Interviewer:
Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Marina Shabalina, the CEO of ADVES. We’ll be discussing the significant changes in reputation management, the importance of social responsibility for modern brands, and the key trends in online promotion today.
Marina, let’s start with the evolution of corporate reputation. How does a company’s reputation today differ from what it was a century ago? Are there any fundamental differences?
Marina Shabalina (CEO, ADVES):
Thank you for having me. Indeed, the landscape of reputation management has undergone profound transformations over the past century. If we look back to the era of Edward Bernays, one of the leading PR experts of his time, his influential book “Propaganda,” published in 1928, highlighted newspapers, television, and radio as key information channels.
Fast forward to today, and the landscape has shifted dramatically. The primary channels now revolve around the internet and social media. In the past, brands were predominantly shaped by outdoor advertising and product packaging. A company’s image was crafted through print publications and word-of-mouth. However, today, building and maintaining a reputation is impossible without online positioning.
Before making purchasing decisions, customers conduct online research, scrutinizing information about a brand and its products. They pay particular attention to the quality of feedback from the company, the tone of communication with customers, and the behavior on public platforms and social networks. In fact, statistics indicate that 90% of customers engage with a company only after thoroughly examining its online profile and reviews.
In recent years, the declared values of a brand have gained paramount importance. These values must align with the values of the target audience. Today’s consumers are not only looking for products or services; they are seeking brands that resonate with their beliefs and principles.
Interviewer:
Marina, what are the essential actions a company should take to establish a positive reputation?
Marina Shabalina:
Building and maintaining a positive reputation for a company requires a comprehensive approach. This involves taking care of both online and offline spaces.
In the online realm, it’s crucial to respond adequately and promptly to negative feedback, publish neutral and positive content about the company, and engage with customer comments on review websites and social media platforms. Achieving this demands coordinated efforts from specialists in PR, SMM (Social Media Marketing), SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SERM (Search Engine Reputation Management), and reputation marketing.
For companies operating in foreign markets, it’s essential to have team members with relevant skills and experience, along with an understanding of regional specificities. Without such expertise, there’s a high risk of making costly mistakes that are challenging to rectify.
It’s worth noting that a company’s reputation is also influenced by the reputation of its top executives. Audiences instinctively look for a figurehead who embodies the company, enterprise, or brand. In fact, 88% of people believe that the reputation of top management is an integral part of a company’s reputation.
To accomplish all the listed tasks one person is not able, as it requires deep knowledge of completely different directions and tools. In practice, we often work directly with business owners or collaborate with marketing, PR, and information security departments. My team devises strategies for managing a company’s or brand’s online reputation, reinforcing our clients’ positions in the relevant reputation niches, and, when necessary, helping them navigate through crisis situations.
ADVES’s international scope is facilitated by our team’s specialization and the presence of partners and representations abroad.
Another major reputation trend is corporate social responsibility. This trend extends beyond the online realm and holds immense significance in today’s business landscape. We’re talking about businesses participating in social and charitable initiatives, such as assisting those in need, creating jobs, educating underprivileged populations at corporate expense, engaging in environmental initiatives, and much more. Corporate social responsibility has become integral to virtually any major business today, and this trend has been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Interviewer:
How can you convince business owners of the importance of managing their reputation, and where should they start?
Marina Shabalina:
In today’s business environment, it’s rare to find a business that doubts the value of reputation as an asset for achieving business objectives. However, it’s crucial to emphasize that reputation-building requires systematic efforts. Handling reputation episodically will inevitably yield inferior results. A systematic approach helps optimize a company’s reputation, attract new customers, and enhance the loyalty of existing ones.
Interviewer:
As for industrial enterprises, the need for a good reputation applies to them as well?
Marina Shabalina:
A positive reputation helps attract customers, new employees, business partners, and contractors. Among our clients, we work with companies of various sizes and industries, including industrial enterprises. Typically, these companies already have an established image and market presence. They often seek our assistance to strengthen their existing reputation, expand their influence, and scale their operations for increased sales volume.
It’s important to note that online reputation encompasses not only product sales but also aspects like employee relations, HR policies, production safety, environmental responsibility, the company’s integrity, and its social responsibility. A well-managed reputation benefits a company not only in reaching a larger customer base but also in external audits, sourcing new suppliers, or entering new markets.
Interviewer:
Marina, can we trust information about a person from public sources?
Marina Shabalina:
Trusting information from open sources can be tricky. At ADVES, we’ve been working with due diligence databases for years, aiming to assist businesses in risk avoidance. Subscriptions to such databases are available for banks, government entities, insurance companies, business partners, etc. They help scrutinize potential partners or clients and assess the security and viability of potential business activities. The higher the risk associated with an individual, the greater the likelihood of facing obstacles, such as contract rejections or account openings, for example.
This information is typically collected from both public and private sources. However, from our experience, public sources sometimes include unreliable information, including sources with compromising content. This further emphasizes the need for systematic reputation management and control over what information about the company is publicly accessible.
Interviewer:
In today’s online landscape, there’s an abundance of unverified negative content. How should businesses address this issue?
Marina Shabalina:
You’re absolutely right; the digital space often presents challenges. Interestingly, most people tend to gravitate toward negative publications and often trust them more than positive ones. When given a choice between positive and negative information, readers are usually more intrigued by the negative. Consequently, negative content has become a tool in unscrupulous competition. Aware of this, competitors may start disseminating negative information to harm a rival’s business. When faced with such problems, our first step is to have legal experts review the material to assess the potential for legal action. If, for instance, an individual is falsely accused of problems in production, and they had no involvement in managing the affected departments or the issues occurred before their tenure, this material can be legally removed.
However, in many instances, compromising articles are written in a way that makes them difficult to challenge in court. In such cases, a more delicate approach is needed. This involves creating positive content about the company and promoting it in search engine results to counterbalance the negative.
Interviewer:
What about dealing with employee review websites?
Marina Shabalina:
We assist clients dealing with such websites. Negative information on these platforms can stem from various reasons. For instance, a company may have shifted its direction, leading to employee layoffs. However, it later altered its policies, and the old issues became irrelevant.
Yet, the outdated information remains on these sites, portraying the company negatively. When you visit these websites, they suggest that everything is terrible with the company. In reality, the problems occurred two years ago, and the information is no longer relevant. Regarding such “review” websites, negative content often targets top management, HR, or company founders. In these cases, you can attempt to write complaints and justify them. Ideally, this should be done by legal professionals. The next step is to engage with platform moderators.
Interviewer:
What advice do you have for those with minimal budgets looking to present their company positively in the media?
Marina Shabalina:
Creating content and publications in the media can be a highly effective way to enhance a company’s reputation. At ADVES, we firmly believe in the power of content. If you’re working with a small budget to establish your company’s informational presence, I recommend starting with external blogs and the company’s social media profiles. Create business profiles for the company and its top executives, engage actively with niche journalists, and seek common ground with them on news topics and themes.
If you need quick exposure, some companies attempt to create viral content. However, the challenge here is that if it goes viral and the content starts spreading, stopping it can be extremely difficult. Furthermore, devising genuinely positive content that resonates with the audience and spreads widely across media and social networks is even more challenging.
Unfortunately, you can’t always predict the consequences, and sometimes such content can backfire on the company. Therefore, it’s essential to craft such content with consideration for the audience’s interests and the company’s declared values. Proceed with caution, weighing all potential negative consequences.