Thought Leadership–Corporate Social Media Articles
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Equifax: A Category 5 Cybersecurity Crisis Storm. Chances Are It Will Hit You
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, September 9, 2017
You would really think that by now companies in crisis could get it right the first time.
But no, as Equifax announced its epic Category 5 Crisis — the cyberhack of 143 million consumers’ social security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, birthdates, addresses and credit card numbers affecting at least 44% of the American population — after stalling over a month to stop the hack and prepare for the onslaught of a public announcement, clearly got the apology algorithm all wrong anyway. Did they think no one would notice?
From a tepid apology from CEO Richard Smith — totally incommensurate with the size of the crisis — to a completely botched announcement of remediation, tying use of their free credit monitoring to forfeiting the right of a trial and mandating arbitration, they just got everything wrong.
Whenever you come out of the gate wrong in a crisis — either minimizing the problem, putting forth a totally tone-deaf message, trying to pull a fast one on your consumers by limiting your liability, or retaining some of your breezy marketing messages in the face of category 5 devastation — you court the fury of your customers, the public, regulators and investors.
Here’s what Equifax has done wrong — so far. […read more]
Don’t Kill Off Your Website — Use It As The Hub For Your Social Media Presence
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, January 9, 2014
The questions plaguing many corporate leaders these days about social media include: How can we take best advantage of this continually-changing platform for business, sales, and reputation enhancement? How do we choose which platforms to engage on? Where does our website fit in among all the emerging social media options? What about mobile? Must we do it all? And, is the effort it takes worth the investment, risk, and loss of control?
In fact, loss of control may be the most worrisome. There aren’t many places left where organizations can have total control over what is said about them, especially on the internet. But corporate websites can provide a still center of control, continuity and clarity of message. A website – compellingly done – can capture a brand, and encapsulate its positioning for all to see. A stake in the reputational ground, the best websites showcase their organizations’ aspirations and best selves as well as their brand. […read more]
Don’t Waste Money – Make Your Social Media Advertising Smarter, More Original, More Effective
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, December 3, 2013
“Advertising is the price companies pay for being un-original,” designer Yves Behar has said.
But on social media, originality in advertising actually has found a new canvas, a new playground to explore. And the profession itself is being redesigned in real time.
Just as television was a disruptive force for print advertising, so social media is shaking up the entire ad industry – providing us with some best and worse examples of how to leverage the medium. […read more]
Don’t Think You’re Anonymous – Unless You’re Really Anonymous: #4 Of ’10 More Don’ts Of Corporate Social Media’
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, November 26, 2013
Social media and the Internet are rapidly changing our expectations of both privacy and anonymity. This has profound implications for corporations, governments, and individuals alike.
What is more important, privacy (the ability to keep private information or conversation out of the hands of anyone but those for whom it was intended) or transparency (the right of the public to know the facts and motivations behind actions that affect them)? As a society, which do we value more – truth-telling (which can easily turn into lies and hate talk) or named accountability (which can stop revelations from taking place because of possible repercussions to the teller)?
These days we seem to be ambivalent – or to want it all: privacy when it suits us; transparency, when it feels right; anonymity when we can choose it; but accountability when others are posting anonymously about us, or those things we care about.
Yet we all suspect that there is almost no such thing as privacy anymore, or real anonymity on the Internet. What does this mean for corporations and other organizations? […read more]
Don’t Waste Your Time(line) – Maximizing Your Own Viral Potential For Thought Leadership: #3 Of ’10 More Don’ts Of Corporate Social Media’
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, November 22, 2013
Thought leadership – the purest form of content – is a valuable currency on social media. Done innovatively, strategically, and well, it can build brand loyalty for organizations and individuals, and help to attract new clients. Done poorly or carelessly, it can do the exact opposite, and turn off these same customers.
How does any thought leadership gain traction today? Social media’s increasing influence is now changing the entire game, compelling profound changes in content and sharing – affecting how, when, where, and why certain posts turn viral. […read more]
Don’t Confuse ‘Thought Leadership’ With ‘Branded Content’ or ‘Native Advertising’ — #2 Of ’10 More Don’ts Of Corporate Social Media’
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, November 21, 2013
Thought leadership, branded content, content marketing, and native advertising are all stops along the continuum of how ideas are expressed, and products are marketed, over the Internet.
But it is getting awfully hard for the public — and even some marketers — to tell the difference. […read more]
Don’t Ignore Your Best Co-Branding Opportunity — Your Employees: #1 Of ’10 More Don’ts Of Corporate Social Media’
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, November 20, 2013
We all know employees can be both brand ambassadors and brand detractors. But what we haven’t wrapped our heads around is that they are also our most important co-branding opportunity. This is #1 in our series of “10 More Don’ts of Corporate Social Media,” introduced yesterday.
Corporate co-branding is a marketing staple: Companies co-brand with one another (Apple + Nike; Betty Crocker + Hershey’s; Dell + Intel); for-profits co-brand with non-profits (Nestle + The Girl Scouts; Pampers + UNICEF; American Express, Apple, Converse, etc. + The Global Fund – RED); and all of the above co-brand with movies, music, and sports (Aston Martin + James Bond; PINK + NFL; Apple + U2).
But in this ever-evolving world of social media – where almost everyone is thinking about how to “brand” himself or herself personally over social media – organizations can leverage the trend as their biggest co-branding opportunity of all. In other words, since there is no stopping the personal branding efforts of employees on social media, if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them. […read more]
Introducing ’10 More Don’ts Of Corporate Social Media’
Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, November 19, 2013
Every company, corporation, and organization is struggling to get its corporate social media right.
Boards are putting it on their agendas, as a reputational risk and opportunity. CEOs are puzzling over how to lead and evaluate their companies’ efforts, as well as debating what their own social media profile should be. Executive Committees are reviewing metrics and messaging, and still wondering which are meaningful. Human Resource Directors are competing for Chief Digital Officers from a small pool, without always knowing who will be good for their organizations – or what “good” really looks like. And Chief Marketing Officers are trying to be cutting edge and to add value, while juggling competing demands from all stakeholders – consumers, followers, shareholders, management, and an ever-fickle and sometimes malicious public.
And everyone is trying to figure out what the right “content” is, anyway. […read more]
What Boards Must Know About Social Media
Davia Temin, The Corporate Board, May/June 2012
Someone posts a harsh item about your company on Twitter. The comment is picked up and amplified through other online venues, and the company’s stock prices take a fall—all within hours. Today’s world of social media is one where the most obscure person, company or product can overnight become a global trend, or a global villain. Is your board aware of the company’s social media strategy? For that matter, are you as a director up to speed on the new social media world?
In this age of social media, companies of all kinds find themselves at the end of the “command and control” model of leadership. Top-down communications, including those from the C-suite and the boardroom, have lost their primacy.
Today, with blogs, v-logs, Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest and social media of all kinds, everyone has a voice. More to the point, anyone can move markets if his or her voice catches on with the public.
Employees have a voice—including the employee that management fired yesterday. Your “like’rs” have a voice; your dislikers have a voice too (including all of the “I hate xx company” websites, and Facebook-facilitated boycotts). Your competitors have a voice, your shareholders have a voice, and you, as board members, have a voice as well. However, amid the cacophony, it is now exponentially more difficult to make the messages you and your company wish to convey heard.
Especially for the board, knowing how to communicate in social media (and when it is or is not appropriate) is crucial. A board’s workings are historically private and confidential, and a board tends to be heard from only when announcing a new CEO or in a serious corporate crisis.
If you’d like to read the full article, please click here (pdf).»
Flipping Out in Public – From Jet Blue Pilot to Kony 2012 Producer, Stress Takes Its Toll
Davia Temin, Forbes.com, March 29, 2012
Davia examines what the all external media stimulation we receive every day does to our inner selves in her Forbes.com article on stress taking its toll on people in 2012, specifically citing the recent, public meltdowns of the Kony 2012 producer and a JetBlue pilot. […read more]
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"Reputation Matters" White Papers seek to offer deeper insight on a wide range of topics we help clients address.