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In this week’s Reputation Reboot advice column, a company asks for help removing an old article from their top search results. The article poses a negative perspective on a long-past crisis, and despite both a PR and online reputation management campaign, it won’t budge from the first page of Google results.
Today’s episode of the Today show on NBC featured commentary from Reputation Communications. Part of a segment on online travel reviews, the coverage reflects a growing concern among consumers regarding the credibility of such information. Our thought leadership was also highlighted in a recent USA Today article, Fake online reviews trip travelers.
In this week’s Reputation Reboot advice column, a representative for VIP clients and their organizations in the Middle East poses a question about Wikipedia editing and online reputation management. How important are new websites in an ORM campaign?
High-profile defense attorney and former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz defends his reputation in this New York Times interview. For followers of reputation management, law and public relations, it is an interesting strategic move: he is telling his side of the story on a public platform.
Mr. Dershowitz’s reputational crisis has been produced by a case against him related to sexual impropriety, which has roots in another sexual impropriety case he defended. He confirms in the Times article that it is his association with that client that has led to this crisis.
Before the digital age, it was far easier to make such allegations “go away” by destroying the credibility and reputation of their source, who is typically younger and has few resources. But this story began years ago and has only gained traction since then—and it will continue to as long as his opponent perseveres. That his opponent is represented by another legal superstar, David Boies, helps ensure that. It is a match-up that experts and laypeople alike will follow closely.
This week’s Reputation Reboot fields a question from someone concerned with his ORM provider’s approach. The provider is reaching the agreed-upon goals, but is also publishing new materials online that aren’t consistent with his company’s brand. Fees levels have also increased. How typical an experience is this?
In Vanity Fair’s current cover story on Rihanna, she discusses the chasm between her reality and her reputation. Jay-Z confirms that her authenticity is one of her biggest attractions. That was our take, too, when we published this in December 2012.
At 24, Rihanna is one of the world’s biggest pop stars. She’s become the most-liked person on Facebook by acting in a way that many celebrities don’t: genuinely.
The combination of authenticity and transparency has earned her recognition ranging from TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” to Forbes’ “Celebrity 100” and “Social Networking Superstars.” “Rihanna’s fans love her all the more for being so brazenly imperfect,” wrote Huffington Post’s Kia Makarechi, whose take rings true in the singer’s candid talk in a recent Vogue profile.
Recent 777 Turbulence
Given her self-proclaimed “Good Girl Gone Bad” reputation, the reports from Rihanna’s recent 777 Tour weren’t that surprising. To promote her new album she invited some lucky fans and more than 150 journalists to jet around on a seven-country, seven-concert jaunt. First-hand accounts offered harrowing tales of what transpired, but they steered clear of blaming Rihanna, instead lamenting the exhausting travel and poor execution of the weeklong trip.
She ended up showing her travel companions the other side of being a global pop icon—it can be incredibly grueling. “It’s impossible to spend time with everybody, and I’m sorry I didn’t,” she told the press as the tour came to an end, later elaborating in an interview with BBC’s Radio 1.
Image counselors might advise that she reward the participants with an all-expenses-paid trip to one of her concerts in Paris or Las Vegas. Or, to make a donation in their names to organizations that support less fortunate fans, like homeless teens. (She already supports many charities.) But the spin control long utilized by other superstars may not be necessary – and isn’t in keeping with her approach to her career.
“…Rihanna, who earned $53 million last year… is the pleasure principle incarnate,” wrote Camille Pigalia last week.
That may explain why.
Our CEO offers a few tips for rebooting a damaged reputation in “Repairing a Tarnished Personal Brand,” an article in Dice Insights, the online magazine from recruitment agency DHI.
Along with those tips, Ms. Wilkinson reminds us that “Even people with stellar careers need to rebrand themselves every once in a while,” and, “Setbacks are opportunities in disguise.”
The New York Times has published the article “Hacking Victims Deserve Empathy, Not Ridicule,” reminding us that hacking could easily throw anyone’s life into disarray.
The article cites thegrugq, the author of several practical guides to protecting yourself from hacking. He points out that, “Security is a trade-off against efficiency” and that it can be difficult to make the additional effort when consequences seem remote or unlikely.
But if the hack of AshleyMadison…and Adobe.com…and even the website for Dominos Pizza…tells us anything, the chance of being hacked is no longer remote (check Have I Been Pwned? to see if you already have been). Now is a good time to reconsider what the right level of operational security is for you—and implement it, consistently.