it asks advertisement money from business houses to manipulate or remove reviews. Strange, but no advertisers on Yelp has a perfect reputation.

Yelp the popular user-generated reviews website, was more popular than Google; users would search for a particular company or local business house before they wanted to deal with it. And anything that appeared negative or positive will be the final impression. So if it is on Yelp, it’s heard.

The company on the other hand denies the allegations, contained in the class-action lawsuit, but the whole affair has put a huge question mark about the reliability of Yelp.

If Yelp’s revenue was solely based on advertising, it was easy to understand why they wanted to tamper with reviews on its website, but it was not to be. Yelp will have some hard time explaining the ethics it follows. It will be interesting to see what the company has to say in its self-defense.

The situation would have been different if Yelp had a big brother with corporate backing like MSN or Google, then meddling with reviews wouldn’t be a cause for worry.

As reputation management goes Yelp needs new principles, new moral code of conduct to bring back credibility before they are totally deserted.

The electronics giant Sony on Monday came up with a message for it’s millions of PlayStation3 users not to use their games consoles. The reason for such a call was due to a glitch in the older ‘fat’ PlayStation3 which stopped the players to connect to the PlayStation network. The bug in the clock system led the consoles to act as if 2010 is a leap year messing up the system’s internal clock. The bug though is said to be more serious for the PS3, which holds a better reliability than the rival Xbox360 of Microsoft.

Being a global name, Sony came up strongly and tackled the situation smartly making sure this glitch won’t torment its reputation. Showing signs of how to deal with crisis management, the company came up with an announcement on it’s blog, that the problem with its PS3 clock system has been resolved and gamers can adjust the date manually or by Internet.

Meanwhile setting an example for those big companies who fail to handle such critical situation, Sony showed the smart way to take control of the issue before it spiral out. Sony has sold over 33.5m PS3’s worldwide, with Microsoft which has sold out about 40m Xbox 360’s and Nintendo,which has sold 67mWiis.

Though its not the first time a Japanese company is facing such a situation, earlier Toyota was also seen battling out to safeguard its brand value and reputation. But Sony true to its reputation about quality and customer service has dealt with the situation brilliantly and not letting their reputation stink.

Related Posts :

• Toyota- Problems deepening
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The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver that concluded on a bright note at the Whistler ski complex also stands out for some  unsavory,   boozing related  incidents of the Canadian Ice Hockey team that spoiled the spirit of Olympics. Drunken brawls,  the yelling and screaming at the spectator stands, the dressing rooms and the hotels where the teams were put up, makes Vancouver Olympics a game of drinking as well!

The Ice hockey team of the host country Canada, which defeated USA 2-0 grabbed the headlines and  a few raised eyebrows  when they chose to toast  their victory with beer and cigars in public! The Vancouver games and its overwhelming drunken theme has been the topic of discussion on and off the field not just in the press boxes, but also among the spectators and the ice hockey sports fans, who were clearly let down by the teams’ dismal performance off the ground after a spectacular win on  the ground.

“Sean Gregory, a writer for Time magazine, writes that the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver may be worthy of a gold medal in a particularly undistinguished category: drinking”

The city of Vancouver has always been famous for its well kept streets and an efficient public transit system but from now on, this city and its sports teams will be known for a few wrong reasons as well. The search engines might  spew the alcohol related incidents of the ice hockey team first, before  flashing the impressive score card of the team.

In the coming days, everybody will be interested to know what the Canadian ice hockey team does to remove  the  damage caused to its repute. The team managers need to put their heads together to come up with a  robust reputation management package that will hopefully  pull out the team from the blues caused by the  drunkenness issue of the ice hockey team .

Crisis management is the new buzz word now, everybody from Celebrities, Politicians, Automobile companies to Theme parks are in dire need to salvage their reputation from getting tarnished online.  No organization wants to be in a situation that would stimulate bad press against them and cause disruption to their business.

Some companies that are hard hit recently were not able to handle crisis efficiently. Toyota is one company that is finding it difficult to stop the embroiling situation, the quality crisis refuses to die down for them. This clearly shows that the company is not good at handling crisis. The initial slow response, the half-minded recall, poor communication had adverse effect on the reputation of the company.

Managing crisis is the second best thing you can do for a successful business. To deal with crisis needs accurate and  decisive action. Take for example ‘A Gun manufacturing company loses a gun while on transit and before the public or the media ever comes to know about this the company is able to find it and put it back into the inventory‘. So rapid and precise action saved the company from getting a bad name.

Some of the ways to handle crisis is as follows:

• Identify the problems: The first step towards crisis management is to identify the problems in clear terms, so that you can sort it out easily.

• Collective decision: Fighting crisis can never be a one-man-show, a collective decision and team work is always better. Consider the relevant team and their decisions pertaining to the risk factor and go with the best option.

• Leadership: Lead from the front and talk with everybody in the team. Monitor the function required to minimize the crisis.

• Communicate: The most sought after action is to have continuous communication with the public and media. It is always good idea for the company to have their own portal or hub to update their view.

• Segregate issues: Take the best team out and let them work on every piece of the issue, break the issue until you identify the grey areas. Hire a reputation management company, which has standard practices to deal with crisis related issues.

• Encourage feedback: Read customer/client online reaction, this will help you know the correct pulse of the general public and help you overcome crisis.

• Analyze the problems:  So you know from where it took shape and who is responsible and what corrective measures can be taken to get rid of it.

• Learn: Take a cue from your last experience, this will help you mold a better strategy in future.  Always keep your last crisis experience in perspective and put in place tools so that your company is safe from similar crisis.

If you’re a diabetic, your doctor would have told you this  - “With Diabetes your chances for heart diseases are now higher”!

So what happens if your medication prescribed for diabetes also comes with an added risk for cardiovascular disease? Scary? Yes it is! And this is what’s happening with GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia or  rosiglitazone.

A Senate Finance Committee report had some hard-hitting words for GSK and this was what was said:

GlaxoSmithKline, knew the type 2 diabetes drug had possible harmful cardiac effects several years before a 2007 New England Journal of Medicine study initially raised concerns about Avandia.

It all began three years ago when Dr. Steven E Nissin conducted a study and found that Avandia raised the risk of heart disease and this snowballed into a Congressional inquiry and report resulting in a drop in stock value for GSK. NYT reported the following:

A Congressional investigation released Saturday concluded that GlaxoSmithKline had threatened scientists who tried to point out Avandia’s risks, and internal memorandums from the Food and Drug Administration show that some government health officials want Avandia withdrawn. The drug is still being taken by hundreds of thousands of patients, and sales last year were $1.19 billion.

GlaxoSmithKline has today fired a rebuttal and has in its 30-page “white paper” response made it very clear that:

It has been “proactive in investigating the safety data” of rosiglitazone and has kept all regulatory agencies, including the FDA, aware of its investigations.

They have even gone on to say that they rumours of them trying to silence people were simply efforts made to ensure the right information goes out about their product.

Avandia is a very popular drug for Diabetes and for the hundreds of thousands using it everywhere nothing couldn’t be scarier than this. The best advice we can give is to contact your doctor and not decide things yourselves.

As for GSK, trying to arm-wrestle out of this with a 30-page rebuttal may not be enough. Coming clean on research results funded by them and allowing this to be evaluated or going back to the lab to improve the medicine maybe the way to go.

Finally the word from FDA : The FDA warns that patients who are taking Avandia should be monitored for signs and symptoms of heart failure, including excessive and rapid weight gain, difficulty breathing and/or swelling. “This work is ongoing and no new conclusions or recommendations about the use of rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes have been made at this time,” the agency announced.

While GSK handles this reputation management problem, what transpires next should be interesting indeed! Watch this space for updates!

Joining the race of car recall is Maruti Suzuki (Suzuki Motor Corp has 54.2 percent stake). The biggest carmaker in India is heading to call back 100,000 cars of hatchback model A-Star from the Indian market. The reason cited is to replace a faulty fuel pump gasket, which could potentially lead to fuel leaks. The company in a statement said,

The car recall belongs to Aug 2009 lots. In November 2009, we came across an anomaly reported in the fuel tank in some of the vehicles and by December 2009, we started contacting the customers through letters

The company further says the recall actually began in November, but did not disclose the move until late February. This latest development comes at a time when quality related concerns is already gripping the auto industry with recall from Toyota and Honda already in the bandwagon.

A-Star being a popular model in Europe, Maruti had made it a point to apprise the European regulatory authorities about the recall, but the question remains! Why Maruti did not make this disclosure in India. Maruti says the recall will have very little effect on the company, but the impact was felt elsewhere. The investors packed Maruti’s stock to an all time low at 3 percent after the recall announcement.

Maruti being a leader in car market in India have never bullied on their stand, but from the Reputation management point of view had they disclosed the recall earlier, the investor would not have panicked as it reflected on the share market. Secondly there will be doubts about the way company handle information and  disclose them to investors. Finally will this affect Maruti’s reputation or are they going to put up a better show than Honda and Toyota, have to wait and see how it takes shape.

Related Posts:

• Honda- Recall for faulty airbags
• Toyota- Problems deepening
• Toyota, Honda- Industry Jinxed?
• Toyota- Damage control mode