Reputation

Vaporizer manufacturer JUUL Labs has gotten out in front of looming regulations on the e-cigarette industry by transforming its brand into stewards of legitimate and responsible vape use. Yesterday, the brand announced it would cease sales of its four flavored vape pods in all of the 90,000+ retail stores that currently carry its products, and delete all social media accounts but Twitter.

The amount of corporate attention to the 2018 midterms during the last few months is a sign that the relationship between companies, consumers and politics is undergoing a significant and permanent change. Brand publicity in this election cycle is a harbinger of what’s to come as consumers expect brands to take stands on relevant issues.

Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage at Wednesday’s International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners open session and took a pot shot “platform and algorithms” that “weaponize personal data,” as senior executives from Facebook and Google watched in silence. His words support the increasingly popular belief among communicators that social media regulation will actually be good for the big platforms, as it leads to improved user trust.

Ticketmaster’s banking on the hope that it’s decision to become the largest B2C brand to openly embrace technology will curb some of the reputational damage its done to itself over the years. But will its educating the masses on the transparency of blockchain make a difference if people don’t understand it?

The alleged murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has grown in intensity as a news story during the course of the past 17 days. Incidents involving the deaths of many more people fail to gain such traction. Several elements surrounding the Khashoggi incident may explain why.

Communicators pointed to four major tactics that they have successfully implemented to earn trust, get their more difficult clients in the press, open their minds to spend, and change their opinions of the value that PR can bring to business.

On the surface, this effort to give Senator Warren’s claims factual support seemed like an artfully executed campaign. Later that day, though, it became clear that the DNA test had done more harm than good. Senator Warren’s gaffe amounts to lessons learned for communicators about timing, why mixing heritage into your outreach strategies can be a dangerous game, and how to take cultural stand without angering any constituency of people.

CEOs and board members spend much time worrying about and discussing risks to growth, though a new study from Deloitte indicates they lack strategic plans to counter the risks they’ve identified, such as disruptive technologies and cyber events, which lead the list. The study also shows brand reputation and culture are receiving too little attention.

It’s still tough for some American communicators to tell just what all of this means for us, at least until we start to see some consequences from GDPR’s enforcement. Those consequences will arrive by end of year in the form of sanctions, though, according to European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli.

Lawsuits are a part of doing business, which is what makes litigation PR such a crucial part of the overall communications industry and part of every brand’s communications strategy.

But now it’s happening to your brand. You know a suit is being released publicly later today. It’s potentially damaging.

So, what should you do?