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- Reputation Management Tip for 2012: Brands need to tap into social media search!
- Facebook Timeline and Reputation Management
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Posts Tagged ‘PR / Public Relations’
Dow Chemicals sinking reputation
June 17, 2010 | 
Author Dow chemicals, one of world’s largest chemical producing companies seems to be in some disarray following the renewed controversy over Bhopal. Their brand ideology is built around the combination of science and technology with the “Human Element”included.
Why should Bhopal impact Dow who only bought Union Carbide fifteen years after the disaster at Bhopal? They can rightly claim no involvement with the disaster. The counter argument is that Dow bought everything including the reputational risk of Union Carbide at the same time. Has it come back to bite them. This question is especially pertinent in the light of the Mexico Oil Spill: if Amoco was to buy BP would they also suffer from ongoing reputation risk in the years ahead?
Dow has a number of worries: the damage claims of its subsidiary Dow Corning’s silicone breast implants; and now the world’s worst ever industrial catastrophe, the Bhopal (India) Gas Tragedy. It’s enough to worry any CEO, let alone brand director.
Vouching the fact came the recent reputation rating analysis undertaken by Reputation Management For.com which highlighted how the company used to refurbish its image to some repute among its clients and employees. The study also suggested the need for a crisis management with a strong PR to regain the credibility among the masses.
Being driven by so much anger and frustration of the masses, Dow needs to show responsibility and compensate for all the negligence and communicate to those affected. This will send out a strong message that Dow, is a concerned company. The company even needs to take a strong stand by coming out and presenting its side rather than staying aloof, or else the day is not far when this largest chemical producer would be more known as a killer company, even as their reputation takes a beating.
Posted in Bad Press, Company Reputation, Damage Limitation, Online PR, Reputation Management, Reputation News, Reputation Online | 
Tags: Bad Press, Bhopal, Bhopal disaster, Business, Business/Finance, Disaster/Accident, Dow Chemical Company, Dow chemical reputation management, Dow Chemicals, Dow Corning, Dow Environmental Inc., International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, Midland Michigan, Online Reputation Management, PR / Public Relations, reputation, Reputation Mangement, States and territories of India, Union Carbide, Union Carbide Corporation | 
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Mark Twain Autobiography- 100 years of Reputation Management & PR
Mark Twain sealed his autobiography for a 100 years after his death and we’re the lucky ones to see all his secrets being released. Well, this is, if you look at it closely Reputation Management at its best and not to mention PR.
Dead celebrities and their estates continue to amass wealth and media space. Maryln Monroe, Elvis and Jim Morrison are all great examples of this. However, Mark Twain does it all in a well-planned, calculated manner. A century later we’re all thinking of what he might have said that he thought his reputation may have been affected?
Well for his foresight and PR skills this post is a salutation. He sure knew how to get back into the news.
Whatever Mark Twain felt may have ruined his reputation may not seem much today, but, with reference to his times we can expect to gossip about him and he probably would have enjoyed it. The Independent article had historians saying this about Twain…
“He had doubts about God, and in the autobiography, he questions the imperial mission of the US in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. He’s also critical of [Theodore] Roosevelt, and takes the view that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel. Twain also disliked sending Christian missionaries to Africa. He said they had enough business to be getting on with at home: with lynching going on in the South, he thought they should try to convert the heathens down there.”
So clearly lots of interest building up, plus the 400-page section on his liaison with Isabel Van Kleek Lyon who later became his secretary is sure to be intriguing.
Shock-value may not be there, but, oh, won’t the tongues wag again about the man who was known to have loved his celebrity status.
How ignorance can damage your online reputation
Being ignorant about socializing on Internet can ruin your company’s online reputation without you knowing it. Blogging about your companies internal matters, tweeting about any disgruntled customer, talking about the company disputes on facebook, can send out a negative impression about you, and in return you may be damaging your own reputation. We tend to forget that reputation is made or lost on these social networking sites, which has taken over everything these days.
A small flaw committed online can cost you a lot, there’s always a danger in conversations you make about your company online, every word you put up can create a ruckus for your business online. Study suggests that big reputation blunders are done on these social media sites, where people ruin their company’s image by making comments which raises a question on the credibility of their brand.
Another factors are emails and forums where you discuss and seek public opinions about your business issues, unknowingly putting yourselves in a state of judgement. The message is loud and clear, you have an issue at hand and your company’s reputation is at stake.
These common yet essential factors do play a decisive role in making or breaking your companies online reputation. Be careful what you discuss and post online viz-a-viz about your company. An ignorant statement can take your hard earned online reputation to no returns.
Posted in Bad Press, Company Reputation, Damage Limitation, Online PR, PR / Public Relations, Reputation Management, Reputation Online, Social Network Sites | Tags: blogging, facebook, Online Reputation Management, PR / Public Relations, Reputation Management, Social networking sites, twitter | 4 Comments »
Shashi Tharoor’s Controversial Pandora and his Reputation
Regardless of his impeccable credentials as a diplomat and him being the emerging face of Indian politics, Shashi Tharoor was recently made to resign from his post of Minister of State for External Affairs, on the grounds of illegal use of his office. Being a writer, sportsman, politician and above all a top UN diplomat, Tharoor was in a soup with nothing much to prove his part clean.
Ousted by Congress, Tharoor might not have ever dreamt of such an exit with allegation from all sides including no support for him from his very own ruling party. Well, seems Tharoor failed to score when it came to build a good PR internally in his party, though he enjoys over 700,000 followers in Twitter. Alleged for being involved in the auction of the Kochi team in the IPL, Tharoor never thought in his scariest dream, that his love for Kerala will turn up to him in such a fashion.
Being an ardent twitterer Tharoor’s (@ShashiTharoor) message have irked his party for a couple of occasions in the past, he was the first minister who came out open via Twitter and tried to connect with the masses. If Mr Tharoor would have used his social networking and twittering skills which is something new to Indian politics, to clear the air about the alleged scandal, then he would not have landed in such a mess, and the damage would have been minimized. Tharoor’s flamboyant persona and cool attitude had enough supporters on twitter, but being a politician Tharoor needed to distinguish his private and public life, before flaunting his girlfriend openly. All this has raised several repercussion, with the big question, whether Shashi Tharoor is a mis-fit in the Indian political scenario?
Claiming innocence in Lok Sabha Tharoor said, “My conscience is clear and I know I have done nothing improper or unethical”
Whatever be the case, we at Reputation Management For.com strongly feel that Shashi Tharoor needs to make sure that he comes up strong over all these controversies and restructure his political reputation. He needs a well defined PR strategy in parliament to successfully make up for his lost glory.
Posted in Damage Limitation, National Reputation, Online PR, politicians, PR / Public Relations, Reputation Management, Reputation Online, RM Commentary | Tags: Indian politicians, Indian Politics, Online Reputation Management, politicians, politicians reputation management, PR / Public Relations, Reputation Management, Shashi Tharoor | No Comments »
Goldman Sachs, time to defend their brand and reputation
The civil fraud charges has dented the reputation of the already bruised Goldman Sach Group, putting it into yet another PR loop, and this time it going to get worse. The group’s announcement about it’s revenue crossing way beyond $3.5 billion was a bit flamboyant
Though Goldman Sach has refuted the charges made by the SEC’s about selling off risky mortgage investments without intimating the buyers. It has already been said that this looking to be one of the most controversial of financial irregularities in the recent times. Law may take its own course, but it has to be seen how they are going to win back the lost confidence in public.
The company doesn’t have much time to seriously think about the difficult situation it is in now. The online news doing the rounds 24/7 and in the cyber age where information reaches faster, you cannot take that luxury to sit back and let it cool by itself. As of now unless proven guilty against the SEC’s fraud charges, company will maintain silence, but this will not be a good move. The silence might be mistaken to be hiding something. Goldman Sach needs to chalk out a strategic crisis management to be in place to shield it’s brand reputation, which it has taken years to build.
At Reputation Management For.com, we feel it is the right time for the right action – Goldman Sach should utilize this opportunity and sharpen it’s PR skills, and send out the message loud and clear about how sincere they are with investors.
Twitter Monetization & the Reputation Management Angle
Twitter monetization began officially on April 13th 2010 and finally the Ad-free service is looking at promoted tweets and their resonance among tweeple to be the deciding factor in value. So this means according to Biz Stone on his blog,
Promoted Tweets will be clearly labeled as “promoted” when an advertiser is paying, but in every other respect they will first exist as regular Tweets and will be organically sent to the timelines of those who follow a brand. Promoted Tweets will also retain all the functionality of a regular Tweet including replying, Retweeting, and favoriting. Only one Promoted Tweet will be displayed on the search results page.
So deals have been made with Starbucks, Virgin America, Sony Pictures, Red Bull etc and their tweets will soon be featured as promoted tweets. Promoted Tweets end up right on top of a search pile so search for something like ‘coffee’ on twitter will take you to the promoted tweet by Starbucks right on top of the search result.
From what I see @Starbucks is certainly doing quite well with the resonance thing, with most promoted tweets being Re-tweeted by the hundreds. Mashable finds that Virgin America is capitalising on “Red hot Tweets” with their offers.
However its still only a day old and in a matter of time we could have a better picture as to how effective a Reputation Management Tool this can be in the future.
To tow the line of resonance of the promoted tweet and its effect on people… could Tiger Woods or Toyota actually use this as a feature for re-building reputation and PR?
Twitter has largely been based on the large amount of content that it has been highlighting through tweets. Content is clearly King for Twitter and for now promoted tweets only appear on top of searches of relevant searches and will remain there and not disappear into oblivion as new tweets come up.
So if Toyota were to go in for a promoted tweet offering free accessories for a Prius or even some useful information on the car call-back it can probably get more visibility being right on top of the search list. Interesting???
While copywriters and Twitter users conjure up the right phrases and set this new tool in motion, we here at Reputation Management For.com feel there could be something here for ORM.
Early days yet but Twitter’s got our attention for sure and this could very well be an avenue to explore for effective crisis management and PR that comes under the purview of Online Reputation Management.
Celebrity Reputation Management & PR – Ricky Martin, Anna Paquin Style
Celebrities and their army of people (Marketing, PR and ORM) are the ones who come up with the latest in brand building and PR as the spotlight is on constantly, and they have to think several steps ahead.
However, with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter being handled deftly by the celebrities themselves, there is a bigger connect to the fans. So, you have a Kim Kardashian posing in bikinis with no “real work” as we know it, making millions and others cashing in on coming out of the closet – of course, the latest being Ricky Martin.
The Ricky Martin strategy: Make no mistake, the timing about revealing a “secret” is a serious strategy and for Ricky Martin it’s not simply to get back into the spotlight but also to sell his biography. Take off the emotional baggage and put more money in the bank is quite the PR ruse!
The strangest development in celebrity PR is that lesser known stars and starlets are blindly aping their more successful counterparts even in their worst ordeals. The call to be diagnosed Bipolar is strangely considered cool these days and Shrinks around the world are being forced to discover some Bipolar here or there !!!
However, the one thing good about this is that Bipolar disorder is losing its bad rep and gaining some celebrity on its own. So for real sufferers maybe better research is around the corner.
What we advice celebs these days: Being bisexual is totally cool, in fact anything goes, except for racial slurs, spousal abuse (Charlie Sheen) or serial cheating (Tiger Woods, Jesse James) or other crimes. We could soon have more and more people coming out à la Anna Paquin who admitted she is bisexual. Celebrity reputation management is sure getting spicier by the day!
So for someone like Mel Gibson who is supposedly having the now-cool Bipolar disorder its the anti-Sematic tirade or the Mel-tdown as its being called that will continue to haunt his reputation. Mel needs to keep up with sound reputation management – he should never be without this backing!
Conclusion: So if you are a celebrity waiting to come out as a homosexual, the time is right, the world is ready for you, showering you with more money and followers on Twitter and Facebook. ’Bipolar’ should however be handled with kid gloves for now, buzz words have the nasty habit of losing their sheen quick.
Ricky Martin has opened new PR vistas by choosing his own biography for coming out as Gay – no Oprah Show or expansive article in a magazine for him! And…’the times they are a changing.’
Posted in Bad Press, Celebrity Reputation, PR / Public Relations, Reputation Management, Reputation News, Reputation Online, Social Network Sites | Tags: Anna Paquin, Bipolar, Bisexual, facebook, Gay, Kim Kardashian, Mel Gibson, ORM, PR / Public Relations, Racial, Ricky Martin, Scandal, twitter | No Comments »
Reputation Management, PR and SEO goes hand-in-hand
Reputation Management is about what you do, say, and what others say about you. So do we have a tinge of PR into this. What is public relation (PR) all about? We have already debated in the past about PR being one tool that is mostly about marketing and communication, but we haven’t talked about how PR culminates with reputation management. What is the role of SEO that completes the cycle?
Public relations is one factor that takes care of your reputation, with the intention to influence customers and support their belief about your product goodwill. It is a continuous process to maintain an amicable understanding between public and an organization. PR supports the efforts of reputation management, and there are various techniques to do that; press release, blogs, copy writing are some of the essentials that is used as a public relation strategy. Dealing with crisis management both online and offline is another form. All this signifies that constant communication is the core and vital that helps to put an effective image of your brand.
Next comes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the most powerful tool in the armour. SEO agents know how to target keywords that is causing damage to your reputation and in the bid will kill them to minimize the damage. The only difference is unlike every time SEO here will not only concentrate on doing online stuff thereby missing the real issue of reputation management, and overlook the cause of potential damage to the brand or business.
Finally, the complete package of RM, PR plus SEO is here to stay and deliver the requisite in keeping the reputation of your organization the way you want, after all your business deserves it.
Online Reputation Management – A mix of SEO and PR
This post is about demystifying ORM in the simplest way possible…
- Is online reputation management (ORM) kinda like SEO? Yes it is, the one cannot exist without the other in the online world.
- Is reputation management like public relations? Yes it is, ORM is a lot about projecting the right image to the world.
In fact, we here at Reputation Management For.com believe that ORM is a mix of all this and yet it is more.
Functions of ORM:
Reputation Management is all about protecting, defending and removing the best and the worst respectively, about you from the public eye.
Picking up on things on alerts, monitoring the airwaves for all that is being said about a person who can be a celebrity, a professional or a politician or a corporate entity or a brand as the case may be is an important function of ORM.
Crawling the internet for everything being said about you helps to push forward the positive content and maybe even create an online buzz about something new. This is an important part of ORM.
Having a presence on different blog networks and social networking platforms, and maintaining them regularly is another function.
ORM is a routine, on-going process that should be part of your advertising or marketing, if it isn’t already.
When crisis strikes: ORM, however, gets into overdrive when there is a crisis and this is when the PR side of it comes out in full force. The online entity is under attack and it needs to be done systematically like in any other media.
- Real-time searches need to be monitored and looked into and Facebook posts and tweets all add up to the quick re-bound in reputation.
- Blog posts and news and more so in the case of press releases all play an important part in minimizing a crisis.
ORM, in short, does all that you would do in the real world – show up at the right places, make statements, give interviews, go on chat shows, keep you in the spotlight and put you in the news as and when required.
The only difference is that, this is the virtual world and the blog posts, press releases, tweets and Facebook posts all do what you would have done physically in the real world.
With the power cyberspace has on this world having ORM in place to watch your back only makes good sense. ORM is here to stay, and may be called SERM or PR with a cyber twist, but its the one thing to have in place if your business is all about your good reputation!
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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