Tag Archives: reputation management

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Papa Johns

Since founding Papa John’s in the back of his father’s bar in 1984, John Schnatter has built his business into a leading international pizza delivery chain. Its reputation for customer service, quality and value has fueled that growth and distinguished it from competitors like Domino’s and Pizza Hut.

Papa John’s has deftly built and maintained that reputation, but recently there have been challenges. The first challenge occurred earlier this year, when a racial slur on a receipt at Harlem Papa John’s went viral.  Papa John’s quickly stepped in to protect its image. Just a day after the offensive receipt appeared online, the chain took to Twitter and Facebook to apologize and announce that the employee responsible had been fired.

Politics and Pizza

The pizza chain has been less successful in its response to the more complex controversy surrounding Schnatter’s own comments about the Affordable Care Act. Discussing his view of the health care law over the summer and after the presidential election, Schnatter drew extensive media coverage and triggered both positive and negative reactions on social media. He attempted to clarify what he had said in a Huffington Post blog post, but his explanation doesn’t appear to have succeeded in swaying public perception or distancing the Papa John’s brand from such a heated political issue. A recent YouGov BrandIndex report found that the controversy has negatively impacted the chain’s reputation. Chicago journalist Edward McClelland may have said it best: “Everyone eats pizza. And when you’re trying to sell a product to everyone, it’s not smart to alienate the 51 percent who voted for a winning presidential candidate.”

Papa John’s doesn’t need to look further than its own recent successes for a strategy that might help repair its reputation. In 2008, after drawing ire and boycott threats from Cleveland Cavaliers fans for t-shirts that insulted NBA star LeBron James, Papa John’s made up for it by selling pizzas to Cleveland residents for just 23 cents and donating to the Cavaliers Youth Fund. That approach earned the chain one of PRSA’s Silver Anvil Awards for Crisis Communications. Americans may clash when it comes to sports teams and politics, but, to borrow from the quote above, everyone eats pizza.

 
 
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Schwarzenegger’s Campaign to Repair His Image

Arnold Schwarzenegger has undertaken a campaign to restore his public image. The central issue the campaign is addressing—and needs to address of course—is last year’s infidelity. Schwarzenegger seems to be taking the best approach to that problem: owning it.

The release of his new memoir, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, suggests the sort of confession and personal reflection that is needed. But in a host of negative reviews the media has judged that attempt unsatisfactory. It “fails to achieve either the depth or the emotional impact that would make us care more deeply about this fascinating public figure,” according to the Washington Post’s Vernon Loeb.

The Toronto Sun offers some excellent advice on how he could have crafted a more effective memoir.

Schwarzenegger’s reputation rehabilitation plan has fared better with the recent launch of his own eponymous political think tank at USC, a move that has helped rebrand him as “a global policy wonk and statesman dedicated to leading America into what he calls a new post-partisan era,” according to the Associated Press’ John Rogers. The American Psychological Association’s Dr. Bernard Luskin explains the relative success of this branch of his strategy to The Christian Science Monitor’s Gloria Goodale: “Arnold will persist with the same aggressive ruthlessness that he has demonstrated with the other obsessive passions in his life,” the American Psychological Association’s Dr. Bernard Luskin tells Ms. Goodale.

Arnold’s Future

There is no broad consensus on how effective Schwarzenegger’s efforts will finally be, but experts tell the Monitor that his comeback could succeed, but it probably won’t restore him to his previous stature. “The public may be willing to forget to some degree but will not forgive—so much as accept—as he attempts to remake himself,” says the APA’s Luskin. Echoing that sentiment, University of Texas, Arlington’s Ben Agger imagines that the former California governor “well be publicly redeemed if he seeks, not elective office, but talk-show host.”

Luskin and other analysts have likened him to Bill Clinton, but Schwarzenegger will need to recognize his own unique strengths and weaknesses to fulfill his goal. A Business Insider article by USC marketing professor Ira Kalb provides a great breakdown of the characteristics and history of his public image. He deftly protected his reputation against previous allegations, Kalb acknowledges, but last year’s scandal dealt it a major blow. “Time will tell if he is successful repairing his image,” Kalb says. “His admissions and apologies are two steps in the right direction, but this is the third time he has employed this approach in public, and it may take more time and a more aggressive charm offensive to pull it off on this go-round.” Schwarzenegger certainly doesn’t lack aggressiveness, but he’ll need the perfect balance of charm to win back the public’s trust and respect.

 
 
Crisis Management, , , , , , ,

FareedFareed Zakaria rose quickly into the rarefied strata of the prominent public intellectual after he authored a Newsweek cover story (“Why They Hate Us”) on the 9/11 attacks. He’s an extraordinarily prolific writer, hosts a television program, and makes frequent public appearances.

As reported by The New York Times, he recently experienced a reputational crisis after several paragraphs in one of his columns for Time magazine featured several paragraphs that were almost identical to a New Yorker article.

The incident was judged a one-time event—a mistake from an over-committed writer—after several publications undertook a thorough review of his past work.

Mr. Zakaria has since cut back on engagements. It is worth emphasizing the lesson he gives us—expanding your brand across platforms offers visibility, but it is important that all material reflects your values.

 
 
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Anderson Cooper’s Deft Reputation Management

Earlier this month CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed that he is gay in a letter to The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan.

According to the Huffington Post, Cooper’s decision to officially come out followed “a long discussion with his team making sure he wasn’t committing career suicide.” With rumors that Cooper may soon marry, that letter could be part of a larger plan to open up about his personal life while closely managing the tone and context of that revelation.

A Good Choice

The decision to make the announcement was a good choice. “I’ve always believed that who a reporter votes for, what religion they are, who they love, should not be something they have to discuss publicly,” Cooper states in his letter to Sullivan. But he also acknowledges that keeping his sexual orientation private had the potential to harm his reputation for honest and accurate journalism. “It’s become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something –something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid. This is distressing because it is simply not true.”

Taking Control of His Message

By choosing to share the news in a thoughtful and eloquent letter to Sullivan, a friend and himself an openly gay journalist, Cooper took control of his message and preempted any threat to his reputation that his previous secrecy had posed. By doing so he was also able to frame the announcement in a way that underscores his values and reputation, both personally and professionally. “I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues,” Cooper wrote, adding that he has always tried to keep his private affairs and identity out of his journalism. “I’ve never wanted to be any kind of reporter other than a good one, and I do not desire to promote any cause other than the truth.”

Cooper also minimized the story’s ability to expand by making the announcement while he was in Botswana, out of the reach of the media.

The way Anderson Cooper has handled this is a model of how to get in front of potentially controversial personal issues.  On a broader level, Cooper has set an important example by treating sexual orientation as a subject that is not relevant to public or professional reputation.

 
 
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A recent New York Times article on Lawrence, Massachusetts’ quest for a better reputation offers a great example of how a concerted effort to forge a better image can have a real impact on a community.

With years of high crime and unemployment as well as lackluster education and local government, Lawrence’s image has suffered so much that Boston Magazine recently called it “the most godforsaken place in Massachusetts.” Spurred by such harsh words, a group of citizens launched We Are Lawrence, a campaign to reshape the city’s reputation. Acknowledging that they “cannot put more officers on the streets,” We Are Lawrence opted instead for “small steps that might revitalize the city, fostering pride and economic development by highlighting its robust history.”

Changing the Narrative

The campaign is only a few months old, and Lawrence’s problems won’t be easily fixed, but there have already been some signs of improvement. The Times describes how “cash mobs” are highlighting and supporting local independent businesses, and Lawrence CommunityWorks, one of the nonprofits involved in We Are Lawrence, was recently awarded state funds to build new affordable housing. The local Habitat for Humanity has also been at work on a number of projects in the city, including building one house in less than a week. “This is about changing the narrative, empowering people to celebrate and encouraging them to work together on the challenges,” Lawrence CommunityWorks’ Maggie Super Church told the Times.

In 2010, the city of Juárez, Mexico, which has been plagued by drug cartel violence, implemented a likeminded strategy with Cronicas de Heroes, an MIT-supported website that shares “stories about ordinary people committing random acts of kindness, bravery and care” in the city. While Juárez’s problems certainly haven’t disappeared, the murder rate has dropped and a new sense of community has begun to emerge. The border city is now literally “back on the map” distributed by the visitors bureau of neighboring El Paso, Texas, which had neglected to include Juárez in recent years.

Highlighting the Positive

Other cities like Branson, Missouri have enacted similar approaches aimed at restoring their damaged images.  In Branson, which was devastated by a tornado in February and relies heavily on tourism, local businesses have taken to social media, combatting the ubiquitous images of destruction presented in the media with ones highlighting their rapid rebuilding efforts.

A city can’t wish its problems away, but working to incorporate more positive aspects into its image can go a long way. It has the potential not only to improve a locality’s overall reputation, but also to inspire local pride and community involvement.

 
 
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LinkedIn and reputation management

Social media has played a central role in several of the most successful reputation management campaigns of the last few years.

In a recent Forbes.com article Scott Davis described how Toyota repaired its reputation following the bout of recalls that sent it plummeting in 2009 and 2010. The automaker employed a series of innovative social media strategies to engage with its customers on a personal level.

One of Toyota’s strategies was a series of Digg Dialogg Q&A sessions, which allowed the company to respond directly and candidly to customers and critics. Mashable’s Todd Wasserman said those sessions, “gave Toyota the appearance of achieving social media branding nirvana: Transparency.”

Transparency Paid Off

That approach clearly paid off, as Harris Interactive’s latest Reputational Quotient survey, published in February, ranks Toyota as the company with the most-improved reputation.

Harris Interactive’s survey reveals that few companies have seen their reputations improve lately. Joining Toyota in that small group is BP, which embraced social media in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Strategy Matters

Simply building a presence in social media isn’t enough. AT&T, for example, implemented an extensive social media customer service strategy aimed at rehabilitating its tarnished reputation.

The factors that separate an effective strategy from a failed one can be difficult to generalize. The best strategies seem to be tailor-made for a company, its customers, and the problems it is facing. Davis summed it up nicely: “Reputation is something that is both fragile yet resilient. The ability to spring back when it’s damaged takes a keen understanding of the factors and attitudes that shape a reputation to begin with.”

 
 
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How Lady GaGa Built Her Brand

Dyan Machan has an insightful piece in Smart Money about how Lady Gaga used her personal story, empathy and social media to become the most Googled person of all time (and earn $100 million this year). Her article is based on the business school case study, “Lady Gaga, Born This Way?,”  coauthored by Martin Kupp, program director of the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin.

From the “If the Rules Don’t Work, ReWrite Them” section:

“Germanotta knew talent wasn’t enough to draw attention in a crowded music landscape…. perhaps most important, she worked at first without help from a very skeptical recording-industry establishment. One label turned her down; another dropped her, reportedly after one of its executives made a cutting-his-throat gesture while listening to one of her tracks. So Gaga fed her music and promotional info directly to her fans, via social media. An early-adopting Twitter user, she communicated with her followers an average of five times a day and used the service to announce the release dates of her new albums. Kupp says it’s all an example of how upstarts need to ignore the standards set by large, risk-averse corporations: “If you don’t break the rules, you won’t make it,” he declares.”

Another example of how social media has eliminated the need for many of the middle-men once necessary to launch and build a career, business and brand.

 
 
Online reputation management, , , ,

Creating an entry for yourself or your business on Wikipedia can be a valuable reputation management tool. However, doing so requires navigating a strict set of rules and principles. Here is what you need to know.

Wikipedia requires that entries be about notable subjects and defines notability as:

“…the property of being worthy of notice, having fame, or being considered to be of a high degree of interest, significance, or distinction. It also refers to the capacity to be such.”

To prove notability, entries must cite authoritative sources.

Examples of authoritative sources include books, academic papers, reports published by credible organizations and articles from news organizations. Self-published books and promotional materials are not considered credible.

If the notability of the subject you are considering for Wikipedia cannot be supported by citations, Wikipedia editors will remove the new entry, often within minutes of its posting.

Anyone can edit, write or remove information on Wikipedia.

Many people are intimidated by the thought of having a Wikipedia entry about them because they fear damaging commentary will be added. But Wikipedia has a rule against featuring contentious material about living people – and this rule is actively supported. Wikipedia’s editors will quickly remove negative commentary unless it is accompanied by solid factual support.

Your entry must adhere to Wikipedia’s core principals.

Wikipedia requires editors maintain a neutral point of view, in addition to providing sources for all statements. Wikipedia will reject material that is written in a promotional style.