Is your organisation's reputation "2017 ready"?

By Adam Wakefield

The notion of being 2017 reputation ready was the crux on which FleishmanHillard hosted an event at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel in Sandton on Monday, 21 November. There, leaders within the organisation both locally and internationally spoke about the different aspects of how a reputation is built, and brands can best use them for both their and their customer’s gain.

Piehl, in opening remarks, said the “value of a good reputation is becoming increasingly important”, where brands must now deliver more than just their product and services. Their stakeholders are holding brands accountable for much more than just for the quality of their output.

“You've got to own a position. Are you bold enough to have an opinion? Is what you are saying aligned to what you are doing as a brand? In other words, is your reputation 2017 ready?” Piehl said.

Perhaps the challenge lies in interpreting and understanding the information and data at a brands’ disposal, upon which Jared Carneson, head of creative strategy at FleishmanHillard’s Johannesburg office, expanded upon after Piehl.

Carneson said many people were prepared for the shocks that have occurred this year, ranging from state capture to Brexit to Donald Trump winning the 2016 US presidential election. However, through data science, it is possible to be that much more prepared for such surprises.

With their being troves of data to sift through – over 259 million tweets were posted by South Africans thus far in 2016 alone – brands need to identify what is actually valuable. Analytics companies such as Crimson Hexagon and YouKnow, who FleishmanHillard work with, provide tools to find these insights. However, the greater the insight, the more difficult it is to attain, Carneson said.

The easiest to find is “what happened?” followed by “why did it happen?”. Then, there is “what is happening now?”, then “what will happen then?”, and the most difficult, “how can we make it happen?” and “what can be done about it?”.

“Never before has a generation so diligently recorded themselves accomplishing so little. Social media is an incredible untapped source of market research,” Carneson said.

“Consider insight. Consider what people are saying and do some listening. It can play a greater role in your 2017 planning in building and protecting your reputation.”

Next was Carneson’s colleague Francois Rank, head of written content, who focused on how the media and the boardroom today are inseparable.

It is the CEO or business leader who plays a crucial role in how a brand is perceived in the broader world, and contrary to previously accepted communications doctrine, “It’s okay for companies to have an opinion and express it”.

Audiences today want to hear about more than just a company’s results. In a South African context, major social economic issues provide not just challenges but also opportunities from a communications point of view for brands to express themselves.

Rank said, according to a study conducted by the Harvard Business School, CEO activism can not only sway public opinion but also get more consumers to buy their product.

It strengthens pre-existing consumer brand affinity if they agree with what is said, and opens up opportunities to create new brand affinity for consumers with a neutral view of that brand. However, it does also potentially discourage further those who did not like the brand or its stance in the first place.

“Social media is more important than ever to help you set your communication agenda, not just listening,” Rank said. “Speak to your customers, consumers, clients, about more than just financial results. Have an opinion and express it. Be completely immersed in the news agenda.”

The last speaker was FleishmanHillard’s new global chief of social and innovation Mike Cearley, based in Dallas in the US. He pointed out that decisions made in the boardroom did not shape what the brand was going to be in the real world but rather everyone living in the real world are those who shape brands.

“The best we can all do is get back to clarity. Why are we here? Who are we, and what are we doing about that? What are we doing out in the world?” he said.

“This whole concept of the brand losing control is a very important dynamic that shapes the world that we’re in today. The channels also shape the world we’re in today.”

If a brand is in the business of serving customers, they are in the business of relationships, it is that simple. Brands need to create, nurture and protect their relationships with their customers, which is where social media plays a vital role.

The characteristics of any productive relationship are they need to be built one at a time, take hard work, need nurturing and feeding, are mutually beneficial, and lastly, are fun.

“It starts with you. We can help people identify who they are. We can help people understand what their purpose is,” Cearley concluded.

For more information, visit fleishmanhillard.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Twitter.