- Appco Group Services
- Reputation management for Hotels – ‘Home away from Home’
- Reputation Management Online Through Right Response!
- Kingfisher Airlines gullibility banking on SBI
- Pfizer pill recall – botched up reputation in wrong pack
- Twitter to lose its reputation as a free speech platform?
- IIPM worried about Google Suggest, why is it so?
- Reputation Management Tip for 2012: Brands need to tap into social media search!
- Facebook Timeline and Reputation Management
- Apple Siri gender bias or glitch?
Archive for May 2010
Topsider Homes
May 17, 2010 | 
Author Topsider Homes is a leading manufacturer of prefabricated homes build by experts utilizing ‘post and beam technology’ of construction. The unique and flexible designs with unparalleled quality in construction and building materials bring the best homes for the clients.
The company ships the prefabricated buildings to a variety of locations worldwide. The construction of a Topsider Home does minimal harm to the environment and has proven that it can withstand any kind of natural calamity, including hurricanes, storms and earthquakes.
Each Topsider home is designed to fulfill the needs of the customer and the building site. A variety of designs are available online which are individually engineered to meet local seismic code requirements, and to adapt to the natural terrain, utilizing one of the many foundation options available from the company. Many of the production processes are still done by hand; the old fashioned way to save energy and the company also constantly keeps on the look-out for the best opportunities to improve eco-friendly building practices.
With the proven technologies and unlimited designs, you can rely on Topsider Homes to build unique homes of your choice – from small beach houses to large luxury homes.
HTC Counters Apple with Lawsuit
I have been following this Apple and HTC saga with great anguish. Back in March 2010, Apple Inc fired a lawsuit against HTC claiming that they infringed on its numerous patents. Now, last Monday HTC fired another salvo against Apple, complaining to the International Trade Commission to stop Apple from selling the iPod, iPhone and iPad.
HTC on the contrary has also accused Apple of stealing its patents about cellphone directory, power-management technology and hardware and software. As both the companies mudsling each other I get an idea that both have infringed on each others intellectual property.
From the business aspect, Apple’s attack on HTC was in some way to pull Google Inc, since HTC’s smart phone is based on the latter’s Android software, which gives them an edge over Apple’s iPhone. HTC’s counter action on other hand was on the expected lines.
Jason Mackenzie, HTC’s vice-president for North America, in a statement.
We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly, our customers that use HTC phones,
Now how strong HTC’s patent portfolio is something to be debated later, it’s not the phone specification that interest me but the way Apple loose their secret every time. They spend million dollars to come up with a product saying it’s unique, and then spend some more millions to keep the secret. Sadly the trade secret is all over the place. It’s like you want to keep the fire, but don’t want to feed the flame.
Reputation Management For.com feels that Apple or any company should protect their intellectual property or least get used to such situation. In the age of Internet and social media this is how it will be and won’t be getting any better. But, every time raking up controversy generates negative influence, least you pump another hundred thousands to convince your consumers. We know where law suits end up, and finally you are back to mind your business, but this time post-mud slugging you may have to satisfy by losing a major chunk of your market share and Reputation.
Facebook’s Gulf Oil Spill
It’s been bubbling under the surface for a while and now like the Gulf oil spill, it’s hit the surface and is spreading fast: public and government anxiety about Facebook’s approach to their members’ privacy. And like the Gulf spill it hits at the heart of their business model and their relationship of trust with their members.
A quick straw poll of friends using Facebook reveals that many of them are waking up to the horrors of revealing too much about themselves. Now what people are also waking up to is that Facebook seems to be doing too little to help them as well.
It’s been a bit of a meme that Facebook is a little relaxed on privacy, now they are gaining a reputation for putting their business model before the interests of their members. Does this matter?
Trust in Facebook must be a key piece of the company’s genetic makeup. For Apple it is ease of use and brilliant design. For Facebook it is trust and connection. You join Facebook because it is where your friends are… if people start losing trust and stop using the service, it is like the tide going out: hard to perceive to start with and then a mighty surge.
What Facebook needs to do… and fast!
Rethink privacy settings and what in software is called Access Level Controls. What I find frustrating is that all contacts are equal in Facebook which is just plain bizarre when you compare that with real life. The Facebook interface is becoming increasingly difficult to use or perhaps just more opaque. Neophyte users may not care, but more and more of Facebook’s 400 million users, trying to find privacy settings is growing more important. Every report on Facebook privacy woes increases that fear and anxiety about using Facebook. Facebook used to be seen as harmless fun, then it became an addiction before it became a way of life. The company’s brand was originally fun, all this attention to privacy could be toxic.
Posted in Company Reputation, Reputation Management, Social Network Sites | 
Tags: facebook, Privacy | 
9 Comments »
KFC Reputation – Fined £19,000 for cockroach on premises
As it is said, you’re only as strong as the weakest link! This is exactly what KFC is dealing with at its busy London West End branch in Leicester Square. Health inspectors found a cockroach eating a chip, flies and even a mouse! A £19,000 fine has been slapped on KFC following this serious hygene issue.
KFC admitted in court to all this and the newspapers are flashing photos of the cockroach on the chip for all to see.
The other charge admitted to was that there was no hand-wash facility for staff to wash hands at the food preparation area!!
BBC reports the KFC spokesman having said…
“The restaurant has undergone a complete renovation, and the environmental health officer’s barrister has told the District Judge that there is no longer a concern about these premises.”
Well, too little, too late this is, as is the £650,000 refurbishment done on the premises.
The retail food and chain restaurant businesses have set very high standards for themselves and that has contributed to their worldwide success. But being in such a sensitive industry it just takes a single branch to take your business reputation down.
From the study we did at Reputation Management For.com KFC has not fared well in reputation management and our KFC Reputation Ranking is a clear indicator to what the company can do to rectify this.
Posted in Bad Press, Company Reputation, Damage Limitation, Reputation Management, Reputation News | Tags: Cockroach, Fined, kfc, Leicester Square, Reputation Management | 3 Comments »
J&J’s reputation hit following recalls
Johnson & Johnson, the Fortune 500 company, which has a legacy of over 125 years in family health and baby products was caught in an embarrassing situation as more reports of children’s drugs recalls dropped in. From being a monopoly product in child care, J & J has become just one of the many choices in child care product brands for the consumers, overnight! The media has started to analyze the reputation and the brand name thread bare and the consumers are taking that extra while to choose their brand instead of endorsing J & J blindly as they had been doing all these days.
The recall included children formulations including Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, and Zyrtec sold in over 12 countries including the US. The company came up with a prompt apology for the recall and halted the production at the factory under the scanner as more muck kept tumbling out!
An analyst opined, “You’ve got a company that’s considered one of the premier companies, that’s spent something like 100 years building its reputation…This is the kind of thing that can hurt that.”
Johnson & Johnson has always been touted as a model in the consumer products industry, well known for its fool proof reputation management and PR policies . The proficient handling of the Tylenol scare in 1982 in which seven people in Chicago died after taking capsules that had been laced with cyanide, still remains fresh in the minds of many. However the fact that it was not the company’s fault and no one was charged in that case, came as a face saver for the reputation of J & J .
However the latest incident involving its McNeil unit has landed J & J on a sticky wicket as the recall issues clamor at the problems at the plant and its operation. Johnson & Johnson will have to roll up the sleeves in countering the apprehensions of the consumer whether they should shell out more for name brand children’s medicines when they do not have any assurance of quality and also when they have other low cost brands in market.
We at Reputation Management For.com feel that J & J has to set out on a damage control exercise before the social networks get a wind of the issue and take it far and wide. As the customers depend on search engines to finalise their brand choice, J & J has to bring back the lost confidence among its consumers to be the favorite family brand yet again!
Posted in Company Reputation | Tags: benadryl, child care products, J& J recall, Motrin, reputaion management, Tylenol | No Comments »
Goldman’s Recognises the Importance of Reputation
Since the 2008 Credit crunch, Goldman Sachs has, perhaps more than any other investment bank, acquired a reputation for “slick” business practices. They have been accused of controlling government, of putting their interests before those of their clients and for being, well, just too powerful.
During most of that time, it seems as though Goldman senior staff have been pretty much impervious to the outside world’s opinion. They have continued to describe themselves as both ethical and clear in the business choices that they make and have made. They have described their role during the credit crunch and specifically during the failure of AIG group as being appropriate.
All of that seems to have changed following their recent prosecution which had finally provided Goldman critics with a specific incidence on which to hang their hunch of Goldman complicity in just about everything bad that has happened in the last 10 years! Finally, here was the smoking gun that critics needed to prove that Goldman had known that mortgages derivatives were going to lose value at the same time as they were selling them to their clients. Surely, critics point out, this is a clear example of bank putting its private interests before those of its clients.
Goldman CEO Blankstein seems to be now recognising that there is a “disconnect” between internal and external narratives of the bank. Friday 7th May 2010 he declared, “that there is a disconnect between how we as a firm view ourselves and how the broader public perceives our role and activities in the market”.A disconnect that needs to be addressed. He also acknowledges that Goldman needs to listen more carefully to external perspectives and learn from them
What Goldman needs is both a Reputation Management programme and an organisation culture shift that acknowledges that what people say about you is every bit as important as what you say or think about yourself. Which will be more important and more difficult?
More than most financial institutions, Goldman Sachs has a very powerful internal culture of excellence and “right”. These are the supermen of capitalism and they know it. They are the brightest and the best. They have the pick of the graduates and the pick of their competitors. These are individuals who have rarely made mistakes. The Goldman decision to create an ethics and standards committee may not be an admission of guilt, but it is a recognition that Goldman behaviour has been opaque. The decision could go either way in terms of effectiveness. The decision to not include working Goldman executives is probably seen as a way of ensuring that the committee is not tainted by internal views, but my sense is that this could turn out to be a mistake as the committee operates at the edge of Goldman working consciousness: the workers do one thing whilst the committee provides a great and the good window dressing for the firm. What is important about Blankstein’s decision is that it put behaviour change at the heart of the firm’s reputation management strategy and recognises that managing reputation is strategic and requires often difficult decisions about what you can and cannot do in business. Goldman, traditionally, has followed the money. Maybe now they will put burnishing their reputation first.
Breaking Views is of the same opinion: Goldman needs to ensure that the standards committee is not seen as an “empty PR exercise”.
Posted in Bank Reputations, Company Reputation, Reputation Management | Tags: Goldman Sachs | No Comments »
Greece’s Future and Reputation at Stake
It all started in 2002 when the country gave up its currency ‘drachma’ in favor of the euro to reform its economy for easier borrowing.
Money borrowed and money spent and the downfall started. Money lenders started charging high interest, which led to tax evasion and Greece was in doldrums.
Greece has not been able to deal with the crisis which was more to do with the euro. Now it appears the crisis would spiral to the rest of the European Union, and poses threat to the decade old euro.
This is one classic example what happens when policymakers do not anticipate and fail to apply crisis management at the first place. The prime thing, when dealing with a crisis is to “take it head-on, but unfortunately this was not the case here.
The recent crisis is in many ways was brought upon to itself by Greece only. Forging data on deficits to make public finance look genuine was the start of it. They just did what they are known for ‘Spent more than what you could pay for‘.
They fail to realize that any country that incurs more than 100% debt (GDP), results in banking crisis. In the present situation Greek citizen will start pulling out their money from banks, which in return will create liquidity shortage. They may even be ejected out of the EU for others to survive. So anyway you look at it the crisis is inevitable.
Austerity measures means wage cut and will do no good, but now that the citizen are already started rioting on streets the move seems skeptical.
Greece reputation is at stake and they need to send out message loud and clear, that they are willing to transform and well-enough explain this to their citizen. Infuse confidence in the international community and generate opinion so they are taken seriously. Initiate steps to garner faith and chalk out well-planned long-term reforms.
To change is a matter of reputation, and Greece must continue to do so to survive.
Posted in Bad Press, National Reputation, Reputation Management, Reputation News | Tags: greece bailout, greece bankrupt, greece crisis, greece debt, greece debt crisis, greece economy, greece euro, greece news, greece reputation, Greece reputation management, greece riot, greece strike | No Comments »
David Letterman comes clean to send the extortionist to jail
The David Letterman scandal has come to a full circle when the former CBS television producer Robert “Joe” Halderman began his six-month jail term on extortion charges; where he had demanded hush money of $2 million from David Letterman over his extramarital affairs with a number of his female staffers.
Though the court verdict has come as a face saving break for the popular late night show host, how far will it help him to reclaim his lost repute needs to be seen. A few days after the initial incident, Letterman had sought forgiveness through his show from his colleagues and wife with whom he is caught up with a $300 million divorce case. Many still remember the jokes that he threw in to add triviality to the milieu. Letterman’s apology was timely though the humor made it appear less sincere and did nothing to bring back his public image.
However, this episode increased the popularity and the viewer ship of The Late Show With David Letterman as more viewers watched the show in anticipation of fresh stories tumbling out . The public confession about his affairs has helped him in thwarting the extortion attempts but also ensured a better life for his wife Regina Lasko and his 6-year-old son.
By owning up his actions and being with his fans, he has succeeded in reducing the impact of the slander for sure. Also by choosing to come clear of the allegations, he has succeeded in bring the blackmailer to books.
From a reputation management angle, it was indeed a bold move,in fact a good one too that helped him get his life back together after his sex-in-the-workplace scandal broke out a few months back. Lettermen had the last laugh when he chose to open up and thereby turning the heat on to his opponent, whose repute fell low in the eyes of the public!
BP’s Waiver Form Own Goal
BP’s nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico gets worse, but this time it looks like an own goal. To date they have handled themselves with some aplomb despite the naked politicking by a White House desperate to shed any blame for the spill and ensure that absolutely none of it sticks to the administration. That has resulted in constant references to BP’s culpability, that BP will pay the costs and that effectively none of it has anything to do with the USA. In the face of such adversity, BP have handled themselves with some dignity. The decision to employ local fishermen should have been PR coup but the simultaneous decision to ask them to sign a waiver looks misconceived and big brotherish.
Lawyers for fisherman complained over four specific articles:
- BP, which is mandated to take 100 percent responsibility for the oil clean-up, is demanding that the volunteers INDEMNIFY IT for any accidents that might occur from the volunteers’ efforts (Art. 13(F));
- BP demands that the volunteers WAIVE their First Amendment constitutional free speech rights about the volunteer’s participation in the clean-up efforts of the disaster; for example, if a commercial fisherman signed this agreement he or she could not then speak to anyone about the disaster or clean-up efforts until BP first “approves” of what the volunteer wants to say (Art. 22);
- BP demands a FREE-RIDE on the volunteers’ insurance policies so that if there is damage to a volunteer’s vessel or other injuries, such as to a crew member, BP will be an “additional insured” and the financial responsibility for the damage will rest on the volunteer’s insurance carrier, NOT BP; quite obviously, the volunteers paid good money for this insurance and BP should not be allowed after-the-fact to worm their way into that contract so that it can attempt to avoid further legal responsibility for the very volunteers it is asking for aid and assistance; (Art. 13(A)); and
- BP demands 30 days of notice before any volunteer is allowed to pursue legal claims against BP, and there are no exceptions made for emergencies (Art. 13(I) [sic (G])
Now Federal Court has thrown out the articles and BP have backed down from making the fishermen sign the waiver. The impact of this has been to infuriate the a key constituency for BP.
After managing the fishing communities well, it now looks like BP is beginning to lose its touch as the corporation reverts to type: ie clam up. Watch how one company Rep handled this community on Fox. http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-gulf-coast-fisherman-flip-out-at-bp-town-hall-over-oil-spill-2010-5
It is often the small things that matter. It looks as though the BP waiver was relatively standard: in other words, it had not been designed for this situation, but it is how it looks that matters. The waiver gives the impression that BP was trying to silence fishermen and avoid paying compensation. The waiver does not do that, but already heated forums are accusing BP (now increasingly referred to as British Petroleum) of trying to destroy fishermen’s lives.
BP needs to tread carefully in the next few weeks as patience and frustration take their toll. Most especially they will need to consider how they interact with the local coastal communities who, to date, have been the most sympathetic of all stakeholders towards “big oil”.
Posted in Company Reputation, Damage Limitation, RM Commentary | Tags: BP, Fisherman Waivers, Gulf of Mexico, Oil Spill | No Comments »
Corporate Reputation Management – Your business needs it!
Your brand is the most essential part of your business. Have you ever thought of how people view or value your brand? You may be running a big company, or may have a team of professionals, and generate a lot of revenue, but everything falls short when you lack sound corporate reputation management.
You may find it odd, but its true that external factors affect your business, it can be either a negative effect or a positive one. Corporate reputation management helps you to have a control over your business.
Studies suggest that only 9% of companies in the Fortune 100 list have control over their respective business or brands. This was based on the top ten listing shown on the first page of search engines and on how many of those top searches were owned by the said company.
Corporate reputation management rolls out a strategic plan to establish a control over the search results shown on the first page and even makes sure that the contents shown are all positive. It is very important to have a control over your business to maintain that positive online reputation. But it was also noticed that many big companies including the Fortune 100′s have negative comments about their products in the top page of Google. Beware! This will dampen the value of your brand in the long run, if not dealt properly.
Many business houses remain ignorant about the importance of online reputation management and bad press. But there are firms that deal with the company’s reputation and provide concrete SEO based reputation management solutions to overcome their reputation crisis and restore the lost sheen.
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