Tag Archives: “Crisis of the Week

Social Media, , , , , , ,
Roseanne Barr and social media

Experts generally recommend two approaches to social media:

Authenticity: Being true to yourself—airing your true beliefs to the greater community. Most consider this to be the most effective way to engage followers and build an audience. It is the favored approach of activists, celebrities, journalists and anyone who wants to strengthen their online presence.

Neutrality: Using social media channels to listen to and participate in the conversation without the risk of offending anyone. This more conservative approach is best for those who are more concerned with protecting their reputation than building an audience. It still provides an online presence, but with less risk of blowback and reputational damage.

A great part of Roseanne Barr’s appeal to viewers is her undeniable authenticity in embracing a point of view that is controversial (but is shared by many of ABC’s 14+ million viewers). For viewers who have a different point of view, her show was a window into a set of values that aren’t well represented in mainstream culture (even though close to half of America shares them).

Roseanne Barr has long taken a firmly authentic stance in her social media use, airing her views regardless of their impact. Everyone has the freedom to do so: social media users from everywhere on the political spectrum have made similar mistakes. But ABC’s response to Roseanne Barr’s comments highlights the potential cost of authenticity.

All social media users, regardless of their political beliefs, must consider whether they can afford the penalties that authenticity, spontaneity and sharing without a filter can incur. They should also consider the impact any comment they make could have on their current and prospective employers, partners and endorsers.

In my Wall Street Journal Crisis of the Week commentary this week, I observe:

“Roseanne Barr tweeted her slur on the heels of relaunching her sitcom to great success. The distinct viewpoints expressed by the show had already earned her a high-profile role in conversations about the country’s cultural divisions. ABC’s swift condemnation of Ms. Barr’s tweet…and its immediate cancellation of her show ensured that no one would see the company as endorsing her statement.

“Nonetheless, ABC did renew the show when her penchant for making highly provocative political statements was commonly known. Crisis management includes planning for this type of scenario and ABC would have conducted rudimentary social-media due diligence before pulling the “on” switch for the show.

“That due diligence would have told them this type of controversy was likely and they would have been prepared for the issue, if they didn’t decide to pass on the project.”

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Related reading at You(Online):: Social Media History a Major Job Hurdle

How He Built It: Cory Booker, the Social Media Senator

How to Create Effective Social Media Policies

 
 
Online reputation management, , , , , , ,

Huffington Post has published an interview with Reputation Communications CEO Shannon Wilkinson about personal branding online. These are highlights from Stacey Cohen’s article:

“Personal brands are complex, shaped by our skills, our interests and the content we create, from our tweets to our blog posts.

But at the foundation of any personal brand is a singular – and paramount – trait: our reputations.

Without a positive reputation, no personal brand can flourish. If you’re not viewed as a dependable and trustworthy professional, your skillset, interests and output – no matter how impressive – won’t matter much.

And in today’s digital world, where photos, social media profiles and news stories are immortal, upholding a sterling reputation is more important than ever. One hiccup, whether an awkward photograph, or unforgiving article, can haunt a professional for years.

Few people know the nuances and importance of modern reputation care better than Shannon Wilkinson, a leading expert on online reputation management, or ORM. Wilkinson’s NYC-based firm Reputation Communications serves a suite of international clients and offers services ranging from reputation-building and reputation research to reputation repair. Wilkinson is a familiar byline in the Wall Street Journal’s “Crisis of the Week” column,” a seasoned speaker and regular blogger at her website, You(Online).

I recently caught up with Wilkinson about ORM and polishing and protecting reputations in the age of the Internet.

Wilkinson paints a vivid picture of just how important ORM is in today’s world and shares guidance on how to best navigate this new realm.

First, assess what’s already out there – and resist the belief that you can be invisible online. “The digital age ensures that each of us have an online reputation, whether we want one or not,” Wilkinson explains. If we throw up our hands and surrender, our reputations will be determined by “bots that scrape, index and republish the publicly available information about you,” Wilkinson warns.

Next up: Start creating content that accurately represents, and enhances, your reputation. “Counter-balance third-party content and replace it with new, positive and authentic material,” Wilkinson says. “This is a key ORM strategy.” Ensure the items you do have control over – your LinkedIn profile, your company bio, your blog and your Twitter – carry the right messaging.

There’s lots more to ORM than just this, and mercifully Wilkinson is quick to share her agency’s most popular blog post, “The Essentials: Online Reputation Management FAQs.” It’s a useful inventory of strategies and tactics you can use to start burnishing your online reputation today. If you have a presence online (and remember, everybody does), it’s worth the read.”

Read the article: Online, Your Reputation is Everything.

 
 
Crisis Management, , , , , , , , , , , ,
How to Apologize: Best Practices from AOL, GM & Sony

Last February we wrote about the launch of “Apology Watch,” noting that the new Dealbook column would “monitor and report on the actions of CEOs and other public leaders after they have publicly apologized for…[fill in the blank].” That blank was filled in countless times over the course of the year. By looking back at some of 2014’s most high-profile apologies, we can learn quite a bit about what does and doesn’t work.

Be prepared and transparent When the Guardian reported in October that anonymous messaging startup Whisper was tracking users without their knowledge, the company’s disorganized response only made the situation worse. “Whisper’s responses have seemed scattershot and poorly considered” and “leave the impression that the company is attempting to cover its tracks without in any way effectively addressing the core issue–their breach of their users’ trust,” we explained in the Wall Street Journal’s Crisis of the Week column. “Management should have started with a simple statement that they are reviewing their terms of service, avoiding additional controversy.”

Listen to critics and take action One of Dealbook’s first “Apology Watch” columns, which we wrote about in March, focused on AOL CEO Tim Armstrong’s apology for an insensitive comment linking employees’ “distressed babies” to a cut in the company’s 401(k) benefits. While acknowledging that the CEO’s apology wasn’t perfect, author and corporate consultant Dov Seidman praised how Armstrong listened intently to those that he offended and acted on his apology by reversing the 401(k) cuts. “With these two actions, Mr. Armstrong took important steps toward restoring faith in personal and corporate character,” Seidman wrote for Dealbook.

Show that you are sincere After their embarrassing and inappropriate emails about President Obama were leaked in December, Sony co-chairwoman Amy Pascal and film producer Scott Rudin both issued well-considered and heartfelt apologies. While the Sony Hack has grown into a larger and more complex crisis, Pascal and Rudin understood the gravity of their leaked exchanges and responded by taking responsibility for them.

Social media and Crisis Communication 2.0 The series of rash tweets by Whisper’s editor in chief demonstrates some of the dangers of social media. But we can look to General Motors to see how social media can be a powerful tool for apologizing and rebuilding trust. In the wake of recalling millions of cars in early 2014, the automaker employed a number of strategies to help manage the fallout. As we described in March, GM customer service staff monitor and respond quickly to comments and complaints on Facebook, Twitter and online auto forums. The company also shared a video in which CEO Mary Barra directly addressed the recall. This 2.0 crisis communications strategy, which we examined more closely in a Forbes.com article, helped set the stage for what Bloomberg Businessweek called an “unusually bold” and “full-throated apology” by Barra in June.

Be quick and measured Best Buy’s ill-considered tweet making light of the murder case featured in the popular podcast Serial could have caused more damage to the retailer, but this quick and concise response helped prevent that:

We deeply apologize for our earlier tweet about Serial. It lacked good judgment and doesn’t reflect the values of our company. We are sorry. — Best Buy (@BestBuy) December 11, 2014

This tweet-sized apology was sincere and appropriate in scale—for a tweet-sized misstep. With it, the company nipped a potential crisis in the bud.  Stay tuned, as there will surely be more apologies to examine and learn from.

 

 
 
Crisis Management, , , , , ,
Korea Air

Earlier this month, Cho Hyun-ah, the daughter of Korean Air’s CEO and an executive at the airline, caused an international social media firestorm. She berated the crew of a Korean Air flight for serving macadamia nuts incorrectly, then forced the pilot to return to the gate while taxiing out of JFK. Her behavior sparked international headlines. Extensive analyses about the reputational fallout on Korean Air and her father’s business empire followed.

The Wall Street Journal’s “Crisis of the Week” column weighed in and invited me to comment.  (I suggested that Cho Hyun-ah step out of the public eye for a period of time. When she makes a new start, she is in an optimum position to use her access to Korea’s wealth, power and influential as a platform for helping the less fortunate.)

Reputation Risk Isn’t New to Business…But Has Taken a More Prominent Role

Reputation risk isn’t new to business. But over the past two decades it has taken a more prominent role in the business world. The Internet, and social media in particular, has introduced a new level of transparency to business operations and culture, and a new level of empowerment to consumers.

If one employee makes a misstatement on social media, and it gains viral momentum in the community at large, it can be a crisis for the company. When that employee is the daughter or son of the company’s owner, it can become a defining one.