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Posts Tagged ‘Issues management’

Your Reputation is on the Line

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

shirtsThe reputation of corporate America is under siege. A cynical public, 24/7 news cycle, bloggers, activists and stricter standards of corporate governance have created a business landscape rife with reputation-shattering landmines. One wrong step and you could face revenue loss, lawsuits, disruption of operations or worse.

To maneuver this landscape with reputation intact, take a proactive approach to communications and community relations. Monitor emerging issues, industry trends and competitive activity. Mitigate threats before they turn into crisis. Learn how to work with the media, not against them. Publicize your good works. Get engaged in the community.

A good reputation provides:

  • competitive advantage
  • increased sales
  • strategic partnerships
  • ability to attract best talent
  • benefit of the doubt if crisis strikes
  • potential to raise capital and share price
  • option to charge premium prices
  • better relationships with regulators

It’s no longer a question of “if” you’re going to suffer reputation damage and its consequences, but “when.” Everyone is susceptible, no matter your size or industry. Building and safeguarding a reputation is easier, quicker and cheaper than repairing one. Your corporate reputation is your greatest asset. Protect it. Grow your business and increase profits through comprehensive reputation management.

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Yahoo’s Hack Day generates publicity. Bad publicity

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

As you may or may not have heard, Yahoo’s “Hack Day” in Taiwan made headlines, but not for any innovative code. The event was supposed to be about developers designing Web apps in 24 hours, but it was the sideshow that caught the Web’s attention.openhackday

As an apparent “gift” to the developers, Yahoo hired lap dancers as entertainment. Certainly a large part of these events is to garner publicity, but the caveat that Yahoo seems to have overlooked is that said publicity should be positive!

Performing a Yahoo news search for “Yahoo Hack Day” almost exclusively returns articles penned by irate authors. The only exceptions were written before the actual event, or mentioned Hack Day as a side note. Chris Yeh, head of the Yahoo Developer Network, has issued an apology through the YDN blog, simply titled, “Sorry,” which acknowledges wrong-doing but offers little to better the situation. The first comment counters, “this is tradition as opposed to an aberration,” noting that Yahoo hired similar girls for last year’s Hack Day as well.

In Kara Swisher’s scathing analysis, she writes, “it is not clear why all the thumpa-thumpa music and dancing gals did not engender complaints last year.” This leads me to question how large a role did the groundswell play in making this a newsworthy story?

My takeaway? In today’s world, regardless of your immediate audience, you must always be aware that your actions are likely (definitely in Yahoo’s case) to be seen by global audiences. As a global company, Yahoo needed to recognize this, and act more appropriately. Let’s see what entertainment developers are welcomed with next year.

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Crisis Management: Avoid A Crisis by Planning for One webinar slides

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Thanks again to everyone who attended our Crisis Management webinar! If you have any additional questions that we didn’t get a chance to answer, please feel free to leave it in the comments below and we’ll respond how we can there! Check back next week for a video of the presentation.

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Talk helps businesses in the Carolinas attract new customers, mitigate issues and increase profits.

 
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