There are at least five meta-trends that affect how corporations manage their reputations today. More and more companies are getting smart about these changes, investing in internal education and bringing in partners who are closer to the social media phenomenon to help them evolve not just their communications or marketing but, often, some of their core business practices.

1. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age”
John H. Bell
Managing Director/Executive Creative Director
360° Digital Influence
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
john.bell@ogilvypr.com
John heads up Ogilvy PR’s
global digital practice,
Question:
360° Digital Influence,
designed to manage brands How is social media and Web 2.0 enabling
at a time when anyone consumer citizens to learn about corporate
can be an influencer and
everyone is influenced in practices, speak out about business practices
new ways. John and the they do not support, praise those they do support,
Digital Influence team he
works with in EMEA, have
share this information with large groups of people,
completed projects and start campaigns to change things?
for clients as diverse as
Lenovo, Unilever, Intel and
Save the Children.
What Changes in the Social Age?
Contact: Social media and the technology behind it – Web 2.0 – has
John H. Bell forever changed how corporations “manage” reputation. At the
Managing Director/ heart of the change is the explosion of consumer generated
Executive Creative Director media found in more than 150 million blogs, social networks,
360° Digital Influence consumer opinion sites, video and picture sharing networks,
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and worldwide message boards. Corporate marketers and
Tel: 202 729 4166 communications specialists no longer have even the illusion
john.bell@ogilvypr.com of “control” over the message. People are talking about their
products throughout the Web and carrying on their own
conversations about brand-relevant topics.
page of 8

2. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age” (continued)
Consumers have a louder voice due in part to easy-to-use
multimedia publishing tools and word of mouth distribution
networks online. How can the experiences of isolated
Comcast customers become so connected and amplified as
to jeopardize the reputation of the company? How can a single
customer/blogger start a wave that rocks Dell to this day? How
can a consumer-created video of rats in a quick-food restaurant
in Manhattan spread like wildfire causing a brandwide crisis?
There are at least five meta-trends that affect how corporations
manage their reputations today. More and more companies are
getting smart about these changes, investing in internal education
and bringing in partners who are closer to the social media
phenomenon to help them evolve not just their communications
or marketing but, often, some of their core business practices.
Five Trends Affecting
Reputation Management
1. Hypertransparency: Having 150 million bloggers
(not to mention message board participants, social
network members, etc.) means having thousands
of potential forensic accountants, social watchdogs
and activists watching your company.
As trust in marketing and traditional media shrinks, trust in
peer-to-peer recommendations grow. Many consumers – especially
in mature media markets – are skeptical of the corporate images
portrayed in advertising or through consolidated, biased media.
They look for the real story from people like themselves. The
growth in blogs and online communities has empowered those
who examine the behavior of companies. They literally banded
together like digital forensic experts to reveal the false pedigree of
a memo that Dan Rather, CBS anchor, used in a story. That led to
his retirement (this was called “Rathergate”).
page of 8

3. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age” (continued)
When John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO, posted more than 1,000
times on a Yahoo message board under an alias, it was the other
members of that board who called him out (and, ultimately, The
Wall Street Journal who reported it). You cannot hide much in the
new “power of crowds and technology” universe.
A lot is possible with new technology. Virgil Griffiths developed
Wikiscanner to reveal exactly who was making edits in the vast
cocreated universe of the world’s largest encyclopedia – Wikipedia.
In the process, he outed many corporations like Astra Zeneca.
Employees there went into the Wikipedia entries related to the drug,
Seroquel, and edited out negative statements. All of this was revealed
from following the trail of IP addresses on computer networks.
The dynamic of blogs – posts, comments, links – rewards the
controversial. And plenty of bloggers are on the lookout for
corporate hypocrisy and ready to call it out. One of the by-products
of the ever-expanding database that is the Web is our ability to
find and compare any information. When Disney licensed their
Ratatouille character to a vintner and put the image on the label
of wine bottles, the blog, Two Knives, called them out. She also
called out Unilever for the Axe/Dove paradox and response.
When BP launched their environmentally made-over gas station
concept, Helios House, in Los Angeles, they knew they would fall
under green blogger scrutiny. While their ad campaign made a
significant, positive impression on the general public, green pundits
online and offline remained on the fence regarding the substance
to their claims. To ensure the full story behind Helios House made
it through, they identified online influencers and reached out
ahead of time to invite them to preview the site and get multimedia
information about the real nature of the makeover. It worked. Green
bloggers warmed to the concept and featured stories praising BP
not accusing it of greenwashing.
Implications for Corporate Reputation Management
• Never assume you can hide information – someone or something
will likely find it.
• Consumers demand openness from the companies they buy from,
so be open. Openness means being straightforward and clear.
• Be ready to reconcile contradictory business practices. Those
conflicts will no longer sit in the shadows of an annual review.
• Don’t try insincere CSR. You will be called out online.
page of 8

4. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age” (continued)
References:
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/1/28/172943.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/business/12foods.html
http://www.pharmalot.com/2007/08/astrazeneca-changed-
wikipedia-entry/
http://twoknives.net/?p=290
2. Viral Crises: Crisis spreads through networks –
formal and informal with lightning speed and full
motion pictures. When bad things happen, they spread
extremely fast, often with the accompaniment of YouTube videos.
And no one settles for old-school, one-way messaging. Crisis
management has changed forever. No company can protect its
reputation by hiding behind “messaged” spokespeople during
a crisis.
When a video of rats crawling around a poorly managed KFC
franchise in NYC spread across YouTube, Yum Brands had to
react to what was to be a global crisis, not a localized NYC event.
Press releases wouldn’t do. CEO Greg Dedrick made two videos
during the crisis to personally respond. And a sophisticated
search marketing campaign launched to make sure people
searching Google found the company’s information. When JetBlue
passengers suffered an intense episode on a grounded aircraft,
criticism rushed from cell phones (complete with pictures) through
blogs. The CEO rolled up his sleeves and announced via YouTube
a new customer promise. He eventually resigned.
When Kryptonite Locks suffered under the consumer generated
video demonstrating how to disable their locks with a Bic pen, they
waited and waited to respond. Meanwhile, the video and related
stories circulated online and offline, ultimately costing the company
$10 million in hard cost for a recall and untold millions in brand value.
Implications for Corporate Reputation Management
• Crises spread 10x faster now due to the Internet, and corporations
must respond within hours. This implies they have a plan in place
to respond fast in place.
page of 8

5. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age” (continued)
• One-way communications from an “organization” may not be
enough. Leaders need to step forward and have a dialogue with
customers and stakeholders.
• Search reputation management is a new art that all businesses
must practice today.
References:
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/14452.asp
3. Demand for Dialogue: One way messaging is
not acceptable to those who crave dialogue.
Consumers crave conversation, not messaging, from the
brands they love. Press releases won’t do. Scripted customer
service isn’t enough. TV advertising can be a smug form of
communication. When Dell first started digging out of the DellHell
crisis, they did it by setting up the Direct2Dell blog and the
IdeaStorm customer co-creation. Both invited customers into a
conversation. They demonstrated that they were willing to listen
and respond and that they were human beings.
When Lenovo wanted customers to get to know the company, they
created an ever-growing collection of blogs at www.lenovoblogs.com.
People got know Product Designer David Hill, PC-evangelist
Matt Kohut and the other human beings within the company. That
personal connection went beyond any advertising to build trust.
Implications for Corporate Reputation Management
• Old school press releases cannot be your company’s
communication tactic. To build brand loyalty and inspire
advocates, you can accomplish more through human
conversation and a willingness to listen.
References:
http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2007/09/06/whats-next-for-
the-direct2dell-naked-conversation/
http://lenovoblogs.com/
page of 8

6. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age” (continued)
4. Louder brand detractors and employees: Smart,
nimble detractors leverage social media every day.
The social Web has built new brands from the small guy who
understands how to leverage blogs, search, Web 2.0 innovations
like tagging, social networks and more. It doesn’t take a Goliath
to become a formidable adversary for a corporate brand.
Consumers, special interest groups and traditional critics (e.g.
labor unions) are using the same ease of publishing, sharing
and distribution to be heard. Look at McSpotlight, a Web site of
corporate critics rallying first around the McDonald’s brand and
now expanding their focus “Beyond McDonald’s.”
When the American Steelworkers struck against Goodyear, their
literally inflammatory videos (cars bursting into flames) spread
across YouTube.
Former Pfizer VP of Marketing, Peter Rost, started a blog after
being fired. Question Authority has become a well-known
platform not just for Peter’s critique of the pharmaceutical
companies he once worked for, but for all other disgruntled
pharma employees. They regularly send him leaked memos of
questionable practices to reveal on his blog.
When Select Comfort saw a customer rant about their product
on a blog (because they had a “listening post” for blogs in place),
they were able to reach out to that customer immediately and
take action. Within 48 hours, that same customer – shocked by
the personal attention he received – turned into a vocal brand
fan. Without listening, that and other detractors could have
blossomed into a full brand revolt.
Companies that are not proactively launching sustainability or
environmental programs are being forced into doing so by their
customers and a vocal and skilled minority. Take Apple. In the
flurry of activity around Green IT, they were called out for a lack
of any meaningful green program. Greenpeace stepped up and
launched www.greenmyapple.org, a site that cleverly mimicked
Apple’s style and played on the fan base of the company to
demand better green practices. Ultimately, Steve Jobs posted
a response and adopted environmental measures that the
organization and its customers demanded.
page of 8

7. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age” (continued)
Implications for Corporate Reputation Management
• Your detractors will use the social Web. You had better get smart
about doing so yourself.
• Listening to consumer generated media is critical.
• Building third party allies online will help your brand.
References:
http://www.mcspotlight.org/help.html
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/06/
11/100061497/index.htm
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/tasty-apple-news-
020507
5. Uncontrollable brand fans: Brand fans have a
louder voice than ever (and you cannot control them).
BEven people who love brands are expressing themselves online.
Corporations either embrace them, ignore them or fall into the
danger of trying to control them, or worse, shut them down.
Is the Starbuck’s Gossip blog a fan blog? It’s certainly not
sanctioned by the corporation. They seem to be fans, yet still
cover the Barista Tip Jar case ($100 million against Starbucks).
Do you like IKEA? Ikeahacker does and is dedicated to sharing
ideas amongst other IKEA customers about how to get the best
products and combinations from the retailer.
All Jose Avila did was create furniture for his Spartan lifestyle
out of FedEx boxes and post it on www.fedexfurniture.com. Was
this a fan celebrating the FedEx brand? Or a to-be-feared pirate
attacking the brand? FedEx was not amused and went after Jose
legally. The story played out online as he posted their letters,
eventually showing up in traditional media as well. While it may
not have impacted FedEx’s stock price, it hurt their reputation
amongst the little guy. What would have happened had FedEx
embraced Jose or even just reached out to him as a human being
vs. firing legal salvos as first contact.
page of 8

8. Corporate Reputation in the “Social Age” (continued)
Brand fans have a new power online. And companies need to
consider how to embrace them and relate to them not as big,
legal entities, but as human beings. Otherwise, they risk an
uncontrollable backlash.
Implications for Corporate Reputation Management
• Try to look at brand fans as an opportunity first, not a threat.
• Develop strategies for reaching out with humanity vs. legal or
stuffed-shirt formality.
• When your IP is in jeopardy, negotiate, even if you feel you don’t
have to.
References:
http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/
http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/08/68492
What matters for corporate
reputation management?
Corporations must overhaul their approach to corporate brand
management. The “crowd” will reveal the whitewashing behavior.
They will detect the corporate speak and demand an audience
with the CEO. Your detractors will use search engine marketing
to win on the new front page: search results. Word of mouth,
peer-to-peer conversation is competing and often winning as a
communication channel online.
The demands for openness, transparency and authenticity are
more than buzzwords. They are the new reality of corporate
reputation in the Social Age.
page 8 of 8