Consistent internal messaging is a solid way to communicate the value of marketing’s activities, get backing from other departments and unite the whole business. But in many companies it’s bottom of the priorities.
Its true value is never more obvious than when a crisis hits – get the internal comms wrong, and you can be sure the external message just won’t hold up. Or worse – the public takedown comes before any internal strategy can be agreed.
Whether you’re going through a rebrand, or making necessary job cuts, how you deal with those issues will have a big impact on your brand reputation. ‘No comment’ just won’t cut it – the key to keeping your reputation intact is how you communicate.
If January is anything to go, 2019 could be the year of brand reputation fails. We look at some of the worst so far and asked senior marketers who attended our recent B2B Marketing Leaders Roundtable for advice on how handle things with a bit more aplomb.
1. Don’t miss the #metoo memo
While all but the smallest companies are now forced to report their gender pay gap, not everyone is using these figures to create gender diversity initiatives. Yet, with sites such as Glassdoor and the public trial platform that is Twitter, there’s no getting away with backwards attitudes.
This year has already seen a public takedown of tech company Web Applications UK, whose CEO was accused of bullying a university graduate during her job interview. After being offered the job, the candidate posted her email response online. “You may have free juice and yoga on Mondays but you certainly don’t have respect for your potential employees,” she wrote. Nothing will tarnish a reputation quicker than outing a toxic work environment where young women feel intimidated.
Our marketing leaders suggest: Empower employees and share success
While a positive company profile is invaluable, especially when recruiting new talent, it has to come naturally. Good public feedback is great PR, but it can’t be coerced.
One marketing leader revealed how he’d asked his team members to write a positive review on Glassdoor, only for them to write ‘My CEO told me to write this review’. There’s also nothing to stop ex-employees bad-mouthing you on Twitter, except a great working culture and solid communication in a crisis.
Internal marketing isn’t just about quelling bad news. Use it to celebrate your team and reward achievements. This has a two-sided benefit – employees will feel valued and you can publish case studies online to increase brand reputation. Videos and customer testimonies are particularly valuable.
2. Transparency is more essential than Facebook will admit
Facebook has come under renewed criticism after shutting down a vital ad transparency effort by Who Targets Me. The British group dedicated to scrutinising adverts on the social network has said its activities were severely restricted by recent changes made by Facebook. The social network site said the move was part of a crackdown on third-party plug-ins but the co-founder of Who Targets Me, Sam Jeffers, described the decision as a “backwards step”.
The monitoring tools, which involve asking users to install a browser plug-in, has helped expose many of the advertising tactics used by politicians, making it harder for them to escape scrutiny. After Cambridge Analytica and GDPR, Facebook’s evasiveness on data privacy issues hasn’t gone unnoticed. Many individuals on social media have called them out for ‘quietly making changes’ to transparency projects and blocking the public’s ability to understand how they’re being targeted, especially around elections.
Our marketing leaders suggest: Make sure the message gets to the right people
Whether there’s a change in policy or a big rebrand, both staff and the public must be made aware and reassured. Ensure your staff understand the impact on the customer and have a controlled, unified and timely response.
Consider using platforms such as Yammer, Microsoft Teams or Slack to keep internal stakeholders up-to-date with important developments and how to respond. Another way of ensuring messages are relayed is to have a dedicated marketer take ownership of internal communications. This is crucial when it comes to relaying the same message to all staff, and extending that same message externally.
3. The Buzzfeed backlash reminds us that staff must be heard
Who can forget the live tweeting disaster of 2013 when a disgruntled employee at HMV took to Twitter as the company went into administration? Buzzfeed faced a more inventive public disgrace this year as one contributor took to its own platform to vent their frustration. Creating a quiz called “Do you still have a job at Buzzfeed?”, posted on Buzzfeed itself, the editorial staffer criticised the company and its handling of redundancies. After increased public pressure, Buzzfeed’s CEO, Jonah Peretti, agreed to pay former employees their accrued paid time off, but many were quick to call him out on social media, saying he shouldn’t be praised for a decision that should have been a given.
Our marketing leaders suggest: When the sh*t hits the fan, control the message
If staff feel they’re not being listened to, don’t surprised if they take that message to the public to be heard.
If you’re communicating an important message such as job losses, make sure you send out internal and external communications at the same time, as big news tends to leak. Some suggest avoiding a paper trail – not just to control messaging but to focus on communicating with employees on a personal level.
The most important thing is to show empathy, understanding and respect – doing so during tough times can actually help build internal culture.
That also means being open and honest about the situation, remember that a conversational void will often be filled with assumptions and rumour.
4. Social purpose helps weather a campaign storm
Gillette is the latest brand to face a consumer backlash after a controversial ad campaign. Calling out ‘toxic masculinity’ in its razor advert online, many took to social media to call for a boycott. In an attempt to expose male stereotypes, Gillette has been accused of ‘leftist propaganda’ and ended up receiving more negative public attention than positive. Yet amid worries that sales of razors might fall, the ad campaign still has 28 million views on YouTube and counting.
Our marketing leaders suggest: A strong message strengthens internal purpose
Despite the criticism Gillette received online, the important thing to note is its message is backed by strong CSR objectives. With a promise to donate $1 million a year for three years to non-profits supporting male role models, the company can’t be accused of just pumping out hot air.
These purpose-driven messages are something our leaders recommended, both externally and internally. By linking internal comms to an external campaign or topic, people will take note of it more than rushed day-to-day messages.
Moreover, any B2B marketer worth their salt knows a little controversy never hurt anyone. If you want to stand out in a crowd (and be a brand worth talking about) a strong message some may disagree with can pay off in the long-run.
