“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it” – Warren Buffet.
In this the age of digitization, it takes mere seconds to bring one’s reputation into disrepair. Posted Content can instantly go viral, remain in cyberspace and be revisited. Idle minds can do with that information as they please.
We live in disruptive times, in an age where information is more accessible and transparent. From Covid-19 to war, to economic downturn, to entertainers subtly highlighting a company’s flawsthrough memes and parodies. Whatever the issue, digital media has created a way for people to communicate and share life stories with each other, and in some instances, mismanaged information that may escalate into a crisis. It is evident that the advancement of social media has left individuals and companies vulnerable to negative publicity, which brings with it several risks to organizations; decreased sales and profitability, high staff turnover, churning of customers, and an overall threat to their reputation.
Why Reputation Management in a Digital World? Reputation management give individuals and companies an opportunity to influence stakeholder and public perception about their brands. This usually involves monitoring conversations both in traditional and digital media, feedback detection, developing a strategy and proactively responding to negative perceptions and threats in a way that quickly de-escalates an issue so it does not become a crisis. Managing one’s brand reputation effectively minimises financial impact, and strengthens the trust of employees, customers, investors and stakeholders.
Digital media has also proven to be an important channel for delivering real-time urgent news and emergency warnings. Evidence shows that during a crisis event, social media’s greatest value may be in allowing emergency response personnel to learn about what is happening in real-time through social media listening. An example of this would be the impact social media had on the crisis response during the flooding disaster that occurred in Greenvale, Trinidad in October 2018. As the floods began to affect communities and persons living in low lying areas, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, began to play a critical role, as locals used them to disseminate first-hand footage of the situation in the areas in which they lived. As initial reports of devastation heightened fears, social media became an increasingly important element of the flood mobilisation efforts.
Digital media can be used in three ways: To ‘push out’ information about an emergency, from the central command to the public, and to ‘pull in’ information using its network. Social media can give an understanding of what is going on, the extent of damages and how persons can proceed to safety. The third use of social media is to monitor general situations through ‘crowd sourcing; that is, engaging the world-wide online community and observing what other people are talking about.
In a crisis or disaster situation, information management ensures the accuracy of the information that leaders rely on to make critical decisions. Research has shown that an effective information management system is a critical factor in determining the quality and effectiveness of the overall response. Social media is known to have a dramatic impact on organizations in areas such as enhancing a brand’s reputation; improving value, relationship, and brand equity (Kim and Ko, 2012); digital advertising and promotion; the handling of customer service issues; mining innovative ideas; and building customer relations (Solis, 2010). Digital media will continue to be an important channel for disseminating real-time urgent news, as well as, any information that may seem news worthy. It is essential for organizations to train its crisis response team to mitigate any problem that may turn into a crisis, and integrate digital media as part of its overarching reputation management strategy.
Tessa Drayton is the Chief Communications Consultant of TND Communications and past Chair of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM) Trinidad Chapter.
She is also trained and certified in Corporate Risk and Crisis Management. She has also hosted a successful Regional Reputation Marketing Workshop, alongside Marketing Strategist, Debbie Jollie, as part of the “Grow your Business from the Caribbean”
To learn more about reputation building a reputation and brand management strategy, send an email to tndcommunications38@gmail.com.
