The New Challenges in Managing Brand Reputation
That Solo Life, Episode 289: The New Challenges in Managing Brand Reputation
Summary
This episode of "That Solo Life" podcast explores the challenges PR professionals manage when brands are faced with crises, particularly serious situations like allegations of child abuse. The hosts, Karen Swim, APR and Michelle Kane discuss the importance of building trust with audiences, maintaining authenticity and integrity, and providing nuanced responses rather than knee-jerk reactions. They emphasize the need for civility, context, and an understanding that not every mistake or misstep warrants an extreme public backlash. The hosts also acknowledge the difficulty of navigating these issues as PR professionals who are also impacted by the toxicity and chaos in the broader society.
In This Episode
Karen Swim, APR and Michelle Kane discuss the modern complexities of reputation management and proactive crisis management in Episode 289 of That Solo Life. The internet has created a tinderbox that can quickly ignite a spark of discord into a firestorm of crisis.
Today’s discussion kicks off with a real-life example of a local business facing severe allegations of child abuse linked to previous ownership. Michelle and Karen explore the challenges that new ownership faces as they attempt to distance themselves from the past while managing public perception. They emphasize the importance of effective messaging and the need for PR professionals to guide brands through these turbulent waters.
Karen highlights the broader context of how society has shifted towards a more polarized viewpoint, where nuance and reasoned thinking seem to be in short supply. The hosts discuss the tendency for public opinion to swing dramatically, often overlooking the complexities of individual situations. They stress the importance of context in evaluating a brand's response to crises, noting that not every misstep warrants immediate condemnation.
As the conversation unfolds, Karen and Michelle reflect on the pressures brands face in the digital age, where the loudest voices often drown out the majority who may hold more moderate views. They point out that while brands must be authentic and true to their values, they also need to build trust with their audiences over time. This trust becomes crucial when navigating crises, as it can help mitigate backlash and foster understanding.
The episode also touches on the rapid spread of misinformation and the consequences it can have on brand reputation. The hosts share a recent example involving a soda company that faced backlash over a marketing campaign, illustrating how quickly narratives can spiral out of control without proper context.
In closing, Karen and Michelle encourage PR professionals to remain steadfast in their values and to continue making ethical decisions, even amidst chaos. They express hope for a return to civility and nuance in public discourse, emphasizing that by doing the right thing, we can collectively contribute to a more informed and understanding society.
Listeners are invited to share their thoughts and experiences, and the hosts encourage feedback on topics they would like to see covered in future episodes. As always, they thank their audience for tuning in and remind them to check out the resources available at SoloPRPro.com.
Resources:
- What I Learned from The Chaos Machine - Fran Stephenson, APR
- If You Run From AI, It Will Find You — Here's Why Traditional Reputation Strategies No Longer Work - Entrepreneur
00:00:00 - Introduction to That Solo Life Welcome to the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves.
00:00:30 - Celebrating Love and Black History Month Discussion on the significance of February as a month of love and Black History Month.
00:01:00 - Navigating PR Nightmares Exploring how brands can handle serious allegations and public relations crises.
00:02:30 - The Weight of Brand Reputation Understanding how public opinion can impact brands, especially in severe situations.
00:04:00 - The Challenge of Nuanced Thinking Discussing the loss of reason and nuance in public discourse and its effects on brands.
00:06:00 - The Extremes of Public Opinion How the loudest voices often overshadow the majority who are more moderate.
00:08:00 - The Importance of Context Emphasizing the need for context in evaluating situations and brand responses.
00:10:00 - Building Trust Through Authenticity The significance of making deposits of trust with audiences over time.
00:11:30 - The Role of Ethics in Crisis Management How ethical behavior and integrity can help brands navigate crises effectively.
00:13:00 - The Impact of Misinformation Examining how misinformation spreads quickly and affects brand perception.
00:15:00 - The Human Element in PR Acknowledging the challenges PR professionals face in a chaotic environment.
00:17:00 - The Call for Civility and Nuance A hopeful message about the potential for change in public discourse.
00:18:00 - Conclusion and Call to Action Encouragement to share the podcast and engage with the community.
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Michelle Kane (00:18):
Thank you for joining us for another episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with Voice Matters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR (00:33):
Hi, Michelle. I'm doing great, thank you. How are you?
Michelle Kane (00:36):
Doing well, doing well in spite of what's happening by the time this airs, but we're keeping on. Keeping on.
Karen Swim, APR (00:42):
Yeah, as we're sitting here today, it's still the month of love and it's Black history month, and so we have fun, good things to celebrate, but we also have the reality of our lives to deal with.
Michelle Kane (00:55):
Me too. Yes, we do. Sometimes I feel like I'm two people at once, but hey, that's why not just roll with it. But one thing we did want to talk about today is actually speaking of when trouble comes knocking, if your brand is faced with a situation that is not the best, I have a business in my area that's faced with a serious, serious situation where allegations have been brought of child abuse and worse and how new ownership is taking steps to separate themselves. But really it's a public relations nightmare as they say,
(01:37):
And
(01:38):
How can we be helpful to brands when they're trying to do the right thing in the midst of a situation that they were truly blindsided by as well, as well as those. So yeah, it's been interesting times in the community and I feel for the new ownership, they're trying to do the right things and public opinion has not been kind to them. And I understand with the severity of what's happened, no one condones that no one does, but just really how can you help people move up and on or what is the best way to go? So it's a fun topic today kids.
Karen Swim, APR (02:22):
It is I mean what you said, I mean that is at the scale of one of the more serious things that can happen to a brand, but I think that we see varying degrees of this routinely these days and navigating this in an era where we have seemed to have lost our ability for reasoned thinking and nuance. We just are all or nothing. And so we're all in or we're all out and we don't stop to critically think through this. So in your situation, this particular brand, because they had people that were involved that were guilty parties, the stench of it falls on the entire brand when it wasn't everyone involved and they've already separated themselves from the offenders once this came out, but you still have to navigate this as a brand and your PR team has to navigate this and be able to message this correctly.
Michelle Kane (03:27):
Right. And it's definitely one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't. I don't know where they are. I mean, I am not on their team, but just thinking things through just anytime something happens, it doesn't have to be this serious of course, but our PR brain goes, Ooh, how are they handling it? Are they doing the right thing? Are they handling it well? And I think they're doing whatever they need to do to both protect their customers and the business. It's their livelihood. And I know livelihoods don't compare to damaging someone's soul and psyche and body.
Karen Swim, APR (04:02):
It does not. And I'm sure that the brand acknowledged the horror of this situation that they were not responsible for. And let's face it, we can vet and everyone, should vet people that are connected to your brand. In this case it's a smaller business with ownership, so vet, but things are not always going to come up when you're vetting things that were performed in secret, secret crimes that they weren't charged. You don't know until it becomes public and then you have to take action on it. But in some cases we see again, our inability to have nuances. We see, for example, if somebody does or says something publicly that is hateful or just inappropriate, then the internet will find who they're employed by and report it and then that person gets fired
(05:03):
In
(05:03):
Some situations. I question that because again, are we talking a lapse in judgment one moment in time and saying, you lose your job because you made an unfortunate decision when you were drinking at a game or you got mad and you said something that you probably wanted to take back the moment that you said it, you were basically a human being and you made an error, or is this a pattern that really does not align with our company values? We don't have, and I get it, brands don't even have the opportunity these days to try and work through that because the internet is there with fire sticks and shotgun saying, kill 'em, get rid of 'em right now. And so there's this pressure to not even be able to work through situations because I think that you have to take each situation in context and you have to look at it individually, but we just don't do that anymore. We don't have the luxury of doing that.
Michelle Kane (06:05):
So true, so true. And it only speaks to the depth of the polarization of our society. You have to either be A or B, you can't be well, there's no room for all of the above in the multiple choice test of life. And not only, it's sad, but it's not productive. None of that's productive and it just really doesn't serve anyone. Well.
Karen Swim, APR (06:35):
Yes, and you make a really good point because as PR professionals, the loudest voices are the extremists on either side of an issue. They're the loudest, they're not necessarily the majority of our audience, but they're the loudest voices. And so we tend to have to navigate around the loudest voices when a lot of people really are like, they're not black, they're not white, they're gray, they're right in the middle. There's more people in the middle that is the majority of our audiences, but they get overlooked because that audience is sitting there going, I don't know what to think. This is crazy on both sides. And here I'm just,
Michelle Kane (07:16):
Or they're just living their lives and they're fully unaware
(07:20):
Because
(07:20):
We do have to remember and hey, just because in the course of my work, I spend a lot of time on social more than I care to. And you realize not everybody's there. In fact, most people aren't there. It's usually a lot of the usual suspects are spending time online. And is it a place to amplify your messaging? Of course it is, but it's not the entire society. So I mean, that's something to be aware of. And I think one thing we lament the loss of in so many ways is context. Anytime you see something, your next step should be, let me check out the context of either what was said or the situation or what we know for now and make a decision based on the entirety of what is true in this moment. Because that's all you have to go on. That's all you can do. And that's definitely what I've seen this brand attempting to do. And people that they might have lost, well just keep on trucking. Maybe they never even were customers to begin with. That's what I wonder in this situation. I'm like, did y'all ever even go there? I get it, it's awful. But it more generally speaking, we can't keep shooting from the hip.
Karen Swim, APR (08:46):
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think it speaks to more than ever, and public relations professionals have been saying this forever because it's baked into our core values that you really have to make these deposits of trust in your audience and the way you continue to bank that in the best of times. And that means building an infrastructure based on your values, your mission, your vision, making sure that that infrastructure is strong at every touch point. Making sure these are not just words that you say or put on your website but that are actually lived in your organization and staying true to yourself and then staying true to your audience and winning their trust day after day after day. Because when you continue to make those deposits when something comes your way, because it's not, if it's a win, your audience has that deposit of trust in you and are more likely to back you will you lose people in a crisis? You absolutely will. But so crisis planning is not just having a proactive crisis communication plan and practice scenarios. It's also doing the work day in and day out of being authentic of operating with ethics and integrity and building trust every single day with your audience by your actions, not just your words.
Michelle Kane (10:12):
Yeah, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. That's why that is so very important because in this situation, you never know what's down the road. God forbid you don't know what's going to come at you that you had you never saw coming. And I just think it's good business, it's just good business to be a good person, to be a good entity, to just don't break that modicum of trust to always act in good faith.
Karen Swim, APR (10:38):
And I mean, listen, that doesn't mean that we're going to have monolithic brands that all do and say and believe the same things going to be brands that are who they are, but they know who they are and they build that trust with their audience. And their audience may be people that we do not agree with,
(10:55):
We could not agree with an organization and their mission, that's okay. But if they're true to who they are and they never veer from that and they have amassed that trust in their audience, that's all that matters because no brand should try to be all things to all people because it never ever works. And that's when you waver. And we're seeing a lot of wavering these days. We're seeing people get tossed to and fro from the public outcry and by trends, and they don't have an anchor point because they just went wherever the wind blew then.
Michelle Kane (11:31):
Yeah, it's so true. And I think about why is that? Why are people so quick to make a snap judgment? And I think because I think it's probably easy on ourselves, easy on our psyche, it's just, okay, let me just deal with that and then move on to the next thing because I don't have time for this
Karen Swim, APR (11:52):
And internet spreads that stuff so fast.
Michelle Kane (11:55):
Oh, totally, totally. And makes you think, oh, well, maybe I should blah, blah, blah. And then depending what it is, sometimes you don't have to form an opinion about everything. How about that? How about you just go about your day? And if it's not harming anyone, okay, fine.
Karen Swim, APR (12:13):
At least here in the United States, we could use a heavy dose of civility. I have heard the Germans talk about their civility and how free speech doesn't mean that there's no boundaries, but here in the United States, we believe that if we put a boundary at all, then we're not allowing a democratic society. And it's interesting how that's playing out. But yeah, we saw this during the Super Bowl, I guess there was an influencer program from the non soda company, poppy,
(12:48):
And they sent these soda machines to these influencers, and then the price got super inflated and everybody went off saying, with the price of eggs what they are and people suffering, and you're sending $10,000 machines to Poppy. And then op, who actually is my preferred of those two brands, jumped in on it on social and did the math, except the math was wrong because the machines were not 10,000. And it's just one more example of how a piece of information gets out. Nobody bothers to fact check it. Nobody bothers to give the brand an opportunity to respond and say, whoa, this was our motive. Was it probably a poorly executed campaign? Yeah, it wasn't the best decision. But I also believe brands should get to make mistakes. And the price tag wasn't what they said, and they had a method to their madness. I think it was kind of like when Coke did the happiness things years ago with machines, they had a vision and a plan, it didn't work. It fell flat and you, it angered people in these times, lesson learned. But the misinformation was out there and people ripped them to shreds and influencers ripped them to shreds. And the whole thing was kind of sad because it just shows that we just have zero tolerance these days.
Michelle Kane (14:21):
And I have to wonder, this is not quite a minor in psychology talking if that's due to other things that we feel like we can't control in our world. So we lash out at the things that don't really matter. I mean, that's a whole other topic to talk about, but that definitely could be part of it. I'll give people the benefit of the doubts. They're just not taking over. Oh my
Karen Swim, APR (14:44):
Gosh, I agree. And I want to acknowledge for every public relations professional out there that we also are human beings who live in this world with all of the things that are going on, and we have to navigate those on a personal level while still keeping our heads about us and doing our job. And so we see you and we know that it's difficult to do the right things in this environment that is really toxic and chaotic, but here's the inspiration. Just like we counsel brands to build trust, to do the ethical thing, to stay true, that applies to us as well. You kind of have to put on those blinders to some degree to the world around you and keep doing exactly what you know to be right. Because at the end of the day, your anchor point is the thing that's going to keep you from being tossed about in this sea of chaos and toxicity. Do the right things, stick to your values, make right decisions, counsel your clients in the correct way, keep making those great decisions, and we will all get through this. And you know what? In the process, hopefully we can actually change and have an impact on our little parts of society and maybe bring back context, nuance, civility. That would be amazing.
Michelle Kane (16:15):
Yes. Wouldn't it though? It's interesting because I question myself of why am I so invested, right? In making sure people know the right thing and the facts. It's like, well, duh, you're N pr. It's what you do. You try and inform your public of what is right and true. And I don't say right as in only what I think is correct. I mean facts and truth. And I'm a firm believer in the greater good because we all rising tide lifts all boats.
Karen Swim, APR (16:46):
Yes, we can do this. I
Michelle Kane (16:49):
Love that.
Karen Swim, APR (16:50):
That's a perfect note to end on.
Michelle Kane (16:52):
It is. So we hope this was helpful to you. I'm sure you're faced with these sticky situations as well. So I hope this has been a boost for you. And if you have found a value, please do share it around. Give us a review. We would love that wherever you listen to podcasts. And please do hit us up@solopro.com. Not only is there great content, but we'd love to hear from you as to what you'd like us to cover. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.