5 Ways a CEO Can Protect a Corporate Brand Online

1. Chief executive officers must know what’s being said online about their companies. They must monitor and listen. It is a culture change for some but online is where customers, investors and journalists are discussing products and companies and getting news. Online is today’s most important environment for managing brand reputation. Begin listening by using Google Alerts.
2. If the house is burning, don’t shoot the messenger. If the CEO of a company is contacted by anyone – consumer, investor or journalist – who says there is a brand image crisis brewing online, don’t react by attacking the messenger. That reveals a level of classic old school arrogance that will only hurt a brand. Rather, determine quickly if an actual online image storm is occurring that involves your company, and, if so, focus attention and resources to take positive steps to resolve the issue in a manner that benefits the company.
3. Take a deep breath, be polite and give it a moment. If someone asks you a question you don’t like, avoid the knee jerk and ego-driven impulse to strike back … and here’s why – you may not know who a stranger asking the question is. Besides, hard questions are what CEOs are paid to answer and resolve.
4. Use every communication exchange as an opportunity to win a friend for your company. As an example, study Tony Hsieh who founded the online shoe company Zappos and built it into a $2-Billion enterprise within eight years by converting unhappy customers, treating strangers with courtesy, and creating vast favorable media awareness primarily through his CEO blog which he, himself, maintained. Hsieh knew nothing about the shoe business when he started (except that he wore them). But, Hsieh knew the value of respect and outstanding customer service.
5. Establish parameters for how your brand is discussed. Define what benefits your brand and what does not. Yes, define guidelines of what is okay and what is not. Study how Steve Jobs has strictly crafted the image of Apple. It builds corporate consensus, underscores brand clarity, gets everyone on the same page and defines a winner. And, then, make it apply to everyone and anyone associated with your company. Without clarity over a brand, a company is just wandering in the now-global competitive forest … and will become lost.

Related posts:

1. How to Salvage Toyota’s Brand Reputation
2. Online Newsroom vs. Online Cemetery
3. Leica’s CEO: “I Will Not Confirm Neither Deny Anything”
4. Brand Journalism in the Communications Mix
5. Defining Corporate Journalism

Tags: Featured

Category: Featured, Reputation management