Reputation

There used to be a belief that businesses could, and indeed should, stay away from the campaign trail. Sure, they donate to candidates and often have lots of lobbyists. But, it was not seen as their role to try and support or strengthen the democratic process itself. That all changed in 2020.

Companies are collections of people. So, one way to judge them is how they measure up during challenges, or a crisis. A Salesforce survey of 12,000 global consumers and 3,600 B2B buyers provides evidence.Polling people during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey found 90 percent say how a company acts during a crisis demonstrates its trustworthiness.

The majority of public opinions regarding standard time are not pleasant. Winter can be long, and it’s tough to end working for the day when it’s already dark out without Daylight Savings Time.

Given that a company of Facebook’s clout and perceived indifference to public scrutiny seems worried about product-related backlash, it follows that communicators at all organizations should consider reviewing products and services prior to launch. As such, we asked PR pros to assess the state of reputation reviews.

The PR world lost an icon when David Finn passed, aged 100. Finn made it more difficult to discern if PR is more art than science.

Like many social media platforms, Facebook is no stranger to reputation crises. How Facebook and other companies have managed them offers lessons in how to (and not to) address stakeholder concerns and shore up reputation when the proverbial excrement has collided with the rotating blades.

While a few crises never seem to end, often with good reason, companies and organizations eventually need to return to relatively normal footing. That’s when a priority for communicators is helping regain external and internal trust.

While fans, management and owners of the second-highest-rated syndicated game show knew Trebek’s time was short, his off-the-charts ability to live and work for months with pancreatic cancer might have provided a false sense of security. That’s one way to explain a series of fumbles and flip-flops, including one last week, to name Trebek’s permanent successor.

Shaffra Gray-Read, senior reputation manager for KFC (UK & Ireland), talked with PRNEWS about her interest in diversity & inclusion as well as her penchant for using data.

At PRSA, September is Ethics Month, a time when we specifically focus on and celebrate our Code of Ethics, which is at the heart of what we believe in as communicators as well as how we practice our craft every day.