A company's reputation can be worth millions in corporate value, enable premium pricing on products and ensure a company's license to operate in their community.
I help companies implement corporate communications strategies to achieve goals across the spectrum of reputation development and management. Projects range from developing messaging and news releases, to creating comprehensive communications, social media and content marketing campaigns.
As an example, my team completed a project for a technology company in the cybersecurity space that entailed identifying a differentiating product and/or company attribute that would set them apart from competitors, strengthen the company's messaging and become the backbone of its thought leadership efforts.
By auditing the communications and messaging of their five top competitors, we were able to identify a "sweet spot" that could be solely owned by the company. The messaging became core to all communications and collateral, and it led to an upsurge in trade show and sales performance metrics.
Crisis plans are an important tool for almost every company. My work has included refining existing plans, inserting communications protocols into operational plans and enterprise recovery protocols (ERP), and writing custom crisis plans.
One recent plan was developed to protect a fast growing micro-cap food company with dozens of employees and thousands of customers relying on them. This company has a fantastic culture that is extremely valuable and a critical part of the fabric of the company. Destroying it by poorly responding to a crisis could cost them millions - if the company was able to survive.
I interviewed key players to identify potential crises and the impact each could have on the company, customers and employees. We then built crisis response strategies and template materials to enable their team to quickly and effectively respond to any crisis in a manner that was completely aligned with the company's culture and business objectives. With luck, they will never have to use it.
I have helped dozens of companies manage media relations, customer outreach, employee communications, and community engagement after crises that range from chemical spills, to catastrophic injuries on property; and from missing earnings projections, to attacks by short sellers of the company's stock.
Recently, I helped a restaurant company manage media engagement and communications after it learned from an online reporter that its credit card payment systems had been hacked by a criminal. After conferring with the CEO, head of marketing, and their outside counsel, a strategy and supporting materials were developed to help them navigate the issue with customers, franchisees, and employees.
Managing media was paramount. Reporters and some internal advisers pushed for "full transparency." I urged restraint, instead counseling to communicate directly to those most effected. This meant developing CEO talking points to share with franchisees, creating one-pagers for use by restaurant managers in discussions with customers, and coordinating talking points and emails to all effected customers. Media was held at arm's length until the facts of the case were determined and a recovery strategy developed. The company came through the firestorm unscathed.