Let’s talk Reputation Management
In a nutshell:
Host Jessie Frahm welcomes Stuart Thomson, Head of Public Affairs at BDB Pitmans in London, to this episode of Bosses for Breakfast.
As Head of Public Affairs, Stuart Thomson helps his clients engage with political audiences, influence public policy, get their opinions across to the media, and guides reputation rebuilding. In this intriguing episode, he explains the importance of transparent leadership in the face of a crisis, as well as big mistakes that companies make in reputation management.
Managing a public crisis
In the current media-run culture, politicians have incredible leverage to damage the reputation of an organization. Whether the scandal is a result of misbehavior, faulty products, or poor leadership, organizations must quickly jump to action to protect their notoriety, and, to do so, they hire people like Stuart. Stuart believes that though sometimes problems can come out of left field for a company, most of the time these issues could have been predicted and prevented. The biggest mistake he sees institutions make is focusing too much on the crisis at hand, and not on how they could have prevented that crisis from happening. Companies can often bring even more problems upon themselves by quickly covering up errors instead of doing the hard, slow work of internal improvement. Stuart advises organizational leadership to bring a level of honesty when they consult with him; if they are not able to see the need for a behavior change, then even the best communications won’t save their reputation.
“Companies can often bring even more problems upon themselves by covering up errors.”
Stuart uses a recent Uber scandal as an example of failed reputation management. When Uber lost their license in London in 2019, the head of the company took personal ownership of the issue at hand. Uber regained their license and changed their advertising, emphasizing how highly they value the safety and security of their passengers. However, Stuart warns that actions speak louder than words, and though Uber seemed to have covered up their error, they are now on the verge of losing their license again, having not changed their practices at all.
In comparison, Stuart provides a good example of reputation management: Starbucks. In 2018, a case of racial profiling at a Philadelphia Starbucks took the media by storm. As a definitive action, Starbucks closed all of their stores and put their staff through diversity training, costing their company a large amount of sales. However, the public needed to see that Starbucks would address the issue and take ownership for their mistakes. Taking ownership and being transparent, Stuart says, is the best way to rebuild an organization’s reputation.
Don’t miss this informative conversation on the importance of the media, ways to manage crises, and impactful ways to take action toward a better-run organization.
Links:
- Learn more about BDB Pitmans