Reputational Risk

Your name is your brand.  And the way the public perceives that brand will either take you to the highest level of success or sink you completely.

That’s why it’s so shocking that so few companies conduct proper due diligence when it comes to risks to their reputation.

The public outrage was swift and certain, prompting Umbro to release a public apology and declare they would be checking the names they use more carefully in the future.  

The entire ordeal could have been easily avoided with the proper due diligence, potentially saving Umbro millions in lost revenue.

Your reputation can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, often from factors that may be completely out of your control.  And while many companies can survive regulatory fines or sanctions violations, blows to your reputation can instantly decrease the value of your company and lead you to have to rebrand entirely or completely shut down.

If you are a pharmaceutical or medical device company, or a firearms company, you will have even more potential reputational risks to deal with.  These range from insurance risks, to political risks and lobbying, to social media campaigns targeted against the company.

So what can be done to mitigate such reputation risks?

Before launching any new business initiative or marketing campaign, you can have Infortal run focus groups and studies, as well as evaluate the consequences for your brand perception and awareness.  We will also conduct proper due diligence on executive teams to help you avoid any possible reputational risks that could come from doing business with the wrong person or enterprise, such as someone on the sanctions list or someone with a criminal past.

If you are already in the middle of a PR crisis, Infortal can gauge public sentiment and test to see what strategies will be most effective for mitigating the damage to your reputation as well as discover the best way to alter public attitudes to become more favorable towards your company.