According to a survey by Deloitte, 88% of brand executives view reputation risk as one of the top risks for strategic business. Reputation is the foundation on which the entire structure of your business rests.
“Your brand name is only as good as your reputation” – Richard Branson.
When your organisation is facing a reputation crisis, you must take immediate action to rebuild your good image, or you might end up losing market value and plunge deep into a financial debt. The best way of doing this is by hiring a brand marketing consultant who is proficient in reputation building services.
Who is a Brand Marketing Consultant?
Also known as brand strategists or brand consultants, they analyse, provide solutions and generate expertise to businesses to sell their products or services. They do this by thorough analysis of the brand and observe its performance as compared to its competitors. With the help of their expertise, they can transform small organisations into powerhouses. They specialise in online reputation management, content marketing, market analysis, website audits, video graphic services, creating brand awareness and popular keyword research.
What are the roles of a Brand and ORM (Online Reputation Management) Consultant?
- Understanding the Vision and Mission of the company: The prime duty of the consultant is to understand the nature and the objectives of the organisation. They do this by conducting meetings and holding discussions with the various stakeholders of the company.
- Analysing the blockages: This is the main reason why a company hires the consultant. He/ She analyses and studies the blockages because of which the company is unable to achieve its desired goals and objectives. They figure out the problematic areas and develop practical and feasible solutions to overcome them.
- Formulation of marketing and promotional strategies: This is the steppingstone for online reputation management of the business. The consultant studies and understands the inherent nature of the business and the attributes of the products and services offered and plans the marketing and promotional strategies accordingly.
- Observing the actions of the competitors: This is a crucial part of the consultant’s role. He/ She studies the competitors’ actions and tries to come up with certain ways that will put the organisation in an advantageous spot with regards to market value, customer satisfaction, etc.
- Studying customers’ perspectives: Customers are the best brand ambassadors for a firm. Their level of satisfaction with the company’s product or services determines the performance of the business. The consultant studies the perceptions of the customers regarding the brand by conducting primary and secondary research. They try to ensure that the customers develop long-lasting loyalty towards the brand.
How does the brand marketing and ORM consultant rebuild your brand reputation after a crisis?
He/ She plays a vital role in reputation building services. Some of their important contributions towards reputation rebuilding include:
- Analysing the level of damage: This is the first step to rebuild your lost reputation. The consultant assesses the severity level and steps back to analyse the root causes for the damage. He / She conducts a thorough evaluation of the crisis by studying sales performance, profitability and share prices. When they get all the data in their possession, they carefully segregate the facts from fiction.
- Communicating with stakeholders and investors: Once they get a clear picture of the situation, they convey the impact of the crisis to the stakeholders and the investors. They provide thorough details of their analysis and present their strategies to counter the crisis.
- Curating a media communication strategy: This step helps shape public perception of the company. This is done by involving the media and the brand leaders deliver a public statement about the crisis.
- Developing a social media response plan: Social media is the most important channel to raise brand awareness. Today’s socially driven world can worsen the impact of brand crisis. To prevent this, the consultant drafts a parking reply for the time being to mellow down the crisis, that is circulated around all the social media platforms of the organisation. It also includes reviewing websites, keeping a close watch on the conversations of website affiliated blogs and social media platforms.
- Reinstating trust and brand value: This includes revising, removing and suppressing negative content and posting positive content continuously on company websites and social media channels. A transparent demonstration of how the company is tackling the crisis helps customers reinstate their trust in the organisation.
Key Takeaways
- Rebuilding a reputation after a crisis takes a solid strategy, strong commitment, and self-discipline.
- However, you shouldn’t let a single brand reputation crisis define your failure. Use the tips outlined above to get your brand’s reputation back in order and come out stronger.
- Finally, with the right precautions in place, you can’t always avoid a crisis. Things happen that are outside of your control — and you need to be prepared for that.
Rebuilding reputation after a crisis is not child’s play. It requires immense self-discipline, patience, commitment, and a full-proof plan. A brand consultant’s strong business acumen and expertise helps navigate a company out of a crisis smoothly and reinstate its good reputation.
