Each month, Reputation Partners’ Corporate Reputation Blog summarizes news related to some of the key trends and events that captured headlines. Below are a few of the stories that had us talking during the month of May.

• History was made in the social media world, as Zillow became the first company to solicit questions on Twitter and Facebook during its May 7 earnings call. The Company’s social media strategy came on the heels of the SEC’s April decision to allow companies to use social platforms to share material information. Zillow delivered on its promise to solicit questions via social media, and CEO Spencer Rascoff answered a number of questions from Twitter.

After a nine-year relationship, Nike officially cut ties with the Livestrong Foundation to protect its corporate reputation.

• In what was seen as a means to protect its reputation and mitigate future risk, Nike officially cut back its support for the Livestrong Foundation following the nonprofit’s former Chairman, Lance Armstrong, admitting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. After a nine-year relationship, the footwear giant ended production of all merchandise carrying the Livestrong brand, which it used on specific sneakers, clothing and the famous yellow wristbands. Although it ended its corporate partnership, Nike reaffirmed its commitment to cancer survivors and to providing continued support to the foundation in other, unspecified ways.

• One of sports’ most heralded franchises, the Chicago Cubs, ramped up its PR push around proposed Wrigley Field renovations that had received backlash from local residents and City Hall. In an effort to gain community support, the Cubs launched wrigleyfield.com, a website that asks visitors to sign an online petition “to save Wrigley Field.” While the website provides detailed renderings of the renovations, along with near- and long-term benefits for the community, local economy, Cubs fans and the team, its main purpose is to encourage engagement between supporters and the parties opposed to the renovations.

• Finally, after a storied career that spanned more than 50 years, veteran news anchor Barbara Walters announced her plans to retire from TV journalism next summer. The 83-year-old media icon spent 15 years at NBC News before joining ABC News in 1976, where she became the first female co-anchor on an evening news program. Most well-known as the co-host of ABC’s “20/20” and “The View,” Walters has arguably interviewed more statesmen and stars than any other journalist in history.

What recent news headlines caught your attention? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Each month, Reputation Partners’ Corporate Reputation Blog summarizes news related to some of the key trends and events that captured headlines. Below are some of the stories that had us talking during the month of April.

• In a ruling on how companies communicate with investors, the SEC is allowing companies to post financial information on sites such as Facebook and Twitter as long as investors have been informed about which vehicles the company intends to use. While several large companies, including Dell and eBay, already use Twitter to announce financial and other material  information to investors, a 2012 study by the Conference Board and Stanford University found only 14.4 percent of companies communicate with shareholders via social media.

• In other social media news, Northern Trust Company, the conservatively run, 123-year-old Chicago financial services provider, updated its 2013 ethics policy to further address employee participation in external social media sites. Filed mid-April with the SEC, the policy prohibits employees from accessing social media sites during the work day.
  

  Airports filled with American Airlines passengers nationwide amid thousands of flight cancellations and delays.

• The only thing that took ‘flight’ for American Airlines earlier in April was a national PR crisis. Company-wide operational problems caused the airliner to cancel more than 1,000 flights and delay countless others. While flights resumed the following day, American Airlines continued to deal with customer backlash on Twitter and other social media platforms. The Company’s crisis management efforts included sending out a half-dozen updates on its official Twitter account and Facebook page, along with sharing a video of Chairman and CEO Tom Horton issuing an apology for the inconvenience caused by the system failure.

• In an effort to increase revenue, Facebook is deploying a new strategy to cull personal information from outside the social network and match it with data submitted by its billion-plus users. The Company plans to roll out a new tool to help companies directly target Facebook users based on their offline spending history. With more information on a broader range of Facebook members, companies can deliver targeted communications to help drive sales and influence potential customer’s attitudes and behaviors.

What recent news headlines caught your attention? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Reputation Partners’ Corporate Reputation Blog continues to summarize news related to some of the key trends and events that captured headlines. Below are some of the major stories that had us talking this fall.

• In the last week of October, all eyes were on the Northeast as residents and municipalities prepared for Superstorm Sandy. As the storm ravaged through New York, New Jersey and other surrounding states, millions were left without power, forcing affected residents to use social media instead of traditional media for pertinent updates. Many relied on networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to remain updated on the weather and the well-being of loved ones. But as the frenzy of information grew with the storm, some disinformation leaked into mainstream outlets causing rumors to spread.

Former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit addresses the media

• Citigroup showed that the timing and positioning of a CEO exit is key when communicating a leadership change.  The announcement that ex-CEO Vikram Pandit would be succeeded by Michael Corbat, a longtime Citigroup executive, was made only one day after Citigroup reported its third-quarter earnings, which stunned the market and raised questions. The Wall Street Journal recapped some of the lessons learned from the company’s leadership shakeup.

• October saw a double dosage of accidental earnings releases by two Fortune 250 companies, Google and Dow Chemical. Google was the first to jump into crisis mode after alleging R.R. Donnelley filed the company’s draft earnings statement early. Shortly after, Dow Chemical was forced to release its third-quarter earnings report early after accidentally sending a draft press release to Bloomberg News outlining a restructuring program that would lay off more than 2,000 employees.

•  The 2012 Presidential Election took place on Nov. 6, and  social media played a critical role throughout the election. Both campaigns used Twitter to highlight their key messages during the debates, and about 10 million tweets were posted during the first presidential debate. Twitter’s election coverage feed, @gov, noted 20 million tweets were posted on Election Day using the #election2012 hashtag, making it the most tweeted political event in U.S. history. As the television networks called the race for President Obama, @gov reported a stunning 327,453 election-related tweets per minute. Shortly thereafter, the most retweeted tweet ever came from the @barackobama Twitter feed, saying simply “four more years.”

• This November, we saw one of the most recognized brands in America, Hostess, file for bankruptcy. The company warned it would file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to shut down operations if enough workers from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) didn’t end a weeklong strike by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18. On Friday, Hostess followed through on that threat, eliminating 18,500 jobs and beginning the process of selling off its factories, brands and other assets. As an expert in labor communications, Reputation Partners’ Founder and President Nick Kalm shared his insight on Hostess’ court-sanctioned mediation with its lenders and union leaders.

A member of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) strikes.

• After 80 years in print, Newsweek announced that it will become an online-only publication next year. The last print edition will hit stands Dec. 31, with Newsweek Global, the all-digital version of the publication, marking its beginning with the start of the new year.

What recent news headlines caught your attention? Leave us a comment and let us know.

At the beginning of each month, Reputation Partners’ Corporate Reputation Blog will summarize news related to some of the key trends and events that dominated the headlines. Below are just some of the stories that caught our attention during the month of September.

• The Chicago Teachers Union made national headlines throughout the month of September when the teachers went on strike for the first time in 25 years. While the strike was covered daily by Chicago media, it also appeared on the front page of national print outlets such as The New York Times. As an expert on employee/labor communications during work stoppages, Reputation Partners’ founder and president Nick Kalm blogged about labor communications lessons from the Chicago Teachers Union strike.

A touchdown call made by replacement referees during a work stoppage sparked a PR crisis for the NFL

• In similar labor communications and work stoppage news, the NFL and referees’ union continued talks to negotiate a contract. In the interim, replacement referees officiated NFL games, which led to a controversial last-minute touchdown call that resulted in the Seattle Seahawks winning a game against the Green Bay Packers. However, some argue that the public relations crisis stemming from the call helped end the NFL referee union strike. 

• During the last week of September, thousands of individuals and organizations hosted workshops for Social Media Week, a worldwide event exploring the social, cultural and economic impact of social media. While impossible to recap the more than 90 global events, Crain’s Chicago Business boiled down the important takeaways from Social Media Week events hosted in Chicago. The Reputation Partners staff participated in Social Media Week sessions on the importance of targeted audiences for B2B social media communications, how to get CEOs involved with social media and future trends and technologies of the social world.

• Mark Zuckerberg’s recent media appearances demonstrated the importance of executive visibility during times of challenge, after stepping into the spotlight for the first time since the company’s IPO. As an immediate result of Zuckerberg’s appearance at the annual TechCrunch conference, Facebook shares rose in after-hours trading.

What other headlines caught your attention? Leave us a comment and let us know.

There’s a story rocketing around the PR agency world this week about a PR firm that finds itself in a very ugly and avoidable fight with a prominent blogger. (NSFW) It’s a great and timeless cautionary tale.

There’s an old saying about not picking a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.  Of course, this is meant to suggest caution about doing battle with a member of the media.

But with most newspapers, radio and TV news in decline, along with the rapid ascent of bloggers, I think the saying should be updated to the headline of this post.

In this case, the PR firm sent a pitch to a blogger who didn’t care to receive it.  Blogger said so (in typical blogger way) and got a snarky reply from the pitcher at the PR firm.  Blogger (who, by the way, had over 160,000 followers — compare that to the readership of your average daily newspaper!) sent back another typical blogger reply (a bit flip and edgy).

This was followed by a foolish “reply all” from the PR firm (that included said blogger).  Well, after this bonehead maneuver (which nearly anyone could have done), the blogger apparently gave the PR firm VP a chance to walk his NSFW comment back, but, no, instead, he decided to double down on snark.

And, gee, what do you think the blogger decided to do about this whole exchange?  Publish it!

Sigh….

Setting aside how this reflects on the whole PR agency world, it was just plain dumb to think that this firm could do (inept) battle with a blogger and come out a winner.

So, what are the lessons here:

Lesson #1 — Treat respectable bloggers (especially those with six-figures worth of followers!) with at least as much respect as you’d treat a reporter from The New York Times.  If you have an issue with something they said, or wouldn’t include in their coverage, etc., sure you can address it with them, but….

Lesson #2 — Assume that anything and everything that you put in writing to/about a blogger will find its way to said blogger (and everyone who follows him/her…and so on….and so on).

Lesson #3 — Once you’ve done your damage, the only thing left to do is give an unqualified apology to the blogger (and the world), and give your staff some remedial training.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to present at the BOMA 2011 International Conference & The Every Building Show at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The topic? Devising and Executing a Social Media Program: A BOMA/Chicago Case Study.

Over the course of two sessions, Edward M. Bury, APR, BOMA/Chicago’s director of marketing and communications, and I shared strategic and tactical advice to commercial real estate executives mulling over the now seemingly “age old” question: can social media work for me and my building/organization/company?

While social media isn’t necessarily appropriate for all industries and companies, it’s at least worth investigating. The following is a step-by-step to getting started. Reputation Partners deployed a similar social media strategy as we helped BOMA/Chicago launch their social networking presence (including the organization’s new blog, The Elevator Speech).

Step 1. Listen
If someone in the marketplace was talking about your company or brand, wouldn’t you want to listen to their conversation? Actively monitoring social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube gives you an opportunity to gauge how your industry, competitors and key stakeholders are utilizing these channels. It’s also key to determining how your company can differentiate its voice amid all the social media chatter.

Step 2. Assess Vehicles
There’s a common misconception that you need to be on every social networking channel to be successful. This is far from accurate. For example, if your target audiences aren’t actively using Twitter, it’s probably not the right vehicle for your company. Consider your overarching communications objectives and how these different vehicles can help you meet these goals. Also consider the staff allocation and support needed to manage these vehicles on a daily basis.

Step 3. Launch and Market
Before you formally launch your social network presence, it’s important to populate the vehicles with content (pictures, video, status updates, etc.) before you officially “go-live.”  This will give new followers an immediate opportunity to view and react to content. Once you’ve launched, it’s equally important to market your social networking presence. Emails, newsletters, website and email signatures, as example, are all effective ways you can spread the word.

Step 4. Engage, Monitor & Track Value
This is the final – and most important – step in the process. There’s one catch: this step never ends.

Engage with your followers and create a dialogue about important developments in your industry. Ask questions. Share opinions.  Interact with people/companies that are both familiar and unfamiliar to you. Build goodwill by congratulating/commending others. Hint: if you’re constantly talking about yourself and your company, you’re probably not engaging enough.

Monitor these sites consistently. They are like small children; never leave them alone unattended for an extended period of time.  Effective monitoring will also aid in both reactive and proactive engagement with others.

As you manage and grow your company’s social networking presence, continually track the value it’s bringing. While quantitative measurement is important, we also make sure to evaluate key items such as: are we engaging with the right influencers? Has this increased awareness about the brand? Is this supporting our overarching communications strategy and goals?

While social media isn’t the solution to all of your corporate communications and marketing needs, it’s an effective tool when used thoughtfully. Based on the turnout at BOMA 2011, we’re encouraged to see that the commercial real estate industry is beginning to embrace the power of social media.