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Why your company's comms team needs a reputational strategy
23 Jun 2015
Reputational strategy. It's a phrase that strikes fear into the hearts of many a business without a clue where to start, especially when a communication crisis hits. FIFA, anyone? That's where Joanne Botha of Pillar9 comes to the rescue...
Botha, former director of one of South Africa's leading reputation management firms, recently launched her own company, Pillar9 Reputation Strategists.
Pillar9 is so named because reputation management traditionally has eight pillars, and Pillar9 has been established to provide the ninth pillar, which will bring everything together, Botha explains.
As a result, it will focus on strategic development, executive profiling and issues management. It's the 'issues management' aspect that most intrigues me, because the complex structures that need to be in place in case of any risk to your company's reputation are a mystery to many.
I pinned Botha down for a chat on the importance of a reactive reputational strategy.
1. What's the reputational strategy sector like in SA? Botha: Although the communications and public relations industry is quite large, there are really only a handful of individuals, and perhaps one or two agencies, that focus on reputation management in particular. In fact, public relations itself is having to evolve to be more multi-disciplinary - more focused on reputation management. In today's business environment, reputation management needs to work across a business to shape its reputation. So it's growing.
2. OK then: How has PR changed in the past decade? 
Joanne BothaBotha: Public relations has changed dramatically in the past 10 years in part because of the rise of digital media, and also because of the growing number of entrepreneurs in the field. Increasingly, clients are recognising the benefit of using a network of highly-skilled industry specialists who can advise them and then bring in a broader operations team to deliver the results.
1. What's the reputational strategy sector like in SA? Botha: Although the communications and public relations industry is quite large, there are really only a handful of individuals, and perhaps one or two agencies, that focus on reputation management in particular. In fact, public relations itself is having to evolve to be more multi-disciplinary - more focused on reputation management. In today's business environment, reputation management needs to work across a business to shape its reputation. So it's growing.
2. OK then: How has PR changed in the past decade? Joanne BothaBotha: Public relations has changed dramatically in the past 10 years in part because of the rise of digital media, and also because of the growing number of entrepreneurs in the field. Increasingly, clients are recognising the benefit of using a network of highly-skilled industry specialists who can advise them and then bring in a broader operations team to deliver the results.
2. OK then: How has PR changed in the past decade? Joanne Botha
Botha: Public relations has changed dramatically in the past 10 years in part because of the rise of digital media, and also because of the growing number of entrepreneurs in the field. Increasingly, clients are recognising the benefit of using a network of highly-skilled industry specialists who can advise them and then bring in a broader operations team to deliver the results.
Public relations is also having to broaden its focus, from simply being a news-generating function to something more holistic which stretches across a business' entire function. Public relations practitioners are being forced into being more proactive and thoughtful, rather than being reactive and simply throwing press releases at already-overwhelmed journalists and hoping for something to stick.
The rise of digital has added a whole new set of platforms to leverage, and has added to the large volume of profile-raising opportunities for companies. Sponsorships, features, interviews, speaking engagements are all options; but being able to review and decide which are best requires a central strategy to stand as a measuring point.
3. Let's delve deeper then into the importance of a company's reputation, and how customers now have a direct say in this, due to the rise of social media. Botha: A growing number of local and international businesses recognise reputation as a core business function that influences strategic decisions, business direction and how stakeholders and media are communicated with. Everything has to move in the same direction. Reputation is intrinsically linked to the value perceived by customers of a company's brand.
3. Let's delve deeper then into the importance of a company's reputation, and how customers now have a direct say in this, due to the rise of social media. Botha: A growing number of local and international businesses recognise reputation as a core business function that influences strategic decisions, business direction and how stakeholders and media are communicated with. Everything has to move in the same direction. Reputation is intrinsically linked to the value perceived by customers of a company's brand.
A great example of that is the recent FIFA corruption scandal. Despite all the good FIFA has done - investing in community development, youth outreach programmes, infrastructure development and fantastic tournaments - their leadership has let them down. The whole organisation's reputation is now tarnished because of their alleged unethical activities. People are calling for the top leaders to resign, and for long-standing sponsors to pull out. Time will tell if public pressure wins on both accounts.
The scandal has had a further trickle-down effect to those countries instigated in the scandal, including South Africa. For our country's brand, this reputational damage is huge - especially at a time when we require such a positive image for the investment and growth targets we want to achieve. So it's vital, and it's all linked.
Social media means this news has moved faster around the world than it would have 20, even 10 years ago. Everyone can have a #opinion thanks to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Social media users share their experiences online too - an Instagram pic of their new shoes, or the frog in the lettuce packet; a compliment about great service, or a scathing report on customer service gone wrong.
Social media has caused ordinary citizens to become either brand ambassadors, or brand naysayers. Either way they have an assumed vested interested in each company, brand and business they interact with.
The Reputation Institute's National RepTrak Pulse survey for 2014 ranks the largest listed companies by revenue and familiarity:
4. What's the true impact of the digital era on business? I found a fantastic infographic on LinkedIn the other day -which probably explains it far better that I ever could. Compiled by the Centre for Learning and Teaching and titled "What happens online in 60 seconds" (dated 2012-2014), it reveals the fast-pace environment we're working in.
4. What's the true impact of the digital era on business? 
I found a fantastic infographic on LinkedIn the other day -which probably explains it far better that I ever could. Compiled by the Centre for Learning and Teaching and titled "What happens online in 60 seconds" (dated 2012-2014), it reveals the fast-pace environment we're working in.
What this means for business, and the communications and reputation industry, is that news (good and bad) no longer breaks on the front page of a newspaper, 24 hours after the incident. It breaks as it happens, and can be around the world in seconds.
What it also shows, is that while you can control the initial message, you have little control of the pace it will spread (if at all) and how it will morph.
Digital advancement has also meant that we have so many new exciting platforms to leverage off - which is great. However, understanding which platform is relevant for your business, and how to best leverage it, is where strategic development comes in.
Knowing, and understanding, how to leverage and manage the digital pace in good times and in bad, can (in some measure) be dealt with by having a proactive strategy in place to up-weight the positive and mitigate the negative.
5. How does it tie into the broader PR and communications industry? Botha: Let me start by explaining, in the simplest terms, the difference between reputation management and public relations.
5. How does it tie into the broader PR and communications industry? Botha: Let me start by explaining, in the simplest terms, the difference between reputation management and public relations.
Reputation management is proactive and far-reaching. It's deciding up-front what a company wants to stand for, or what a person's reputation needs to be and then putting a plan together to get there. It's a roadmap which needs to be followed.
Public relations is often more reactive - it's the art of telling people what you're doing and what you've done, as it happens.
I see reputation management as a broader concept, and one that the current public relations industry is morphing into.
Consider yourself warned, reputation management is vital in today's fast-paced, social media-saturated business environment. For more information, please contact Botha on 083 395 7076 or az.oc.9rallip@bennaoj.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
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