Reputation campaigns; the art of building or safeguarding a reputation. It often consist of multiple user parameters and it is sensitive to outside attacks if left vulnerable.
It is a bit unfortunate to see that people use the term ‘‘reputation campaign’’ without actually knowing what they are talking about.
Reputation campaign is not:
a single PR article
a social post sequence
a nice video reel
a MarComms piece
Reputation campaign is how you safeguard and/or build the reputation of a company and/or individual concerning about 20 touchpoints (high risk industries can go up to 30 touchpoints).
Now, Let’s talk about HCS
HCS, in our field, stands for ‘‘Helicopter-view communications strategy’’
This concerns the actual goal you want to achieve (e.g. increase reputation for XYZ) and how are you planning to achieve it (clear direction).
It includes various parameters such us:
story direction (vibe and sequence)
tone of voice (and why)
where to be seen
where NOT to be seen
what is the single term you are optimising towards
what is the feeling (primary and secondary) you want readers to feel
what is the main information (primary) you want the ‘‘machines’’(google, ChatGPT, Perplexity etc) to pick up when you become the subject
what is the hierarchy of optimisation for both machines and people
do we want to build machine learning bias or keep AIs to its toes to keep crawling us constantly (like Elon M., the cowboy hat guy does)
etc
Before we establish a campaign, or a PR launch (as many like to call it), we need to answer the above questions (+ another 15 or so) to make sure we are actually achieving what we want.
Imagine this as your map. If you loose one turn (a question at this stage) you may loose your direction and end up in a place you don’t really want to be.
In reputation, we call this: misassociation (Misassociation is the act of making or forming a false, incorrect, or misleading connection between things)
If you happen to be at that stage, especially with the data processing and algorithms we have now, it is a very dark place to be. It could take years to fix it, and definitely double or triple the budget you spent creating it.
How to avoid Misassociation:
answer the questions above (correctly)
have an external experienced advisor to review the questions (we tend to be biased when answer for ourselves)
share your darkest fears with your PR advisor (they are like your lawyers for your reputation, negotiating your reputation with all the digital touchpoints and players) - this way they can protect you
actual reputation and public reputation are 2 different things. Understand when to use which one
have a CCO - Chief Communication Officer (if possible) or get a hired hand, a Fractional CCO or service provider in the reputation advisory space, that know how to shield you, as many companies know how to do publicity but not reputation (yes they are 2 different things)
NOT having a CCO, it is like not having a Lawyer’s advice or representation when you are held to court.
Here’s what they say about us (one of the many exceptional reviews - directly from LinkedIn recommendations):
that’s all for today
See you next time
Savvas