The Image of a Trademark stands above all
What sense has building up, placing each block in its adequate position, making yourself worth of an external perception that talks about you, about your personality, your acts, your commitments and values, if you then come and try to cheat on whom supports you?
Why do at this stage still some prestigious brands and entities continue despising their communities, partners and followers?
Is it possible to silence those not willing to or to pretend not hearing to our own mistakes?
We should start from the basis that everyone can make mistakes, have a bad day, cross the line, and glide beyond the limit where your confidence grows.
In any case, responsibilities should be demanded. Bad reputation is a serious matter and people, partners, fans, etc. are not out there to be provoked.
Neymar or Mourinhon cases, although rather different, show that the image of a club, of a prestigious brand cannot be at the expense of an inacceptable directive management or of an excessive selfish dose in an individual capable of handling the intricacies of your corporative reputation.
Trademark, story, institution and specially those values that they represent cannot be conditioned or threatened by this type of situations.
It is not my intention of talking about each particular case but to refer to them as examples of authentic reputational crisis that not only directly affect a brand but that surpasses frontiers and harms its most fundamental bases: transparency, coherence, respect, honesty toward all those that are confident on its seal, worse than a rolling ball on the grass.
It is not only surprising that such apparently important executives participate in this type of situations but that they underestimate prescription power and their followers’ opinion and, above all, the spreading out of a message that will be hard to dilute if this crisis is not stopped with criterion and decision.
10 Commandments for Handling a Reputation Crisis:
1. Put yourself in your customers, fans, followers’ shoes.
Whatsoever you do, the way you act will always be subjected to your customers’ appraisal. Don’t forget they’re there. If you represent an organization, a community etc., don’t deceive them.
2. Name a suitable speaker or team, as needed.
The message should not get dispersed. The voice must sound single and convey the message contents in a coherent and accurate manner.
3. Show up
When the crisis starts, it is time to act quickly but not impulsively. Analyze the situation, gather up all necessary information, listen actively and then act.
4. Be honest
Do not try to manage a reputation crisis with lies or seeking for trouble. Limit yourself to the facts, to what you know.
5. Do not be elusive
Avoid saying nothing or not answering. Be precise and exact and don’t move among ambiguousness.
6. Define your responsibilities
People want to know which is the position we adopt. We are not to play cat and mouse; we must define clearly our position for a successful crisis management.
7. Open attitude
We must always show ourselves accessible, close to our public while trying to facilitate the greatest possible information in the crisis management process. Showing a sincere concern in resolving the crisis will help us to create a lasting confident climate.
8. Keep calm
No matter how bad things are, do not worsen them. Avoid being severely admonished. Have confidence in your team.
9. Evaluate the crisis.
Take out conclusions from what happened, on their impact. Make a detailed balance of what caused it, its evolution, acting models and measures taken in this respect.
10. Strengthen your anti-crisis plan.
A crisis also represents a learning opportunity. If we know how to conjugate correctly all the elements, then we can even walk out of it more strengthened.
Source: hosteltur.com