Today, Business Insurance published an article about how global expansion adds to companies’ reputational risks.
I was interviewed for the piece. An excerpt:
“While the speed at which information can travel through social media can enhance reputation risk, social media can be a valuable tool in managing reputation risks, said Shannon M. Wilkinson, CEO of Reputation Communications in New York. Social media audits can provide important information before a company enters a market, she said.
“Social media provides a barometer into all those kinds of things,” she said. “It can be done quickly. It can be done cheaply.”
Such social media research can provide information on perceptions of products, companies or marketing campaigns, as well as an opportunity to learn from competitors’ experiences, Ms. Wilkinson said.
“They can go to Twitter and they can see what their peer group’s doing,” she said. “It’s a very good way of observing best and worst practices.”
It also can provide information on whether signing a particular celebrity spokesperson might be a big reputation risk mistake.
“He might be a face for a different kind of product, but not in this area,” Ms. Wilkinson said. “All of this is researchable and it’s not so much about making a judgment; it’s about determining what is the most appropriate affiliation for your company or your product launch.”
A full copy of the article is available at Business Insurance.
