For years the impact of online reviews was somewhat nebulous, making it difficult to convince the folks holding the purse strings to make controlling them a priority. Now that we have stats like the ones found in this infographic from ColumnFive and Milo.com you have a lot more ammunition for your argument that now is the time to get your online reputation in order.
Bernstein Crisis Management is proud to share the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) announcement of two new services created specifically to serve its members – the DVM Cyberbullying Hotline and DVM Reputation Guard. Here’s more info on the first-of-their-kind programs from the AVMA’s official release:
Two new tools, a cyberbullying hotline and a reputation management service, are now available through the AVMA’s online reputation management resources. With 20 percent of AVMA members reporting they have experienced cyberbullying and false reviews, the House of Delegates (HOD) and Board of Directors (BOD) prioritized adding additional tools to help member veterinarians combat the emotional and financial damage caused by online detractors.
The 24/7 DVM Cyberbullying Hotline answered by experienced crisis management consultants, is now available to members being cyberbullied and in need of immediate assistance. This service includes 30 minutes of free consultation to AVMA members. Additional consultation time is available at a substantially discounted member rate.
Members also may take advantage of DVM Reputation Guard through the AVMA Member Advantage Program. DVM Reputation Guard is a subscription-based service that uses powerful analytic tools to gather data from social media, traditional media and other online sources. Results are analyzed to determine the presence of potentially damaging items or reviews. If a threat is detected, participants are notified immediately, and experts provide them with assistance in developing a response.
“Our veterinarians must be protected from cyberbullying, hacking and false reviews,” said Dr. Tom Meyer, president of the AVMA. “They not only threaten our livelihood; they damage our sense of well-being.”
Online reputation management and cyberbullying issues have created an increasing number of problems for all industries, and we’re glad we can provide immediate support to AVMA members as a result of these programs.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
You simply can’t afford to ignore your online reputation. Stakeholders, both current and potential, will be searching your name, looking through reviews, and investigating your social media presence before choosing to do business with you.
Yet, so often company leadership has little to no interest in making sure this vital asset is protected until a crisis is burning bright. To shed some more light on this issue, Zeno has put together an infographic that shows just how often online reputation goes neglected:
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/04/21/spear-phishing-stats/#sthash.hGZZeSMm.dpuf
Spear phishing, or using what appears to be a legit email to fool specific targets into divulging sensitive information or taking other detrimental action, is growing in popularity thanks to the widespread availability of personal information on the internet. The latest variant of the attack, being called “whaling”, even specifically targets upper management in order to make bigger scores.
Whether it’s posing as legitimate vendors invoicing for services, tricking employees into running malicious software, making away with confidential files, or yet another clever scheme, hackers are finding these targeted attacks quite profitable.
How costly can these events be? Try the $3 million Mattel nearly lost last month on for size.
The most effective way to reduce your organization’s vulnerability to attacks is by training employees from the bottom up on safe practices. Then, make those practices a part of the daily routine.
Of course there is no guaranteed protection against every avenue of attack, and that’s where a tested response plan and pre-approved messaging comes in.
Prevent what you can and mitigate damage where you can’t. That’s the name of this game.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2016/03/20/online-reputation-lessons-from-vw/#sthash.Lh41uJ14.dpuf
[Editor’s note: The following guest post was originally featured in Tony Jaques’ Issue}Outcomes newsletter.]
It’s no secret that social media crises can shred reputation. So why do organisations keep giving interns and junior staff the keys to drive online activity?
A recent example was when the Virgin Australia corporate Twitter account sent an obscene message about Kanye West to its 240,000 followers. Naturally the post sparked national and international attention before it was taken down. Almost 24 hours later it emerged that a junior staff member at media company Carat had apparently accidentally posted to the wrong account.
Carat management apologised and said say they were “reviewing the appropriate disciplinary action.” But the obvious question is why a junior staffer had seemingly unsupervised authority over a major client’s brand.
Of course it’s not new. Think of the debacle during the Trump campaign when a poster for The Donald showed brave soldiers superimposed into a picture of the American Flag. Problem was they were in Nazi uniform and it turned out to be a stock photo of SS re-enactors. Trump blamed “a young intern.”
Or take the notorious case in 2014 when American Apparel posted a photo on Tumblr of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion to suggest a Fourth of July fireworks display. The company apologised and blamed “one of our international social media employees who was born after the tragedy and was unaware of the event.”
There surely is no shortage of such social media gaffes and ensuing reputational damage. Let’s not forget the homophobic Tweet by an employee of Vodafone UK; or the obscene Tweet by an agency employee on the Chrysler Autos Twitter feed; or the unfortunate young person at US Airways who accidentally attached a very adult pornographic photo to a response to a customer complaint.
In the Chrysler case, both the employee and the agency were fired, but celebrities and brands cannot simply distance themselves from words and images posted in their name. And nor can those who are supposed to be in charge. While it’s all too common to blame some un-named junior staffer – and genuine mistakes do happen – the reality is that inexperienced people should not be in charge of social media.
You wouldn’t appoint a new customer service operator to address the news media on behalf of the organization. Yet posting a Tweet is equivalent to having a news conference with the world. Most organisations have a clear policy on who can speak on its behalf when it comes to the traditional media, and the training they need.
Exactly the same should apply to social media. There should be very clear policies about who can post online, and who approves all posts. And if it all goes pear-shaped, then it is very clearly a failure of either the right protocols or the right training. It’s convenient but totally unacceptable to simply ‘blame the intern.’ If your company doesn’t have proper processes in place, then you’re at risk of potential crisis, and you only have yourself to blame for any reputation damage.
In the flood of online comment following the recent Virgin Australia debacle, one netizen with the handle Kahla said it all: “It’s time business stopped leaving social responsibilities to juniors and interns. Full Stop.”
Tony Jaques manages Australian-based issue and crisis management consultancy Issue}Outcomes, and is the author of Issues and Crisis Management: Exploring Issues, Crises, Risk and Reputation, available on Amazon now.
Media, PR, and our specialty of crisis management are inextricably intertwined. Knowing how to deal with and best approach the media, as well as understanding what they will think of your actions, is important to getting the message you want the public to see out there.
A BusinessWired infographic made this point quite well, along with providing rules for media relations that will apply as well in the new year as they did for this one:
Unchecked conflict in the workplace has been proven to impact employee retention, new hires, productivity, and your bottom line. With studies like the one behind this Conflict Tango infographic showing as many as 85% of any given workforce has experienced conflict in the workplace, you can’t afford to ignore the potential these clashes have to create crises.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2015/11/02/your-online-image/#sthash.kQJ8f1P4.dpuf
Considering not only his position as a key politician on the world stage for decades, but also his leadership through World War II’s propaganda battles and spy games, we feel Winston Churchill is more than qualified to speak on the subject of dishonesty. A hat tip to you, Sir Winston, as we dive into this week’s Crisis Management Quotable:
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. – Winston Churchill
It’s no secret that rumor and innuendo manages to travel incredibly quickly when it comes to crises. After all, it’s often juicy and entertaining, which gives people something to talk about. Of course, today the ‘net has enhanced the ability of incorrect information to spread that to a level Churchill never could have imagined, making the risks even greater than they were in his day.
We always counsel clients to get their story out first, before the opposition (or random bored strangers online) start pumping out juicy lies instead. Getting ahead of the lies and becoming the “go-to” source of information makes crisis management much easier to conduct because you’ve taken greater control of the narrative. Lag behind, let the lies take hold, and you’re going to have a difficult time convincing people that you’re the one telling the truth.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
One of our fondest sayings here at Bernstein Crisis Management is, “reputation is your most valuable asset”. Of course, it’s also your most vulnerable asset, constantly at risk of damage from countless angles.
What exactly decides your reputation? Well, besides the obvious, like how you treat your stakeholders and the quality of your product or service there is a lesser known factor, one highlighted in this week’s Crisis Management Quotable, from author, speaker, and Goodwill Ambassador for World Peace, Bryant McGill:
“Unfortunately, your reputation often rests not on your ability to do what you say, but rather on your ability to do what people expect.” – Bryant H. McGill
We’re not saying that it doesn’t matter if you stay true to your word, because it very much does. However, doing what people expect will not only prevent crises, but help you to resolve them more quickly to boot.
How do you know what people expect? The power to put yourself in others’ shoes is a valuable one for crisis management, but the very best one is to ask them! Luckily for you (and us!), it’s easier than ever to ask a few stakeholders how they feel about an issue thanks to the power of social media and ‘net communications in general.
Know what people expect, tell them you’re going to do it, then execute. That’s how you keep your reputation intact.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
Widely blasted by regulators and users alive for a lack of effective privacy settings or respect for the sanctity of users’ information, Facebook is far from the cutting edge of the confidentiality movement. However, a recent change is a surprising step in the right direction and a smart crisis management strategy to boot, especially considering the close looks the social network has been getting from groups like the Federal Trade Commission or privacy officials overseas.
According to a company blog post, new Facebook users will now start out sharing to friends only, and both new and current users will receive messages explaining exactly who can see what they post according to their current privacy settings.
Facebook is going even further, though, adding a “privacy checkup tool”, automatic reminders when posts are set to public, and, something we’re especially excited about, a way to log into apps requiring Facebook authentication anonymously!
Moving from what many have justifiably called confusing and even deceptive privacy settings to this is a huge leap in the right direction, and puts Facebook more in line with platforms like Snapchat, Whisper, and its own newly acquired Whatsapp. Making users happy while satisfying critics is a crisis management win, and leaves us wondering what other tricks the old dog on the social media block may have up its sleeves.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
