Bad Press

Reputation Management, why you need it?

If you think that the online information about your product is as secure as you thought, I will be sorry to say you are wrong. You never know unless you are tracking your online reputation if any disgruntled customer or competitor is griping about you on Facebook and twitter. A close introspection and we found that Facebook status and twitter updates appear in Google’s search results faster. Why Google? Because that’s where 90% of internet users go to fetch information about you. So make sure what you want them to know about you because your understanding about your brand and product is not what you say, but what Google suggest it is. Read the rest of this entry »

Top Ten Don’ts of Reputation Management

Yesterday we did a piece on the Top Ten Reputation Management Tips, detailing 10 things you really should be doing to preserve your own/brand name on t’internet. And, while we freely admit that the list wasn’t exhaustive, there are also some things which – equally as importantly – you should NOT be doing. Whilst amicable that you should wish to fix any issues that may arise, within you is the potential to make things a whole lot worse, too.

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Top Ten Reputation Management Tips

Ok, here should be a comprehensive guide to managing your own online reputation and the things you SHOULD be doing to preserve your own/brand name. If you’re here, you’ve already shown an interest in making sure you’re doing what you can to keep your head above the proverbial current of the internet. Or you’ve found yourself in an unpleasant situation and are facing unwarranted negative press/publicity and are seeking ways to rectify your situation.

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Celtic’s Neil Lennon Attacked at Hearts And Tweets – “I Don’t Walk Alone”

Often the centre of controversy, Celtic manager Neil Lennon has had an absolutely torrid season up in the SPL by way of publicity. And unfortunately, very little of it recently has had anything to do with football. When it comes to the two football giants in Glasgow – (the Old Firm), little of the rivalry between them is sporting and the at-times mutual sectarian exchanges from the fans has landed them both in hot water publicly. However, whereas Rangers have been handed appropriate discipline, Neil Lennon has had a reputation mostly imposed upon him that’s led to consequences far worse, and infinitely more inexcusable.

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How PR is out and Reputation Management is in

There is a saying that even bad publicity is good publicity, but that may work for Hollywood and that is not the case here. Reputation Management For.com conducted a study and learned that corporate crisis might very much result in online negative publicity, lowering the repute of the company. It was further found that most companies still tend to follow public relations and don’t see the value in ORM (online reputation management) until they get bonked in the head with devastating bad publicity. It’s in such situations that the effect of public relations becomes invaluable. Read the rest of this entry »

British Airways gets its share of reputation bashing via the easyJet Servisair tussle!

How popular is British Airways when it comes to bad customer service.  Well!! They always seem to sneak in whenever bad service is talked about.

Recently easyJet was been dragged into a wrangle with their ground handling agents Servisair. The passenger handling company alleged how easyJet force their check-in staff  to act more like policemen than customer service staff to meet the low-cost airline’s strict baggage rules. Read the rest of this entry »

Online Impersonation now illegal in California

A new law- SB-1411 now makes Online Impersonation illegal in California. Truly a first of its kind for the online world, and then this law is a good first step to combat online impersonation done in anonymity, an option that previously, victims never had.

Reputation Management For.com is glad that this law comes in the way for online protection for business in the state of California, where SB-1411 got effective since 17, January 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

Bank of America – it doesn’t get better!

No single company has had its reputation shredded quite like Bank of America over the past few years except for maybe BP, or ‘British Petroleum’ as President Obama likes to call them. Every day another story comes out over their processes around foreclosures and mortgages. Now Nevada and Arizona have filed suit against Bank of America saying it has been deceiving homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure. Read the rest of this entry »

Modelling Scam Help

We recently did a post talking about new rules that had been put in place to help protect individuals from falling foul of rogue modelling agencies (seen here). After receiving enquiries from companies concerned about getting caught up in the modelling scam affair, we’re issuing this follow-up aimed at explaining the problem faced by legitimate modelling agencies.

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The X-Factor Bad Press Mafia

If there’s one show that’s guaranteed to generate headlines, it’s Simon Cowell’s The X-Factor, screening on ITV in the UK. And while we’re all used to the stories of grief that the shows contestants claim as their motivation, this year has seen a couple of disturbing stories that are attracting all the wrong kinds of attention (forgetting momentarily that all publicity is good publicity).

It started a couple of weeks ago when Gamu Nhengu’s performance was adorned by audio-enhancement techniques. This created quite the ruckus amongst viewers who were upset that they were not getting an unbiased exposure to the contestants. But, as well as the folks at home not being all too pleased, Gamu’s troubles didn’t end there. A long with hundreds of thousands of disgruntled fans of the show, Ms Nhengu’s performance was also being watched the UK Border Agency.

It turns out that Gamu’s mother Nokutula was in the UK on a working visa which had actually expired without the possibility of extension. Yes, that would make Gamu, her mother and her two younger brothers illegally residing in the UK.

I’m sorry, but if you’re not entitled to live in Britain, and you’re staying in the country illegally… why in God’s name would you make an appearance on national television? If only Simon’s troubles ended there…

Other former X-Factor hopeful Chloe Mafia has already had to put up with articles popping up all over the news and media about her ‘professional life’ (the oldest, thereof), and now self-proclaimed misfit has openly admitted to taking drugs (cocaine). She also failed to make it past the ‘boot camp’ stage of the show, after arriving unprepared for her audition. Again.

No loss, she was rubbish anyway.

But, all the while contestants like Gamu Nhengu and Chloe Mafia are making headlines for all the wrong reasons though, the X-Factor is going from strength to strength. It seems nothing can touch this music behemoth’s reputation, but the same can’t be said for the contestants. These girls (assuming both are still in the country this time next week) are going to suffer from their auditions more than they stand to gain.

Everywhere they turn they’re going to be facing bad press. It’s not just the papers, which tend to go away and be forgotten about, but more and more frequently employers are ‘Googling’ potential employees and so every negative story about a person or company is available at the touch of a button. And now, with new Google Instant, users don’t even have to be searching for a negative story for one to come up via Google Suggest. Online Reputations are at an all-time vulnerable, and unfortunately for these X-Factor entrants – there’s very little they can do about theirs.